The Alaska Roll

Dear Mom,
Sorry for the late email. My companion and I had to make the journey to the mission office in Quezon City yesterday so our time yesterday was really, really shortened. It's alright though, I have a little time to catch up now!

Well I've had a few funny experiences this week.

Crazy experience real quick. The owners for our apartment came into town (they live in the states) this past week. And guess where they are from? Yeah, North Las Vegas. Guess where the brother works? Yeah, he's a civilian work at Nellis AFB just like dad. Crazy right? What a small world.

First, I used a bidet for the first time in my whole life! No, it's pronounced bah-day Jason, not bid-eht. Do you remember when I told you about those spray things hooked up to the toilets in richer people's houses here to... clean yourself after you take a number two? Yeah that thing! Well, the other day, I forgot to bring my baby wipes to this member's house but luckily they had a bidet. I just kind of looked at it and laughed since I knew I had no other sanitary option. Let me tell you, the water pressure on that thing is insane! Here's the funny part, I used it for about five minutes straight! When I walked out, everyone was like... "Are you okay?" Yeah. Can you just imagine that? Forget toilet paper, we are installing bidets in our house when I get home! It's such a refreshing experience!

Another pretty funny experience. So Friday we woke up and I went to go get a drink and when I turned on the faucet... air came out. I was so confused. So I tried it again, and again, mind you this is at about 5:45am so my brain wasn't on yet. When I finally realized we didn't have running water, I just laughed and laughed and laughed. I laughed so hard that everyone in the house woke up and got mad at me haha. We didn't realize it was really a problem, until Elder Simbala went to number two and we realized that the toilet couldn't flush. So we ended up spending the day at our zone leaders house which was a blast.

I also learned how to "milk" a coconut this week if you will.

Anyway, so they may not be the funniest experiences ever but I hope you enjoyed that! This week on the other hand has been really, really hot. I don't know how people survive here sometimes. The nights are getting really hard to sleep because it's so hot. And then, last night, my fan blew up, yeah fireworks and all. I couldn't see for like five minutes because it was so bright when it exploded. What luck right?

Last week we had zone conference which went really well. It was about how to begin teaching and inviting people to make commitments. It was a really awesome day and it's always nice to be in the mission home because it's like being in the states almost. They made us these eggs for Easter I guess if you were wondering.

We barely worked for the rest of the week because it's been so, so hot. We made it to temple tour which was a quite the experience in the heat but it still is always nice to make it to the temple with the people we are teaching. Their reactions are always worth it. The sisters did a great job as usual and actually waited just for us because we got stuck in traffic. We love them tons.

To the right of me is Sister Bonafe, she is one of the traveling sisters. She is the master of missionary work! She has the most converts in the whole mission! She's such an example. Also, isn't it awesome how I just fit in here physically?

Sister Palacio took a billion unnecessary pictures of me.

 

Sunday was Sunday was Sunday. We spent most of the day preparing for this stake fireside/training that will take place next week with our mission president and our stake. It will be about coordination meetings with the ward and missionaries and how they should be done. The church is still fairly new here and run by mostly converts so these trainings have to happen really often because everyone is really new to the church. It should be fun though, we're pretty excited for it.

Earlier today we had our last zone activity which was just a bunch of sports. It was, of course, too hot and all the air/con in the church is broken so we got fed up and left pretty early. It was really fun though. This is the man zone.

Caloocan - "The Man Zone"

This was supposed to be our district picture's "sexy" pose which ended up being a competition for camera! You can really see how sweaty we are here.

Ernest is Jason's twin. Can't take a serious picture.

And guess what? We were able to meet up with the Angoluan family for lunch yesterday! They took me and my companion to an all you can eat Chinese restaurant which was super masarap. It was so nice to see them again, they are seriously like my family here in the Philippines. Ernest gave my knees a huge hug and Alecs wore the shirt I gave her for Christmas. Netnet also brought his new robot that he's wanted to show me for awhile. They still write me and do their best to feed me within my boundaries as much as possible. It was great to see them again.

I nearly had to strangle Ernest to get him in the picture!

And last night, since we still have yet to get our money, Elder Peterson and I took our companions out to sushi for the first time. It was way funny to watch them use chopsticks and see their faces when funny stuff was brought to the table. They also definitely didn't like the ginger. And our last roll that I took pictures of, we actually ordered since it's Mat Squires' last week in the mission. I talk about Mat quite a bit out here because people always ask me how I came to the church. This roll is called the "Alaska Roll" and is made of mango and salmon - it was way good. Elder Peterson's companion will also be going home this next week as well since our transfers line up exactly with Mat's mission. It's crazy he's coming home; it does go by so fast. By the way, it's also Mat's birthday on Wednesday!

Elder Peterson and I eating our Alaska Rolls!

Notice how destroyed my companions roll is haha. It took him a few tries!

Also before I leave, I want to leave you with this quote that someone shared in church:
"That which we persist in doing becomes easier to do, not that the nature of the thing has changed, but our power to do so is increased."
— Heber J. Grant

Anyway, that's about it for now. I will find out next week and let you know if I'm out of Caloocan or not! Talk to you on Wednesday!

Love,
Elder Corpuz

P.S. Hit my ten month mark this past week! Can you believe it? Fun fact, if I'm in the new mission, I'll be coming home three weeks early!