Playing basketball in a short persons world

Last p day we played basketball at the church.  It is a lot more fun here because I don't have people towering over me.  We only had two lessons but they were really good.  The second one was with some people that do funerals.  The house was really nice for here.

     Tuesday we had district meeting.  It rained so hard that half of our yard turned into a pond.  the other elders' flip flops were out floating around in the water.  We also did companion exchanges today and I went to the other Quezon area.  We taught some lessons to people that have houses really close to the ocean.

     Wednesday we just taught lessons.  We went to an area with a big field with coconut trees and karabaw roaming around.  It is one of my favorite places in my area.  

     Thursday we had interviews with president Ostler.  We got up and left early to get to Narra in time.  Whenever we need to go to Narra we call a shuttle service and they come and pick us up.  There are always shuttles going up and down Palawan.

     Friday we had a really good lesson with a new investigator.  I was able to understand the general idea of everything and was able to answer her questions.  It was a really good lesson and she seems really interested in the church.  It was raining that day  and the zone leaders told us to go home early because of the water in the streets.  I think it must have been a lot worse where the zone leaders live because we have had worse days than that and still stayed out.

     Saturday we had three baptisms.  Two of our own and one of the other Quezon elders.  The baptismal service was packed and there were a lot of people.  The two investigators that got baptized that were mine and my companion's  are  in their 50s.  They have a pretty big family and I think all of their kids are members so now that they are baptized their family all belongs to the church.  One of their daughters received her mission call a few weeks ago and I think that helped with converting the parents.  President Ostler came to the baptism because he was recently on Palawan for interviews.
   

The baptism we had this last saturday.  The man on the right did the baptizing.  This family is now complete.  (some of the little kids actually aren't part of the family they just wanted to be in the picture)  

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Love, Elder Harkness

Rats

Last Monday someone came to cut the weeds in the yard.  He used a big weed wacker.  It took him a long time because we live on probably 1/3 of an acre.  The weeds were above my knees but now it is nice and short. 

     Tuesday we had zone meeting so we all went to Narra.  For lunch we ate at a place called Jollibee.  It is a really popular fast food restaurant in the Philippines.  There is no Jollibee in Quezon so it was my first time trying it.  There wasn't much on the menu besides rice and chicken but it was good.

     We had a ton of lessons on wednesday.  We gave a blessing of healing to a little who was struggling with a fever and pain.  The spirit was really strong.

     Thursday we had a busy day.  We paid the electric bills for the house and traveled all over our area.  We got 6 new investigators.  Later in the day it rained.  I actually enjoyed it.  Sometimes I like to be out doing missionary work in the rain.

     One thing that has been going on at the apartment is we seem to have won the war with the rats.  My companion bought rat poison and we set it out.  The next morning it was gone.  The one problem is that the rat died in one of the walls in the bedroom so it stinks pretty bad.  The smell seems to be going away slowly.

     Friday We redid our whiteboard that helps us know what our investigators need and what lessons they have had.  For lunch we went out and grabbed some food that people sell at their houses.  We got different foods to go on the rice.  One of the foods was pig intestines which I tried thinking it was just strips of meat.  It tasted just like the meat market smells.  All of the other food was really good.

     Saturday we went around teaching with Rodel.  That night I tried something called "salted egg".  It is a chicken egg that they put in mud.  I assume they put salt in the mud with the egg.  It had a weird texture but it was good with other food.  

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Love, Elder Harkness

Lots of lessons

 This has been a pretty usual week.  The only big difference was that my companion and I were able to get a ton of lessons.  On one day we got 9 lessons. 

     Monday was the first day of the new transfer.  I am still in Quezon with Elder Beltran.  He is a good companion and works hard.

     Tuesday we had district meeting.  We had our 72 hour kits checked and had them completed.  One of our investigators who goes to church every week and is a great investigator had her baptismal interview.  She "passed" but she said that she wants to be baptized with her husband so no baptism this past Saturday.  It is kind of unfortunate because her husband is often gone and doesn't keep commitments.  We will see if we can get her husband to progress or have her baptized without him.  We do have some other investigators progressing to baptism that I believe will go through so we are still hopeful.     

     Wednesday we had 9 lessons!  We were going all over.  It was awesome.  Earlier in the day when we finished our studies and were about to go out it was raining super hard.  There were small rivers running through the streets.  We still went out because we are obedient missionaries.  My pants got soaked at the bottom.  It was fun though and I like doing missionary work in different circumstances.

     Thursday not much happened.  I saw the zombie dog again.  It was a lot worse and I can't imagine it will live much longer with its insides exposed through a gaping hole.  I won't give a more detailed description.  I just wonder what it would look like to shine a light inside the dog?  Sorry if that grosses any of you out.

   Not much else happened the rest of the week so I guess I will talk about life in the Philippines.  It seems like the months really have no meaning here.  Back at home when I think of October I think of 70 degree weather with the leaves changing colors and Halloween.  I think of the months relative to the weather  and the season back at home but here it is always summer.  It is weird to think that back at home it is getting cold and there will soon be snow.

     One funny thing here that I have forgotten to mention in previous emails is how they celebrate Christmas.  The start celebrating on September 1 and go until the end of December.  People have put up Christmas lights and Christmas trees and people often want to sing Christmas hymns.  As my companion and I walk around we can sometimes hear Christmas music playing from people's homes and in the trikes in the streets.  

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Love, Elder Harkness

Eating on the beach

This past week we had out zone activity.  It was in Narra.  We went to the beach and had food and games.  It was really fun.  I found some cool shells and a few small sand dollars.  The ocean here is warm just like in Belize.  We cooked the food on the beach over coals.  We roasted chickens over coals by turning them on a stick.  When all the food was cooked we ate in the traditional philippino way.  We laid banana leaves on the table and dumped the rice and all the food on it.  Everyone ate with their hands.  One thing that I don't understand is why philippinos still eat with their hands.  For meals in the appartment sometimes the elders eat with their hands.  I can't stand having food on my hands.  Anyway, the zone activity was fun and it was a nice break from missionary work. 

I have still been adjusting to the food here.  Sometimes I get sick of eating rice for every meal.  Occasionaly I will make something else for a meal.  sometimes the other elders think the food I make is weird.  I jokingly tell them that they can't think my food is weird because they eat intestines, pure fat, balut (duck egg with a duck inside), and a lot of other weird things.  For the most part the food here is really good.  There is a lot of rice but there is also a lot of good stuff to go with the rice.

On Wednesday it rained almost all day.  There was so much water in the streets my pants got soaked near the bottom.  For the first time I was actually a little cold.  It was pretty surprising.  We taught a lot of lessons.

On Thursday I had been on my mission for three months.  It seems like it was really long and really short at the same time.  It is weird to think that time is still passing at home.  It is also weird to think that it is getting colder at home and will always be warm here.

Friday was and awesome day.  When we went out we taught a great lesson to an investigator who will be baptized this Saturday.  After that we had a dinner appointment with another two investigators that are progressing very well.  The lesson went well and at the end the two investigators' daughter opened her mission call.  There have been four mission call openings while I have been here.  They are all to the Philippines.  

Saturday and Sunday we were able to watch general conference.  I was so happy that I got to watch it in English.  It was really good.  It did make me a little homesick but it was really motivating.

This past week I saw a really scary looking zombie dog.  When Elder Beltran and I were walking I noticed it.  As we got closer I could see sores and open wounds on its head and on its body.  On the side of the dog there was a gaping hole that when I looked into it I could clearly see one of the dog's ribs.  The dog was just standing there like nothing at all was wrong.  It was an image that took a while to get out of my head.  Some of the dogs here are really freaky.  The other week I saw one that was half skinned.  The dogs get in vicious fights.  There truly is a zombie dog apocalypse here.

This past week was good and I am really liking this area.  The members and people are nice and my Tagalog is coming along.  I am starting to understand bits and pieces of what people say.

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Love, Elder Harkness

The life of a missionary

   On monday we had a district activity.  We went to a waterfall in the jungle.  It was fun.  We cooked chicken and rice and took it with us.  We ate it there at the watterfall.  To get there we hiked through the jungle for about a third of  a mile.  We also passed by someones farm with karabw and lots of coconut trees. 

     Later that day we taught lessons.  There was one lesson to one man about the word of wisdom.  He has been having a hard time quitting so we gave him a a blessing.  The spirit was strong.

     On tuesday my companion and I went to the dentist to get his tooth fixed.  The dentist was surprisingly qualified and modern.  I was expecting a sketchy dentist and old fashioned dentist tools.  Later that day we had one lesson that was going very well.  Then I noticed a child that was holding a chick.  The chick was obviously hurting the chick and by the end of the lesson it was dead.  The parents were very dissapointed in the kid.  I have noticed in almost every lesson we teach when we get to a good part or the investigator seems to be progressing that is when something weird happens or the animals all around the house start acting up.  I guess that is how satan works here.

     Wednesday we were out trying to find more investigators.  We came to a hill and decided to see what was on the other side.   There was a bamboo house with a college student living there.  We taught him and he was really receptive.  Later that day we had a leson with another one of our families that is progressing to baptism.  The parents are just working on their marriage papers.

     Thursday was companion exchanges.  I was with an elder who has been out for a year and a half.  We went to one house with two older people living in it.  The wife hasn't been able to speak for the past six months after having a stroke.  We felt like we should give her a blessing.  The spirit was strong.  She wasn't healed immediately but we will see what happens.

     Friday we worked super hard.  We contacted one referral and the lesson went pretty well.  The lady was kind of weird though.  At the end of the lesson when she said the prayer she prayed really weird.  At the beginning she kept saying "Squopous" It doesn't mean anything in tagalog so my companion and I weren't sure what to think.

     We also taught a guy named Raffy.  He is 24 and is living with his girlfriend.  He wants to get married but in the Philippines you have to get parental permission until you are 25 and his parents won't approve.  He will turn 25 in the next few months so he can get married.

     Saturday was a really fun day.  We had family home evening with the Lipalams.  Elder Beltran and I cooked and brought food.  We showed the restoration film to them.  The spirit was really strong and they showed up to church the next day.

     After, we attended dinner with a lot of the ward members at the house of a girl who got her mission call to Davao, Philippines.  We were all gathered on an open platform that was stilted above the ocean.  While we were sitting and talking all of a sudden the floor suddenly dropped about 6 inches.  It was pretty scary.  It startled everyone.

     Sunday was a regular day.  After church we went and tried to teach lessons.  Recently, in our appartment we have been having a rat/mouse problem.  The night before we set out sticky pads to catch the mice.  When I got up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom I noticed that a rat had gotten stuck in the trap and then excaped.  Then I heard a squeak.  The rat was in the crack between mine and my companion's desk.  I smashed the desks together and left the rat there until morning.  The rat was still stuck but was unharmed the next morning.  It also escaped.  We have caught three rats so far and I know there are more to catch because I can hear them running around in the ceiling sometimes.

     One funny thing I have noticed here is how out of place I look to all of the people.  I never see any white people except the senior missionary couple.  Sometimes people come up to me to shake my hand which makes me feel like I'm famous.  they have no interest in shaking my companions hand because he is a Philippino.  People say hi to me a lot and sometimes the little kids follow me around.  I do magic tricks for the kids and give them high fives.  It is really fun.

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Love, Elder Harkness