Sorry for the Shortness

Magandang araw!
Sorry, this is going to be really, really short. My time has really run out because we've been so busy today. I'll make sure to include things that have happened this week in next week's email as well.

We knocked on a lot of doors this week and got most of them slammed in our face. It's humbling but at the same time still a good experience. We had a really funny experience with one lady. We were at the door and we could see her washing the dishes. We shouted "Tao po!" because thats what you do here instead of knock (it literally means "Person!") and she didn't respond. We were just like... jeez are you deaf? Finally she came to the door. She was really nice at first. When we started asking her questions, she started responding with really funny answers like:

Hey where are you from?

February 11... that's when I'll be 77.

After we left we both just laughed... she was deaf!

Another crazy "only-in-the-Philippines" experience. I was "showering" (dumping cold buckets of water on my head) the other day and while I was rinsing my hair, I felt something crawling in my hair! It was a centipede! So I screamed really loud and woke up everyone who wasn't awake yet and ran out of the shower. It was scary but really funny looking back.

Anyway, last week was really great. We had a special training and I got to see my MTC "batch" for this new program they are implementing. It was great to see my MTC companion again who is on the lonely island of Mindoro.

As the holiday season gets closer, it gets a little harder not to get homesick out here especially since they start playing Christmas music in September. They don't have a Thanksgiving here, but a gracious member came up to me the other day and told me he wanted to learn how to prepare a Thanksgiving meal and said he wanted to give my companion and I, who are both American, a Thanksgiving. I love the members here, they truly shine.

I had a great experience from a less active family that we are teaching right now from Ilocos Norte, where we're from. Sister Josephine is very poor. They have no money and can't afford food or anything for that matter. We stopped by one day and I really felt the impression of telling her about how much God really loves her. The next day we came, she was in tears when she saw me. She said elder, you are right. She said that night she prayed hard from her heart and read the Book of Mormon and our Heavenly Father took care of her the next day. Food came to her, money came to her, and somehow she was able to provide for her family for that day by the grace of the Lord. She came to church on Sunday for the first time in years and said it's the happiest she's ever been. I shared with her how much God trusts her with these trials and how much he doesn't trust me because my life is so easy. The members here are so humble, and more importantly, really strong in faith.

We're also going through a lot of changes. We weren't having much success so I prayed and remembered some stories and especially what Sister Squires told me about how Mat was utilizing his ward in Alaska before I came out. So I had a long conversation with my companion, and through a lot of faith, we decided to drop almost all of our investigators and focus on finding and using the ward for referrals and taking them out to help us find. We will see what blessings this will bring in the coming weeks. The wards are willing to work so I'm really excited.

Today we went bowling as a district which was really fun. It reminded me of when I was little in a bowling league and how I used to ask dad after every from "Which arrow dad?" and how you both always scolded me for not following through. My first score was a low 67 but my next score I got the feel back and creamed everyone with 125 (still low). It was a lot of fun, I hope you like the pictures.

Anyway, that's really all for now, I'll make sure to write more next week. Take care! Mahal ko kayo!

Love,
Elder Corpuz