WOW.
How grateful I am for America! this place is insane haha!! So my
flight from san fran to hong kong went great. the moment i sat in my
seat i fell asleep. i slept for 8 hours and then took half of an
ambien and slept like 4 more. so it was GREAT! I didnt see much of
hong kong. then two hours later we went to manilla. let me just tell
you about this flight. Worst flight of my life. Maybe cause i was
flying to the philippines to live there for 16 months. well i was sick
the whole time. horrible anxiety. sweating. cried the whole time. ya
just in my seat for everyone to see. when we got there some lds man
came up to us and picked us up. we got into this taxi van and he took
us to the beautiful mission home. dont worry we were stunned the whole
ride. PEOPLE DRIVE CRAZY HERE!!! like noooo traffic laws, people
everywhere, jeepneys, motorcycles. thank goodness for america. once we
got to the mission home i felt so sick..i walked in and sister
delamare went to give me a hug and i had my hand over my mouth and
said, "oh hi i am about to throw up where is your bathroom" so i
rushed in and threw up. then looked at myself and laughed. i could
hear her say "sis curtis is scared to dealth" YA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! but i
think i just got sick from the flight cause then i felt a ton better!
we met everyone the aps were there and some missionaries going home
later that day. depressing. but we ate dinner and had our interview
and i got a blessing. i really like my mission president. we got to
meet all the cute senior missionaries and we had orientation just
where they tell us about our areas and tell us who are companions are.
it was fun! then the aps took us to our area. an hour from quezon
city. in the mountains. they told us we have the nicest apartment!
everyone was jealous when they said we were going to cogeo. once we
got to our apartment i went straight to bed. i slept from 630 pm to
630 am and then didnt have any jet lag! so nice! our aparmtnet..
so ya know as shelby i am thinking..VERY nice! well it actually is nice.
but let me tell you. its 3 stories. newly renovated. we live with
another companionship whom i just LOVE! they call me sister barbie. i
am the only american. they are all philippino. i ran to the bathroom
first to see if there was any toilet paper and a shower. there was a
toilet paper holder but no toilet paper. so i just use kleenex hahaha
i will NOT use anything else. the shower doesnt get warm.
me and my companion are opening an area. that means she is new to the
area and so am i. so we have to have the cute ward mission leaders
help us everyday. its alot more cool in cogeo than the city. we are in
the mountains so constantly we are hiking. people live in the worst
living conditions i have seen. i have cried every day to my companion
wondering why i got so lucky and why these poor people have to live
like this. very humbling. these people seriously have nothing but are
so nice. i want to take ALL of them and fly them to utah with me and
just have them live in america. its everyone's dream to go to utah
here and see temple square. so when i tell them i am from utah they
all freak out. makes me realize i have taken advantage of utah!
the first day of work was friday and we taught like 5 lessons. i
couldnt understand anything. i just bore my testimony at the end. and
said the prayers.
i rode in my first jeepney friday and my first tricycle on saturday.
ok. SO CRAZY!! but for some reason i dont feel like i could die..even
though i could! haha i feel pretty safe. but its the farthest thing
from safe.
sunday was good. the church is in tagalog. i had to introduce myself
and bare my testimony. the church is pretty ghetto. no air
conditioning. just fans. so you sweat the whole time. no one wears
ties. even the bishop. all just white button up shirts. i love how
casual it is. people wear jeans. it reminds me of hawaii! the members
are so great. we met the bishop he is the best. we had a meeting with
him and he told me "sister curtis please do not do your hair like
that, and dont look pretty" my hair was curled and down. he told me
that its not safe for me to be so pretty. are these people crazy???? i
am sweating, no make up, what the heck am i wearing, and 7 feet tall
compared to these people and they think i am like the prettiest person
they have ever seen!!! everywhere we go people STARE at me. and they
say..hey joe whats your name? or hey americano whats your name? so
funny. they get surprised when i speak tagalog back to them.
so some crazy things: everyone is pregnant here. no wonder there are
millions of people here. we started teaching a less active family and
dont you worry she just starts breast feeding right in front of us and
her 15 year old son with out any cover!!! EWWWWWW
i have about 20 mosquito bites on my legs. thats way fun. especially
when you are sweating, teaching a lesson, and itching your legs. way
fun.
so my companion figured out when i go home and its july 18 2013. thats
when parker goes home!! HOW AWESOME! oh my comp and the other sisters
LOVE PARKER!! they just stare at my calendar and picture of him!!!
hahah so funny. they say..hes so handsome! love it.
today is p day and we had district meeting. i love being with the
other missonaries! and the zone leaders were there and they are
awesome. some of them go home in july of 2013 so we will go home
together so thats nice!
i absolutely love my companion. everyone tells me she is the best and
she is. she is sooo sweet so smart so good at teaching and so
outgoing! we love eachother. i couldnt do this without her. she makes
all my meals, makes my bed, cleans up after me and everytime she does
i get mad at her and tell her i can do things and she just says noooo
i do it for you!! she holds my hand when we walk or my waist. they are
very touchy here! i love it. the sisters call me sister barbie! my
companion is exactly obedient and so it really helps. i really wanted
my trainer to be obedient! she tells me i am very easy to train and
that i am eager to learn and be obedient so i am happy she likes me!!
i am trying to think of other things.
oh food. the food here is ok..i eat bread with jam on it for
breakfast, hot rice and some meat and juice stuff for lunch and then
we dont eat dinner cause we are teaching. i have taken some pics and i
will send my card in like a week so expect pictures in like a month!
i dont feel too far away from home. i know its only like 30 hours of
traveling to go home and that makes me feel better. i never want to do
that flight again, i am glad i wont have to for 16 more months!
i love you family soooo much!! i love reading my emails they help a
ton! i hope everyone is doing great. love you so much
xoxo
Sister C
