Life in the Philipines

I haven't been able to email in the past week and a half.  That is because my p day is on monday and we weren't allowed to email.  I am glad to be out of the MTC.  I was able to go to the manila temple which is right across the street from the MTC.  There is a cool underground tunnel that leads to the temle grounds.  The temple was under construction so we weren't able to do a session. 

   Part of one of the last meals I ate at the MTC was fish head soup.  It was sour and tasted pretty bad.  I have never had anything like it. Interesting flavor.  I have eaten so much rice.  I think there was only one meal at the MTC that there wasn't rice.  While at the MTC we went on splits with the missionaries in the Manila mission.  The person I went with was from Australia.  There are actually a few missionaries here from new  zealand and australia.  We visited different people's houses.  In the first house we walked in and I saw the lady that lived there eating a plate full of chicken feet.  The other lessons were good.  We got one less active lady to feel the spirit.  The people are so short here.  They know I am short for an American but I am still taller than a lot of them.  

     This past week I have been in my first area.  I have been assigned to the village of Quezon on Palawan.  It is a lot different from Manila city.  A lot of the people live in bamboo houses and fishing is a common job here.  I live in a house with my trainer, Elder Beltran and two other elders.  There is no shower so we use a bucket full of water and a big ladel to shower.  It is a little cold.  I am the only one from America.  The others are all from around the Philippines.  They are all nice and speak English.  One thing about Palawan is that a lot of people don't speak English.  In Manila most people speak English.  This will help my Tagalog come along.  I feel bad for some of the poor people here an wish that I could just give them everything they need but I can't.  I can only give them the gospel and that will bless them more than any material I could give them.

     I still don't speak this language well but I can pick out a few words here and there.  It is coming along.  In lessons my companion tells me what is going on and then I am able to teach.

     On Sunday we had a baptism for two girls in the area.  My companion let me baptize.  It was cool.  I hope they will stay active in the church.  The biggest problem in this area is inactivity.  There are a lot of members but a lot of them are inactive.  The members here all say that I look like Joseph Smith.  The people here also make other observations about me such as "your nose in pointed" and "you have fangs".

     One family we are trying to work on in the almoguera family.  The dad and the brother are members but the mom and the two sisters aren't.  They are so poor.  Their bamboo house burned down before I got there and so they are working on their house.  They cook all their meals over a fire.  This is the family that I wish I could help the most.  

     On Sunday we had a meeting with the branch president before church.  I don't know what they talked about but the room was nice and air conditioned so I was fine with not understanding because I was comfortable.  In sacrament meeting I was asked to bear my testimony.  The members only laughed a little about my tagalog.  

     Last night we taught a family of new investigators.  This was the second time missionaries have taught them.  We talked about receiving answers through prayer.  I asked them to be baptised and the said yes.  I don't know how committed they are though.  The spirit was strong.

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Love, Elder Harkness

Life in the Philippines

This past week was good and I have been adjusting.  Last P-day I got a haircut for 40 pesos or about 90 cents.  Things are so cheap here.  Any American could move here and be rich.  After P day we went to an area called bliss and taught a new investigator named Jerson.  The first time I met him was when he was drunk in the street one night.  He was really upset.  He comes from a broken family and seems to have a lot of problems.  He is really receptive to the gospel.  We asked him to be baptised and he said yes.  I don't know how committed he is though.  He didn't show up at church this past week but I can understand how it would be scary for an investigator to go to church.

     On Tuesday we had a district meeting.  It was in English so I could understand what was going on.  Elder Beltran and I paid the water and electric bills for the house.  We went out and found and taught some investigators and asked them to be baptized.  They said yes.  I know it might seem early but as missionaries we are supposed to ask people to be baptized no later than the second lesson.  It makes me worried that even though they have a baptismal date they might not be completely converted.  I am just doing my job and following the mission rules and will see what happens.  I just don't want to baptize a bunch of people and  then have them all go inactive.  Inactivity is a huge problem here and I try not to get frustrated with these members.  Later that day we went to a new house (or bamboo wood structure) and taught the people there.  It was a young father and mother and a young baby.  We taught them the first lesson and asked them to be baptized.  The father said yes but the mother is a member and has been less active for years.  

     Wednesday we went around teaching.  We got two new investigators.  the first one said he would be baptized if he received an answer.  The other one said yes.  Again, I am worried that everyone we baptize will just go inactive soon after.

     Thursday we did a service project for a branch president in a different area.  We cut the grass in his yard.  People here don't have lawn mowers.  To cut the grass we used machete type knives and used them like a sickle.  It was fun and a new experience but I could have gotten the whole thing done in 15 minutes with just a weed whacker.  After, the branch president fed us.  We had rice, meat and Shrimp.  We taught Jerson again.  He said that whenever he saw the missionaries he had a good feeling.

     On Saturday we moved apartments.  Our old house was huge.  There were a lot of rooms and an upstairs.  I like the new apartment better.  For one, we now have running water all the time and two, if there is a blackout (which happens about every other day) there is solar power.  It is much better and I like it a lot.

There are a lot of things to get used to in the Philippines.  One cool thing is that at night I can see the galaxy like a cloud stretching across the sky.  The stars are pretty cool here.  One freaky thing is the bats.  In the evening when I look up in the sky I see giant bats flying around.  They are HUGE.  They are at least the size of a hawk.  The plants and animals here sure are different.

     Well, that is pretty much everything that happened this past week.

Love, Elder Harkness

The Manila MTC

 I made it to the MTC in Manila.  Everything has been good so far.  I am super tired though.  We will be going to bed at 7:00 tonight so I am excited for that.  We had lunch and that was a little different.  A lot of the food tasted strange but we had rice so there was one thing that I was familiar with.  About three weeks ago when the other missionaries got here they had fish head soup so I guess I got lucky.   

     I didn't get any pictures in Hong Kong because we only had a one hour layover and with how long it took to get off the plane we were in a huge hurry.  We got onto the plane with ten minutes to spare.  It was really exciting.  After landing in Manila we took a bus to the MTC.  The driving here is crazy.  It is hard to describe.  People drive so close to each other and there seems to be almost no rules on lane changes and right of way.  I don't know how they don't get in accidents all the time.  Here there are the tallest skyscrapers I have ever seen and there are a lot of them in certain areas.  I am not sure what to think of this place yet.  

     I will be in the MTC for five days and then will go out and into the world.  I am really excited for that.  Sorry I don't have pictures now but I will next week.

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Love, Elder Harkness

Only one more week!

  Only one more week left. I am so excited to get to the Philippines.  My flight is next Wednesday.  I will fly to California, then to Hong Kong, and then to the Philippines. 

     Last thusday we skyped someone that went to the Philippines (the hope was that we would be able to skype someone in the Philippines but that didn't happen for me and my companion).  We ended up skyping someone in Ohio who was a missionary in the Philippines and teaching a lesson (like home teaching) to him.  

     On Sunday we did our temple walk and then watched music and the spoken word.  We had choir practice and President Holland's son (the president of UVU) came and spoke to us.

     On Tuesday Elder Neil L. Andersen came and spoke to us.  He talked about missionary work and he said "be clean" "be obedient" "be busy".  It was a great talk  It was a worldwide devotional involving probably all of the MTC's around the world.  We sang in the Choir.

     Well, that is pretty much everything notable that I can think of that happened this past week.

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Love, Elder Harkness

"Nakakapagpabagabag"

   It has been a pretty normal week.  Nothing really exciting happened.  On Sunday I didn't get called on to give a talk but me and my companion gave the lesson in priesthood.  We listened to a speaker that night and then watched the Joseph Smith movie. 

     I found some more really long words in tagalog:  "Pinakamakapangyarihan" means "almighty".  And "Nakakapagpabagabag" means "disturbing".  Someone was saying the second word is the hardest word in the language.  I can rarely ever say it right but it is fun to try.

     For choir we sang Lead, Kindly Light and I really liked that.  I really like singing in the choir because it is a good break from studying and stuff like that.

     This past Wednesday I hosted and picked up some new missionaries.  They all seem to have no idea what is going on and what to expect.  It is kind of funny.

     Earlier today I went to the dentist because a tooth I chipped a few years ago started hurting and I got it filled.  It was weird going into the real world and I was actually a little afraid that someone would want to argue with us about religion.  Nothing like that happened.  

   Well, that is pretty much everything that happened this past week.  I only have two weeks left here in the MTC and then my emails will be a lot more interesting.  

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Love, Elder Harkness