09.27.17 Siquijor

Hellllo mga tawo (my people?) amazing week here! Lots of stuff happening and most of it good! Jokesss tanan mga butang sa maayo kaayo! (Jokes are all good things) First off we had the baptism! Saturday at 9am! Which in filipino time turns out to be 11! hahahah we got there fifteen minutes early but turns out we were over two hours early waiting for people to come hahah. It was a good service at president's house and then we walked down to the beach. I had to scream so that the witnesses could hear me but it was so awesome! Elder Ranon was gone from wednesday to saturday in cebu and i lead our area on thursday and we got some IBDs which i am pumped for. We also talked to Brother dan a couple days ago who i the rock of the church here because he missed church last week for the first time in probably ten years and the reason he couldnt go is because he didnt have any money to get there because he had given it to other sisters in the branch that needed it. After the lesson he gave a prayer and the first thing he said was "Pasilo kaayo para wala simba domingo"(It’s very important to have nothing Sunday) . He is just one example of how awesome the people are and im grateful for them every day. Its been raining a lot here and thats fun hahah. Also we were teaching i accentally said "you will be an example for your rocks" instead of for "children" and err one was dying hahah. Today we went through Contabon cave and it was way cool! hahah it took like an hour and a half but it was awesome and reminded me of scooby doo because there were bats flying every where. Also today we went to the very top of Siquijor and we could see everywhere! So amazing haha anyway i hope you all have a good week and remember to have charity in everything you do, even the hard things. Love you all. Press forward in faith.

-Elder Smith

9.19.17 Siquijor

Aayoooo mga tawo (let people go??) second week here at the promise land Siquijor went pretty good hahah getting adjusted and its going well. Last week i finally made it to the famous beaches here and it was amazing, this place is something else! Last p day we grilled a fish on the beach and then played some frisbee and slacklined and that was fun. But weve been working a lot and it is awesome! We have a baptism this saturday and we get to do it in the ocean which i cant wait for. Pero, akong kauban is gone to cebu from tonight until saturday so i will be working with the other elders for the next couple of days. This also means i will be leading my area tomorrow hahah so im going to plan everything and we are going to get stuff done ill tell you that right now. Something that we will get done is getting sis Kimberley and Karen a date for their baptism! Cant wait they are ready and willing and hopefully we will get that done. We have been teaching a lot and im trying to get used to everything here but the people really help and so does just being here. Its an awesome place filled with awesome people and we got some work to do here before i get transferred so guess we gotta get to work. It rained really hard yesterday night like all night long and we rode the trike in the rain forever hahah is was so wet and i ate this fish for the first time last night its basically just a whole fish and i had to use my hands so these babaye (women) taught me how but i was so bad hahah. They all laughed at me because i was trying to throw the rice in my mouth and also there is this game we play for FHE and you have to do these hand motions and say stuff and i lose for our team every time hahah. Anyway all is well here and i hope everything is okay back there! Jesus Christ gave us the opportunity to enjoy the life we have here so i try to live everyday with a smile, and i think you all should too. Kalipay mao kanunany sa hingpit tubag! (happy is the answer to the answer?? )Love you all and go Utes!

I dont know what order these are going in but there are a couple of the beach last week and the fish we got and cooked and then a couple of our comp study at different resorts across town. Also i wonder how LaBarn Jarmes is doing? I was almost about to cop some of his shoes hahah too fresh. Also we got this huge fish last week and we have been eating it hinay hinay (slowly slowly) all week hahah its gettin kind of gross now but heres some model shots. And then we found a chicken village yesterday so we stopped by and taught some chics. We asked them question two from lesson 2: "Why did you cross the road?" and we were astounded at what they said. It was a little tight inside their little shacks though.

Press forward in faith. Elder Smith

9.13.17 Siquijor with Elder Ranon

Hellooooo im here and can i just say that this place is nindot kayo (very nice)! The first week was kinda lain-lain (different) but hey so is everything here. We had a good week of BRTing (building trust) and im learning how to open my mouth, hahh but not really. I have found that i excell at the moments of this amazing opportunity most when i dont need to say anything in Bisaya, which is 1% of the time. Anyway we have a nice litttle branch here and we meet up stairs of a motorcycle shop and i got to speak on sunday which was a good time. I hope they understood what i said but i was told to talk kabahin kasugoan (about the law – maybe meaning commandments) and why we follow them and haha it was lisod (rough) and my grammar is so bad and so slang but its okayyyy. I help in the lessons and lead a couple of them but we have been prepping our main sista Sharmin for her baptism next week! I am so excited because she is so andam (ready) and i might get to do the baptism so fingers crossed. We went and taught this family that lived up the hill a little bit and their kids were so amazing and funny. THese two little boys were climbing all over me and I felt so much love for these kids and i wanted them to be with their family forever. Anyway we finished talking to them and went on our way and found this little basketball hoop so i had to show Elder Ranon my skillz so we put a couple shots up(the videos). Then the amahan (father) of the family we just talked to rode up the path and we picked teams for us, me against him and elder ranon hahah. Usually i can take Mom and cole on just fine in the driveway but they took it to me and i hit the side of the backboard more times than the rim itself, but lets just blame that on the dirt aye;) Also i sweated a total of five gallons offf of by body during that span of give or take 10 minutes hahah. I sweat so much here its pretty funny, all the people say "guapo!" when i pass on the street until i get up closer to them and realize that it looks like i just went swimming. anyway i had my first zone conference yesterday and it was pretty cool there was a lot of the training from President Pajaro and Sis pajaro and from our zone leaders. Speaking of our zone leaders they got some vacation today as they get to come to the land of promise with us for a day because they have to interview Sis Sharmin. They just get to lax and the beach and toss a disk around with us so i guess they are lucky but i love em hahahah. Yea its all good here did my first lava (laundry) this morning and it took two hours! got blisters and yes im still alive. Love you all and just remember that everywhere we go God puts people in our paths, there is missionary work to do everywhere you look! 

 

Idk what order these are going to come in but one pic is a selfieee, another is the look at negros from siquijor from the barge because we had to take a two hour trip back for yesterday. Then the other pic is a look of Siquijor from Negros on they way back. Wish i could get these videos up but just know that Elder Ranon's shots were not reaching above the rim and any point during the arc hahah.

 

Love you all. Press forward in faith.

-Elder Smith

9.8.17 Exerpts from Elder Hoffman's Letter Home

Got to speak to this Elder on the phone while they were at the airport.  What an amazing young man.  So complimentary of my son.  Makes me so proud.  So glad they learned from each other and continue to grow!  Hope you don't mind me sharing Hoff!! :)

Elder Smith and Elder Hoffman in the Philippines

It is extremely sad to say, but I had to say bye to my first and best kauban that I could ever ask for. We arrived at the Cebu airport at about 8:00 yesterday morning, and grabbed our stuff. Our mission presidents were already there, so they were literally just waiting for us to grab our stuff and go. Elder Smith wrote me a Elder Hoffman's Ten commandments paper, and I wrote him a cool poem and a little hymnbook. He will be such an incredible missionary. Elder Smith's mission president came in and was bringing everyone out to get driven to the mission home, so we said goodbye for about 10 seconds and then we split! Why do I have to be unlucky one that doesn't go to the same mission as my kauban? Well, I guess it was the Lord's will, and we are going where he knows we are supposed to be. I am so grateful for the time that we had to get to know each other. In the Manila MTC, we had the opportunity to go with an Elder Montero and proselyte in Manila! Elder Smith and I got to teach a lesson together with a less active, and it was so amazing! He spoke Tagalog, but understood Cebuano, so it all worked out. If we said something that didn't make sense, Elder Montero could also translate:):):) It was really cool, because I looked over at Elder Smith while he was teaching in this dirt hut, on this stone bench that we were sitting on, and I could just imagine him in two years. We were both sweating, our hair matted, but preaching the word of God. I can just imagine him in many of those same situations, touching the hearts of the Filipino people. He really has been such an awesome companion, and these 7 weeks we have both changed and grown so much. I hope and pray for us to continue to progress, to learn, and be able to share our stories with each other in 2 years. It will be one of the coolest reunions ever!!!!

9.8.17 Arrives in Cebu - Siquijor

From Elder Smith, with his mom's interpretations in red.  I did my best. :)

Kamusta mo!! (How are you) Ako si  (I am) Elder Smith emailing from the sa pinakainit place sa kalibutan (warmest place in the world)! Wow what a week it was but im finally here in Siquijor and i cant wait for what is to come. We arrived from Manilla to Cebu at 8am on Wednesday and its been chaos ever since then. We were trained all day along with getting to do a session at the Cebu Temple which is by far the coolest temple you will ever see. We got to our hotel Wednesday night and went to bed a little early in a very interesting hotel. The next morning we were taken back to the mission home and they had us line up to find out where we are going and who are companions were. I turned around and there was Elder Ranon! Nagkaon ko uban Elder ni Elder Ronan the gabii (I ate with Elder Ronan the night) before and I was so pumped because this meant i was going to Siquijor! Known as "the promise land" to all Cebu missionaries this really is the place to be if you go to cebu. Everyone wants to serve here and I was the only one called to train here with only me and Elder Ranon, along with our roomies Elder Hansen and Cox that work over the entire island! Very crazy and I am so excited to be working here. Out of the 25 in this batch to Cebu I was the lucky one to Siquijor so i will be spending the next three months at least trying to get things going here. After a 6 hour bus ride yesterday along with a 30 boat ride we made it to Domiguete where we had to stay with the zone leaders because the boat rides to here stopped at 6. My zone leaders are nindot kaayo!(very nice) hahah they are very jealous that i get to come here and it is very weird that we really have no one else with us on the island so akong Kauban is the DL and the man in charge over us four hahah. We wont even see our zone leaders or other batch mates until next month i think but i cant wait to get to work here and get things turned around. Elder Ranon has told me that we have a branch of 40 members about for the whole island and he has been working very hard here to get more. He thinks im going to be called as the first councelor in the presidency because they dont have a lot of members haha and my bisaya is still gami jud. I hope you all are doing okay and I wish some of you were awake right now but all is well! Hinumdum si Jesukristo ug sa pag-ula matag adlaw. (Remember Jesus Christ every day??) He is the reason why I am here! Also sad that I had to say bye to Hoffy but im sure all is well with him and he is going to do great things sa Cebu East. Love you all. Press forward in faith.

Just a bit of info on Siquijor aka paradise....

With a land area of 327 square kilometres (126 sq mi) and a coastline 102 kilometres (63 mi) long, Siquijor is the third smallest province of the Philippines.  95% of the island's residents belong to the Catholic Church, while the remainder belong to various other Christian churches.
Siquijor's long-time reputation as a place of magic and sorcery both attracts and repulses visitors.^[Siquijor is also well known for its festivals that focus on healing rituals where incantations are sung while the old folks make potions out of herbs, roots, insects and tree barks.
Among the many attractions are the beaches, caves, waterfalls, Bandila‑an natural park and butterfly sanctuary.The coral reefs ringing the island offer some of the best diving in the Philippines for snorkelers and scuba divers.