Week 2 - MTC

Email to Dad:
Week Two has been awesome and only a little hard!  We have taught 5 lessons already ad the language is really starting to click.  Alam ko po na mapagmahal po ang ating Ama sa Langit.  We were given a challenge by our teacher to bear our testimonies at least 3 times a day and as of yesterday to start giving a quick three minute overview of the restoration to people in our native tongue.  It's kind of become a competition in our district to see how many people we can bear our testimonies to everyday.  So far I am one of the best.  I didn't really realize how well I was doing with the language until I started to talk to other classes and realize I was way ahead of them.  This is probably the most fun I have had in forever.  I laugh about every 5 minutes or so.  These guys are hilarious.  Elder Bice is a lot like Grandpa Warren.  He is super funny and very sarcastic.  I learned this week that the mission we are gong to in the Philippines is the most rural.  We will most likely be eating monkey brains at some point as well as encounter humongous spiders that are have webs that stretch between the streets.  Yum and awesome right!!!?  Although it probably is a violation of the white Bible, I will most likely purchase a machete so as to stay alive.  Teaching is progressively getting easier.  The first two lessons I couldn't really understand what the investigator was saying, but now I am starting to get the hang of it.  We have to teach two people this coming week which should be a little interesting.  On a side note I also learned that missionaries who go to the Philippines on average lose about 20 pounds.  I have been trying to stock up on food, but it has had no effect on my weight so far.  I am adjusting to the food amazingly well.  I just learned that I have to stay away from the chocolate milk because it goes straight through you.  I loved the snacks you sent us.  We have already gone through just about all of them hahaha.  I don't think we will ever adjust to the 5 pm dinner.  

I have never been afraid to tell people I am a Mormon because I see it as an advantage.  People look at all the rules we have and say, man you guys can't do anything fun.  When in fact its exactly the opposite.  We can take things that shouldn't be fun and make them fun.  Me and Blakes took two crutches and went sparring between sidewalks.  We dressed as CIA agents and messed with people in the mall.  All everyone else knows how to do is party and quite frankly it's lame.  I don't care what doubts a person can have about the church, it is true.  We get a joy that doesn't come with any side effects.  We don't wake up the next morning feeling awful, in fact usually we wake up the next morning feeling better then we did before.  Religion isn't for the weak.  It's for the strong-hearted.  It's for the people who take pride in what they do.  Who give a 110% in anything they commit too.  A mission isn't merely a two year service.  It's a two year battle with an ever increasing complexity to fight to save another persons eternal salvation.  If you approach a mission with that sense of attitude, then you will be successful. 

TEMPLE DAY!

Week 1 - MTC

Email to Dad:
My first couple of days have been great!  My district, which consists of a group of Elders that are all going to the Philippines, are hilarious.  We are constantly laughing, which can sometimes get us into trouble.  Although everyone says I am pretty good at Tagalog, we are all struggling.  In three days we have learned how to pray, bear our testimony, and give a simple overview of the gospel.  It's insane how much work the MTC is but it has been a blast so far.  The MTC food on the other hand is not the best.  Everyone in my district has felt the side effects of processed food in the MTC.  Besides that it is awesome to be here.  I am a little nervous that I won't be able to learn the language but I have to remember that it has only been three days.  Anyways, I do need permatheryn, it's a bug repellent stuff that you can spray on your clothes and sheets.  It will keep bed bugs and spiders out of my bed in the Philippines.  I wood also love any kind of snacks that you could send to the MTC.  Dinner is at 4 so many times I go to bed being a little hungry. 

We are going to the Manila MTC for five days when we arrive, which will be nice because we will get a break from traveling for a little bit.  I forgot to mention that we gave our first lesson in Tagalog yesterday, on our third day here.  It was very difficult and it was disappointing that my companion and I couldn't understand all of what she was saying.  So we were left to saying pasensiya, which is sorry.  I still felt pretty good that I was able to give a lesson, bear my testimony, and say a prayer in Tagalog with only three days of experience.
Kita Kits!

Email to Mom:

The MTC is great!  My companion is awesome and my district has hands down the funniest guys I have ever met.  I will have to send you some pictures of them soon.  Learning the language has been hard and a little stressful, but we are doing great with only having three days to use it.  Yesterday my companion and I had to give our first lesson in Tagalog.  It was a little discouraging when we couldn't understand everything she was saying and that we couldn't answer her questions, but I had to keep in mind that I have only been working with this language for 72 hours.  In that time I was able to learn how to pray, bear my testimony, and give a simple overview of the gospel.  I can say things like Nagpapasalamat po kami para sa ebanghelyo or Taga- Paradise California po ako.  I am continuing to get better but it won't be easy. 

In my district I have like a group of four Elders and we just stick together.  My companion, Elder Perkins is a bit shorter then me, but he is funny and a wrestler.  Elder Ishibashi is from Hawaii and he is super funny and loves to work out just like me.  He constantly tells me how I am a giant and we like to say that he isn't really from the United States.  Then there is Elder Bice.  This kid is hands down, the funniest Elder I will ever meet.  He cracks all of us up.  Him and I have the most problems with the MTC food and he enjoys to make it known to everyone else.  I love all of these guys and overall I'd have to say the MTC isn't to hard.  Although it's a little weird to not be able to stay in contact with everyone all the time, I am not really having any withdrawals from tv or my cell phone.  They have you doing things all day so you don't have time to think about those things.  I found the animal in my luggage when I got to the MTC so we are good.  I need that bug repellent that I sent dad.  It will really help in keeping spiders and bed bugs out of the bed.  it will also kill any mosquitoes that get near me.  I just found out that the Cauayan mission is the most rural mission, so I will be doing a lot of walking and since there are a lot of mountains in that area, I could be walking up to 7 miles a day.  I am a little worried about this since I can already feel that I am losing some weight.  I don't have constant access to food like I used to and dinner is at 4 sadly.  I try and load up as much as I can but that much time can make you hungry.  In honesty, I took for granted the fact that I had access to corn dogs every hour.  Those were very helpful and kept me full.  Because I don't have as much access to food I get tired pretty early in the day and I have to push myself to pay attention in classes, but so far I have been successful in paying attention.  Well anyways I hope everyone is doing well.  Keep me updated on what you guys are up to.  The MTC will be a blast and I will adjust to it by this week is what everyone tells me.