Note from Alayna:  This is long!  It is the communications we've had since Frasier left for Cauayan.  I just haven't had a chance to post.  Sorry!!  If you only have a second and want to hear the latest from Cauayna, scroll to the bottom.

Last Day in the U.S.

This is a weird email to write. By this time tomorrow, I won't be on the other side of the world, because we have a crazy long travel ahead of us, but I will be on my way. I have absolUTEly loved my time here at the MTC. I am however more than ready to get to the Philippines. I am excited for all the highs and lows. I am excited for the new culture, scenery, and food. I am excited to meet the people and to actually teach real people. I don't know if I can accurately describe how I feel right now, but it definitely is exciting. Hopefully, all is well. Keep me updated on life back here in the states. 

Thursday: Today was our last Thursday at the MTC. It was honestly the same as any other P day really. We went to the temple. The temple was really busy which is a good thing. They didn't have enough workers for a little while which just meant it took longer, but that was ok. Temple food was just as good as ever! We spent most of the rest of the day emailing. At the end of the day Elder Bennett and I had a skype TRC. We taught this lady that is in the Philippines. It was really cool. She was showing us the internet cafe she was in and just telling us about her mission and everything. She got super excited when we told her we were going to be in the Philippines in a week. She said she was so excited for us. We taught her a short lesson and that went really good as well. She emailed after and said that she really felt the spirit. This got me super excited to go to the Philippines just because she was so awesome. 

Friday: Today during class Elder Bennett and I taught Sister Giles. For our last lesson, we were teaching her as herself instead of her acting like an investigator. One of her concerns she told that our district as we were planning the lesson was that she gets sad when people don't notice the things she does. Our message was centered around that and how even if other people don't notice the things you do, God notices it all and that should provide comfort. We also did a Book of Mormon study today and we were all supposed to have the same question "How do I feel about my mission and how do I want to feel about it?" We studied Alma 26. It went so good! I am so lucky to have a district like I have. They all have the spirit with them so strong. Here is what I got from the study: Know everything you do is because of God. Be humble and rejoice in what God can make you do. Look forward to the end of your mission when you can look back and see the blessings you have been given. That is super powerful. In the chapter, it just talks about being excited about God basically. Another thing is "Have patience and trust in the Lord. He will give you success. You will go through hard things, but it is worth it for the salvation of a soul. I just found that study super awesome. Read that chapter and you might get a sense of what I'm talking about. We also had our last infield orientation class today. That was good. Just getting us more excited to get to the Philippines and talk to people.

Saturday: Today we did a lot of language study and lesson practice stuff. There isn't much to say about that. I'm kind of getting the language down, but I'll basically be starting fresh in a week so we will see. As we have gone through the MTC I have realized I don't like practice lessons very much. It just doesn't have the same feel as teaching real people. I know it is important and I understand why we do them, but I am so excited to actually get to the Philippines and talk to real people and to (try)

and teach them the gospel. Our "study time" this Saturday afternoon was fun. We went over to the new buildings and a bunch of kids in my zone started studying the second coming. With all the crazy natural disasters that have happened recently, they were sure the second coming is happening soon. It was fun to just listen to them talk about it. 

After that, we went to the residency and a bunch of Elders were just sitting around talking and I was drawing a picture. I drew a picture of Jesus that I saw a few weeks ago and wanted to see if I could do it myself. I think it turned out pretty good if I say so myself. I really liked the picture because Jesus is smiling and you don't often see pictures of him smiling. 

Note from Alayna:  He sent the picture home to us and it is AMAZING!

Sunday: Today was just a same old Sunday for the most part as well. They assigned all the new Elders and Sisters their zone assignments because we will be leaving. All of us that will be leaving also got up and sung the EFY medley in sacrament meeting today. It was awesome. I think we sang it so good because we are all so excited to get to the field. 

During ministering time the lesson was on the Atonement. The Johnsons taught it and I really like them for some reason so it was really good for me. I don't know if I can really explain it, but it is truly amazing how much God and Jesus love us that they would let the Atonement happen so that we can become like them someday. We did our temple walk today and took a big group picture with all the missionaries in our zone. It is amazing to think that we are just a small amount of the missionaries throughout the world right now. Even all the missionaries at the MTC right now (there is a ton!) is just a small amount of the ARMY throughout the world right now. 

We had a departing devotional right before the Sunday devotional today. Once again, getting us excited to be in the field. It was the MTC presidency that spoke and they were just sharing mission stories and what not. For the Sunday Devotional, we had the Provo temple presidency speak to us. It was awesome. They had a lot to say. One thing is that they love seeing missionaries at their temple all the time, which is super cool for us to be able to do. The temple president also did this analogy with triangles. The corners were us, God, and our investigators (or other people). Basically the closer you get to one corner, the closer you get to all of them. 

For our Sunday film, we watched "Character of Christ" by Elder Bednar again. I wish so much that people outside the MTC could watch this film. It is absolutely amazing! Just a few things from it again. "There would be no Atoning sacrifice without the character of Christ." Simply put, the character of Christ is to turn outward when most would turn inward. Elder Bednar challenges us to read the scriptures solely to study the character of Christ. A few other things, true conversion is constantly being true to what you know (your testimony). Repentance is turning away from self and turning towards God. 2 things to recommend from this video: 1) study the character of Christ 2) anytime you have a serious question, get a missionary copy of the Book of Mormon and read it through with only the question in mind. Mark it up and take notes all with just that question in mind. Elder Bednar said he has like 500 books from doing this. 

Monday: Today we did a lot of fun things. First of all, we said goodbye to sister Giles because she doesn't teach us on Tuesdays. It was really cool. We are her first district she has ever taught, so I think it was super special for her. She wrote in our journals all a little note. We also had a little testimony meeting with her and it was cool to all share our thoughts about missions and whatnot. You could definitely feel the spirit. Brother Hill taught us about writing in ancient Tagalog. It literally has no use anymore, other than it is just cool to know. He said he learned how to do it one day when he was bored on his mission. 

Today we also started the tie swapping. It is funny how salesman like some guys get trying to trade ties with others. We have gotten so close as a whole zone these past 6 weeks that is is going to be hard when we all split our different ways going to the different missions. I know we will grow just as close with any of our other companions that we have, so that is really comforting and exciting. 

Tuesday: Today was our last full day at the MTC which is kind of crazy to think about. It feels like we have been here forever, but at the same time, it feels like I just got dropped off yesterday. Today was awesome but kind of weird. We woke up and got dressed up to go and eat breakfast. Then realized we basically have the rest of the morning to pack and start clearing out. So from about 7:30 until lunch time my whole zone was just hanging out in our residency cleaning, packing, and talking with each other. It is kind of weird packing your whole life up for the next 2 years. I tried to talk to people and stall as much as I could, but I obviously have to pack at some point. It is kind of weird just because we have all gotten so used to our rooms these past 6 weeks, and now there is nothing in them I feel like. It is also hard figuring out what stuff you want in what bags for an upcoming 14-hour flight, plus a few other couple hour flights. After lunch time we went to our last class with Brother Hill. It is weird saying goodbye to him as well because we have been with him for the past 6 weeks. I have learned so much from him and Sister Giles about missions, the gospel, and just life in general. I just want to thank them even though they might not see this. 

Brother Hill told us a really awesome story to close things up about his flight and when he got home. It basically is just that our parents are going to be so excited when we get home from our missions, and if we do whats right God will be the same way when we return to him. 

Afterwards, we had our last Tuesday night devotional at the MTC. The speaker was Elder Quentin L Cook. Once again it was amazing. We are so lucky that we have had the privilege to hear from 4 Apostles as we have been here. Here is what I learned from his talk: First, it is not about how much you talk, but how much you have the spirit with you as you try and teach the people. Next, there are four loves a missionary should have: 1) Love for your companion. 2) Love for the people. 3) Love for your mission president. 4) A love for the Savior. A few other things I learned were "Have confidence you are called by a prophet of God. Don't worry about not being good enough, because you are." Last thing, Elder Cook said he knows Jesus' face and his voice. I knew that was true when he said it. I can only imagine how amazing it would be to be an Apostle. 

After that, we just packed some more and went to bed.

--

Forever and a day, Love Elder Williamson!

Arrived in Cauayan

They gave us 45 minutes to be on computers to email home and let you know what is going on. I'm sure you are all asleep right now, so you'll just get this in the morning. 

It has been good. We got off the airplane and went through customs and all that stuff. We got our bags and then met with a few brothers from the MTC who were there to pick us up. I didn't find out until a few minutes after meeting him, but the first person I talked to was the MTC president. He is cool. He's funny. He says that his MTC is way better than the Provo MTC. In ways, he's probably correct. He says it half-jokingly because he knows President Martino in Provo. It's nice because they are a lot more personable with so many fewer missionaries. They try to get to know every missionary here at the MTC in Manila. 

They loaded us on a bus and drove us to the MTC which isn't that far away, but it took forever. Apparently, nobody cares about the traffic rules here. People were swerving all over the place and not using their blinkers and whatnot. Even our bus driver was honking the horn every once in a while. The bus ride was crazy/fun for a couple of other reasons as well. Every single Filipino that realized it was a bunch of Americans on the bus got all excited and waved at us. We saw people doing all sorts of crazy things. People were literally standing in the middle of the road trying to sell stuff to the people in cars. There were motorcycle riders going crazy on the roads. We even saw a homeless guy without a shirt on, walk over to a pole and start to undo his pants. We started driving away before he started doing his business though. 

The bus was also stick shift so it was jerking all over the place. Some of us were feeling kind of sick by the time we got to the MTC with the combination of little sleep, weird food schedule, jet lag, not knowing what time it is, and being in the same clothes for 2 days. The first thing we did when we got here was they served us lunch. I'm not sure what all of it was, but it tasted good. I bet you couldn't have guessed, but they served rice. After that, they just gave us a tour and had an intro devotional. Then we went to our rooms which are way nice. The beds are nice, and we have our own bathroom in each room. Now they are giving us time to email, we will have dinner, and then they are letting us go to bed at 7. Tomorrow we will go on splits with the experienced missionaries and talk to real mga pilipino. All the Filipinos we have met, have been super nice. All the missionaries that are here have been so excited and make sure to shake all of our hands. By the way, it has rained like 3 times just since we got here. And it is super humid. Everything is good though. I already love it here. Love you all! I miss you. 

Things I Have Learned

I don't know Tagalog. 

I am famous because I am white. 

I am going to be wet for the next 2 years. Never complain about humidity until you have been to the Philippines! 

Rice is necessary for every meal (including breakfast).

I don't know what most of the food I'm eating is. 

Everyone is super nice. 

Toilet paper is not a thing, a Tabo is the way things happen here.  

I love it here. 

I miss home more than you can imagine. 

(Note from Alayna.  Google a Tabo.  It is a bucket full of water with a scoop.  Apparently, you use that to wash off!  And, Fras is correct, that are a couple (unnamed) people in our family that would NOT like Tabos, rice, and 3rd world living!  Frasier also ate Balut!!!  He said it tasted kindof like a hard boiled egg.) 

I just need to have patience and everything will come in time. Love you all so much. This is my weekly email by the way:

Cauayan is awesome! It is a really small city itself. My area right now is the one that has the mission home in it, so I haven't gone out into the more rural areas. Cauayan is great though. It is crazy and the traffic rules are just do whatever you want. You can tell it is a 3rd world country though. All the buildings look like they are falling apart, half the roads are dirt, and the other half are so bad that they are worse than dirt roads. It is quite the adventure. I love it. I know there are probably some people in our family that wouldn't though. 

To me it makes me sad, or at least really humble to see the conditions these people all live in. All the houses are just shacks by our standards. Even the really nice houses that I have been to. Most of the neighborhood roads are dirt, and most all the houses have cement floors, but it might as well be dirt for some of them. The walls of most houses are just wood and billboard poster fabric. The roofs are just pieced together from pieces of corrugated metal. It is something that I don't know if I could live in, but all the people here are so happy it is amazing.  

The people are amazing as well. Most everyone is walking around without a shirt, or their shirt is rolled up so that they might as well not be wearing a shirt. A lot of the older people are missing teeth. Everyone is super skinny and short. They all look like little brown distance runners. It seems like once you skip a certain age you automatically stay skinny, other than for your belly where you get the "rice belly".  All the older men have it. Given all of that everyone is so happy! 

Once we got off the plane in Manilla, everyone was waving at us. Here in Cauayan everyone is happy and nice to us. Not one house we have gone to has rejuected us or sent us away. There have even been a couple of members that as we walk past or stop by offer us a bunch of food and drinks. Even one investigator gave us a papaya from her tree as we were leaving. 

I am a celebrity here. I am taller than most of the people. I am also white which is different from everyone. I have not seen one white person since I left the mission home. Everyone looks at me as I walk past or ride past on a tricee. Little kids are always giggling and giving me high fives. A little girl at church yesterday came up and started touching my arm and face because she had never seen white skin before.

Our apartment is really nice. I am in the same apartment as the assistants to the president, so we get the nicest apartment in the whole mission. The picture is just our bedroom. We have a living room and a kitchen also. We also have a washing machine which is luck! They are the only ones in the whole mission. By Philippines mission standard the apartment is really nice, but that doesn't mean it is perfect. It is kinda dirty still. The bathroom is gross. There are little ants and nat type things that are sometimes on my desk. All in all the living is really good though. Can't complain! Can't wait to see what the other appartments are like if I am in the nicest one. 

My companion is great! He is Filipino. He speaks English, but not perfect English, so sometimes I have to ask him to repeat stuff. He has done a good job at teaching me how to do stuff and be a missionary. He will have to be a really good teacher if her can teach me Tagalog though. haha.

Sometimes he thinks things are totally normal when I am a little bit weirded out. His name is Elder Idorot and I like him a lot so far. The language is comeing along enough that I can't really talk to anybody, or understand what anyone is saying. I can only say basic stuff and lines that I have memorized. I have invited a few people to be baptized, and as of now we have 4 scheduled baptisms for next month. It is amazing how many people here are willing and prepared to listen to our message. They are all so humble and looking for the truth. Partly I have the missionaries that have come before me to thank for that. Thank you Mark for doing your part! 

We have running water, but it is only safe to drink if we use the installed filter at our apartment. Basically I can't open my mouth in the shower is the only thing. We get to watch general conference this upcoming weekend. I'm sure it is because it has to be translated, which means I probably won't understand it, but that is ok. It'll still be good. All in all it is going really good. I have had so many good experiences. Everything is awesome. The way we get around is on tricycles which are motorcycles with a side cart. I sent a picture. They are pretty fun! Definitely not safe, but way fun. 

(Note from Alayna:  We got to email back and forth for a bit last night.  I asked him what he wanted for Christmas and also asked him about a couple of pictures he sent.  Here is some of that conversation.  I just love and miss that kid!!!)

I want lots of American food and stuff to remind me of home. Whatever you think. Peanut butter is one thing that the other American recommended. I'll let you know next week if I need anything else.

Wow!  Awesome pictures!  You look awesome!  Does that lady have only ½ arms and legs!?! L

Ya. She only has half limbs. She is awesome. She mumbles so I especially can't understand her. She agreed to be baptized in a month, and then also came to church yesterday. She is amazing! We walked past her house two days ago. She saw us and came out running and screaming because she wanted to say hi to us.