December 28, 2010

Hi.

first, no dont send me anymore singamajigs. They are sweet. but... no.

I hear marks married again. yep. Thats cool. um I hear it went well too.

ok soooo ill just start writing something.

um, about christmas, I got some presents, from the house. Mostly food and stuff witch was nice. I dont think I have really had candy in a long time. not good for me, oi. haha oh well. Whats really supriseing was the gravy. I didnt .. wait no I kinda expected instant gravy for some reason. um What was really suprising that Lucys gift was the most entertaing of everything (those dancing dolls, my companion really likes them). Wait no that usally happens too. I mean What was suprizing was that andy's gift is actally useful. Now That is what was surprising. he sent me a frisbee... which doesnt exist here, as far as I know.

um, yah so christmas was pretty good i guess, um yah. I wanted 2 things in perticlar, that i didnt get. I have started using a 3 ring binder (those things are actally useful) to orgainize my notes. soo I thought I would try to buy some more paper. Nope doesnt exist here. We went to like 4 stores, asking for paper...with speed holes. nope. So i just cut speed holes myself.

The other thing, was toilet paper. They have it at the store near by, but .. I forgot. Plus my companion made fun of me for talking about buying toilet paper.oh well. maybe next year. (just .. I dont recommend ever touching me again.)

I also had some jello, that I threw in my bags, when I was in the MTC. I ate that too, for christmas. that was cool. I thought i would get sick for eating that, but so far so good.

Oh! ok so you know that feeling when you suck a ramen noodle up your nose, so you can grab both sides (from nose and mouth), and floss... your nose? ok just think about that for a mintue.

ok.

So here is my advice. Dont do that with rice. So i was eatting rice the other day, and while i was eating it, i sniffed (or something), and huge spoonful of rice went into the nose cavity thinging. not good. For about 15 mintues I tryed blowing my nose, each time getting more and more rice on my shirt. I cleaned up, thought about how rice will always be for me for now on, and then went back into the kitchen and relized that there was still more rice left. and ate it. Yah, I woke up the next morning, I had rice on me too. Bastos! (nasty!)

Oh ok so, When I was calling home, someone asked about the foods I have been eating. Mostly I have been cooking for my self. (rice, onions,garlic, tomatos,eggs.. or something) (sometimes carrot and cabbage soup, or what ever my companion makes).

But with members, Its a little different. The best thing is this thing called pansit (i think). its just brown noodles of some sort. They also (in my area only) they have bukol salad (coconut) alot (because lots and lots of coconuts here). Everything else I cant remember the name, but i usally eat it anyways. (because we cant leave untill i finish... even if we are just stopping to say hi).
There are alot of aso (dogs) on the streets. really alot. And I know when one gets hit by a car, they become someones meal. Actally I hear its pretty tasty, and people eat it... fairly... well on occacion. I havent had any.

I was telling a story about when I was eating at someones house, early. When I asked what the 2 dishes were they (with rice), they said pork and pusa (cat). When I gave a funny look, and started reaching for the "pork", They said, oh no. joke. joke lang (just joke). both are pork. soooo i dont know. I just ate it.

Yesterday.... I dont know what it was at all. We came to try a family, that appently was a former investigater. When we started talking with them, we saw the tatay (the dad)... cooking(?) something. It looked like purple water. I knew this wasnt good, when my companion asked what it was, and then said, ohhh its pagkain (ohhh its food). Well we taght a fairly long lession, and finished just in time to eat some purple .. stuff. So the best way to discribe what it looked like.... well in 2 words : purple, goo. have you ever seen better off dead, the movie? sorta like that. execpt it wasnt alive still. I am not really sure what it tasted like, (i think there must have been some flour in there), but i only got half way, and I was trying to get my companion to eat the rest of mine. He told they owners of the house that, and she was like, you can eat it (meaning me). great... i was pretyt full and prolly would have thrown up if i finished it. but the ward mission leader was working with us, and ate it for me. I owe that man my life.

I guess before I finish I should tell you of some more, important things.

So right around christmas (22nd), We went to go visit some people, to teach. Everyone loves to give you food, espessally around christmas. early that day I had this thing... i think it was a plant, that was boiled in water. It wasnt too bad but was super full. anyways at this appontment they... gave us more food. We tryed to refuse at first, but they insisted. Anyways the sister of our investigater, who i think lives next door, came over and made 6 sandwichs for the 3 of us (me, companion, and member), of orange goo. ok this is normal orange goo, i have seen it in america, maybe mayo or something? anyways. that was it, bread and goo. But, something kinda touched me with this goo-sandwich (hmm i might sound a little gay here), was that the house we were in, was fairly small. like, think of a queen size bed..ok. then build walls around it, out of some bamboo, Then on a part of the long end of one side, place the small bathroom of our house (Its actally pretty cool looking, I am a little jeloius). ok thats the whole thing. in the bed area.. there was a bed. in the other area, there was a plastic-yard bench and a little table-box(which prolly had all of there things in it). When we came in, they placed a chair in there for the member, we sat on the bench, and that took up the whole house. the investigater sat on that table thing, and the sister that came just stood at the door.

Some thing that was cool was that I realized that I could commuate with the sister who brought the food. What was werid, was that there really should have been a language barrier. As she couldnt speak at all, and could only commiuate with sign language. She could hear, a little i think. I felt kinda dumb, that i felt like i couldnt commiate with people here. She actally stayed for the lession, which was pretty cool. I guess I have never tasted a better orange-goo sandwich before.. actally 2.

anyways, I was telling heidi, that on the 23rd I could comminate with people. I just went and talked with people. One converisaion i had with someone, was all about how I couldnt speak tagalog at all. It started with someone at a part-members house, said that i didnt know how to speak tagalog still right? And I begain with, yah. we must have gone on for 20 or so mintues before my companion, stopped me, and we started the lession. I think maybe I have grandpa dickinsons trate, where he can go to any countiy around the world and be able to commuate just fine. I think I just got to find the confidence that grandpa has.

ok well, we just had transfer annocements, and I was fairly sure I was going to be transfered, because.. me and my companion just got to be friends yesterday. well actally we are still companions, which is pretty cool. so yah. good news. balar is sweet and awesome.

ok well I guess I g2g soon, so Ill tell one more story, i guess.

I think I figured out the problem with me not being teach very well. I would study... mosts the time. but it was just kinda general. Something I tryed yesterday was actally writing a lession plan for a lession. That would help. I guess its kinda like going to give a talk (or teach a lession) at church, with out really preparing at all.. and expecting it to make since. And now I am planing to use my language study to practice things i might would actally say. Well for day 1, its been effective.

In the lession I prepared for yesterday, I started fairly well... but things didnt go prefect to plan. And I thought of this analgy when my companion started talking about something, that we hadn't planned for at all.

I guess our message is about helping them, get from where they are to a destiation. (hopefully the temple or something). so its kinda like hiking. We are guides to help them make it to the distantion. We arent going to make it in one day, its going to take a while. We actally dont know exactly the path, because we are just jumping into there hiking trip.

In hiking we say, today, we want to get accross the river, 10 miles away. or we plan in our planner, talk about faith.

In hiking we could plan the path we will take, or make a lession plan to help us get there.

The problem is we dont really know whats the best way, so in teaching we are guided by the spirit. But we dont really know where thats taking us, and it kinda feels like to me, that we are about to walk off a cliff. Some how we are to trust that there a invisible pathway, that will take us the right way. Well thats how it feels to me, when my companions starts talking about something, random (to me). I actally thought of coyote and roadrunner. somehow roadrunner and coyote can walk on the air... but when they look down (coyote) then they fall down.

Anyways I don't know if that made since but it kinda does to me.. (well i dont have to time to read it... so maybe it does). I guess the point is i think i figured out if i dont plan, It will be really hard to get started, at least.

anyways... ummm

merry pasko.

bye

elder dickinson