9/23/18
Malamig Baba
(Added by Alayna: Google Translate says this means “cold chin”. I’ll ask Fras what he thinks it means! Ha ha)
I thought I had a lot to email about this week, but I actually don’t. I am just living the life right now. I spend any time I can get sitting in my duyan (hammock) drinking Mountain Dew. My companion is the district leader so that luckily means for me that when he is doing district leader stuff I can use it as an excuse to relax. The one problem is mosquitoes here love American blood I guess because they attack me like crazy. I ended up buying a bunch of incense and stuff to try and get them away.
We have two baptisms coming up on Saturday. Sister Rubina and Sister Jennalyn will be baptized. They are those two single mothers I told you about. They are awesome. They have both had their own experiences in life, but have now become truly converted. One of them was crying after her interview because my zone leader asked her to share her testimony and her testimony was super strong I guess. The sad part is I don’t get to be in the interview so I don’t actually know what her testimony was.
A couple of other awesome things are that the two sisters are like best friends with each other. We have seen them walking and talking with each other a few times when we weren’t even the ones that got them together for a lesson or something. Both of their daughters call me Kuya White. It means I am now Big Brother White instead of Elder White. We love playing with each other and using all my stickers. One thing that is a little bit of a drawback though is that every time we go to them they cook for us. Ha ha Joke lang. That is a huge bonus! I will really miss these two and their families when I eventually travel out of this area. Let’s all pray that that doesn’t happen though.
I also tazed a cat a few days ago. This cat is the suspected culprit of who keeps on getting into our garbage. It decided to take a nap on our porch a few days ago. I don't think it will be taking naps on our porch any time soon though thanks to my tazer flashlight. haha.
My mom might have to tell you the story I shared with her. It was pretty funny.
(Added by Alayna: The cat kept coming around their house, getting into their garbage, and wreaking havoc. So, Fras put a little toy he bought to use...a flashlight with a tazer on it. Totally sounds like something he would be all excited to buy! I think it did the trick on the cat. It stayed away after that!)
Oh ya, I learned a new English phrase in Tagalog that makes absolutely no sense, but sounds super funny: “Dude, chill down”. Translated: Der, Malamig baba. Ha ha. That won’t make any sense to you, but I think it is funny.
(Added by Alayna: Related to up above, I get the title now! But the translation in Google shows, “Der, cold chin”.)
I will try and have a better email typed up next week. I’m doing good though. Buhay pa ako. Mahal kita. Kits kits.
(I’m still alive. I love you!)
Forever and a day, Love Elder Williamson!
9/30/18
I am doing good here in Zion.
No joke, I love it here. I love the people and the members and recent converts. More than anything I love the little kids here!
At our baptism on Saturday, I was kind of playing with the daughter of our Branch President. She had a ball of playdough with her so I made her a flower. She wouldn't let me play with it anymore after I made the flower because she said she was going to give it to her mom. After that, I saw her at a funeral, and then at church on Sunday. Apparently, we are best friends now. She loves the missionaries in the first place, but now she follows me around everywhere and tries to sit on my lap and stuff. I keep it all under control by following all the rules about being with little kids, but it is super awesome that she likes me so much!
We had the baptismal service for sister Jennelyn Sugue and Sister Rubina Besa on Saturday. It was a super awesome experience. I have been blessed enough to be here with them throughout their whole process.
At the start, they both were a little bit quiet and just kind of keeping their distance just a little bit. Throughout the whole process, they have really progressed and opened up though. They both have become really good friends with each other, and I could consider them my friends as well, not just my investigators. They have both had their fair share in life. That is what made it so awesome at the baptism because they both bore super strong testimonies. They were both crying, their families were crying. The people that referred them were crying. I even looked at my Zone Leader, Elder Perez, and I could have swore he was crying. Basically, everyone was crying! ha ha.
In all honesty, it was super awesome and very powerful. You can tell that they are truly converted.
One thing that brings me just as much joy, or maybe even more, is their two little girls though. I love them so much. I basically feel like they are my little sisters now. We take pictures and play all the time. One of them even named one of their dolls Elder White after me. She said it looks like me when I was a baby because it is white. They love using my stickers and eating my candy as well.
I can't really explain it all in this email, but I truly love them. I would way rather just talk and play with the little kids all day than talk with adults. In this case, these little kids are, I think, part of the reason these two sisters became so open with us. Their kids loved us, and they could see that I loved them, so it made it a lot better for their mothers.
This video is my two little sisters playing with each other. I don't know what they are doing but it was pretty funny.
Mahal kita lahat sa buwan at likod! (Mom, don't ever use that because it sounds really weird in Tagalog. I think it is funny though!)
(Added by Alayna: The translation is "I love you all in months and back." I'm guessing that is as close as he can get in Tagalog to "I love you forever and a day".
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Forever and a day, Love Elder Williamson!
Rubina Besa-47 and Jennelyn Sugue-34, Mallig Roxas, Sep 29, 2018, Elder Williamson and Elder Dela Cruz
All of us dressed in white.
This is a picture of the Bledsoes. They are the senior couple here in the mission. They are pretty darn awesome! Elder Bledsoe is funny so every time we text them about something me and him have pretty good chats. They go home next month.
At the baptism and then a funeral service later that day I became best friends with our branch presidents little daughter. She talks in English which is super cute. We played with playdough and everything. It was awesome.
100% Iron. I made this jersey last week. It is definitely not a real Adidas jersey. I just found a cheap jersey and then had them print the iron part. I designed it all myself. I think it is pretty cool actually.
My new kicks! I caved and finally bought these shoes last Monday. They are pretty sweet looking I think.