We are in the middle of a typhoon (literally today we're in the eye of the typhoon) but it's not too bad. Banna is on a signal two, out of four, four being the worst, but we haven't actually gotten a lot of wind or rain, so I'm kind of disappointed about that. But it's still going to be here for another day or two so there is still hope haha. The typhoon is named Lando, and so far we're all safe here.
Its been a good week here in Banna. We had an investigator interviewed and passed off for baptism this Saturday!!!! So I'm pumped for that. And then there we had some good service projects and lessons and finding and some exchanges. All in all a good week.
During the exchanges, I had a thought. Me and my companion usually cook using this stuff called magic sarap. It means magic delicious in English. Its pretty good! It makes it easy to cook, and it is pretty delicious, but my companion for exchanges, man he knew how to cook. He had been cooking since he was in fourth grade, and he was good at it. All of the sudden, I had all sorts of new delicious flavors that were awesome! I loved it. I think that a lot of the time our life can be like this. We get stuck in ruts, doing the same thing over and over again, and that's alright. The magic sarap of life is pretty ok. But as we try to find ways to use new spices (find new ways to study, new ways to serve, new ways to grow closer as a family) our life becomes so much fuller. Many times we read our scriptures the same way every day, do the same things, do family home evening because we know we should, but as we try to change it up sometimes, and do everything a little bit better every day, we will become so much happier. The church is there to make us happier, but we have to put some effort in. Sometimes it takes a little bit more time to do these things the way they should be done, but the joy that it brings is so incredible its all worth it. I love you all, and have a wonderful week!
Elder Childs
Answers to Dad's Questions:
How is the teaching going? How many appointments do you have each week? Teaching is good. We're averaging a little more than twenty lessons in a week, but the standard of excellence is forty, so we're working on bumping that up.
Do you have any baptisms scheduled? We have four investigators with a baptismal date, one this week!!! But only three of them are progressing.
How many baptisms does your mission do in a month? The mission standard of excellence is 4 baptisms per companionship per month, but we're not very close to that. I don't know exactly what, but hopefully its growing!
Do you ever eat with the members? We eat with members fairly often. Not every day, but a couple of times a week. Its always delicious whatever it is, and I really like the rice. Which is good haha.
What is your favorite food so far? I don't know. I really just eat whatever. I like the adobo, oh and they have this really delicious thing, its called ube. It's like a purple yam that they use in baking breads and cookies and cakes a lot. I don't know if there's any of it in america, but you should see if you can find it and try it. It's awesome.
Answers to Mom's Questions:
What is the most interesting thing you have learned about the Filipino people in your area? How do they differ or how are they the same as you? Philippinos are loud! That's what I've learned most about them. They're so crazy, but its fun. And they're very family oriented and kind. I love being around them, but their sense of humor is a little bit different than in America.
Do you do your own laundry? Do you have a housekeeper? We do our own laundry and everything, We do have a washing machine. No housekeeper though.
Sonda Smith said she taught a lot of Filipino people on her mission. She said back then the women were always very interested in the church but the men didn't want to have anything to do with it. Do you find this to be the case in Banna? It is a little bit like that. We have about fifty people that attend sacrament meeting regularly, and probably 10 of them are men. The rest are women and children. But we've got some really good investigators with the whole family interested, it's just sometimes hard to meet with them because of work.
Do you do any service projects there? What are they? We do do service projects! I'll send some pictures of the two that we've done so far. They're fun stuff!
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| This was our service project this morning. We cleaned up the lot of the future church. (With machetes. So basically the coolest) |
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| We built this for one of the members last week. Its an extension to her kitchen. It actually turned out pretty well! |
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| We had a birthday party and this was the delicious food! Those are hot dogs on sticks with marshmallows, just in case you were wondering (: |
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