Pictures at the end of the post.
My Grandpa asked a lot of good questions in his email, so I’m going to copy the questions and answers here for all you to see.
– Is it a difficult mission to find people to teach?
No. It is very easy to find people to teach (on the first visit). It is hard to find people who will progress.
– We all have this idea that the Philippines is such a good missionary place due to so many missions and temples announced. Is your area like that? Or are the people in your area harder to teach and convert?
The biggest problem in this area is the strength of other churches. Some people are very religious, and some religions teach that talking to missionaries of other religions is a sin.
– How many people do you have in your teaching pool? 25+
– How many on date for baptism? ~ 5
– How many people are you teaching that come to church? Depends on the week. This week we got three.
– Is the word of wisdom a problem there? Yes. It’s a huge problem. Everyone smokes or drinks alcohol or drinks coffee or drinks tea. It’s just so cheap here that almost everyone does it unless their religion forbids it.
– Are hard drugs a problem where you are? No.
– Is drinking an issue or morality?
Both drinking and morality are big issues. Getting married is traditionally expensive in the Philippines, so most people live with their spouse and have kids well before they get married. Drinking, as I said before, is super cheap, so everyone does it.
– Are you getting the teaching part down? I hope so. People say I’m good at Tagalog, and my companions have complimented my teaching in the past.
– What are the living circumstances of the people you teach? Are they poor or rich? Are they humble? Mostly people are poor. Usually they work a job where they live payday to payday, but people also have lots of debt. It’s common for people to just take on credit things they buy everyday like rice and fish, and then pay back at a later time or never at all. People buy a lot of things where they pay per month rather than upfront, especially if the thing is expensive. The people are really cognizant of their circumstances, but I couldn’t generalize humility over a whole group of people. People still have many things to be proud of, even if money is tight.
– Is there much crime where you are? There was a long time ago, but not as much now.
– Do the missionaries get harassed? Or are they warmly received? People will usually hide from us before they harass us. The only people who harass us are usually drunk. People are usually too polite or shy to tell you upfront that they don’t like you or they don’t want to entertain you, so they’ll say “Yes” a lot, but then “forget” or “become busy” or hide when you come back. Because they way that you knock on people’s doors is shouting “Tao po” through the doorway means they’ll recognize your voice and hide or ignore you if they don’t want to talk to you.
I also told my Grandpa about some of our investigators. I hope this information is okay to share.
The first is Sister Dacumos. Sister Dacumos is an investigator whose mother is a member, but her father is not. She is the most excited person I’ve ever met, and she loves listening to the missionaries. The second is Sister Rebelo. Sister Rebelo was taught by the missionaries before, but she won’t get baptized because her family is a different religion. Family ties are really strong in the Philippines, so it hurts when one family member is interested while others are not. The third is Brother Antonio. Brother Antonio’s wife is a member, but he can’t get baptized because his former spouse is still alive. Another difficulty in the Philippines is there is no divorce, so people who separate from their prior spouses are still married to them by law, which makes things difficult for the Law of Chastity.
I have a lot of pictures, but they are trapped in my camera. (we got them!)
This week we had Zone Con. The people from my batch all took a picture together. My MTC teacher also visited the zone conference. The Area Mental Health Advisor also visited and advised us about stress and mental health.
I love you all, and I hope this explained a bit more about the Philippines.
Love na love ko po kayo,
Elder Tripp
imported boxed milk
Zephram’s companion is taking or teaching piano lessons
zone conference pics
mac n cheese
halo halo
Tagalog
Love na love ko po kayo - Love me love you