Let's start out with a few hugs and kisses! Yes, indeed! there you are! love all around. that feels good :) thanks for that. yes, i'm doing lots better! i feel fantastic! sister ronquillo is doing lots better as well. she still has phlegm and icky coughing, but is doing well otherwise. we finally got back to work about 3 pm wednesday and it was awesome! i mean, we had some great lessons this week. it was such a blessing!
and i learned something great this week :) i was struggling just being myself. that doesn't sound like me, does it? i know. it's weird. and even with someone as cool as sis ronquillo, i was just not being my normal self. especially not in lessons. and i have a hard time knowing what to say sometimes, especially if i'm not a 100% sure of where we are in casual conversation... so i'm not as talkative here, though i promise i'm trying to fix that. anyhow, in my interview with President last week, i told him i was struggling to feel like an actual full-time missionary, though i was sure trying hard to be like one. he said he felt like i would start feeling a lot more like a real missionary as i learned to communicate with the people. i felt the Spirit confirm that that was true. but until friday, i didn't consider it could mean more than just in Tagalog. then, in weekly planning, we finally discovered what it was! it was beautiful. sweet relief, i tell you. i realized i was trying to be what i thought others expected me to be. i was trying to be an ideal companion, teacher, and missionary--which isn't wrong, by any means, but the way i was going about it was wrong. the thing is, we don't have to change our personality to be our best. we just have to try to be more like the Savior. and i was unhappy trying to be something other than myself. no one was happy. i wasn't genuine and so my teaching wasn't good and i was miserable. but as i'm learning to be myself again and just do my best, i am so happy! and that day i felt more like a real missionary than ever! i tried to qualify for and follow the Spirit and just be me! and i loved it. it was an answer to prayers.
i realized this had a lot to do with many things--with things aaron has said to me, with some general conference talks, and with what maree shared with me that mom told her: we have to love ourselves as we are before we can really progress and become better. i was pondering and pondering that and wondering if it were true. i wasn't sure. and that was because i was having a hard time loving the terribly imperfect, not-as-good-of-a-missionary-as-i-want-to-be-yet me. sad, i know. but true. and then i realized how Heavenly Father and Jesus must feel if i feel so negatively toward myself. not pleased, of course. so i am learning how to see me the way They do, instead of the way i think others do. a lesson i've been given opportunity to learn many times. let's hope it works this time! :) haha just a fun lil insight for ya!
k so i have a list here of things to mention...
YES, i would LOVE ANY KIND of tlc from home, mommy dear! any kind at all! but packages are expensive. so... you are wise. i will let you decide. but please follow the directions on the paper i sent home from the mtc about mail so that you don't have to worry about whether it will reach me.and the only thing i would request if you get a chance to send something is deodorant withOUT anti-perspirant. :) you DA BEST, mommy!!!!!
as i recall, mom, you had this happen recently, eh? you were looking for something important and it turned up in a place you did not expect. i know you will receive the answer you need according to His time. i will be praying for you. and for lou. i understand her apprehensions. but she's great and i know she can do it. plus, it is a kind of preparation for future situations :) like roommates. i have every confidence that she will be able to be a good friend and roommate. please let me know how things are going.
to keri, the power is the same in the city of makati. as for province... my comp says it's the same there, too. i brought an adapter, but i honestly don't think you'll end up needing it in this particular mission. yes, i have a card from Zion's and you can withdraw pesos here. but i carried american money for my emergency travel and that is okay. it can also be exchanged here. and it can be used on your layover in hong kong. you may need a light blanket for rainy season when it's cooler in the night, but honestly the only time i've needed a blanket was when i had a fever :) haha in the mtc they have them. i used my own and then sent it home before i came to the P. i just have sets of sheets and that works just fine. and the camera, it can be digital. maybe better if water proof since mine is acting funny now. but i also didn't have a case for a good while. if you have a good case, i think it'll be fine. mine's nothing fancy. just small so it doesn't take up lots of space. get a good proselyting bag that can clip around your hips so it's easier on your shoulder and has plenty of space inside. i ended up buying a quad here because normal scriptures were too big and heavy to carry around all the time. but it's up to you. i'll be seein ya soon, lovely! :)
any news on my journal at the mtc?
we had a crazy rain the other week and waded home in a flood for an hour... no wonder we got sick! lol it normally would have only taken 15 or20 min to walk that distance. fun stuff. and last night.... the wind was INSANE!!!! we buckled down with our 72hr kit lol! but we only had a brown-out and that was it. just typical rainy season, probably.
last thing! i ate something crazy... i guess it might be bawal, but sis r said it was okay bc we could definitely trust who cooked it--the bishop's wife. it was dinuguan... pig's blood! and it sure looks suspicious. it's like black. but it was DELICIOUS! no joke. so tasty. at least i only had a teeny bit of fat in mine, so i ate it up! it was great! it's just an ulam, so you eat it on rice, like everything else Philippino :) haha and no, daddy, i'm still super my same size, just like you! hahah but that's okay with me!
love you all loads. tell zac what up, fruz? i love your guts. quote that, please.
i gotta go, but i'll try sending a few pics if i can. it didn't send that one time bc the files were too big. sis ronx will help me.
love, sis r
oh, and if i get to write letters today FINALLY, i'll do all i can to write craig and aaron. poor kids. i have a long list of poor kids :) ingat palagi!
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