September 5, 2015 - One Month Down!

We received an email and 2 snail mail letters from Michael this week (he makes his Mama so happy), so I will condense them all into this one post. 

Hey Dad And Mom!

This week went by so fast! The only time that seems slow is when we have extra study time. It always seems to take forever and I get stressed because I still don't feel like I've found a very effective way to study yet. But all-in-all it's going well. 

Looks like your trip was a lot of fun! Yosemite does look really cool, but I think you're right--Zions is more impressive. But no where is better than Utah! (we may be a little biased!) I'm glad you were able to make it home safely and that you are out riding your motorcycles.  Every-now-and-again when I'm outside someone will roll by on a bike and it makes me miss it. :/ BTW; Thanks for taking care of my bike and my truck. It makes me sad that I can't baby them for awhile!

I got Mom's Dear Elder a few days ago- thank you for sending that! It's so nice to be able to stay in the loop with what is happening. I also got one from Hayley which is cool!  I forgot to bring the letter you sent with me to the computer so I could comment on your trip, and I cant really remember a whole lot of what it said. haha! Sorry...There is just so much information getting crammed into my head each week! It's nice though and I'm learning so many good things like I have said before!

I'll try and answer the questions you've asked. I've tried filling you in with everything, but I know you like details, so here goes:

• There are 8 Elders (including me) in my District: Me, Elder Adams, Elder Kellershass, Elder Seeds, Elder Cuillard, Elder Wardle, Elder Orr and Elder Blamires. There are 4 other Elders going to Iloilo - Elder Chapman, Elder Robertson, Elder Staples and Elder Mudrow--but they are not in my district. We do not have any Sister missionaries going to Iloilo, but there are 4 in our Branch going to Bacolod.
• The rooms are pretty comfortable here at the MTC. We are in a nice remodled building. Some of the other buildings have not been remolded yet, and are kind of old and 70's'ish looking, so I feel pretty lucky I got one of the new ones.  Plus most have 6 elders to a room and we only have 4--lucky again! ;) I take my showers at night still, which works out good since most everyone else takes there in the morning. We all have I.D. cards that are like a debit card to use at the MTC to buy stuff at the bookstore, the vending machines, etc. They put $6 a week on it, but I only use it to buy stamps and stuff.  The Bookstore is pretty cool. They pretty much have everything a missionary would need...letters, paper, pens, notebooks, journals, food, laundry stuff, soap, medications. They also have a barber shop (free haircuts), print shop, dry cleaning, and post office. I was really surprised how much stuff they have here! It's like a small city.
• Sundays are the best days. They are easy days since we don't have as much studying on those days, but there are a few meetings that I have to try not to fall asleep in..haha. 

This week we got to help with the new missionaries again. My district did traffic control so we told all of the families where to park and where to go. It was pretty fun! I put sunscreen everywhere but the top of my forehead so I got a weird looking burn--it was kinda funny but still helping with incoming missionaries is fun! We had about 30 new Philippines missionaries come in (they are all speaking Cebuano) and a lot of them are from Tonga/Somoa. They're cool and really nice guys. I had them help me out with playing volleyball today and I surprisingly learned a few things! 

On Thursday we got to Skype members who speak Hilyganon! I was really nervous about it because all the other people we have taught have been in person. We actually did't do too bad, but I had to use a lot of English to get the point across.  The language is a gigantic barrier, but I pick up new words everyday. We also got to teach a lady name Grace through Skype. She is Filipino and served a mission in Iloilo. She was really nice and totally babied us with the language. I really, really enjoy teaching, but it is going to take a lot of work to get the language down. I was expecting that, of course. But still.  I figured I would be really nervous when I teach, but I haven't been. I've surprised myself with how much I enjoy it.  Hopefully, I can keep that attitude up when I teach the Filipino people :)

I am really looking forward to getting to the Philippines! We are supposed to get our flight plans tonight hopefully so we are all looking forward to knowing the details. Only 11 more days I think and we GET OUT OF HERE! :) I can't wait! I am really looking forward to talking with you all on the phone that day too. 

Here are some Pics I took this week:

Me and my Comp with Bro. Metcalf from our Branch Presidency. Super nice guy!

I got a Hilyganon Bilble to add to my Hilyganon Book of Mormon. Sweet!

 

It's nice to have a break on P-Day.  It is really needed after a week like this one! We did all kinds of stuff and we are all so worn out mentally.So knowing you have a break coming helps! And of course I always look forward to emails on Friday. We went to the Temple this morning and did sealings and that was really cool. Now there's still a lot of stuff I have to get done today like laundry, haircut, clean up our room, and do some studying. Sounds like a heck of a good time I'm sure you're thinking! LOL Only one more Friday after today and I'll be done with the MTC!

That's awesome that you are starting the South fence.  I can't tell you how upset I am that I don't get to dig the holes for it! ;) haha.  The outside of the house is going to be sooo different when I get back. The trees will grow a lot in 2 years.  I am looking forward to seeing it!
I gotta run! I Love you very much!!
Love, Elder Rasmussen