Last Week.

Pamilya ko!
AH! Grabe naman! Naniniwala kayo na aalis ako sa pilipinas bukas?! Hindi puwedeng maniwala ako. Talagang pinakamabilis ang horas dito. Kahit na hindi gusto ko itong lugar noong dumating ako sa MTC, mag-miss-na-miss ako ng lugar na ito. Parang BYU - mas maraming mga mabuting taong nagmamahal sa bawat isa sa mga tao. Pero ok lang. Excited naman ako para tatawag sa inyo bukas!

Well I have a lot to write about so we're going to stop with the Tagalog before I get a migraine. This week has been super eventful and spiritually exhausting. I don't even know where to begin!

First, my musical number went GREAT last week! It was such an honor to be selected to perform and the whole MTC presidency attended so it was a pretty big deal. They loved it and I'm so happy I had that opportunity.

We spent all of last Monday packing a week in advance and weighed our bags a billion times. Unfortunately, EVA airlines (our airline to Taiwan) is super strict with weight and our bags and carry-ons/personal are under ridiculous weight restrictions. So I'll be sending a pretty hefty package home. I figured that'd be better than the $500+ penalty. Good thing we figured all that out last week though. I just left everything packed so I'm pretty much ready to go now.

I got to host missionaries again this Wednesday. The two elders I got to bring in were pretty sad to leave their families, but that's expected. They were both great though, and seeing their drive really reminded me of how hard I need to keep on working to keep that drive. It was such a blessing to see my friend Shelly come in that day as well. I met her over Spring semester as one of the RA's. She's truly an amazing person and I'm so excited for her. I get to have meals with her so I get to talk to her every day. I love hearing all the things she has to share. She is working so hard here and is such an inspiration to me. She puts her heart into everything and loves everyone sincerely - the best part is that it really shows. I'm so excited for her - she's actually headed to Dallas, TX so maybe she'll bump into the Hinahons!

So funny Tagalog story real quick. On Wednesday we were practicing teaching and one of the elders was having trouble saying that "God has a body of FLESH and BONE." He tried the first time and said "God has a body of flesh and TREES" and tried again and said "God has a body of flesh and RICE CAKES" and then Brother Doria couldn't take it any more and told him the real word haha. So it will make sense for Jason:

trees - puno
rice cakes - (mga) puto
bone - buto

I was laughing really, really hard haha.

We had a strange experience Thursday when a cold front moved in and the temperature high was in the low 60s. I was so mad. Fortunately, it didn't last for long and is back up to 80s-ish again today. We also had our last teaching appointment on Thursday which went really well, but also reminded me how much work I have to do on my Tagalog still. The next day our teachers showed us what a day in the field would be like by making a mock-day for us. It was a lot of fun and got us all pumped to be out there in the Philippines.

Saturday was a sad day. We had class with Brother Doria for the last time. We've all become such a family and he is such a great teacher. He was more like an older brother to us. We performed our district musical number for him and his wife (who is a BYU soccer player!) and than said our goodbyes. We took some sweet pictures too. It was really hard but guess that's the mission for ya. You make the sacrifice of leaving people you love to find more people to love.

I had a big wake call on Saturday though with Brother Molina pulled me aside. He's one of the other teachers who is exactly like me. Convert to the church from Las Vegas, didn't learn Tagalog growing up, but sent to Quezon City. He basically told me that the next six months are going to be horrible for me. He told me that I'm going to get made fun of everyday because I am Filipino and I can't speak Tagalog. he said people would call him a disgrace to the culture and our heritage. So I started to get really scared, but he taught me a lot of ways to overcome it and assured me it will get easier as long as I study hard.

Well things have been great here. I have one last story to share. My companion and I have really gotten close to another companionship here that we met in the immunizations clinic. We didn't think anything of meeting them at first but then we literally started running into them EVERYWHERE. Naturally, we became the best of friends. Last night I was able to talk to one of them, Elder Olson, for awhile and I now understand why God put him into my life. We were able to help each other through so many things that we understood and he truly helped me so much in preparing to leave. It's funny how many miracles you see in your life everyday when you realize that you have a Father who loves you and takes care of you. Out of anyone I've met at the MTC, I will miss them the most. I'm so glad we met them. Yesterday Elder Olson was looking at our family picture and said that he can tell that he would love you guys already, especially mom. I told him I have the best mom ever and sometimes I wonder if she loves my friends more than me haha. Hopefully you'll get to meet them someday - they're awesome.

Anyway, time is come to an end here. I can't wait to talk to you guys tomorrow! Hope all is well.

Love,
Eric