Monday, June 18, 2012

Kumusta ang buhay ninyo? (how is your life)

Here is some random notes I wanted to tell you about. 
So I learned a very funny word the other day. nakakapagpabagabag... it means agitated.. I thought to myself, of course that word means agitated, just look at it!
I've noticed that people kind of have a hard time pronouncing my Last name.  They usually say it like Sisterrr.. Fow.. less! or Sister Powles! I go with either one. Or tell them to just call me Sister ibon because that means Birds. 
There is a man in our ward. Brother Richie and he looks like he is about 80 years old. He is white and his wife is Filipino. He is SOOO funny. He doesn't know how to speak Filipino at all which makes us wonder how he has lasted to live here so long. But he is awesome. He sings the loudest during the hymns.
My Apartment is not stilted unfortunately. It is like a normal apartment. It has two levels and we sleep upstairs. so if it does flood we'll be fine. Sis Salway was telling me that Panay island is probably the safest from typhoons. We'll just get a lot of hard rain if there is a typhoon near by so we only need to worry about flooding.
There are these lizard type gecko things that live in peoples houses. There are small ones called Tikis and then there are the large ones named Tokos.  Sis Patricio is afraid of the large ones. They make this sound like "tuuukoohh" like they are saying their name. So you'll know when one is around. We aren't supposed to have any pets in our apartment. But I'm sad to say that we have many because we have tikis, spiders and ants!!!
So I tempted to eat "balut" the other day (boiled duck egg with a chic fetus). Sis Salway and I both bought an egg. But it was a failed attempt because the egg I bought was just a normal boiled egg. There was no chic inside. So it got my hopes up for nothing.
We are teaching the Gumban family with Sister Myrna. She is our most progressing investigator. We are just trying to get their marriage license in order. When we visit her family they always give us food to eat or mangos to take home.  We are teaching Sister Sheila and Bro Jhun. Jhun is an ex-Iglation ni Cristo.  Sheila asks tonz of questions and is really interested in the church. We are hoping to extend a baptismal date to them soon. We also contacted a referral Sis Susan who is very interested. She is Catholic but she knows that there are a lot of things the Catholic church is doing wrong. She is curious about the Mormons because she saw the church house and noticed that there is a nice spirit there and is wanting to know more. So we are excited to teach her more. There are lots of other people we are teaching but those are my favorites so far. and the only names that I can remember.

Woa!  Lots of questions.
so first off Yes I'm still in the three-some. I'll be in a tri-some till around May 14th because That is when Sis Salway is going home :( It's hard because I'm supposed to have 12 weeks with my trainer (2 transfors) but I'll only have 6 weeks with her. But I will probably still have 12 weeks with Sis Patricio even though she isn't my trainer. Sis Salway doesn't want to leave yet. No offense to you guys but I can't wait to have that feeling of not wanting to go home. Some times I do get homesick so I know that when I have that, I will have even more of a desire to work hard each day because my time will be limited.
Sis Salway is sooo nice. she is very smart. She is going into astronomy so every night while we walk home we ask her about the stars we see in the sky.  
The language is very difficult.When my companions speaks in the Apartment they are speaking in Hiligaynon (illongo) I can understand my companions more and more each day but when I hear the people we teach I don't understand it.  I think it is because different people are speaking either Tagalog or Aklanon. Aklanon being the most difficult to speak and understand. So that could be the best reason for why I don't understand people.  SO that also makes learning the language really hard because I don't know where to start!
The church house is very much like a church house in America. They just have tile floors. The church is located on Vilia Salvation street. (what a coincidence). 
It is just the 3 of us in our area which is Kalibo 2 but we do have other elders in our district who serve in other wards and areas in Kalibo. There is also a second companionship of sisters in the Kalibo 1 area which is Sis Butler from the MTC and her companion Sis Martinez. So I get to see Sis Butler often.
The food is fine to eat here.  You just mostly avoid the food that you see being cooked at tsungies (chungies). Like sidewalk venders because you don't know how long it has been sitting out. 
We walk to the near by homes but we'll sakay (ride) to homes that are far away. The Kalibo 2 area is pretty big because they used to have two companionships that were incharge of it. but now it is only us three.  There is basically 2 main highways that travel through Kalibo. so one day we'll travel down one highway and the next day we'll travel the next.
Yes i pray every day for the gift of tongues Gani (duh) haha
Our President speaks English very well.
I love Personal study every morning. I love reading the scriptures and actually having time to ponder and think about what i'm studying. I've noticed that I have no distractions and I can get a lot done. It is something I'd like to keep in the habit when I'm home

So Life is good here. I'm having fun. I pray for you everyday. I love you So much! Be safe.
Love Sis Fowles...  Fow-less... Powles... ibon

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