Week #17 Be Ye Thankful....

11-24-2014

Guimaras with the City of Iloilo in the Distance

Hi Mom and Dad! This last week went by so fast its crazy how time flies! We had a good week and with our area being a lot bigger we've been able to get out to different parts of Buenavista and enjoy some different scenery. Its been fun to have a bit of a change.



Cute Little Buddy of Mine

We have a few new people we've been teaching that I was really hoping would attend church this week, but I think the fear of what others in their family will think is keeping them away. We are teaching a family named "Bingco" who have been our investigators since early October. There's the Mom and Dad and 3 kids (we did a service project for them a few weeks ago). They are such a great family! The oldest daughter is 18 and she has had a bunch of questions for us about the Book of Mormon written down in her journal when we come, so that has been so cool! They are really good people and I'm hoping they'll come to church

soon.  There is an area close to the Bingco Family that we go to with like five or six families and they are all the Galfo Family. We're teaching three of the families and they are really nice too. One of them is an older couple and the "tatay" is always drinking with his buddies when we go there haha He's super nice and funny though. We mostly teach the "nanay" and she is a very good listener so high hopes for her. We were in an area called Supang this last week and the members wouldn't let us go without eating with them! I was really hoping to avoid it because it was dry fish and rice haha but luckily there was a little chorizo that I was able to eat. I can't believe they eat dried fish! They give me a hard time and they think all I eat is bread because that's what the American Elders have a bad name for. I'm not picky, but so far I just have not been able to bring myself to eat dry, rotting fish. haha :) The area there is really cool! It is a mango farm. There are mango trees everywhere! But, Unfortunately, it's not mango season yet, so there are no mangos on the trees. :( I'm really hoping I'm still here for another few months so I don't miss mango season! 

I'm excited that you are feeding the Elders this week!! They should be very appreciative because for missionaries getting food is a huge thing! They will get really good food in a nice home, so what missionaries wouldn't appreciate that? We got fed by a member last night who would be considered one of the wealthier men around. Last week we missed a dinner appt. with him and he ended up cooking two chickens and a bunch of other stuff. We were so bummed we missed it! Last night he made us Filipino spaghetti and sugar bread haha He's super nice and we always enjoy going to his house. Plus he always gives us a ride on his motorcycles after our lessons.

Last Monday we got those fresh chickens from a ward member and they killed and cleaned them for us right on the spot! That was an experience! It was kind of sad the way they killed them :/ but, on the bright side we got super fresh chicken for cheap!

There are about 60 people who come to church each week.  Church here is the same as at home but the classes are held outside under the trees and obviously most everyone is pretty new to the church and still learning so sometimes things don't go exactly the way they are supposed to but it's all good and it's still church. I haven't had to speak in Sacrament yet but I've contributed to the lessons and bore my testimony several times. Sundays come around so quick its weird! 

I sure miss my family! I'm glad you were able to have a little bit of fun this past week together and that Hayley had a good horse show! I will sure miss Thanksgiving dinner this year! As you know It is my favorite holiday!! We have a lot of birthdays and parties coming up in the next month so hopefully we'll get well fed. I'm looking forward to it! BTW I weighed myself this morning and found that I have lost 30 freaking pounds and I'm 150 now compared to 180 in the MTC!! I couldn't believe it! I don't feel any lighter and I feel like I'm eating really healthy, so I guess its from all the walking we do. 

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving this week! Just picture me at the dinner table when you all eat :) Wow ~ I miss eating like a king haha.

Love you all!

Elder Michael

 

He Will Guide Your Footsteps If You Are Willing To Move Your Feet

11-16-2013

Getting some physical labor in!

Hey Mom and Dad! (and everyone reading my blog Mom is updating!)
Thank you so much for your emails and the inspirational messages you always send me Mom! Of course, Dad you are always staying busy and getting a ton of projects done as usual ;) and Mom I'm so glad Sister Taylor was able to email you . She is an extremely nice person and I am really going to miss her and Elder Taylor! Sister Taylor was right ~ I am doing really well and my confidence really *is* getting stronger each week! 

There was a ton of change in our area this past week because of Elder and Sister Taylor heading home. The other two Elders in our apartment moved out and into another apartment, so Elder F. and I are just a two man apartment now, which has been really nice since it gave us so much more room! We've been able to reorganize the apartment. We set up a new study area and having that makes our studies more enjoyable.

Our new Study Room Area

Me cooking my delicacies!

 

and we walk and walk and walk...

This last week we had the traveling AP's come on splits with us and I learned a lot!  Since the other Elders moved this past week, our area is now all of Buenavista and the whole North side of the Island, so we have a ton of new people we visit and teach now. I was a little worried about all of the area we have to cover, but it has really been fun and we are staying really busy which is awesome. 


We got some bikes this week, but they aren't in very good shape, so Elder F and I were trying to fix them. And then after all that we found out we aren't allowed to have bikes anymore, so I don't know what will happen now. I wish they would let us ride motorcycles since that is the main mode of transportation here on the island. Wouldn't that be cool? In my dreams! But oh well. If we can't use the bikes then we'll just keep hoofing it! We spend a lot of time walking! 

We went to birthday party of one of the Branch Members and I seriously felt like it was my birthday they were celebrating! haha! They treated us so well! We sat at the best seats and basically had first pick at the food haha We have some wonderful branch members here and they are such good people. They love the missionaries!

Today we are going to a member's house to get a chicken. She is going to butcher and clean it for us so I'm excited that we don't have to buy the nasty, expensive chicken at that filthy market! Speaking of food, I've really been learning a lot with cooking and have been eating pretty well! I made french toast and I made some banana raisin pancakes this morning that were great. Yesterday after church 

Banana-Raisin Pancakes - my new favorites!

I made your hamburger stroganoff recipe you sent me Mom and I have to say it turned out really good if I do say so myself! I know you think I look skinnier, but I don't think I've lost much weight haha I feel exactly the same. But we *are* walking 10-15 miles a day, so who knows?

BTW I talked to the computer guy here about what the heck is going on that I can't get my pics to download and he says I might have a virus on my card! AAARRGH! I hope not! I used his card reader though, and it worked just fine and let me download pics, so I'm not sure what the deal is. I'm going to try and back up the pictures to dropbox and hopefully I'll be able to send them to you. [obviously he was able to get us some pics this week! WOO HOO!]

Keep sending me emails each week letting me know what you do and anything new like going fishing, riding horses, or whatever! :) I love hearing about everything you are doing at home. I miss you very much and love you tons! Have a great week!
Love, Elder Rasmussen

“Ponder the path of thy feet” Proverbs 4:26

Hi Mom and Dad - Thanks so much for your emails! and for the pictures. I love reading about what you are doing at home. I knew exactly what was coming when you said you had bad news :( Poor Gertie. So much has changed in only 3 months!! But I knew when I left that she would not be there when I get home. I just still can't believe Maggie is gone too. But we have so many great memories with them. I hope you guys don't get sad and lonely with all of our pets dying! sheesh! But at least you still have The Fuzz (Note from Michelle: for those of you who don't know--"The Fuzz" is our wirehaired dachshund Izzabelle).
Thank you for keeping me filled in. Man how I wish I was there to ride motorcycles with you in the cold :) I so look forward to doing that in the future.
I'm glad you were able to go to Hillary's farewell. It's hard to believe she is already leaving! It seems like yesterday she got her call! Time flies so quick!
Your week sounded a little more exciting than mine was! Monday was of course our day in the city and I was able to get a lot of "American" type foods that will hopefully last me the rest of the month. I spent 2800 pesos (about $62) which is quite a bit but I got a ton of stuff like peanut butter, hamburger, cookies, honey, oatmeal and lots of other stuff. It is really fun to ride the boats across the ocean over into the city. I look forward to it each time.
On Tuesday the Senior couple missionaries on Guimaras made us cherry cheesecake treats for district meeting because they are going home this week. They were so good! and it made me miss home so much and all of the incredible food we eat there! haha little things are a huge blessing here.
On Wednesday my companion and I went out quite a way on the Island towards the Bacolod side in a place called "East Valencia" to find an investigator who has been coming to church. She rides a long way to come to church each week. I am very impressed by her faith and willingness! Our 2 min ride to church in Erda in our air conditioned cars is nothing!! We met another really nice couple down the road from our house that was very willing to talk to us and they were smiling the whole time we were there. I love meeting people like that. Lots of the people we have been teaching have been just down the road from our house on "Sinamay". In total contrast to the really nice people we've met, we also met a trike driver this week who was the complete opposite and tried to screw us on our fare.  We were already so sick of people trying to rip us off, because we had just come from paying our utilities fee (which is a disorganized mess here :)) so we kinda fired back at him which you aren't supposed to do as missionaries, but we had just had it. But it ended ok and we learned a few lessons with that incident!  We also met a family this week and each of the kids were named after brands of cigarettes "Phillip" "Ace" "Love" haha it was funny. That reminded me of Uncle Eddie from Family Vacation--just seemed like something Eddie would do! haha Another lady we met was named "Tuesday". You meet some very interesting people in the Philippines.
So last week I finished my first transfer in the field so that shows you how quickly time moves. It feels so slow sometimes, but then I realize I've been a missionary for 3 months already! The transfer week didn't affect me because I'm still so new. They put us through a "12 week program" with our trainer, so nothing will change until the next transfer. President Aquino says I could be a trainer next transfer which I'm very nervous about, but everything will work out and it will be really good for me.
Yesterday we had Elder Kruegar with us because Elder Walmer went to Manila for Visa stuff. I'm feeling a lot more comfortable with teaching lately and the Language really is coming! When people talk sometimes I can't understand a word they say, but other times I can totally understand them. I know it will continue to get easier as time goes on. I've found that my favorite thing to teach has been the Word of Wisdom :) When you tell people the blessings that come from living this commandment its like a slap in the face how obvious it is that our lives are much better when we live the word of wisdom! The people we are teaching have been very accepting of it so far!
So that was pretty much the week. Yes I still feel homesick every now and then but I have come light years from how I felt 6 weeks ago! I'm doing very well and I really hope that you are too. Thank you for the prayers and I hope you always know how much I appreciate my mom and dad and love you!! 
I haven't gotten my package yet but I was told that there is one at the mission home for me. They sent it to the wrong area at first, but apparently they fixed the mistake so hopefully I will get it. I will send pictures when I can. It's just the luck of the draw with these computers whether it works or not. 

Thank you for taking care of my toys (truck, motorcycle) if you can move the propellers on my planes every now and then so the parts move (just back and forth dont force them through a whole piston cycle :) BTW: What do you plan to do with my room? I just love my new room and wish I could have enjoyed it for longer before I left. 

I hope you don't miss me or worry about me too much because I will be home in no time at all! By the time we get there it will be amazing how time flew by. Love you! Stay happy and know that I am doing great and I'm happy! Love, Michael

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 

WEEK #13: "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men." Matthew 4:19

October 27, 2014

Hey Mom and Dad! We are having a very busy P-day today, so I’m emailing a little later than usual.

Thank you for your emails! I love to hear about what is going on and what you’ve been up to. And thanks for the recipes Mom. Please send me anymore easy recipes you think I can throw together with Philippine ingredients.

This last week seemed to move fast, but it had some slow days also.


Cave Exploring!

For our activity today we went and explored some caves around Buenavista and then made lunch in the outdoors! It was really cool and there was a river running through the cave. I got some good pictures I’ll send along! For the lunch we bought fish at the market this morning and then we cooked it over a fire and we used banana tree leaves for plates! Really crazy looking the way everything was done! My companion does things like that all the time in Samoa, so he and the Filipinos did all of the cooking. In the cave there was a ton of bats and a few times they were seriously hitting our heads! Haven’t gone crazy yet! (From Michelle:  All is well if our boy is still quoting Andy Griffith!  Barney to Thelma Lou: You know what you find in caves? Bats! And they fly in to your hair and get tangled up in there and lay their eggs, and you go crazy!”)



Lunch in A Cave!



Our lunch!

 

This week we had some really good lessons and we were also able to do a service project for a family we are teaching. We knocked out a bunch of rock around their house so they can extend their kitchen. It made more room around their tight little house. I got some good blisters from it! I wish I would have had gloves.

I had one frustrating lesson this week when I taught this lady.  She was nodding like she completely understood what I was saying and then when I was done she looked over to Elder Walmer and said "indi ko kabalo ano ginhambal niya” which meant she had no idea what I was talking about. I was really annoyed by that, but haha but oh well.

A few days ago I experienced a baptism for the first time done in the Ocean! It was really cool and I so look forward to being able to baptize someone like that! After the baptism, we played a bunch of games with the Branch and had lunch and  it was a fun day.

I’ve been figuring out more and more things to eat and look forward to going into the city again to buy some more "American" supplies. This week I got to thinking about “The World’s Best Corndog” we ate a few months ago and I started drooling! You can’t buy corndogs here, so now I’ve got to try and figure out how to make corndogs!

I so look forward to being able to go on a motorcycle ride when I get home! I want to go on a long trip, like the ride you both did to Yellowstone with Uncle Rob and Darin. That would be so fun! I also can’t wait to go camping and riding in the Swell again. I have so many good memories of that place. I get so excited when I think about camping in the Swell again.  My companion loves fishing, so I tell him all about all our fishing trips we did Dad.! I can’t wait to go walleye fishing at Yuba again. Taking those things away for a while has really made me appreciate them so much more. I was so spoiled!  






I hope and pray my family is doing well and that you know that I am ok here and doing great! I think about how much time I have every day. It will go so fast though! I can’t believe how fast the last 2 months went. I love you and really appreciate everything Mom and Dad. I wouldn’t be here without my parents and even though this isn’t easy, I’m learning so much and being blessed a ton, and I know you are too! The Church is true! and Jesus loves you! Don’t ever worry about me because I am so well taken care of. Love you all very much!! Love Elder Mike

 

 

 

Week #12 "And shall run and not be weary, and shall walk and not faint....."

"Yo Yo Yo"

Kumasta Family & Friends!
We did a zone activity today so I wasn’t able to get to the computers as early as usual. We met in the chapel and did a testimony meeting and then played a little basketball and volleyball. I wasn’t really in the mood for it, but I’m learning to just go along with things I normally wouldn’t be interested in doing ha-ha!

This week went by pretty quick. We had interviews with President and Sister Aquino and a few other people last Tuesday, so we got to go into the city for most of the day. President Aquino told me about his experiences in Utah and also interviewed me on how I have been doing. He is a great guy! We have an awesome Mission President!

 I wasn’t feeling very well when I got into the City to meet with President.  I ended up having an upset stomach for the next couple of days. I'm sure it was probably something I ate, but I don’t know what. I am feeling much better now! I'm still having stressful times with buying and making food for myself, but I’m still alive so I can’t complain too much! I worry a lot about finding healthy things to eat. I have been learning how to make simple meals with vegetables and chicken. I never really shopped for myself at home and then when I get here all we have is the disgusting market I’ve told you about ha-ha—so it’s a BIG learning curve! I can’t believe I’d ever say this but I miss Walmart so much!! I am learning though and that’s really part of the fun of going on a mission is learning how to take care of myself. So don’t worry about me Mom, because I can handle it and I will get used to things as time goes on! I was also able to get some physical work in this week, which felt SO GOOD! We did a service project for the Sisters at their home. We trimmed their trees because they are surrounded by jungle and picked up all the trash and made it look nice. Then we burned all the trees and bushes we cut down. It took us about 6 hours to do everything, but I have to say it felt good to get some physical work in. 

We also had District Conference this week, which is basically just like Stake conference. We hired a jeep on Sunday to transport all the Buenavista church members to the meeting house in Jordan (about 9 miles away).  So we piled everyone in including the missionaries and away we went! I feel so bad for the people here because most of them do not have any transportation--not even a motorcycle or scooter! So always be grateful for having your own transportation! I will never forget what it is like to have to walk everywhere or hire a jeep or trike to get anywhere!

The people we are teaching have been doing well. We are currently teaching about 5 or 6 families and another 5 or 6 people in addition to the families. We are still teaching the 4 ladies also—they are my favorites because they really listen. We gave them a Book of Mormon so that was a big accomplishment this week. I feel pretty confident and can do lesson one by myself in Ilonggo with just the basics now. Sometimes I forget little things that are important but Elder F helps me out.  I really don’t feel nervous about teaching, especially when we get into the lesson. But what is a big challenge for me is to learn how to start conversations with strangers and getting the people to feel comfortable with us so they will want us to teach. You know…chit chat...which you know I don’t like and am not good at! I am really praying and hoping to learn to love it, so I can start being more comfortable when we meet new people. 

 *Is there anything that you can absolutely NOT get there that your are missing? Gravy. I miss gravy. So some gravy packets would be nice. I’ve bought the milk here, but it’s really expensive and it’s the non-refrigerated stuff, so it’s not my favorite.

*Do you walk everywhere you go or take the local transportation? We mostly walk – A LOT – but if we’re going somewhere really far then we will take the trikes. We only take the Jeepneys when we go to the chapel in Jordan. It’s about a 30 minute drive. But we mostly stay on the Northern side of the island in Buenavista.
*Have you been able to have dinner with in any of the member's homes? We do not eat with the members very much, but we have eaten at the Branch President’s house pretty often because he just lives across the street.
*How are things with your companions/housemates? Do you get the chance to goof and have fun occasionally? We get along really well and there is tons of time for us to goof off in the morning and at night when we are not working. They are all very good missionaries. I look up to Elder F. a lot, and Elder W. has been really great because he has really helped me the most with adjusting to not living in the USA anymore. It has also been an interesting adjustment for me to learn to have to share my space and things, since I’ve always had my own room. But it's not so bad.
How has the weather been? It was really hot this week, but there were a few good storms that cooled things off. The only time it is miserably hot is when the sun is out but most of the time there are at least clouds to cool things off some.
Have you seen any snakes or exoctic animals? The only snakes I’ve seen are dead snakes on the road that were about the size of a blow snake at home. Not sure what kind they were. I haven’t really seen anything exotic yet, except for that monkey I saw last week. But I did see a spider the size of my hand the other day and that was pretty cool. It was the creepiest thing I’ve ever seen! Thank you for all your emails and for filling me in on all the things you are doing at home. I really like to read what is going on at home with my mom and dad!  I miss you so much! I look forward to getting back with my family and to all the camping, hiking, motorcycles, and all the other fun stuff we’ve always done together. I will keep trying to send more pictures! I Love you tons!!!  Michael 

Buenavista Elders

October 14, 2014 - Small Typhoon and a Dirt Bike!

Hi Mom and Dad! Thank you for your emails and pictures! Looks like you had a really fun time on your motorcycle trip this weekend! 

We watched conference yesterday and I saw how the trees are changing colors there and that’s how it is in your pictures too. I miss Utah so much, but I get over myself more and more each day :)  

This week was really slow because of the "typhoon" that went through. It rained for a full two days almost non-stop and one of the days President Aquino told all of the missionaries to stay inside until the storm passed. We were in the house all day but I was able to get a lot of chores done, so it was no big deal. We were lucky and only lost power for like 10 min and never lost water. The sisters in the area lost their water for three days! AAAK! That would be terrible! 

I had the coolest thing happen this week after we taught this guy. He's a wealthier guy in the area with a really nice house and he has 5 motorcycles. After we finished teaching his family, he had his sons give us rides home and he offered to let me drive one of his dirt bikes! He did not have to ask me twice! It was just a cheap China 150, but I didn’t care I was riding a dirt bike again so I was overwhelmed with happiness ha-ha! 

I’m slowly figuring out better things to eat. I eat lots of vegetables and eggs. I made pancakes with bananas and apples in them for breakfast yesterday and they were so good! There is a lady that sells chorizo across the street from us, so I mix that in with eggs, eggplant, and brown rice. Creativity with the meals is really helping to find stuff to eat. I was really worried about food the first couple of weeks, but my companion loves to cook and doesn’t really like to eat out so we cook 95% of our meals. So that has really helped me get more comfortable with the food. 

It has been kind of a rough week and I wasn’t having very much fun. The language is hard, but my problem is not the language so much, as it is my same old problem that I have no idea what to say to people. I told the other Elders, "I have a hard enough time talking to people in English how the heck can I do it in Ilonggo!?" I know that slowly but surely it will get easier as I learn how other missionaries are able to do it. I remind myself that one of the biggest reasons I came on a mission was to learn how to talk to people. It will happen! 

We did have a really good lesson last night that was fun for me. We are teaching these 4 ladies and they’re really nice. We still haven’t gotten past the restoration yet, but we will the next time we go there.  

General Conference was really great to watch. This is sad, but I think it’s the first time I’ve actually sat down and watched all 5 sessions! :/ We watched it in the chapel in the town of "Jordan". There were a lot of people, and it was great to see them and how diligent they were in staying for most of conference. On Saturday, we ate at this cafe which I really didn’t like because Filipinos don’t care if their food is cold. They have fairly good food, but it’s always cold and it just ruins it!  I’ve been carrying PB&J sandwiches around which I think I’ll keep doing for a snack in the future days. On the way back from conference we piled 4 missionaries and another member plus the driver onto a trike! We had a 30 min ride back to Buenavista, but the trike got 2 flats on the way, so the driver got rid of us and we took a jeep the rest of the way. People just pile onto whatever transportation they can here, which I thought was crazy at first but now I’m getting used to it as I do it myself. :)  

To answer your questions we are teaching around 15 people through the week. We are always looking for more, but we have to go door to door, which is not my most favorite thing to do.

If you look on Google Earth you can see the area I’m in. It is Buenavista on Guimaras. Our road is Sinamay, but none of the streets are marked, so you probably won’t be able to see that.

The coolest thing I saw this week was a monkey! He was some guy’s pet chained up across the wall from the church. I got a few pictures I’ll send. I’m sorry I can’t send pictures this week. We are emailing from this internet café and it’s nothing special and apparently these computers have viruses, so I’ll have to wait until next week. I’ve got some really great pictures to send though and I’ll shoot some off to you as soon as I can.

The members here are really nice people. Not good singers (ha-ha) but they are very good church members.

There are a ton of stray dogs here. You’d hate it mom--it even bothers me. There are a lot of horrible things that goes on with animals here and it definitely brings out my soft side. I guess all those years of fostering dogs and helping you with the dog rescue really did rub off on me.

Don’t worry about sending me a flashlight. I have that lantern you bought me, which has been great inside the house, but I don’t carry it.  Elder Fogavai carries a flashlight with him, so I promise we are not trekking around through the dark. Ha-ha.

The drivers here are all over the place, but surprisingly I haven’t seen any accidents at all! It seems like they drive really fast, but in reality we only go about 30 MPH tops! Ha-ha. So be thankful for cars, freeways, and nice roads in Utah!

I think and pray about you daily and hope my family is happy!! I Love you! Michael