they pinapple here is sooooo good- and they cut it in a really cool way. ill teach you :)
Family
Hello from Baler! I have made it through my first full week and oh man, what a week it was! I have learned a lot already; one of the largest lessons was that I know very little and I have a lot to learn! But I know that I can and will learn the things that I need to... eventually. haha. It is all in the Lords time.
Some things that have surprised me here are how many lessons we can teach in one day. The people here are always willing to listen. Sometimes yes, it is just because they are being polite but I think that is a sign of their humility- which makes them teachable- which helps us invite them to come unto Christ. So I think it is a pretty good thing. :) This is how it has been all week until yesterday. Yesterday was the first time someone had bluntly told me (We were on splits) that they didn't want to listen to the message we had to share. But this taught me some missionary lingo. The word "punted." I learned it over and over and over again. Its not too bad getting punted though because I dont understand what they are saying when they tell me "no" therefore, so far,
according to my knowledge, they have all said "no" in the nicest way possible. haha.
I am really grateful to be here- yes on a mission but specifically in the Baler Branch. The members are so willing to help with missionary work. Yesterday we even had an investigator come on splits with us!
The people here are wonderful- so teachable and so accepting. Thats why there are so many members! We just need to continue to help them come unto christ even though they are baptized memebers. i hope that makes sense.
The 100 people that come to church are amazing. We have splits on sundays and we have about 15 people who come with us. So yesterday it was me and 6 filipinos (mostly youth) preaching the gospel. And every other day of the week a memeber of the ward comes with us. Its nice too because they always help me with tagalog.
Sister Evangelista is a wonderful companion. The people really love and respect her here. She is a gerat cook so that is fun too. We both really want to do what is right, to learn, and to be instruments in the hands of the Lord. Because of this we get along very well and we work hard (At least right now it feels like we are working hard).
I want so badly to be a great missionary but I try to be patient with myself. It is easy to feel like I will be a good missionary once I am able to speak the Tagalog but I know that there is more to it than that. So I am doing the best I can to be a good missionary even though I cant yet speak the mission language. I still am hoping to reach my goal of being able to understand 85% of what people are saying- I think that I need to pray harder. I have learned a lot this week as far as the language goes but there is still so much I dont understand.
I loved the letter about ben- that really is amazing! There is a man here (jaime) who is one of those golden invesitgators. he was taught by the missionaries in baguio but then moved here. We we met him he already was reading the BoM the truth to the faith book and the teachings of lorwenzo snow. He is just working on not drinking coffee. He has a goal to be baptized on the 15th of june! The missionaries in baguio did all of the work but yet have no idea that he is going to be baptized. It is cool to think about how we have effect on people in a lot more ways then we can see. We not as missionaries but "we" as members of the church.
I want to tell you more about a couple of our investigators and our families but maybe I will next time.
Being here is wonderful. I am learning alot and still have a lot to learn.Im eating alot- dont worry :) we bought SO MUCH FOOD today. We are so blessed!
I always hate saying goodbye so ill say until next week!
Sister Evans
those interested in another questionnaire we sent here's some more :)
Questionnaire (underline/Bold correct answer)
1. How
did you get to your new area? Helicopter, airplane, train, bus, car, walk? –tryc and jeepney: look them up onlineJ
2.
What is at your local super market? Live chicken, dead chicken hanging out to dry,
refrigerated chicken, no chicken and flys
3. What
are you drinking? 2 liters of water a day, 16
oz of water a day
4.
Can you see the beach from your house, street, area? Yes: part of my area is on the coast but we
probably only see it 2-3 a week (counting pday. But still that’s pretty good!)
no
5.
What are you sleeping in? Bed
mattress on the floor. But we are [robably moving!! I am so excited!! We would
have a shower curtain and a bathroom door that closes! And water after 9 and so
many oher things!!, hammock, mosquito net, no mosquito net? Feet out of the sheet, no body parts
out of the sheet, no sheet, 2 large fans
on and all windows open too
6.
What are you sleeping with or interacting with? Bed bugs,-hopefully no bed bugs. Maybe… probably. Gross. ants, fleas, lizards, little spiders, medium spiders, great big spiders, tarantulas, cockroaches, crickets, snakes, or
mosquitoes so many mosquitos?
7.
What kind of protein are you eating? Pig, chicken (only twice- so many bones so
little meet haha still good though), beef, fish (only a couple times), squid
(very interesting…),lobster, crab, insects, or peanut butter-I bought peanut butter but it was spoiled.
Ill have to wait and but peanut butter in a bigger city when we go down for
training. but ill get it soon! Larges source of protein =eggs.
Scrabled/hardboiled?
8.
How many showers a day do you take? 1 1.5 2 3 4
9.
Do you want us to send toilet paper? i don’t think so, I think I can find some
here. And ill only use it in certain cases. no
10. Where
is your Sister Evangelista from? Pico I
think. Part of the naga mission in the philippines
11. How
long has Sister Evangelista been on her mission? She is here until October so how ever many that is haha
12. Is
Sister Evangelista’s family members of the church? Yes no
13. How many lessons do you teach a day?
Between 4-11
14. How
long will the bug spray last that you took? 1 week, 1 month, 6 months I think. Ill let you know when I
am running low, longer
15. About How many people come to church on
Sunday? 10, 50, 75, 100, 150, more
16. Do
you get pictures in your email? Yes no
17. What
is the strangest thing you have eaten so far? That squid with the eyes I think…
18. Do
you have time to read all the letters? Yes I think so. I love them all! no Can
you print them? Yesi think so-good idea no
19. Did
you get the letters we sent pouch mail? Yes no In
the mission home when you arrived? Yes no
2
ALYSSA! I JUST FOUND OUT THAT SEVILLE SPAIN IS A SISTER CITY TO BALER!!!!!!!
THAT IS AMAZING!! ONE MORE TENDER MERCY! Mom,
that is the coolest thing! Tell me more about it, what does it mean to be a
sister city exactly?
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