Quick Update week 9 (Sham) I think

Funny events from the week. I learned some more Filipino culture: to be respectful we take the hand of elderly people and bring it to our forehead, a meal isn't a meal without rice, dried fish equate to chips pics included, people burp to show they enjoyed the food, burping in general is just normal, and you eat with your hands if you really enjoy their food also. 

We taught a lesson to members of the church an elderly couple and their son (non member) and daughter in law (non member) anyways I was praying and mid prayer the daughter in law just starts burping a ton and it caught me so off guard I really had to fight back my laughter. Then this same family has really low roofs and they kept warning me to watch my head. Well I was saying goodbye and I shook the old ladies hand (shes so cute) I turned around to walk away and she hugs me from behind it catches me off gaurd and I stand up hitting my head on the roof super hard I died laughing. It was hilarious. 

As for the investigators with baptism dates: they're awesome!

Theres a group of 5 all cousins or brothers and sisters. Dj, Vimar, Merelyn, Jomer, Jerome their ages range from 18 to 12. They really like sports and have begun to play with people in the ward. We taught them this week the word of wisdom and the law of chastity both of which made me nervous because I didn't want them to feel judged or liked less. But I learned that chastisement is love and they really accepted both messages well. Another funny Filipino culture they love sharing other peoples business so when we ask who's keeping the Word of wisdom etc they'll just point at eachother and put one another on blast its awesome hahaha but then we were teaching how are body is a temple and men shouldn't have their ears pierced. In this moment Vimar removes the earing from his cartilage and chucks the earring! What that was cool too.

I also spoke in church and I have a thick american accent I've realized but I told the congrigation we can endure together and I guess the way I said it implied romantically ? I'm still not sure but I spoke on the 5 principles of the gospel and for the most part it was well recieved

IT also rained this week !! and i Know Heavenly Father is looking out for me because I said on a clear day "I just want it to rain" and boom next day it did and 1. it reminded me of home and 2. it made the day cooler 

Spiritual thought: The people here are always happy even though they have different living conditions and I realized we need to treasure things with eternal value. This isn't deep and there are scripture verses about this so I'm going to challenge you to do you're own studying about this but I KNOW that when we treasure things of eternal value like our families we will always be happy. 

LOVE AND MISS EVERYONE 

Week Wall (8)

Holy smokes!! Where to start? Being in the field is a whole new ball game and this week alone has been a week of firsts. First time: riding in a tricy (idk the spelling), eating belot, being handed an umbrella getting off the plane, showering from a bucket, washing clothes in a bucket
I'm sure there are more firsts but those are the ones coming to mind currently and I've never sweat so much in my life good news is I haven't minded it much. It feels like I just finished a soccer game. Okay I'll now break the week down
- Tuesday night we had belot. It was given to those who wanted to try it after eating dinner. My district sat together to share the experience. An elder in my district ate it like bear grills no joke funny part about this is he doesn't like mayoinnese or pineapples but eats any wild philippino food given to him. Anyways I mimicked his technique. I didn't breathe out of my nose either. You start by sucking the juice from the egg and then taking it out of the shell and popping it in your mouth. Really it tastes like a hard boiled egg and thankfully mine had no crunch.
- Wednesday I flew to Cauayan from the Manila mtc. There I got a yellow umbrella. I met my mission president and his wife. The Hiatt's. They're awesome! Really super kind. Then I met my two trainers sister Cabaraban and sister Barnett they're so different from one another but play important roles in my training. We then rode a tricy to get on a bus to our first area Tugegaro (probably didn't spell that right) and in a dialect that I'm not certain of the name means "burning sun."  It is the hottest city of the philippines. Good thing I like the heat. hehe
- Thursday a prayer was answered I told my trainers I want to find a tailer who can make changes to my clothes. That night we were fed by a church member and SHE SEWS, what are the odds? so that was so cool. We also taught and contacted many people and it was really neat watching how it works. The people here are really friendly and will listen to your message. They also have a way different concept of time so they don't mind if we talk forever!! We also met our bishop and he was awesome too. He showed us the area and fed us a merrienda (snack) dim sum.
- Friday I don't remember everything but we had a lizard in our house
- Saturday and Sunday general conference
I cut the last two days short because I'll recount the other stories I don't know which days they took place.
I showered in a bucket. Which I anticipated before coming but I really saw it being tropical cool. A novelty of sorts. Long story short I stand by a toilet in a bathroom and pour water onto myself from a bucket HAHAHA yeah its wild
I wash delicates in a bucket of water, soap, scrub, rinse dry...... easy
I have hilarious roommates; a Samoan and an American. Yesterday sister Toiva and I became twins
A bird pooped on me mid lesson. I felt it hit my head and tried my best to just silently endure but I ended up LAUGHING my head off. It was so funny to me for some reason and my trainer sister Cabaraban quickly helped me get it out. I also bought ice candy which is basically a popiscile in a pouch, I spilt it all over myself and died laughing again.

We have 4 scheduled baptisms. Sister Condoy: She's wonderful. We met her when she had chemical burns on her arms from washing laundry. She has what seems like a ton of kids (maybe its the neighborhood kids too) but they all run up to me which is fun.
Brother DJ: He's 18 years old and seems really receptive of our message. All of our investiagtors attended all 4 hours of general conference. We told them we'd give them Book of Mormons when we got back to the apartment and we ended up forgetting and they called us asking for copies which is a great sign.

 I know that Heavenly Father hears and answers our prayers. Not only did I have the experience

with the seamstress this week but I also had serious feelings of "how will I get through/ enjoy this next year and a half of my life" feeling the opposite of peace (um haha I can't think of a word) I prayed and then attended general conference and I felt super empowered. Something shared was that Satan wants us to feel despair and wants us to have fear but that's not Heavenly Fathers plan or will. Thats not a direct quote but it was something along those lines and it made a Huge difference. So much so that after the conference on Saturday I personally contacted 2 people and was mistaken for Philippino at a tindihan (shop).
Anyways, life is good - thanks for reading

Love and miss you all Sister Crawford