11/03/2014 More Motorcycle Craziness!!

Hey Mom and Dad! Thank you for all your emails! It looks like you had a good week! Thank you for the advise and also for filling me in on what you’ve been doing. I had a really crazy week that was very eventful.

Guimaras Mangos!



On Tuesday I went on splits with an Elder on the other side of the island in a place called Nueva Valencia that is a really beautiful area! A lot of the houses are right on the beach, and it is way cool! On Thursday we had a trainers and trainees meeting at the Mission office which was great because I got to see all of my MTC buddies and hear how they are doing! A few of them have lost a lot of weight! I don’t feel like I have at all. I really do eat very well so I don’t have any reason to lose weight ha ha! So we got to go into the city that day which I like. It is fun to cruise around in the city every now and then. That is where we are right now because it is our "SM" day. 





Friday (Halloween!) I went on another split with the zone leaders. Elder Banang and I had a really interesting experience! We taught several lessons and after our last lesson we started to walk home down the road.

Elder Banang and Elder Rasmussen

We were just walking along talking and I could hear a motorcycle coming up behind us really fast but didn’t think to look behind because idiots zoom past us all the time. The dip stick ran right into Elder Banang and hit my wrist with the handle bars. Elder Banang seemed hurt really bad and the driver was just in the middle of the road like unconscious underneath his bike. It was a really scary moment because I was the only man standing! I quickly gave him a blessing which I wasn’t prepared for, but I did it and hurried and called President Aquino. In a few minutes a million Filipinos were all around us so it didn’t take long for help to come. We ended up riding in an ambulance down to the wharf and then took the boat to Iloilo where we went to the hospital. I was 100% ok--I promise!! haha But it was scary because I thought Elder Banang was hurt really bad. But amazingly enough he's actually totally ok. I ended up staying the night in Arevalo and Pres. Aquino bought us Mc Donalds for dinner, so that was pretty sweet! That night I was a bit miserable because I couldn’t brush my teeth or shower since we didn't have any of our stuff with us and I had to sleep on the tile floor with no mattress, but I was so tired I slept like a log anyways. So that was the crazy Halloween night we had!

The Mission Home

Sunday was a really good day! We had a lot of good lessons and then after church, Elder Fogavai and I made a huge lunch that was fried chicken, veggies, mac and tuna, fried bananas and rice. It was so good!

We couldn’t really teach our families too much this week because of all the meetings we had, but we have been doing a lot more plan of salvation lessons, so that has been great. Which, by-the-way, thanks for continuing to pray for me to receive the gift of “Chit Chat” Mom! LOL You are right—I don’t like it much, and it’s been really hard for me to get used to, but I’ve got a while to figure out how to do it and learn to love it.

Homes Sweet Home

 By-The-Way, here are some more pictures of the house where I live. I don't think I ever sent these to you before:


Although I'm happy and having really great experiences here, for some reason I wake up every morning homesick. It is just in the morning.  Once the day gets moving and we start getting busy, I feel a lot better.  Don’t worry though because I’m still getting used to this and I really do have a lot of fun. 
Speaking of fun, on Saturday we walked past this house that was blasting Taylor Swift and I was totally singing along with it even though, as you know, I HATE Taylor Swift!! HAHA Just shows you how much I miss music... :) It’s all part of the sacrifice!

Time is going so quickly though can you believe it has been 3 months since you dropped me off?? It’s crazy I feel like that was yesterday. Plus its insane to think about how quickly the last 2 years went by. Blows my mind! I remember when we went to that firework show at Camp Floyd which has already been well over 2 years agon. Seems not so long ago. Time comes and it goes! :)

Well I love you Mom, Dad and Hayley very much! I am so thankful for my awesome family! I know I tell you this every week, but I feel the need to keep telling you that! I’m doing great and I am very safe. HAHA Even though I am not going to let motorcycles go by me anymore without totally watching them!! Crazy freaking drivers! haha. Which btw: He might have been drunk -- we’ve heard a million different stories from people, so who knows?? The whole island knows about the two Mormons that got ran into (bunggo). My 15 minutes of fame I guess!

Love you all!! Elder Michael