Week 7

Hello!

So last Tuesday we went to the temple. I LOVE THE MANILA TEMPLE! SO MAGANDA! Then that night we traveled to our mission zone at 4 am....so brutal I didn't sleep at all, it took like 2 hours by bus and jeepneys, I met my mission president, hes a super funny guy. his wife is super awesome too.

My companion is cool, hes from Boise Idaho, this is his last area he goes home in October, I have been telling him about real life back home as much as I can the last week or so. He is cool and we get along well, we both sweat a lot and stink so its perfect. people think we are kapatid. (siblings)

I am in the area of tayabas by lucena.  We will be here for 12 weeks. stoked to be here, everyone says once you finish in-field training (october) it'll pick up really fast so I'm just trying to survive lol  This area is high in the mountains and the lightning is sooooo loud, like the loudest Ive ever heard it before and it startles me every now and then, but the rain and coolness are amazing to feel. This place is so different, I feel like I'm in Asia,  there isn't a lot of American stuff here....at all.  I don't really recognize anything. We live in the nicer part of town but most of the people don't live in what I would even call huts, but they just make a home out of whatever they can find. Ill show some examples next week, its pretty rough.

The apartment is hilarious we moved in and cover an area that 4 sisters used to be in so our apartments are like....purple.

 There are some things I miss already. like hot water, air conditioning and toilet paper......none here. I put some water in a ladle and pour it down my butt crack then clean, lol  I live off of alcohol and germ-x, and yeah the entire bathroom is the shower, lol the water is soooooooooooooo cold. like even too cold for how hot it is here, it is straight run off from a mountain, but that's okay because I know the lord will help me out here.

We don't have an oven, just a mini stove, a rice cooker, a fridge and a water filter.

I'm doing fine, I am keeping up on my exercise, we do 30,30,30 every day, which is 3 sets of 30 on pushups squats and crunches. the heat helps cause you sweat really easy. 

I can understand more Tagalog than I can talk, but its coming along. I have been out tracting everyday since Friday its pretty cool. Just takes some getting used too.

There was this family who thought they couldn't go to church anymore if they missed going after being baptized. after reassuring them they could he said "why though, I mean we are doing just fine without going." so I asked him to read Helaman 5:12. and his eyes just opened up. I could see the realization and then I told him he needs to build his faith for not just himself but his family, they all need it in order to survive Satan's attacks. He thanked me and that was really awesome. He didn't show up to church but that could be because its such a far walk. We are working with him and a lot of people actually. We are going to try to teach an English class to talk to more people,  people here call me Jo.... cause I'm like GI Joe.

Next week I'm gonna get a pic of the meat market, jeepneys, and some animals. There are just cats and dogs everywhere....sometimes you'll hear them screaming and well that's actually because they are being killed for dinner.....

This place is very rural. There is a farmers market and some snack shops but I haven't even seen like any kind of a normal store yet.

We went to the market to buy some food for breakfast, the meat market is stuff made of nightmares for clean freaks lol I myself was soooooooo nervous about it.

Instead of computers in a house. they will have like 30 next to each other in a part of town in a store, the owner is a member so we don't have to pay which is nice. but like right now there are these kids in no clothes with missing teeth playing counterstrike and diablo 3 next to me,  its hilarious.

I love it here! Everyone is so nice, the kids run up to us and tease us and give us high fives. this kid here called me ugly because he didnt think I knew Tagalog so I said "Sagtan mo ang puso ko"

(you hurt my heart) "kailangan magsisi kayo"  (you need to repent) and he was dying laughing,

Last night this guy was just chilling with his guitar singing that Bieber song about his mom not liking people, it was super chill.

I'm dying from all the food. So far I have eaten squid spaghetti (exactly what it sounds like) which wrecked my system I am currently sick right now,  we went to a Mcdonalds here....so weird because their burgers have mayonnaise and mushrooms with cheese.... and they sell spaghetti. I have also eaten pig liver, snail, and other things, this place is crazy.  I don't even have access to bread here... lol this place is a pretty low key part of the Philippines
Its a good thing rice is okay because......every....single....meal

I miss actual milk that's cold. Here its just powder milk. We have to drink it at members houses. The only thing here that I recognize is soda....

The bugs aren't too bad, I still haven't come across any giant scary spiders yet, we are looking though, there are some in the banana trees, the bananas here are like pocket size and they are the size of your fist. That's what Ive been eating the most. The fruit is to DIE for! The mangoes I eat for breakfast and passion fruit are SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO GOOD

Me with the popsicle I made, because I found out half a water bottle + ice + tang makes a good popsicle.

That is a cockroach we found in the apartment and that battery is to show scale, its AAA, also I heard they bite.

  This is me in the area proselyting, you wouldn't believe how beautiful it is here.

 Some firecrackers we found in the apartment and they are like a gunshot, they are so loud.

 This is just a cool pic I took



tell Millie I will dance with her when I'm back, tell Amy and the wardies I miss them all!

I would give you a hug if I could.
Love Elder Yarro