Right now I am in Puerto Princessa for mission tour and for the christmas party. It has been pretty good so far. We got to stay in a hotel here and they had HOT SHOWERS!!! I will never take a hot shower for granted for the rest of my life. Last night I took a shower for about 20 minutes. It was awesome. Never take things like that for granted. In my first apartment we took bucket showers where you take a half gallon ladle and scoop water up and dump it on yourself. I am lucky to have an apartment that has a shower head.
It is a little weird being in a more modern society in Puerto. There are a lot of cars and restaurants. There is also some traffic and I actually saw an airplane flying which I never see in my area.
This past week we have been focusing more on finding "lost investigators" or people we find in the area book who we don't know but have a teaching record. It is kind of a fun way to find people. We are working with some great investigators and families. The only problem is getting them to church because they either have to walk about a mile or take a trike with is expensive for them.
One cool thing this past week was I tried sugar cane. We were out trying to find people and teach lessons when we saw a man holding a plant stock shaving off the outside. We decided to talk to him. He wan't that interested but he shared some sugar cane with us. It is very fibrous like soft wood. You bite off a little bit and chew it. It just tastes like sugar water. Then you spit it out. It gave me a little bit of a sugar headache but it was cool to try.
Sorry no pictures this week. I don't have my camera on me because I left it at the hotel. The hardest thing to get used to is probably just missionary life. I think that is the same for anywhere in the world. I am actually comfortable with the area. I thought I would feel really bad for the people because of how poor they are but I don't think they think of themselves as as poor as we see them. They just think we are super rich. They seem content and have what they need. Missionary life is a little difficult at times because of how regulated our schedule is and all the rules.
My favorite thing about living in the Philippines is that the people are generally nicer and more friendly than in the united states. It makes being a missionary a lot easier.
Thanks for the email
Love, Matthew
Love, Elder Harkness
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