Letter 73: Manila and Roxas

Dearest Family and Friends, 

Everything is great in Roxas (that is a . . Spanish X or something. it's an H sound, by the way. so ALL my areas still have an H sound in them!) 

But it feels like I haven't really been here because. . . Monday I headed off to Iloilo, then Tuesday morning at around 6 we were on a plane headed to Manila to the Bureau of Immigration for fingerprinting. It should have been just Sister Haun, Sister Quent, (my former companions) and I. . . . but I think President just wanted to get it all over with and sent everyone who hasn't done fingerprinting yet. (like my Bata Sister Taufanga!) Now missionaries get fingerprinted when they come to Manila from the MTC. which is much more convenient and a better use of time and money.

My Bata and Sister Roteman

So we arrived signed a lot of papers, took some face shots (the kind where you're not sure if you should smile or not), saw my passport that has way more stamps in it than when it was new, and got my fingers scanned about three times. 

and then, we went to the Mall of Asia and got about 3 hours to just wander around (it should have been 1. . but the APs were with us :) and they got permission to stay longer). We ate Subway and Coldstone, (also, I learned that after over a year of not being able to have real milk, my stomach doesn't like it as much as it used to. Little by little. But the Ice-cream was SOOO worth the small stomach ache.) and bought a shirt that said Manila on it. (touristy. I think yes) 

SUBWAY

Also. My Tagalog is awful and I'm sure I sound ridiculous to the Filipinos in Manila. All of us were like, 'Salamat guid. ah. gali. ummm. pala. Salamat po." (Salamat guid is Bisayan for Thanks very much. Gali is a word you say to express surprise, which is pala in Tagalog. And Salamat po is the polite way to say thank you in Tagalog.) Basically. . . . yeah, and then people see you're a missionary and they think you can speak their language, and I'm just like, "I'm Bisayan! Not Tagalog, Please just speak to me in English." 

But at least my Ilonggo is back. except I cannot stop saying Wara instead of Wala (no) and Huod istead of Huo (yes). I think it's stuck.  Also, in Filipino there tends to an emphasize sometimes. like. . in Ilonggo you might say Hou (yes), or, Hou Ey. The Ey is like adding a spoken exclamation mark you could say.  funny fact about  Capisnon, they love to say "Kag" (and) after sentences or statements instead of "Ey". It's very sassy. 

Moving on from my language facts. Got on a plane and came home. slept over in Iloilo, and was home by lunch Wednesday afternoon. I pretty much just crashed and slept for three hours before we went out to work. (I would have slept for the three hours going back to Roxas. . but moving vehicles and I don't get along for nap time . .)

I do in fact Love Roxas City

Anyway. So now I'm back in ROXAS. I love it here. I'm afraid I don't really have much to say. Worked Thursday, and then Friday we spent half the day searching for an apartment. (blech. it's harder to find a new apartment than it is to find a new investigator.) 

We teach a lot of RCs, and stuff. . . And we're trying to get a list of the less actives so we can go visit those priesthood holders. . . yeah. 

My last Filipino Caving Trip

We went Caving earlier today (which is why this letter is later than normal.) It was fun. :) I got to meet the Roxas zone and go climb around rocks... but it also means I'll be very tired later today. Worth it :)

That's it. The Church is True, 
And I love you!

Love, 
Sister Smith