Transfer Day

I survived another transfer! Yay! And I am also still in Handumanan for another transfer (unless something weird happens) so I am really excited about that! We have some new investigators that I am really excited about teaching and we are hoping to baptize them next month! I will tell you the story behind them after the baptism because it is already starting to be a great story.

I told everyone about the "Tricomp" (thanks for the new word, dad) that I was in last week. What ended up happening is that the next day there was a weird transfer and so the other companionship in our district became a tricomp. But it was interesting for that week of there being three of us. I love transfer days because every time it happens, people start like freaking out. The way we do our transfers is, no matter where your next area is, everyone travels to the mission office. This prevents the transfer from "breaking", as they say. You get a call on Sunday evening and they say the same thing every time, even the same questions. "Hello, who am I speaking to? Who is your companion? Well, Elder, we have a transfer call for you. Be here at Galo Chapel at 9:00am tomorrow morning. Thank you." That's basically it. You pack your bags that night and then go to the office. Some people have to leave around 2 or 3 in the morning to get to the office on time. You have no idea where you are transferring or who your companion is until you get there. I always laugh at how stressed people get about the upcoming transfer day.

I forgot to tell you about some of the foods I have tried recently! I ate some octopus the other day and it was actually pretty okay! I tried oysters for the first time and, I'm with you, dad, it's not good. The members got a good kick out of seeing me try it. Don't really need to try that again in my life. Something that is fairly normal for me now is that we always eat dried fish called "uga". The Filipinos are always surprised when they see me eating it, "Elder, you eat uga?? Americans don't usually eat that!?" It's good, okay? I don't mind it. I also love the guys that walk around our neighborhood selling it every morning. They carry the stacked fish around on a board in one hand yelling, "UUUUUUUUUGAA" intermittently with their shirts off because of the heat. I love it. To your question, mom, we basically eat a lot of chicken and pork. That's essentially part of every "sud-an" that they cook here. There's no translation in English, but it's basically "toppings for rice". The question here is not, "would you like rice with that?", but rather, "what would you like with your rice?"

I have been sick for a while now, nothing serious at all. I have just had a slight head cold that has been here for a few months. I almost think it is just seasonal because it was always the same in Utah. In winter I would just get like a permanent cold until Spring/Summer. I haven't gotten sick again at all, though, other than that first time. The hardest thing is when I lose my voice, though. That's happened a few times now. Nothing is more debilitating in a mission than a lost voice because that's your main tool. But that's about all that's happened to me.

We don't experience a lot of antagonism here in this area. The only issue here is trying to help people understand WHY and HOW the church is not just "another church about Jesus." Everyone here is Catholic unless they have another religion that they have switched to. But people are kind of shy around Americans and so it's always good to have a Filipino companion for that reason. Sometimes, because of the close association of the church with America, the Filipinos are assumed to be Americans. Even if it's a pure Filipino companionship, they sometimes get called Americans. But it's great. I am super excited to talk to you on Mother's Day soon! I will tell you all about it if I can!

That's all for this week! Sorry no pictures, I left my card reader at home...

Palangga ta kamo. Higugma ko kamo. Mahal ko kayo.

Elder Welton