Mahal ko ang Pilipinas!

Dear Mom,
Well, I'm going to apologize for how short this email is going to be in advance (as always I guess), but we really have to get home and pack so I'll try to give you a pretty quick play-by-play of last week. Sige? Game.

By the way, congratulations again to Jason for making it in to BYU! I can't wait to be there together if he chooses to go, there is no place in the world I'd rather be than with my little brother at that school.

We're at the end of another transfer. How? I'm not sure. Six weeks just seem to come and go faster than we can imagine. The news is that I'll be staying here in Caloocan and my companion, Elder Christensen, will be leaving. I was pretty sad to hear the news, but it was well expected and predicted. He's been the first companion that I've never got in even the slightest argument or disagreement with (I am kind of stubborn you know) and I've learned so much from him. He'll be journeying off to open a brand new area and train one of the new native Filipinos coming in tomorrow. As for me, I'll be here. But I'm really happy to be here. I'm not really a moving or change kind of person so it's nice to hear that I'll have at least six more weeks here.

This past week, I've really, really realized how much I love this place.

Just a quick side note - some kids taught me "Leron, Leron Sinta" the other day, remember when I used to play that on the piano back home? I can't wait to teach you the hand game the play here to that song.

Remember a few weeks back when I told you a baby, not wearing a diaper, pee'd on our shoes? Well, I got an even better story this week: a baby pee'd on me! You betcha. They say it's good luck. Whether or not I believe that is still in the air. So here's the story. Here we are just teaching a lesson to a young mother (seventeen years old to be exact), with her kid just running around on the floor. Since there wasn't enough chairs for everyone (as usual) we all just sat on the floor of this small "house," which in all reality, is just a room in the back of this alley. So anyway, while my companion was teaching and I was listening to him, Christian, one of our teenage recent converts, just stood up holding in a laugh and grabbed this rag and started wiping the ground, I didn't notice that I was all wet. I was really confused as to where this liquid had come from... and then I looked at the baby... just letting the good times roll right onto the ground looking straight at me. And when my companion saw -

"Elder Corpuz... why is your leg wet?"
"I'm going to smack you in the face."

Needless to say, it was gross, but it's all about the experience right? It was really, really funny in the end. I'm not sure really what it is about children peeing on me or my things. Hopefully that will discontinue.

And although some crazy things like this happen, we get doors slammed in our faces, it's hot and we sweat all day and all night, I've come to find that I really love it here.

I feel at home.

Yesterday we were able to go out with some of the young adult members to dinner, all around 20 years old, and I know you may have a hard time imagining this, but for the first time in a really long time, I felt like I fit in somewhere. Speaking Tagalog with them, laughing, telling jokes, Filipino culture and human just feel like so much a part of me. Maybe it's my "lahi" as they say. But just being with them yesterday and realizing how much I love these people and this place and how much I belong here, made me love the Philippines even more.

Yeah we have our hard days, but it's so worth it. I don't stick out here and people, although make fun of my Tagalog, accept me for who I am. I love this place so much. I love the mission so much.

Anyway, I'll be emailing again soon to let you know about transfers. Hope all is well back home. Hanggang sa muli!

Love,
Elder Corpuz