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.
Love, Elder Harkness
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