Thursday, September 15, 2011
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
September 12, 2011
Ayos! So I'm just going to send my usual novel this week because I dont trust internet cafe computers with my camera... Elder Hopkins said that once his camera got a virus from an internet cafe computer so yeah!
Whats up everyone! Its been a while it feels like! So hmm yeah what to say... I wish I could just bring my journal here so I could just pretty much copy that down but I dont wanna carry that around, lazy me.
Tagalog is coming frustratingly well. When I speak its generally fairly mistake free but theres still sooooooooooooooo much I don't know and I want to say ughhhhh. So yeah, Elder Hopkins left on Sunday to go back to Manila so Sunday, Mopnday and Tuesday and today (Wednesday) I'm kinda companionless. During the day I work with Elder Osumo and Elder Robbins and then I night I go out just with Brother Arnold, the Group Leader here in Coron. So he wants me to lead cuz its my area and my investigators. Which is so intimidating cuz I can't talk!! So when I'm out with the other two elders the same applies when its my area or my investigator. Which is hard but definitely a good learning experience, but I did I say that that's hard? Its like Caleb with his superb Spanish skills being expected to walk into the home of a Spanish speaking family and being expected to hold a 20-30 minute discussion. Last night brother Arnold and I visited the Maanyo's and it actually went really well I was pumped! And then it poured on us on the way home...haha Dad asked if I had to learn the lessons and then pass it off with a DL or ZL. And the answer is nope. I just have to teach and hope it goes well haha We practice teaching a lot with our companions and stuff in companionship study and what not.
So last Saturday we had the first baptisms in the history of Coron! Pretty legit huh? The candidates were Sara (15), Daryl (13), and Maribeth (11) Maanyo. They're the kids of Marilyn who is an endowed member but they haven't had the opportunity to be baptized yet. So we still taught them all like we would anyone else, and they were prepared and ready to be baptized last Saturday! We took a boat out to CYC Beach and baptized in the Sea! Prettyyyyy amazing! I had the opportunity to baptize Daryl so that was way cool. I have some awesome pictures that hopefully I can send soon. We have like 12 investigators with a baptismal date here in the next couple months, how crazy is that?? I'm going to get to do most all of those its awesome! I'm so blessed/lucky!
The growth here is crazy!! So two Sundays ago we had 75 people attend sacrament meeting! That's pretty much the same amount of people that go to church in Effingham! Then this past Sunday we dropped down to a mere 68...haha We've gone from 5 members and the missionaries to about 70ish people at sacrament meeting every Sunday! This past Sunday was Fast and Testimony meeting. And it was one of the best sacrament meetings I've ever been to. The Spirit was so strong! There were a bunch of people with tears in their eyes, it was really powerful. I love these people, I can't imagine ever transferring out of here! Oh and by the way, the week that we had 75 people at sacrament meeting, Elder Hopkins and I had to do zero finding/tracting that week because we worked through the members. We asked for and received and bunch of referrals from our members and families we're teaching and taught them as well as kept up with our progressing investigators. So Effingham Branch! Work with the missionaries. Cuz Coron is catching up to you. =) You'll be blessed haha
So p-day is today, which is Wednesday because its transfer time. And the people haven't really told us anything about whats going down with my new companion. Finally this morning we got a call saying that he'd be here tomorrow so yeah. That's pretty much all I know. I've heard like 3 names of who it could be. I guess it was probably going to be Elder Vince Labinpuno. Which would have been crazy/awesome! Cuz Elder Labinpuno was in my ward at BYU first semester and he's an awesome guy. Plus he's in my batch so we went into the MTC the same day and will leave the same day. But he was only in the MTC for 3 weeks cuz he already knows Tagalog. But this morning they said that that changed and its not going to be him but this other Filipino but I forgot his name. I still hold out hope that they're messing with me because we've heard a ton of different stuff about whats going to happen here.
Hmm I don't know what else to say...so yeah..sorry! Miss you all but it rocks here!
Love
Elder Michael Gadberry
Whats up everyone! Its been a while it feels like! So hmm yeah what to say... I wish I could just bring my journal here so I could just pretty much copy that down but I dont wanna carry that around, lazy me.
Tagalog is coming frustratingly well. When I speak its generally fairly mistake free but theres still sooooooooooooooo much I don't know and I want to say ughhhhh. So yeah, Elder Hopkins left on Sunday to go back to Manila so Sunday, Mopnday and Tuesday and today (Wednesday) I'm kinda companionless. During the day I work with Elder Osumo and Elder Robbins and then I night I go out just with Brother Arnold, the Group Leader here in Coron. So he wants me to lead cuz its my area and my investigators. Which is so intimidating cuz I can't talk!! So when I'm out with the other two elders the same applies when its my area or my investigator. Which is hard but definitely a good learning experience, but I did I say that that's hard? Its like Caleb with his superb Spanish skills being expected to walk into the home of a Spanish speaking family and being expected to hold a 20-30 minute discussion. Last night brother Arnold and I visited the Maanyo's and it actually went really well I was pumped! And then it poured on us on the way home...haha Dad asked if I had to learn the lessons and then pass it off with a DL or ZL. And the answer is nope. I just have to teach and hope it goes well haha We practice teaching a lot with our companions and stuff in companionship study and what not.
So last Saturday we had the first baptisms in the history of Coron! Pretty legit huh? The candidates were Sara (15), Daryl (13), and Maribeth (11) Maanyo. They're the kids of Marilyn who is an endowed member but they haven't had the opportunity to be baptized yet. So we still taught them all like we would anyone else, and they were prepared and ready to be baptized last Saturday! We took a boat out to CYC Beach and baptized in the Sea! Prettyyyyy amazing! I had the opportunity to baptize Daryl so that was way cool. I have some awesome pictures that hopefully I can send soon. We have like 12 investigators with a baptismal date here in the next couple months, how crazy is that?? I'm going to get to do most all of those its awesome! I'm so blessed/lucky!
The growth here is crazy!! So two Sundays ago we had 75 people attend sacrament meeting! That's pretty much the same amount of people that go to church in Effingham! Then this past Sunday we dropped down to a mere 68...haha We've gone from 5 members and the missionaries to about 70ish people at sacrament meeting every Sunday! This past Sunday was Fast and Testimony meeting. And it was one of the best sacrament meetings I've ever been to. The Spirit was so strong! There were a bunch of people with tears in their eyes, it was really powerful. I love these people, I can't imagine ever transferring out of here! Oh and by the way, the week that we had 75 people at sacrament meeting, Elder Hopkins and I had to do zero finding/tracting that week because we worked through the members. We asked for and received and bunch of referrals from our members and families we're teaching and taught them as well as kept up with our progressing investigators. So Effingham Branch! Work with the missionaries. Cuz Coron is catching up to you. =) You'll be blessed haha
So p-day is today, which is Wednesday because its transfer time. And the people haven't really told us anything about whats going down with my new companion. Finally this morning we got a call saying that he'd be here tomorrow so yeah. That's pretty much all I know. I've heard like 3 names of who it could be. I guess it was probably going to be Elder Vince Labinpuno. Which would have been crazy/awesome! Cuz Elder Labinpuno was in my ward at BYU first semester and he's an awesome guy. Plus he's in my batch so we went into the MTC the same day and will leave the same day. But he was only in the MTC for 3 weeks cuz he already knows Tagalog. But this morning they said that that changed and its not going to be him but this other Filipino but I forgot his name. I still hold out hope that they're messing with me because we've heard a ton of different stuff about whats going to happen here.
Hmm I don't know what else to say...so yeah..sorry! Miss you all but it rocks here!
Love
Elder Michael Gadberry
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Spetember 6, 2011
Ayos! So I'm just going to send my usual novel this week because I dont trust internet cafe computers with my camera... Elder Hopkins said that once his camera got a virus from an internet cafe computer so yeah!
Whats up everyone! Its been a while it feels like! So hmm yeah what to say... I wish I could just bring my journal here so I could just pretty much copy that down but I dont wanna carry that around, lazy me.
Tagalog is coming frustratingly well. When I speak its generally fairly mistake free but theres still sooooooooooooooo much I don't know and I want to say ughhhhh. So yeah, Elder Hopkins left on Sunday to go back to Manila so Sunday, Mopnday and Tuesday and today (Wednesday) I'm kinda companionless. During the day I work with Elder Osumo and Elder Robbins and then I night I go out just with Brother Arnold, the Group Leader here in Coron. So he wants me to lead cuz its my area and my investigators. Which is so intimidating cuz I can't talk!! So when I'm out with the other two elders the same applies when its my area or my investigator. Which is hard but definitely a good learning experience, but I did I say that that's hard? Its like Caleb with his superb Spanish skills being expected to walk into the home of a Spanish speaking family and being expected to hold a 20-30 minute discussion. Last night brother Arnold and I visited the Maanyo's and it actually went really well I was pumped! And then it poured on us on the way home...haha Dad asked if I had to learn the lessons and then pass it off with a DL or ZL. And the answer is nope. I just have to teach and hope it goes well haha We practice teaching a lot with our companions and stuff in companionship study and what not.
So last Saturday we had the first baptisms in the history of Coron! Pretty legit huh? The candidates were Sara (15), Daryl (13), and Maribeth (11) Maanyo. They're the kids of Marilyn who is a member but they haven't had the opportunity to be baptized yet. So we still taught them all like we would anyone else, and they were prepared and ready to be baptized last Saturday! We took a boat out to CYC Beach and baptized in the Sea! Prettyyyyy amazing! I had the opportunity to baptize Daryl so that was way cool. I have some awesome pictures that hopefully I can send soon. We have like 12 investigators with a baptismal date here in the next couple months, how crazy is that?? I'm going to get to do most all of those its awesome! I'm so blessed/lucky!
The growth here is crazy!! So two Sundays ago we had 75 people attend sacrament meeting! That's pretty much the same amount of people that go to church in Effingham! Then this past Sunday we dropped down to a mere 68...haha We've gone from 5 members and the missionaries to about 70ish people at sacrament meeting every Sunday! This past Sunday was Fast and Testimony meeting. And it was one of the best sacrament meetings I've ever been to. The Spirit was so strong! There were a bunch of people with tears in their eyes, it was really powerful. I love these people, I can't imagine ever transferring out of here! Oh and by the way, the week that we had 75 people at sacrament meeting, Elder Hopkins and I had to do zero finding/tracting that week because we worked through the members. We asked for and received and bunch of referrals from our members and families we're teaching and taught them as well as kept up with our progressing investigators. So Effingham Branch! Work with the missionaries. Cuz Coron is catching up to you. =) You'll be blessed haha
So p-day is today, which is Wednesday because its transfer time. And the people haven't really told us anything about whats going down with my new companion. Finally this morning we got a call saying that he'd be here tomorrow so yeah. That's pretty much all I know. I've heard like 3 names of who it could be. I guess it was probably going to be Elder Vince Labinpuno. Which would have been crazy/awesome! Cuz Elder Labinpuno was in my ward at BYU first semester and he's an awesome guy. Plus he's in my batch so we went into the MTC the same day and will leave the same day. But he was only in the MTC for 3 weeks cuz he already knows Tagalog. But this morning they said that that changed and its not going to be him but this other Filipino but I forgot his name. I still hold out hope that they're messing with me because we've heard a ton of different stuff about whats going to happen here.
Hmm I don't know what else to say...so yeah..sorry! Miss you all but it rocks here!
Love
Elder Michael Gadberry
Whats up everyone! Its been a while it feels like! So hmm yeah what to say... I wish I could just bring my journal here so I could just pretty much copy that down but I dont wanna carry that around, lazy me.
Tagalog is coming frustratingly well. When I speak its generally fairly mistake free but theres still sooooooooooooooo much I don't know and I want to say ughhhhh. So yeah, Elder Hopkins left on Sunday to go back to Manila so Sunday, Mopnday and Tuesday and today (Wednesday) I'm kinda companionless. During the day I work with Elder Osumo and Elder Robbins and then I night I go out just with Brother Arnold, the Group Leader here in Coron. So he wants me to lead cuz its my area and my investigators. Which is so intimidating cuz I can't talk!! So when I'm out with the other two elders the same applies when its my area or my investigator. Which is hard but definitely a good learning experience, but I did I say that that's hard? Its like Caleb with his superb Spanish skills being expected to walk into the home of a Spanish speaking family and being expected to hold a 20-30 minute discussion. Last night brother Arnold and I visited the Maanyo's and it actually went really well I was pumped! And then it poured on us on the way home...haha Dad asked if I had to learn the lessons and then pass it off with a DL or ZL. And the answer is nope. I just have to teach and hope it goes well haha We practice teaching a lot with our companions and stuff in companionship study and what not.
So last Saturday we had the first baptisms in the history of Coron! Pretty legit huh? The candidates were Sara (15), Daryl (13), and Maribeth (11) Maanyo. They're the kids of Marilyn who is a member but they haven't had the opportunity to be baptized yet. So we still taught them all like we would anyone else, and they were prepared and ready to be baptized last Saturday! We took a boat out to CYC Beach and baptized in the Sea! Prettyyyyy amazing! I had the opportunity to baptize Daryl so that was way cool. I have some awesome pictures that hopefully I can send soon. We have like 12 investigators with a baptismal date here in the next couple months, how crazy is that?? I'm going to get to do most all of those its awesome! I'm so blessed/lucky!
The growth here is crazy!! So two Sundays ago we had 75 people attend sacrament meeting! That's pretty much the same amount of people that go to church in Effingham! Then this past Sunday we dropped down to a mere 68...haha We've gone from 5 members and the missionaries to about 70ish people at sacrament meeting every Sunday! This past Sunday was Fast and Testimony meeting. And it was one of the best sacrament meetings I've ever been to. The Spirit was so strong! There were a bunch of people with tears in their eyes, it was really powerful. I love these people, I can't imagine ever transferring out of here! Oh and by the way, the week that we had 75 people at sacrament meeting, Elder Hopkins and I had to do zero finding/tracting that week because we worked through the members. We asked for and received and bunch of referrals from our members and families we're teaching and taught them as well as kept up with our progressing investigators. So Effingham Branch! Work with the missionaries. Cuz Coron is catching up to you. =) You'll be blessed haha
So p-day is today, which is Wednesday because its transfer time. And the people haven't really told us anything about whats going down with my new companion. Finally this morning we got a call saying that he'd be here tomorrow so yeah. That's pretty much all I know. I've heard like 3 names of who it could be. I guess it was probably going to be Elder Vince Labinpuno. Which would have been crazy/awesome! Cuz Elder Labinpuno was in my ward at BYU first semester and he's an awesome guy. Plus he's in my batch so we went into the MTC the same day and will leave the same day. But he was only in the MTC for 3 weeks cuz he already knows Tagalog. But this morning they said that that changed and its not going to be him but this other Filipino but I forgot his name. I still hold out hope that they're messing with me because we've heard a ton of different stuff about whats going to happen here.
Hmm I don't know what else to say...so yeah..sorry! Miss you all but it rocks here!
Love
Elder Michael Gadberry
Monday, August 29, 2011
A Few More Pics! (8/29/11)
We received five more pictures from Michael this week! Take a look...
1. The Cruda/Encina/Maanyo family. The three in front of Hopkins are getting baptized this Saturday! The mom is a member and dad isn't. Their family is solid. The dad is new to church stuff so he's coming along. He's trying to quit cigarettes and he's doing well! We're excited for him. He and one of their sons, John Robert, will probably be baptized towards the middle of October.
2. The Duran family. Lost members that we found. And they're so awesome! We love visiting them. Marvin is a fisherman and he dives and literally hunts the fish with like a gun. Its pretty legit. We just got done playing basketball with him earlier today. We won of course. They want to feed us all the time, so its nice...haha
4. Down at Cabu Beach. A possible spot where we'll do the baptisms! It would be soooo sweet!
5. My absolute best friend. She totally loves me and I really have no reason why. Its cuz me and Elder Hopkins are guwapo cuz we're white but she likes me alottt more than him and I don't know why. Its pretty funny though.
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
A Couple of Pictures (finally)!
Michael and the missionary who is training him, Elder Hopkins.
This is not Michael's trainer:
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
From Coron - August 8, 2011
There has a been a little bit of confusion as to who is writing what on the blog. This is Kirk and I usually write a couple of sentences before I turn it over to Michael. Of course turning it over to him is code for "cut and paste his latest e-mail". We still don't have any pictures! As he describes below his internet connection is slow so sending pictures may not be an option for awhile. So with that, here is the latest from Elder Gadberry:
Allllright! Another week down!
Guess what.... its been great! ...go figure.
So I'll answer a few questions and then talk about what I remember from my week. Usually I like to bring my journal along so I remember all that happened but I forgot this time, sorry! And if I spell stuff wrong forgive me "kasi" this keyboard is really hard to type on sometimes its really touchy and other times its sticky or hard to press the letters.
First question was. "Where are the pictures?!?!?" And my reply is. Patience, everything will be revealed to you in time. hahaha But really, I'll probably wait till I get back to the mainland before I start sending most of them back. But next time I'll try to send a few of them. The connection here is really slow so I don think it would handle it very well.
The other two elders that are on the island are living with us. That's why we have two bunkbeds. One for me and my companion and the other for the other two. They're pretty cool. I love Elder Osumo. He's hilarious. You'll see pics ventually.
So two weeks ago we committed Jimmel (I almost always type Jimmer instead of Jimmel and I have noooo idea why...hahaha) and Dona to being baptized when they come to know these things are true. We're still working with them but they're progressing really well. This week we didnt have anyone progressing well enough towards baptism "kasi" we only have 5 members on the island so we've got a lot of work to do with everyone. We had this family (Juniors family) that we taught on Thursday or Friday and we committed them to going to church and they said they would. So Sunday came and they werent there so we visited them. And it turns out they went to church but were late so they didnt know where it was or anything. So that was cool that they tried. The katulongs that work here at this house are doing really well too! Efraim is definitely the strongest of them. They're progressing well. We're so hopeful for them that we've talked to Efraim about serving a mission and he said he would do that if things work out. Efraim has had a kinda rough life. His mom died when he was young, and his dad disappeared so he pretty much worked here and been on his own except for the people that live and work here with him. Oh and we went way out farther than we usually go and we found a lost member! She has been to the temple and everything! But her kids aren't baptized so they're for sure going to be our first baptisms. The dad isn't a member (well this is where it gets complicated cuz of Philippine law). The mom
left her husband because he went bad. But divorces are illegal or really expensive here. So she's living with this guy and they've been together for 6 years but can't married. But yeah we're going there for FHE tonight so that will be cool.
I guess the baptisms will be in the sea/ocean some where hahaha that'll be awesome!!
Another mail update. So I'll get mail every few weeks via zone conference/packages from the office. But being stuck out here I can't mail anything. So yeah, that's whats up with that. So parents, you said you were sending an SD card. Just send it to the mission office. And maybe batteries too please?
No one from the mission office has visited us yet. We're pretty much on our own out here haha. But yeah its all good. Everything's gone good so far!
Wala means Without or none. haha
So this week has been great! We were out one day and it rained hard allllll day. So that wasnt very fun. Cuz I got my scriptures wet =( haha But I'm teaching more and more pretty much the bulk of the Restoration every time and Elder Hopkins just wraps it up and hopefully clarifies anything I butchered. He says my Tagalog is really good. But kids still laugh at me sometimes haha You just have
to challenge them to speak English, its great! At least one crazy experience. We had just got done teaching a lesson and we were walking down a sketchy bridge thingy back to solid ground when we look up and this completely naked 40 or 50 year old Filippino is out dancing around! It was soooo weird! The people said that that guy is crazy and I believe it obviously! I have to get my haircut today! Ugh! I told Elder Hopkins the safety of my hair relies on him because I can't speak Tagalog! hahaha So wish me luck!
Love,
Elder Michael Gadberry
Allllright! Another week down!
Guess what.... its been great! ...go figure.
So I'll answer a few questions and then talk about what I remember from my week. Usually I like to bring my journal along so I remember all that happened but I forgot this time, sorry! And if I spell stuff wrong forgive me "kasi" this keyboard is really hard to type on sometimes its really touchy and other times its sticky or hard to press the letters.
First question was. "Where are the pictures?!?!?" And my reply is. Patience, everything will be revealed to you in time. hahaha But really, I'll probably wait till I get back to the mainland before I start sending most of them back. But next time I'll try to send a few of them. The connection here is really slow so I don think it would handle it very well.
The other two elders that are on the island are living with us. That's why we have two bunkbeds. One for me and my companion and the other for the other two. They're pretty cool. I love Elder Osumo. He's hilarious. You'll see pics ventually.
So two weeks ago we committed Jimmel (I almost always type Jimmer instead of Jimmel and I have noooo idea why...hahaha) and Dona to being baptized when they come to know these things are true. We're still working with them but they're progressing really well. This week we didnt have anyone progressing well enough towards baptism "kasi" we only have 5 members on the island so we've got a lot of work to do with everyone. We had this family (Juniors family) that we taught on Thursday or Friday and we committed them to going to church and they said they would. So Sunday came and they werent there so we visited them. And it turns out they went to church but were late so they didnt know where it was or anything. So that was cool that they tried. The katulongs that work here at this house are doing really well too! Efraim is definitely the strongest of them. They're progressing well. We're so hopeful for them that we've talked to Efraim about serving a mission and he said he would do that if things work out. Efraim has had a kinda rough life. His mom died when he was young, and his dad disappeared so he pretty much worked here and been on his own except for the people that live and work here with him. Oh and we went way out farther than we usually go and we found a lost member! She has been to the temple and everything! But her kids aren't baptized so they're for sure going to be our first baptisms. The dad isn't a member (well this is where it gets complicated cuz of Philippine law). The mom
left her husband because he went bad. But divorces are illegal or really expensive here. So she's living with this guy and they've been together for 6 years but can't married. But yeah we're going there for FHE tonight so that will be cool.
I guess the baptisms will be in the sea/ocean some where hahaha that'll be awesome!!
Another mail update. So I'll get mail every few weeks via zone conference/packages from the office. But being stuck out here I can't mail anything. So yeah, that's whats up with that. So parents, you said you were sending an SD card. Just send it to the mission office. And maybe batteries too please?
No one from the mission office has visited us yet. We're pretty much on our own out here haha. But yeah its all good. Everything's gone good so far!
Wala means Without or none. haha
So this week has been great! We were out one day and it rained hard allllll day. So that wasnt very fun. Cuz I got my scriptures wet =( haha But I'm teaching more and more pretty much the bulk of the Restoration every time and Elder Hopkins just wraps it up and hopefully clarifies anything I butchered. He says my Tagalog is really good. But kids still laugh at me sometimes haha You just have
to challenge them to speak English, its great! At least one crazy experience. We had just got done teaching a lesson and we were walking down a sketchy bridge thingy back to solid ground when we look up and this completely naked 40 or 50 year old Filippino is out dancing around! It was soooo weird! The people said that that guy is crazy and I believe it obviously! I have to get my haircut today! Ugh! I told Elder Hopkins the safety of my hair relies on him because I can't speak Tagalog! hahaha So wish me luck!
Love,
Elder Michael Gadberry
Thursday, August 4, 2011
First E-mail from Coron
Michael arrived at his first area, the island of Coron. It looks like Coron is about 150 miles off the coast from Manila. He, of course, is very excited to be there! The e-mail response is mostly answering our questions. Please read on...
Everyone!
Everyone!
I arrived in Manila and the next day we got assigned our companions and areas. I have the privilege of opening a new area/island called Coron with my companion, who was an AP up until this transfer, Elder Hopkins. He is awesome! Coron is absolutely beautiful! We're the first missionaries here and there are I think like 5 members on the island.Question time.
"How is your apartment? I'm sure it's small, but how small?" -- Are apartment is pretty nice! Its weird because its brand new, they built it on top of Brother Arnold's (Our Group Leader) house and like everything in it is new. But its not like US new, but its pretty nice for the area. For example, we have a shower head, but it doesnt really work But at the same time we're missing a few like regular things like we dont have anywhere to put our clothes and unpack yet. And when we first got there we didn't have any trash cans but now we do. We've got 2 bunk beds and 4 desks so its pretty cramped. I'll send pictures sometime.
"Where is Elder Hopkins from and how much longer does he have?" -- He's from a middle-sized town in Idaho (I forgot what its called at the moment) and he leaves in six weeks! Crazy cuz usually you're with your trainer for 12 weeks.
"How far away from Manila is the island? How did you get to the island?" -- Umm I'm not too sure the mileage. Because one, everything here is in Kilometers. And two, we flew here and it took about an hour in a fairly small plane. And yes, its probably the same Coron as Wikapedia because I guess its a huge diving place. But on the airplane we could only have one checked bag of 20 kilos (44 pounds) and a personal item/carry on so I had to leave a lot of stuff at the mission office. That was hard to unpack and pack and unpack and re-pack again, but worth it!
"Are there any Western fast food places on the island like in Manila?" -- Nope! There's pretty much nothing from the "Western World" here.
"How many people live on the island?" -- Umm I think the estimation from people is about 36,000. But it definitely seems smaller than that but there's so much more to this island that we've seen yet.
"Are you two the only two LDS missionaries on the island?" -- Nope, actually we had another companionship open with us so we have two areas. Elders Osumo, a Filipino from Cebu, and Robbins, sadly a USU Aggie...haha But he's a greenie like me, but according to the members at church my Tagalog is bad, but not as bad as his...score!
"Are you going to be doing your own laundry or will you be able to pay someone to?" -- Well we would normally do our own laundry....but! So the first day we got here we stopped a tindehan to get some water and started talking to these really cool guys around 20 yrs old. They invited us in to their like store/driveway area and we scheduled an appointment to return that night. There's three guys and they are katulongs (helpers) for the store and house. And this house is probably the biggest one in Coron and so that night we met with the owner and those three katulongs. He was superrr nice and told us to come back whenever we wanted. And seemed pretty interested in the gospel. So he told us we could come and use their internet to email so we didnt have to pay for an internet cafe, and I guess he said we can use their washer and dryer even cuz we don't have anywhere to dry our clothes cuz its raining and we dont have space in the apartment. But the three guys came to church and are really progressing well! So we're really excited for them.
"What kind of food are you cooking for yourself?" -- Rice of course and different kinds of ulam (anything you eat with or on top of rice). So far its only been corned beef and sardines...interesting but decent.
"Being a brand new area, how is the investigator pool?" -- Its great! So many lessons taught and people met and everything. From just working Friday we had 18 new investigators and 7 more on Sunday so its going great! And just from working on Friday, my companion and I had 7 investigators at church on Sunday. It was great!
"Who is your district leader and how far away is he? How about the ZL's? Where are they?" -- Our district leader is Elder Osuma so he's right there with us. We have a district of 4. The ZL's I'm pretty sure are on Palawan which is the bigger island I think south west of Coron.
"How rainy has it been? It looks pretty rainy on
"How was the flight? and going through customs?" -- The flight was pretty good. I don't know nothing too exciting. And customs was pretty easy it was hot in there though haha
"What were your VERY first impressions once you got out of the airport in Manila? In one sentence." -- OH MY GOSH! This is it! Game time! hahaha or somethin a long those lines. Mostly just a ton of excitement.
"Is the island more rural or city?" -- Definitely all rural. Like we only have electricity from 1 pm to 1 am. We dont have running water about half the time too. And yeah, definitely super rural.
"Do they mostly speak Tagalog there or will you run into some English?" -- Umm its definitely almost completely Tagalog and there's even a different dialect here in Coron but its not too different....I hope.
"Did you get any of dad's letters when you got there?" -- Yes, I got two of them, just because I was at the mission office one night and Elder Swensen saw them and just gave them to me but thats it.
"What are your impressions of the mission pres?" -- Super nice and super humble I really like him.
"Most importantly, did you buy an umbrella? Or two..." -- Well I havent bought one yet...but President Stucki gave me one of his extras, so he rocks!
Ok I better get going that took forever!
Love
Elder Michael Gadberry
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