Guess What?

     So the Philippines is pretty cool I guess. We had to get up at  1 am to get to the airport on time so we could fly out to Naga but then our flight got delayed and we didn't leave the airport until 8:30 am which sucked. When we finally got to Naga we had a nice lunch at the pres. house and then met our trainers. My tatay (father) is Elder Brown. He's from some little town just outside of Preston. (Dayton, Idaho) He has been out for 13 months and is super good at the language! From there we had to take a bus out to Buhi which is my area. Buhi is up in the mountains and its super pretty here! There are a ton of rice fields and then just random trees everywhere. The bus ride took forever so by the time we got to the house it was late and I just unpacked and then went to bed. The next day we got up and went to work. We taught in a place that was a little bit more city but still not really city. (makes sense right?) All the houses are super small and close together but that made it so we didn't have to walk super far. That day we also went out and taught the San Antonio family. They are a lot of fun and pretty awesome in general. the mom is a member but hasn't been to church in like 19 years. None of the kids are members. I had been practicing all day and invited them to be baptized. They said yes and have a date set for  Oct. The next day we went out to Sagrata and there is no city aspect there at all. They live in huts made of concrete if they have money and bamboo and stuff if not. We have a sister out there who will get baptized as soon as she can save up enough money to pay to get married. From there we tried to teach some of the other people around there but nobody would listen. The people there are funny because when they don't want to talk to you to avoid being rude and saying go away they just hide in their house and pretend they aren't there even when you can hear them. We spent most of our day there and then that night visited another sister that is going to get baptized soon if she keeps coming to church. Saturday I baptized a kid!!!! It doesn't really count because the sisters just needed somebody to baptize him but it was still super cool. His name is Edward and probably the hardest part of the baptism was trying to say his full name. That took up most of our day because Elder Brown is the DL so we had to fill the font and set everything up.  Sunday was good but I didn't understand pretty much anything in church.... from there we went to an area we have that is kinda far from where we live but some members said they had people for us. All the people though didn't work out so we only taught one person there and then had to walk all the way back because the trike we took there had left already. That brings us to today. We haven't done a whole lot cause its pday. mostly just studying and stuff around the house. 

II'll put up some pics soon.. and yes in the edge of the bathroom one you'll see those buckets which serve as toilet paper and my shower so its a blast. The apartment has tons of spiders. enough that I don't count them anymore. at least one in every corner but they keep the bugs away some so they stay.   Well Mahal ko Kayo!!! 

After Chase sent his main email, we were able to chat online a bit and had a little question and answer session:

Q How's the Food?

A  The food is pretty good but my favorite thing is this place they eat after every district meeting that sells hamburgers that almost taste american.  Sometimes  I cook but I mostly just eat a lot of rice and beans that you can buy at the store..

Q Do you like your trainer?   

A  My trainer is awesome!

Q Is your bed on the floor?                                                                 

A  yeah its on the floor. we have bunkbeds upstairs where we study but it's like 15 degrees hotter up there so we dragged them downstairs.                                                                                     

Q How do the people respond to your height?                                   

A  they all just laugh at us cause we are super tall. Elder brown is just as tall as me so we hear a lot of people yell at us "hey Joe" or "cano cano  " but its all good.                                                                      

  Q   Hardest thing                                                                                

A  .Just the language but I'll get the hang of it.                                    

Q Whats the weather like?                                                                  

A  It started raining yesterday and has been ever since and that has cooled it down a bit but it was nice when it was sunny and not just gray. I have never sweat this much in my life. its always hot here. but its okay. it makes the cold showers good. its nice to be able to cool off in the morning.                                

Q Best thing?                                                                                      

A  Best thing is probably the people.                                                     

Q How big are the spiders in your apartment                                     

A  Well I haven't see the biggest kind yet but pretty big. the ones in the bathroom are creepy. they have bodies not too much bigger than a daddy long leg and then really long legs. I watched one eat a fly the first time I showered....                                                                        

Q Funniest thing                                                                       

A There is this way old tatay that we visited this week and he's called pogi tatay because he says it all the time and calls all the elders that and then just starts laughing. and that just makes me laugh. (Pogi means attractive)

 yes in the edge of the bathroom one you'll see those buckets which serve as toilet paper and my shower so its a blast.  Yeah the toilet paper thing is no big deal