Week 9 - MTC 8/15/2011 & 10 - Philippines 8/21/2011

8/15/2011
alright so today im just kinda chillin in the mtc until 4;30 and then i have to be in the travel office to get our tickets so that we can get on the bus for the airport at about 5 not entirely sure so i fly out of salt lake at 8:10 so im hopeing to call you at about 6:30 7 and then if your awake again in la but itll be like 11 there but i land in hong kong at 7 am wed so itll be fun not sure what time it will be in memphis then but ill leave my watch set to utah time and try to call if its an ok hour but after that i fly to manila and stay there for 5 hours then fly to tacloban well i really dont want to say much so we have stuff to talk about later but i love you and i hope your not to busy with soccer but talk to you later

8/21/2011
So i got to the Philippines and i love it!   the food is great and i know that it will be weird eating rice with everything but what ever.  so my typing may not be very good the computer place has no lights so i cant see anything really but that's ok.  so i have been called to serve in the dulag mission speaking waray-waray, its crazy and I've heard its hard to learn but i think I'll get, it i just have to learn a new vocabulary. (love the positive attitude here!  FYI there are over 120 languages in the philiippines!) my companion is elder andrus, he is from Washington and he is teaching me a lot.  i am learning so much already. i am in an area that got a little messed up and we are supposed to fix it, so lots of work ahead for the next while. i cant wait to be able to just understand people, its crazy how much different it is. both of my companions went to cebuano areas so they are probably a little ahead of me but i think ill be ok, im starting understand a little and say things back as well.

so yesterday was my first sunday and it was very different. i went and we had 30 people show up, fun right? they are way down.  its usually like 45-50, so we have some work to do. so after church we went to pec (this is a leadership meeting, that the missionaries attend) and as we were leaving one of the sisters was kind enough to tell me im fat! i was like gee thanks and my companion just laughed.

so whenever we go to meet people we go and start talking and i introduce myself and my comp says guapo hiya di ba? which means hes guapo no?  (he's handsome?) and they all just say yes and kinda laugh. they like to say stuff like that here in the philipipnes. when you walk past some guys we say kamusta mga guapo and they smile. i swear the average philippino male uses more beauty product than women in america, its crazy but i love them all.

so my first night we went and met some people, and then we had an appointment that night and we ended up with three new investigators. (investigators are people interested in learning about the church, and Zac and his comp (companion) will teach them)  my comp says he barely gets that in a week sometimes. it was awesome!

so a lot of our work if finding professionals because they are lacking leadership in the church in our mission. so we go to the big houses and you just stand outside and say maopay from outside the big gate and hope someone comes. it doesn't usually work but there are some pretty large houses, its crazy.

so my p day is monday (Pday = preparation day, they day they do laundry, shop, and email!) and its almost 10 in the morning here and im not sure what time it is there (9PM Sunday night!)  but now you know send the email before sunday night.  i already did my laundry for the first time here. its interesting we let it soak in soapy water for about a half hour then go out and scrub it, then rise it out and hang it up to dry. I'm gonna have calasis on my knuckles before this is over. i am going into another city in a little while to hang out with a missionary i know from the mtc and maybe play some basketball. turns out they try to replicate what they see on tv when they wach the NBA, but they don't have the skill height or hops, its kinda funny to watch. there is a big festival going on in the philippines right now so they had a b ball tourney last night i watched for a little bit and just kinda laughed. then we went to make our dinner.

so the sun goes down at 6 here and when people don't have electricity  we cant really go to their house. (so crazy that people don't have electricity!  We are SO SPOILED here!)  its kinda weird, so we try to set stuff up with people that have electricity so we can go to their houses.  its so cool its basically a constant 80 degrees at night and 90 during the day so not to bad but extremely humid, it rains everyday without fail and philipinos are afraid of rain. they think if you get wet you'll get sick so they all hide when it rains and wait for it to stop.  its crazy all the superstitions they have here.

so i have to keep my tooth brush and paste in the refrigerator so ants don't get it,  its weird to brush with cold toothpaste but im over it.

so there are markets everywhere and they sell everything even rolexes it kinda reminds me of new york just a lot less developed. everyone here has a cell phone because it costs 5 pesos a day to have one and $1 is 45 pesos so it super cheap! its crazy to see everyone with a phone and they all sleep in one room because there is only one room in the house! i feel really tall here, i have to duck to walk through a lot of the doors and everyone tells you your tall.  its crazy!  and they call all americans "joe"  not sure why but they think it's hilarious.  they yell it and hide if you look at them,  its kinda funny.

i know every time we meet people and my companion starts talking that even though i really don't know whats going, on i know what he is saying is true, i just want to be able to help him. i was told they understand cebuano so i use it but they dont always know, so its what ever. well i need to email my mission pres now i hope you all have a great day

love elder coontz
                         AYO AYO
                              (they don't say this in my area but oh well)

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