Grabe!

Kamusta na pamilya!
Maraming maraming salamat po para yong mga magandang korbata. Talagang nagpapasalamat po ako para sa inyong lahat. Nagsulat ako sa inyo sa viernes kaya tatangap kayo ng salut ko. Nag-attach ako ng memory card para sa inyo, sana ako na gusto po ninyo yan! Kamusta sa bahay nating? 'Naku nag-miss-na-miss ako sa inyong lahat! Nagkakaron ako tatlong linggo lang dito sa MTC! Excited naman ako! At Nay, bakit hindi naiinisip mo na makapagusap ako sa tagalog? Tunay talaga iyan! Kaya ko yan ngayon! Pero, hindi ko alam kung tamang itong grammer haha.

Well, it's been an experience this past week. I've been getting pretty good at beach volleyball here during gym time; it's so much fun! Although the sand never seems to be the right temperature; it's either way too hot or way too cold! This past week we went TWO whole days without speaking English! Grabe naman ito eh? It's hard but somehow we do it. What stunk though is we watched a Tagalog movie and we couldn't understand anything because they talk SO fast! It's alright though, we'll catch on soon.

I also heard you got the chance to talk to Brother Doria mom and I got your big hug from him! Thanks! He's an awesome teacher. Friday was his birthday and as a district we skipped lunch and put together a card and some gag gifts for him. Feel free if you have any questions to ask him about the Philippines or the MTC. I talked a little about that in the letter I just sent too.

Thanks again for the ties, can't have enough of those. I laughed when they were all black; listen, I know I'm dark okay? I actually ended up giving one of them to my friend Elder Johnson. He's from Oklahoma and he was telling me the other day how he could only afford to have a really small amount of ties. So I gave him one because I thought he could use it more than I could and he leaves to the Philippines today, I hope that's okay. Thank you though, it was nice to see dad's handwriting again.

So here's our funny Tagalog story of the week. We're not allowed to speak English at all in class pero okay lang sa "Tag-lish" - emphasis on the LISH. So they were discussing the "pop the top" rule for the letter "o" and on of the elders had a question about it. Basically, when you conjugate a verb and there's an "o" in the last syllable, it "pops it's top" and becomes a "u." Halimbawa - tulong becomes tulUngan. So one of the elders (who isn't really picking up the language) was like, "May tanong po ako: kailan nag-pop ang top kami dahil no ko know kapag to do yan." I thought it was funny haha maybe you had to be there though. Also, I never thought I'd see the day where "'Naku!" or "Grabe!" or "Sayang!" would come out of my mouth instead of "Oh my gosh!" or "Shoot!" I feel like grandma or something.

Speaking of Grandma Angela, could you tell her that all the missionaries are jealous of the quilt she made me? See, it's really, really cold in the rooms at night here and no one brings a blanket and we can't control the A/C. All they give us is this thing, cheap blanket but since I have grandma's quilt, I stay warm. Even the big Poly's get cold at night.

Also, yesterday, I was talking to Sister Vaipulu from New Zealand at the temple and she was telling me how she knew Elder Matt Stucki! Small world right? She's going to Bacolod, PI. She's a lot of fun and we have a good time in volleyball. Let Mrs. Stucki know if you see her!

Alright family, well it's time for me to get going. Time's running up here in the US and it will be weird not to hear any of your voices next Wednesday on my birthday but it's okay. Hope you're all doing well - be safe! Ingat po kayo!

Love,
Eric