Hello family!
I don't particularly care if I get my robe or those garments, I think I have more than enough.
You would probably punch me for this, if you could, but I donated one of my ties and handkerchiefs to the Filipino missionaries. Most of them only have one tie, so I figured it would be good.
The two courses here are language training and regular training. If there was a missionary here from Bahrain that went through regular training, she or he would have been here for 12 days, not 10. I am here for 40. So yeah.
The language is going smoother than I thought, but not as smooth as anyone would like. They aren't teaching any grammar yet, so it's just: "use this sentence to start a prayer, and this sentence to give thanks in a prayer, and this sentence to say you know something is true, etc, etc..." Thus, none of the verb conjugation, nor the connecting words (like of, the, to, in, with, etc.), make any sense, but I'm learning stuff.
For instance:
Si Jesucristo ang sentro sa plano ng Diyos. (The ng is pronounced nung, all the rest of the vowels are pronounced like in Spanish, but the "Diy-" is more like the J sound that Andalucians use when saying "yo.")
Or:
Ang Aklat ni Mormon ay kapani-paniwalang ebidensya na si Joseph Smith sa isang propeta. (The "-sy-" is pronounced like an "sh" sound, and Joseph Smith is not pronounced Spanish style, but American style.)
And then there is:
Nabuhay tayo bilang mga espiritung anak ng Ama sa Langit bago sa buhay na ito. (The mga is pronounced "munga" and H's are all pronounced, not silent. Any time you have a "-ng" connected to a vowel, the ng sound is soft, i.e. the next syllable should not sound like it has a hard G in front of it unless there are two G's, like in hanggang.)
Those three are respectively "Jesus Christ is the center of God's plan", "The Book of Mormon is convincing evidence that Joseph Smith was a prophet", and "We lived as spirit children of our Heavenly Father before this life."
So yeah...
Anyways...
Went through the temple today, great experience.
Been feeling the Spirit, really been feeling it.
I know this is where I'm supposed to be.
In the Philippines they have an extra holiday for four months. It's called "Getting ready for Christmas!" Now I know why I was sent here...
I kid you not, there is a Christmas tree in the MTC right now!
Rice at EVERY MEAL!
I had some puchero at one of the meals, and I also had the most delicious tilapia fish ever. they just handed us the whole cooked fish, head and all. I was congratulated on how clean I left my plate for that one. Most of the elders were almost afraid to touch it.
I consecrated oil! That was an experience. Not only that, but when my Kasama got ill, I anointed him, and our district leader gave him the blessing, using that oil that I consecrated, and our combined priesthood, and he felt better not even an hour later.
Then there is the fact that we had to teach an investigator on day 2.
In Tagalog...
Yeah, worst missionaries ever...
Good news though, he agreed to see us 4 more times, and we committed him to be baptized on the 10th of October.
Then he came and told us that he would be our teacher for the rest of our time at the MTC. Yeah, It was all role play... but he was portraying a real person.
Let Nikolai know that that champ sounds pretty cool. I'd love to see it in action, but unfortunately, I'm not supposed to be visiting those sites. Mind single to the work!
Mama, I did do some push ups. I did 32 in one go, and after a headache and two days, I still can't lift my arms... I am sore, and not doing that many push ups for a while. Funny thing was, it was part of a stress relieving class...
Stuff isn't as inexpensive as we hoped, I think. Comparatively, it is cheap, but the issue is, I don't think there are any ATM's where I can get money off my card while at the MTC and I didn't check if the supermarket takes credit card... so we'll see how thrifty I have to be while at the MTC.
Turns out the camera I had at home was perfectly acceptable. Since I can't receive anything while at the MTC, I won't be taking any pictures while I'm here, because Rustan's is just a grocery store, no cameras. I think it would be good if you send me my camera when you can, which I'm assuming will be when I get an address after the MTC.
Speaking of sending things, I'm sure we'll learn more, but the two things I've heard so far are: if there is anything that is only useful in a pair, such as shoes, send them separate. This makes it so thieves will be less likely to take them, since it's not useful on it's own.
The other thing is, whenever you have packages, put pictures of Jesus or the Virgin Mary over any openings. The idea is that, being superstitious, they won't break or cut through pictures of Jesus or the Virgin Mary, so if those are over the parts you usually break to open the package, then they will leave it alone and not take your stuff.
It IS hot, and humid. Honestly, I'm a little worried about whether I'm going to be able to hold up for the times they say I will need to. But the Lord will provide me with strength if I will do my part...
As soon as my arms feel better that is...
One of the 70 visited us. That was cool.
It's generally easy to explain to people I've been everywhere. Still, every once in a while it gets confusing.
My district is all really great. My Kasama is pretty cool too. (Kasama is companion. I don't know why I capitalized it.) There are a surprising amount of Australians. I mean, when I think about it, it makes sense, but I didn't expect it for some reason... they certainly like to have fun.
Other than that, everyone is from UTAH...
as is to be expected...
anyways.
Back to food.
Bread: none is crusty, all of it is sweet in a good way. Less sweet than Hawaiian rolls, but sweeter than our bread.
They do have dark chocolate at the grocery store. And Pop Tarts, and Oreos, and Timtams, which are apparently the best things ever in Australia. We'll see if it beats Pop Tarts...
Never use knives... only a spoon and for EVERY MEAL. I mean seriously, they make sure whatever you eat can be eaten with a spoon and a fork as your utensils. I usually use the spoon to hold down food while the fork tears it, but it's not too hard. You have to remember, everything goes with rice.
Except hamburgers, which are made of meatloaf, and as such are worse than American hamburgers.
They have some veggies that are similar to stuff we have but different. For instance, I had a soup that I could have sworn was green lentil soup. It was mung beans....
The potatoes are my favorite kind: not fluffy.
Lots of chicken and pork, not a lot of beef.
Of course, I haven't had bacon either...
We had a whole eggplant sausage omelet, meaning, an eggplant was stuffed with sausage, flattened, and cooked in egg to make an omelet...
Delicious! He he he...
Nothing's been done with immigration yet. I hope they don't forget that I have to be kicked out of the country in 30 days.
I haven't gotten a shoulder bag yet, but I found the lady that sells them, and she tells me that she will bring next week. I wanted blue, but I realized it would probably not be conservative enough, so I asked for black. Hopefully it will serve me well. The reason we need shoulder bags?
Students here wear uniforms...
So if you see a person in a white shirt, tie, and slacks with a backpack, you think: Oh look, a student.
Not: Oh look, a missionary.
Therefore, shoulder bags.
People say peanut butter is way better here...
I haven't tried it yet.
I know their banana bread is heavenly though.
Oh my goodness.
Haven't gotten a Tagalog set of scriptures yet. I'll do that next week.
Yes, Friday's are p-days. I'm not sure if the schedule will be the same every week, so the time I email at is up for debate, but it will always be before 3 pm on Fridays my time. And it is a requirement to email your family each week, so you will hear from me while I am at the MTC.
I hope I haven't forgotten anything. I've been taking care of myself, playing ping pong, and shaving. I've been forgetting to brush my teeth though... dun dun dun...
I had to get only one shot, a booster for both hepatitis A and B. My missionary portal didn't show the second chicken pox shot, but I did get it, didn't I? That's what I told them... Hopefully I'll be all right. Anyways...
the milk isn't bad, but it isn't so good I would guzzle it. Probably a blessing, but still.
Tried some Milo... but I didn't put enough in my cup to taste anything so I'll try again tomorrow.
Tingle has seen the light of day 1 time... and only one.
DVD's are only allowed if they are approved by my Mission president, so if he doesn't approve it, it doesn't matter what it's about, I can't watch it. Doesn't matter right now since I haven't even met him...
Stop for a moment and look at Nikolai. See how tall he is? Meet your average full grown Filipino... Yeah, they are short. They are actually I think, slightly taller than Nikolai, but still, pretty short people in general. What's crazy about that is I have a missionary in my room other than my kasama who is at least a foot taller than me. He is somewhat of a celebrity with the Filipino missionaries...
Good news, my room got awarded the clean room sign, so HAH! to all you who didn't believe I could keep a clean room.
I need a laundry bag of some sort. Right now I'm putting all my dirty laundry in my suitcase and I wheel that down to the laundry room every time I do laundry, but....
op! That's the time....
Got's to go.
Hope I covered everything...
Don't be afraid to speak the truth, yeah?
Lots of love,
Kris-Tyan Streeter, or now Elder Streeter
Dumping it all on ya! Don't let it overload you, you have a week to read it!
