23 Nov 2009

Hey everyone,

Things are going great here in the Philippines. I'm still teaching and teaching and teaching some more ha ha. My companion, Elder Erispe, got called as the district leader and as the district leader he goes on splits with all the other missionaries in the district and as his companion, i get the elder who he is not evaluating. The other day we did the first one, and I learned so much it was a great experience! Just seeing how other missionaries teach and do things different than I learned. It is a blessing at least for me. ha ha.

Our next transfers are on Dec 15 so Elder Erispe and I are trying to figure out who will be transferred. It will be weird if I am because he has already been here for 4 1/2 months but he is the district leader so that could keep him here. Only time will tell and its up to the Lord.

Interesting food for the week: Chicken Intestine or Esaw is what they call it here, it was actually really good. ha ha Elder Erispe said its so good that it'll make you forget your girlfriend, ha ha, it was funny. They grill it then put this spicy sauce on it! ha ha MASARAP! (DELICIOUS). We'll see what i can come up for next week, I'm thinking chicken head or foot.

Our Iglesia couple are still progressing but Brother Jonathan said that he's not ready, so he may not be getting baptized on the 5th with his wife Jane, we are fasting and praying for them. Jonathan really is ready, but I think just because he is coming from Iglesia it is a big change, so he's just a little nervous. We'll see what happens. They have a little boy named Santi and he is so dang cute, he'll shake hands and every time I say Kamusta he always says Ayos Lang ha ha he is the only little kid I know that will answer me. ha ha

Our President gave us a Book of Mormon challenge and we are supposed to have it read by like January 15 it is amazing how much I am taking from it. He has us look for different things and highlight it. Example, every time it says a name that refers to Jesus Christ, or every time it mentions Christ-like attributes, or anything like that we have to highlight it. It is great, and he is doing it with us. Even better, Elder Teh of the 70 and the area presidency is doing it with us, he is such a great guy.

Because it's harvest season things have been kinda slow. A lot of our investigators are busy, between cutting the rice and the whole harvest process we've had a pretty good chance to find new investigators. We are teaching the people next door and the kids have been coming to church with us, and they bring their friends, its pretty cool.

Then, the drunks are great too because they always say yes, so you can get a return appointment. And we actually have found several good investigators like that. Every Sunday Elder Erispe and I do splits and we have the branch missionaries be our companions but one of the kids who was with me was so nervous when I started talking to one yesterday, he was like Elder, lets go, i don't like drunks, but I have an appointment with him on Thursday. They are all so nice here! ha ha I love it. Maybe my past friends were a blessing in disguise ha ha. They prepared me for this. Oh, then Elder Erispe got a big hug from a drunk Bukla (gay guy) the other day, then he asked for Erispe's number. It was hilarious, I laughed about that the rest of the day.
The gay's here take gay to a whole new level like short shorts and low cut shirts and well WOW!!! I thought I knew some gay people, they were nothing compared to philippino gays, its nuts! But its part of the culture I suppose.

I love how industrious everyone is here, most have literally nothing but its amazing what they can do without the advancements like we have in the U.S. like I saw a drill rig the other day, they had a tripod and a deal at the top that kept the pipe straight up and then with a rope and a pulley attached to the weight at the top they drove a pole into the ground it is truly amazing here. And its not like the quality is bad either I have seen some amazing work done here without machines. I love it.

Well I'm outta time, thank you all for everything, for your prayers and support. I love you all.
Elder Chase