Date: Mon, 18 Jan 2010 06:28:28 +0000
Hey Family!
So there is so much to tell you, some spiritual, some not. Okay here I go. :)
This week we had a baptism. Her name was Maricel Arcangel. I think she was in her twenties. Elder Torio had been teaching her for a little while. Even though I didn't teach her much it was still really amazing seeing her be baptized and listening to her testimony.
We were also supposed to baptize this little girl named Jazine. She is 12 years old and is really excited. Her sister went to the hospital so she was gone for a little while. We couldn't get her baptismal interview done so we couldn't baptize her. She came to the church all ready to be baptized and we had to tell her she couldn't. She was so sad she cried. We will baptize her next week though.
I am just starting to get to know what is going on. I was lost for a little bit. I didn't know who was who and where they lived. It is getting better though. The language is coming along great. This morning I taught the first 3 principles of the 1st lesson in Ilanggo to my companion. I felt pretty good about that. I can only speak super simple sentences but I can now put things together. I take around a note pad and ask my companion questions all day. That has been the biggest help with the language. I was able to get a grammar book the other day too. That should help also.
My companion Elder Torio is a really neat guy. He speaks English pretty well so he helps me alot. He is from the northern part of the Philippines. I forget what it is called.
So I saw a fairly sad thing happen this week. I am sure there will be worse. We were waiting for the bus to go to one of our areas. There was this old guy holding a bag and a stick walking down the road. All of the sudden out of nowhere he slams the bag on the ground and starts beating it with a stick. Maybe I shouldn't tell you this. But I will. There was a dog in the bag. The dog started yelping in pain. He continued to do it until the dog died. He then just dumped it on the side of the road. I went to check it out after he left and there were three other dogs by it. The Filipino people don't like dogs as much as we do I guess. Pretty sad.
Anyways the area is so beautiful. We have a fairly big area so we have to ride those motorcycle carriage things. I am of course too big so I usually am on the back or sitting on the side over the wheel. It is really awesome. It is almost better than driving a motorcycle. We drive those to the cluster of houses and then walk from there.
All of the houses are scrunched together. They are really small. No carpet or cement, just bamboo. I guess people there don't usually see American Joes so everyone stares at me and smiles. I just say Maayo Hapon and give them a high five. I don't quite yet have the skills to hold a meaningful conversation with them.
Thank you for praying for me. I definitely need it. Everything is going well. Just the occasional rough day. I hope all is good with everyone.
I am excited for Josh to get his call, and Mckay to go to the MTC in a few weeks.
Love you a lot,
Elder Kirschbaum
