Hello everybody,
Once again my time is brief, but I hope I can share with all of you some of the experiences I have had since getting to the Philippines.
So to clear things up, I’m serving the Municipality of Magsingal, in the region Ilocos Sur. I live in the municipality of San Juan, go to church in the municipality of Santo Domingo, and go to district and zone meetings in Vigan City. I live in a house with my companion, Elder Maroket, a pogi 21-year old Filipino from Quezon City, and the San Juan elders, Elder Fuller and Elder Peck. We have air conditioning and running water, so life is pretty great. We go to church in an actual chapel, and church start time is dictated more by when the branch presidency shows up more than what time they say they will start.
Fun facts:
I’ve now been in 7-11 more times in the Philippines than in America.
I’ve eaten rice everyday since coming the field. In Mang Inasal, I ate 6 plates of rice in one meal.
I’ve been a jypnee? geepnee? jeepney? once now, but have been in tricycles (motorcycles with sidecars) many times.
In the Philipines, Fanta is called Royal instead.
That’s all the time I have this week. I sent my parents a bunch of pictures for the blog, so hopefully you all get to see those, but until next week,
Mahal ko po kayo,
Elder Tripp
World map at the Provo MTC
Elder Tripp and Elder Levine on the bus ride to the Manila MTC.
with MTC companion Elder Almeida (I think the Manila temple is in the background)
At the bus station, waiting for the bus to Laoag.
Elder Tripp and Elder Maroket in front of the Laoag mission home
Apartment living room and kitchen
at church?
Street in Magsingal, just adjacent to the Catholic church there. It’s one of the few places with benches outside, so we go there often to study when 7-11 is too crowded.
P-day at the beach
The picture of the bridge is on the way to a less-active member who works out in his bukid (rice field). The bridge was sort of rickety, so I decided to take a picture of it.
The picture feeding a deer was last P-Day (Nov 12) at the zoo in Vigan. The hand in the picture is Elder Nagrathnam, the companion of the district leader.
Questions that mom asked and Elder Tripp kindly answered: – Is there a church building where you are? Where do you go to church?
No. My companion and I take a bus two municipalities over for Church. We live in San Juan, proselyte in Magsingal, and go to church in Santo Domingo. It’d be like if we went to church in Santa Fe while we lived in Los Alamos. Santo Domingo has an actual chapel.
– Did you actually eat Balut?
Yes. Sa palagay ko, the juice was delicious, but the rest was bland. Next time, I’m told I need to add salt and vinegar.
– How are your Tagalog skills? Are you able to understand people and communicate with them?
I’ve gotten to the point where I’m probably 70% at speaking Tagalog and 35% at understanding Tagalog. The people speak really fast, and sometimes I can’t tell if they’re speaking Tagalog or Ilocano.
– Do you go door to door? street contacting?
We mostly just go around the neighborhoods (barangays) and ask people questions. We then transition to gospel discussions. We don’t actually knock on doors because in the Philippines, people just shout “Tao po!” (“People!” said respectfully) if they’re at your door.
– What is your apartment like?
I’ll attach pictures. It’s actually a nice apartment because the bedroom has actual air conditioning.
Tagalog
Mang Inasal - Mang Inasal Philippines, Inc., also known as Mang Inasal,
is a barbecue fast food restaurant chain in the Philippines,
established in Iloilo City in 2003.
Elder Tripp's explanation:
Mang Inasal is a place where all the meals have two options: one plate of rice
or unlimited rice. The main thing to eat there is barbecue chicken.
It is a BBQ fast food place.
Sa palagay ko - In my opinion
barangays - neighborhoods
Tao po! - People! (respectfully)
pogi - handsome
bukid - rice field