Monday, August 26, 2013

Anyone want an autograph!

Hey! I love e-mail. It is so nice to be able to hear from you all and how life is going. It is my favorite part of my P-day. Lets continue the story...

So this last week has been pretty hard for me. I have been sick all this last week and I am still having bathroom problems haha so that has made things reals fun. On the bright side of that though is that I found a place that sells toilet paper! So a little bit of heaven is back in my life again haha. All of this week it has been raining straight every single day and there are floods everywhere its so crazy! One day we were not allowed to go out and work. When we do work we are just wet all the time, no matter what you do to stay dry. All the matters to us is keeping our feet dry. Our power and water have been on and off through out the week so at times we just sit out in the rain because it is just to hot in the apartment. Another thing that has been very frustrating is the work. So since Elder Mack and I re-opened this area, we have almost no investigators and tons of less actives. The Elders that got pulled out did a terrible job at updating the area book and after 2 weeks working in this area, we can tell they wern't very good missionaries. So at this point, we have had 3 baptismal goal dates fall through so we are trying our best to hold onto the one that we have. The reason why its so frustrating is not because of investigators, but its because the Ward missionaries don't want to work with us, or they make excuses so they don't have too, and they are never at the meetings they are suppose to be at. So we are not getting help from them. We are working really hard to get members to help us and work with us but they don't really want to do it. They said they will try but we don't see any effort, cause we are not getting referrals at all. Right now that is the biggest way to get new investigators, cause if we can get a referrals from the members, those investigators automatically have a fellowshipper and a friend in the church. but.... That hasn't been happening. We get punted (canceled) from appts. all the time. So this last week Elder Mack and I have been working really hard trying to talk to people and the street and tract houses. We have literally spent 2 days in a row walking around our area for 8 hours tracting houses, we got 2 return appts out of that and hopefully new investigators. So thats been really stressful and a struggle for my companion and I right now. The language is still frustrating, I still can not understand anyone and I feel like an idiot because I have to turn to my companion and have him translate for me. I can't really complain about the language though cause I haven't put in the extra work to learn it this last week just because of all things that have been going on. So that is one huge goal for me is to start spending extra time everyday to learn the language, and I think when I start to understand what people are saying that will help me alot! People talk in lessons and I can feel the Spirit and the power of what they are saying is true and that they are saying from the heart. But, oh how I wish I could hear what they are saying, instead of asking my companion what they said after the Appt. So it's been a crazy week, and I have definitely needed this P-day. 

So its been interesting with my companion Elder Mack. He is still a cool guy and is willing to server diligently. But, he has the tendency to do everything how he likes to do it, cause when he first got here his trainers were not very go trainers and didn't do anything to help him. So he had to learn how to do everything by himself, including the language. He said its weird when we have companionship study cause he never really done one before, cause his companions will always sleep in. So every time we discuss lessons and how we should go about it and stuff like that he always says "Well, this is how I like to do it." and it gets pretty annoying. Also during lessons he just likes to repeat the same monologue that he says all the time. He doesn't do it all the time but he like to do it the same way he does everytime. So when I try to give in input on how we should teach a lesson or some suggestions on others things we can do, he kind of shuts me down. Also its kind of hard for him to start the "How to begin teaching" the we learned in the MTC which is basically building trust with people and getting to know them before you start the lesson. He just likes to jump right into the lesson. So, I have been trying to help him, teach him, and work with him on how we can begin teaching and teaching the needs of the people. He is a good trainer though, he is always making me do my part in the lesson which is good, but it sucks cause I can barely say what I really want to say in Tagalog and it ends up being Taglish so I can get my point across. It's funny cause he is a big nerd like me cause we always talk about video games, MTG, and stuff like that from home. He was a Professional League of Legends player back home and made a lot of money doing it too! Other then that we are getting along great! 

I am loving the culture down here and just so weird and crazy! You see something weird and different everyday, but I am starting to learn my area and learning where everything is! I love riding Trikes and Jeepnys now they are awesome, they can get pretty decked out sometimes! Sometimes since I am in a nicer area you will see some people will some really nice pimped out cars and bikes! It makes me want a bike so bad, and I am definitely  getting one when I get back. When you go to a grocery store they will be playing music like eminem and other kinds of music you wouldn't think would be playing in a grocery store. So little things here and there just make this country so cool!  So this morning we get up at 5 in the morning to go play basketball at the chapel which was probably the most fun since I have been here! These Filipinos just love to play basketball, and I was kind of hesitant because I am not very good, and watching these guys played scared me cause they look way good. One of the members that we are with a lot cause he likes to helps us, went around the church on sunday and told everyone I play basketball for BYU!!! I was so pissed hahahaha and that I knew all the Jazz players and stuff, so they were expecting that I was going to be really good. They all wanted me on their team, I was laughing so hard cause I can only imagine the disappointment on their faces after they see me play. I ended up playing extremely well, better then I ever had in a while! probably cause I am 2 feet taller then everybody else haha! but, I was making shots left and right and making these crazy layups that I didn't think I could do so it was a  lot of fun and I got to know a lot of the younger guys in our ward. I ended up playing basketball for almost 4 hours this morning, it was nice but my legs hurt so bad now and I am going to regret it tomorrow. We went to a mall today to get some things that I needed for my mission. We have the biggest (SM) mall in the mission in my area! It was so huge! I felt like I was back in America! I had Mcdonalds and Dairy Queen for lunch it was so good. Cause I usually have like this hot chocolate drink and oatmeal for breakfast and lunch everyday. It was nice to kind of feel like I was home again.

So because of all the rain and stuff, I am going to need new shoes. It is really hard to find good shoes my size here. So next time when you send me a package will you please buy me some rubber church shoes and send them to me that will be so nice. im sure my shoes can last for a while so don't feel rushed to send the package, but they are starting to get ruined cause they are leather. oops. haha Also when you send your next package please, please, please, load it up with some candy!!! There is like no candy here and I am craving it ha. The Mission President has asked us not to use DHL or Fedex because I will have to pay more money to receive it when it gets here. If its more convenient I guess you can but it just cost a whole lot more if you do. On my end. I am sure you all ready have the mailing address but here it is anyways:

Philippines San Pablo Mission
Brgy. San Juan Alaminos
Laguna 4001
Philippines

Well, I think that this novel is over and I have spent like an hour typing it out haha. 

I hope everyone is doing well and everything is good. I look forward every week hearing from you all and you shall hear from me next week!

Love you all,

-Elder Kikel

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