Two Months in the Philippine​s

Kamusta!!!!

I can't believe I've already been here two months. I've almost been here as long as I was in the MTC. Pretty crazy. Time flies by so fast.

 

Lately I've felt like I've kind of hit a wall when it comes to the language. I haven't been progressing very much. I don't know what to do. I decided to take the matter to the Lord. I poured out my heart to Him asking for His help. I explained to Him how hard it is to learn a language. I've never learned a language before, and I still don't feel like I know how. That is when I remembered someone else who was asked by the Lord to do something he didn't know how. Any guesses??? Nephi!!! Our good old Book of Mormon prophet who was told by the Lord that he needed to build a ship. Only problem is Nephi had never built a ship before and he did not know how. But he new the Lord would help him and show him how. I need to be like Nephi and more completely trust and rely on the Lord. I know that God will help me and show me what I need to do. After that I had an inspired study session where I was able to receive revelation on things I can be doing better. I was wonderful.

One of those things I need to do better is to trust in the Lord more by opening my mouth. Before I would just think of 'opening your mouth' in reference to talking to strangers about the gospel. But I'm realizing opening my mouth includes more than that. It means speaking the language as much as I can. In the MTC they taught us that we should 'SYL' (Speak Your Language) as much as possible. I wasn't very good at in the MTC, and since Sis. Calinisan is so good with English I don't do much of it now either. But I'm realizing that is something I need to be doing better. Also just trusting in the Lord and opening my mouth during lessons. Sometimes I just assume I don't know how to say something so I don't even try. But I have been trying to say more things, even when I'm not super confident. It is helping me to become better. There have been times this week when my companion will say "And now Sister Curtis will..... explain what that means/ tell this story/ ect. " In my head I'm thinking 'Are you crazy!' But then I will just do my best, and I'm surprised at how much I am able to say. The Lord promises that when we open our mouths, they will be filled. I have experienced that for myself. I guess it is required that I just first take that leap of faith and they He can bless me. Hopefully will my new found faith and determination I can make more progress in learning Tagalog.

 

School here got out about two weeks ago, so now it's summer vacation. To celebrate graduations people will have little parties and make lots of food. A couple of people have shared their graduation food with us. Most of the time it is yummy pancit (noodle stuff, kind of similar to roman noodles except 87 times better). The desserts are yummy too. Most of them are rice based.

 

Here in the Philippines, Easter is a big deal. They call it Holy Week, and it really is a week long celebration. I'm sure I'll have lots of cool things to tell you about next week. But the preparations have been going on for the last week or so. They have been putting up decorations and all sorts of cool stuff. But it's not decorations of the Easter Bunny. It is all focused on Jesus Christ, and I love it. Something they have started already is the Pabasa (The Reading) in so many places in our areas they have set up a Crucifixion scene and a microphone. For the Pabasa they will read passages from the scriptures. When I say read, I really mean sing. They will sing the scriptures. Sometimes they will sing it to a song I will recognize (Oh Christmas Tree), sometimes to a song I don't recognize but I can still tell its a song. And sometimes they just make it up as they go. It's kinda funny. There is a church that has a Pabasa that is super close to our house. They starting last night and they haven't stopped yet. Yup they sang the scriptures all night long. It was a little hard to fall asleep, and it was also kinda distracting during our studies this morning. This is quite the adventure. From what I hear I will see some pretty crazy things this week. I'm sure I will have lots to tell you about next time.

 

I hope you all have a wonderful and happy Easter. Remember to focus on our Savior Jesus Christ. I know that because of the Atonement we can be cleansed from our sins. And because Jesus was risen from the dead we will all live again.

 

Sister “I love being a missionary!!!!!" Curtis

 

Enjoy the pics:

 

Pic 1: For our Trainers/Trainees meeting, me and my companion bought matching skirts. Also this is my room, a little messy at the moment. That's my bed and desk :)

Pic 2: Even though I don't love how I look in this picture (or the previous one) I'm still sending it so you can see this cute little house that I get to teach in.