Week 10: Practicar Pasensya Perme (Practice Patience Always)

Maayong Hapon from the island of Panay!  

[Manami gid]

This week has been so great and there is just a lot to be grateful for!
I'm getting more of a hang of my large area and the dialect! These things just takes time and are never instantaneous.

[My first time in a Jeepney with my awesome district. They're the best!]

So this week I had my first Zone conference/interviews and met my district. I'm part of [the] Zone which is more, I guess you could say, country part of the island. To compare it to Los Angeles county, it's kind of like the actual city of Iloilo is Los Angeles county and [my area] is like Riverside. Earlier in the week we went to [the main] city to meet with my Mission President and be trained about how to be better missionaries! At the city I rode in a Jeepney for my first time and I ate the famous Pancit Molo dish. The Jeepney was pretty cool but really squished haha and the Pancit Molo was absolutely namit (delicious)!

[Fried chicken and fried rice for lunch 😋]

This week I also was able to get more familiarized with [my area] and meet members and investigators! I really do love the people here and they sometimes tease me about being Filipino but not sounding like one, haha! It's totally fine though because they all make me feel like I'm home even though I'm away from home. This past week, investigators fed me Star Apple and Lunugaw (or Ginataan in Tagalog). It was sobrang namit (really good)! I don't know how to describe Star Apple but it tastes so good!

[Balling up in the mission with a skirt is the best]

Also earlier this week I was able to show off my basketball skills to some teenagers playing basketball at our church! It was funny actually because we taught one of the teenagers and at the end of the lesson, she asked us if we knew how to play basketball because she has a school project. So having a basketball background I said yes and we went outside and she basically recorded me doing layups, freethrows, corner shots, etc. ALL IN MY SKIRT. It was maayo gid!

[Me prepping for hand-washing my clothes!]

Another cool thing I did was that I hand-washed my laundry for the first time ever. I'm so grateful to my companion for being willing to teach me!

[Sis. Tui, my Ate (left) and I with Sis. Reyes (middle) our mission nanay!]

It's been a great week and I feel like I am understanding the people more, although they are speaking a different dialect. I know that I am here for a reason and I'm discovering it as each day passes. Kag kabalo ko nga (I know that) Heavenly Father loves us so much and never gives us a trial or challenge that we can't overcome. Even in the middle of our saddest moments, we have to continue to be faithful in Jesus Christ!

Like it says in [the Book of Mormon in] 1 Nephi 3:7 -  "And it came to pass that I, Nephi, said unto my father: I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them."

God will always provide a way for us to accomplish trials through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ!

Halong kamo tanan (Take care),

Sister Ventura

--

Send me an e-mail: 

elza.ventura@myldsmail.net 

Written letters and packages: 

Sister Elza Ventura 

Philippines Iloilo Mission 

Osmeña Street, 

Arevalo, Iloilo City, 

5000 Iloilo 

Philippines

*Some names have been changed or omitted to protect the privacy of individuals.

Week 9: Ang first area ko! (My first area)

Kamusta kamo tanan!

Just a couple highlights:

I finally have an official companion! Her name is Sister Reyes and she is a native Filipina. She is so amazing and I love her already. :) She has only four months left of her mission and I'm just starting off in the field!

I'm officially in my [first] area now and I am in the center-ish part of the island, so no beaches yet pero ayos lang! My area is pretty big and it never occurred to me that there aren't really addresses out here, and spread out gid ang mga balag diri (the houses are really spread out). And my area got what you call "white-washed" kag ang buot silingon amo ang (the meaning is that) both my companion and I are new to the area! Grabe tungod (Crazy because) we both don't know where anything is and where the members we need to visit, pero it is an adventure for both Sis. Reyes and I!

Another crazy thing about [my area] is that ang mga tawo diri (the people here) speak a dialect called Karay-a. I thought it would be close to Hiligaynon pero it is barely similar. Kag abi ko (and I thought) it was a struggle learning Ilonggo pero trying to converse with people nga ginahambal sa Karay-a (that speak Karay-a) is another struggle! Honestly though I know that over time, Bugayan Niya ako (God will bless me). Just like how I was able to learn Ilonggo, I will learn to speak Karay-a and speak to people parte sa nga-a diri ako (about why I'm here)!

[All our luggage bags took up an entire trike!]

Just a couple things I love about being out here so far:  

The people make me feel so warm inside. Maskin indi ko makaistroyanay sa ila (Even though I can't communicate with them), I feel their love and I hope they feel mine too!  We ride tricycles everywhere, there are barely any jeepney's. Tricycle's are so fun! My first time riding one was when I first arrived [in my area]. Kag seguro the best experience with riding one so far was at night tungod I was sitting in the back and when I looked up I saw a bunch of stars!  It's so green here, as in GREEN GID ang area ko. My companion told me that its the most country-like area she's been to!

[Sister Cruz (the Mission President's wife) and I.
Fun Fact: Sis. Cruz knows my brothers girlfriend because she went to college with Sis. Cruz's kids!]

Tani, maayo gid kamo! (Hoping that all of you are doing great!)  

Halong perme,

Sister Ventura

--

Send me an e-mail: 

elza.ventura@myldsmail.net 

Written letters and packages: 

Sister Elza Ventura 

Philippines Iloilo Mission 

Osmeña Street, 

Arevalo, Iloilo City, 

5000 Iloilo 

Philippines

*Some names have been changed or omitted to protect the privacy of individuals.

Kamusta from Iloilo! (PICTURES+VIDEO)

Hello pamilya,

I'm finally in Iloilo! Sobrang maganda dito (It's so beautiful here).  Like mommy said, I would like Iloilo more than Manila and she is right! It is green gid diri.  I arrived yesterday around 10:30 Philippines time then we went to the mission home and just chilled basically.

Kagab-i gintulog namon sa (Last night we stayed over at the) Sister Training Leader's apartment. AND I SHOWERED FOR THE FIRST TIME WITH A TABO. It was interesting, pero I expected that honestly. It's not as hot here as Manila, so far.. pero I haven't even started proselyting yet haha. Oh wait actually that reminds me, President Cruz's goal for the mission is not to proselyte. We will be teaching members and then getting referral from members because he wants to strengthen the offices and the callings of the church! So he doesn't want us going from door to door.

I also learned that we use TAGALOG PAMPHLETS AND TAGALOG BOOK OF MORMON! I was so confused pero they told me how diverse it is here and how they can better understand Tagalog and stuff. So that was interesting. In this area they have the 4 dialects that i already told you, and there is also SIGN LANGUAGE. This mission is a great opportunity for me to become more flexible language wise! When I come home, I won't be speaking just Ilonggo, pero seguro (but also) Tagalog too!

Oo, pero kagab-init gid man kagab-i pero may aircon kami sa quarto (Last night was so hot but we had A/C in the room). In a couple hours I will be finding out who my trainer is. I have to go now, they just gave us a short time to e-mail.

Palangga ta kamo! 

- Sis. Ventura

--

Earlier today...

(Before she had access to internet...)

We got news that Sister Ventura arrived safely in Iloilo and we received the following video and pictures from the Mission Leadership. Look how happy she is! Enjoy!

Send an e-mail: 

elza.ventura@myldsmail.net 

Written letters and packages: 

Sister Elza Ventura 

Philippines Iloilo Mission 

Osmeña Street, 

Arevalo, Iloilo City, 

5000 Iloilo 

Philippines

*Some names have been changed or omitted to protect the privacy of individuals.

Week 8: Back to my roots

Maayong hapon kamo halin sa Pilipinas! 

[Manila Temple - under renovation]

It is currently a las tres y douze sa hapon diri(3:12pm).

This is my first time in the Philippines and I absolutely love it!

After 20+ hours of travel and 3 different planes we finally made it to Manila and were greeted by our Philippines MTC President. On the way to the MTC it was really crazy and literally felt like I was in a real-life Mario Kart scenario. I got a bit car sick but I made it to our destination before my car sickness got worse. The first thing we did when we arrived to the Philippines MTC was EAT. I missed eating Filipino food so much and it was manamit gid! We ate bulalo and adobo, yummy. Then the next day we went proselyting in Metro Manila and it was awesome! The people here are just so sweet. As I assumed, people think I'm a native and speak to me super fast, pero it does help me just work harder with trying my best to converse with others. It's been amazing here, I love and food/pagkaon (salamat nanay for feeding me Filipino food growing up), people/mga tawo, kag the weather. I am in Manila right now but I will be flying to my actual location of where my mission is tomorrow late at night.

Mga kodak:

[Manami gid (so beautiful)]

[A little boy I was playing with at church.]

[The Ilonggo squad is in the Philippines.]

[Both Filipino districts - we'll all part ways soon as we go to our different missions]

Halong kamo tanan (Take care all of you),

Sister Ventura

Send me an e-mail: 

elza.ventura@myldsmail.net 

Written letters and packages: 

Sister Elza Ventura 

Philippines Iloilo Mission 

Osmeña Street, 

Arevalo, Iloilo City, 

5000 Iloilo 

Philippines

*Some names have been changed or omitted to protect the privacy of individuals.

Week 7: Seguro ang pinakadamo nga makatulog ako (Probably the most that i'll be able to sleep)

Kamusta everyone,

[Mga maestros ko (My teachers) si Bro. Adamson kag si Sis. Read.]

Oo, I'll probably get the most sleep these upcoming days because I'll be on the plane to Philippines! Temperano ang e-mail ko sining semana tungod I'm leaving today! (My email is early this week because I'm leaving today!)

[The 4 other elders in my class and I did something like Mad Libs haha. 

Line 1: There are two missionaries.

Line 2: They are walking to church.

Line 3: They see a girl. 

Line 4: "How are you? Can we give you a Book of Mormon?"

Line 5: And then they were able to share a message about the Book of Mormon.

Line 6: Then, they went to the market.

Line 7: They bought a pig. 

Haha, the end.]

Sa Sabado (On Saturday), I had my last lesson ever at the MTC and i had one-on-one interviews with one of my teachers. I expressed to her how I'm scared that people will see me, think I'm native, and expect a lot from me. She told me that I don't need to worry about what other people expect of me, and the one I should worry about is Heavenly Father's expectations! Then I expressed to her that now I'm scared about teaching with a companion! Abaw, the tables have turned. She said something that was really comforting to me, she said that my Mission President is praying for who should be my trainer. He is prayerfully choosing my trainer with the help of the Lord. And that was so comforting to me and she also told me that I need to make sure to tell my companion about how I feel so she knows!

[My zone and branch President and his wife.]

Sa Domingo (On Sunday), we had our last Branch Council. And since it was fast and testimony meeting, the Elders in my class and I made a goal for all of us to bear our testimony. I bore my entire testimony in Ilonggo! The Spirit was sooo strong. We also sang our goodbye song to everyone. All the Missionaries leaving sang "I'll Go Where You Want Me To Go" with the first verse in Tagalog, the second in Ilonggo, and the third in English. In the evening we had a devotional speaker and it was the brother that is in charge of the property of all the Missionary Training Centers (MTCs) all over the world! He showed us the MTC in Manila and he asked the big crowd who's going to Philippines and we all excitedly raised our hands. The Manila MTC looks so beautiful and I'm sooo excited. 

[One last elevator kodak]

Sa Lunes (On Monday) I learned a lot about culture! We read some scriptures on how Heavenly Father has been preparing the Philippines for missionary work! It was soooo cool! I hope if you have the time you read these scriptures (click for link):

• Isaiah 11:11, 42:12, 51:4-5, 60:9-22
• 1 Nephi 19:15-17
• 2 Nephi 10:8, 29:7
• D&C 133:8, 19-20

[Mga maestros ko (My teachers) si Bro. Shumway (left) kag si Bro. Mariano (right).]

Besides scriptural evidence, there's historical evidence about God preparing the Philippines to be the only area in Asia that is predominantly Christian based! I forgot which U.S. President it was - I think it was President McKinley - who prayed whether he should keep the American troops in the Philippines and he did feel prompted to do so and that just shows God's preparation for missionary work in the Philippines! Also my teacher said that President Hinckley [Church President] (while he was an apostle) said that the Philippines will be the basis for missionary work in which people from the Philippines will share the Gospel to other parts of Asia since they don't have a Christian basis for the most part! And it made me think of [my friend] Sister Apao and how she's going to serve in Hong Kong! Abaw the church is true and organized and amazing.

[Peace out Provo from the Ilonggo's]

I also learned why it's called Ilonggo! So way back when the Spainiards colonized the Philppines, the the South part of Iloilo where Iloilo City is now located had a canal (or maybe still does) in which they sent goods from the island to the island of what is now Cebu/Bacolod. Cebu/Bacolod island is where the troops were based. The Spaniards ended up calling the Filipinos nose people because the canal looked like a nose (ilong). And so that's why it's called Ilonggo! hahaha

Hope you all have a great week! Ang dason nga tion maka-email ako kon sa Pilipinas na ako! (The next time i'll be able to email is when I am in the Philippines!)

Halong kamo (Take care all of you), 

Sister Ventura

---

Several hours later...

(about March 9, 2018 12:08 AM PST)

Kamusta pamilya ko,

I OFFICIALLY MADE IT TO THE PHILIPPINES.
We arrived to the Manila airport like 5 hours ago.
Then our MTC President greeted us when we got out of the airport.
Then we went through Mario Kart to go to Quezon City for the Manila MTC. Grabe here!
Then when we got to the MTC we ate [Filipino Food] pinakbit, bulalo, pancit, adobo, and abaw, sobrang masarap (so good!)!
I love it here so much already. Tomorrow we'll be proselyting already!
The next time I'll be be able to email is Wednesday!

Mahal kita!

Sister Ventura

Send me an e-mail: 

elza.ventura@myldsmail.net 

Written letters and packages: 

Sister Elza Ventura 

Philippines Iloilo Mission 

Osmeña Street, 

Arevalo, Iloilo City, 

5000 Iloilo 

Philippines

*Some names have been changed or omitted to protect the privacy of individuals.

Week 6: Isa ka bulan down, diyesesiyete ka bulan nabilin (1 month down, 17 months left)!

Kamusta kag Maayong Hapon mga tawo (Hello and Good Afternoon people)!

[My two nationalities (it was so kasanag[bright])]

So just to start off, sang nag ligad Biyernes sa gab-i (last friday night), I GOT TRAVEL PLANS! Excited gid ako (I'm really excited!) I'm scheduled to leave Utah on March 7th at 2pm and I won't get to Manila, Philippines until Friday - Wala ako kabalo kon anong oras (I don't know what time). When I get to Manila, I'll be there for a couple days before I actually fly to Iloilo. I bet Nanay ko (my mom) is so happy that I'll be in Manila for a couple days so that I can practice my Tagalog, haha. I'm really  grateful for the opportunity I had to be trained here at the MTC because I learned madamo (a lot). Probably the most important thing I learned here is that I am not out here for myself to grow closer kay Jesucristo, pero I am out here for other people to know parte kay Jesucristo (about Jesus Christ) and the infinite love He has for us! I'm sobrang excited to go to the Philippines and help everyone I meet with anything that they need! 

[The Elders and I learning Hiligaynon (Ilonggo) are the first missionaries EVER to receive this book that goes into so much depth with how to speak Ilonggo! I was so grateful because we are literally pioneers!]

Maayo gid ang ining semana ko (My week was great):

Biyernes (Friday) - 

After emailing, laundry, and other prep stuff, I had class. Ini nga klase ko kasadga gid (this class was really fun) because we skyped someone from the Philippines! I skyped Sister R. and she is a member of my church! So interesting thing about Sister R. was that she is from Iloilo and knows Ilonggo, pero she is currently going to school and working in Quezon City! It was a bit difficult because while we were talking I'm not sure whether she was speaking Ilonggo or Tagalog, but the good thing was that I understood both! It was really nami (cool) to speak to someone who is currently in the Philippines because it gave me more of a feel of what it will be like when I get there. Kag kabalo ko nga (And I know that) I will love it because of my experience with Sister R. She was just the sweetest and I'm happy I was able to speak with her. Technology is awesome. 🙏

Sabado (Saturday) - 

Woo! This day marked one month that I've been out on my mission. It was a fun day! One of my kaupod (companions) got a package in the mail from her family and it was the funniest thing ever. We opened the package and she got ONE poptart, ONE piece of kit kat, ONE reeses, ONE piece of chocolate egg, ONE sour patch kid, and ONE sock. We were cracking up so much and I was confused at first but I realized that it represented her one month package of being out on a mission! Also later in the day we played volleyball and I got two bruises and I have no idea how. It felt like high school all over again, haha.

[Last temple trip upod mga kaupod ko (with my companions)!]

Domingo (Sunday) - 

Namian ko gid ang mga Domingo (I really like Sundays). My companions and I, along with two other sisters, performed a musical number medley called "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing/ If I Could Hie to Kolob." My goal was to give someone the chills during the musical number kag nalipay gid ko sang duha ka elders (and I got really happy when 2 elders) told me that we gave them chills! Mission accomplished, haha. 

Lunes (Monday) - 

This day was the first time I actually worked out during exercise time.. It took me 5 weeks to finally run, and it's funny because I'm almost leaving now too! I had a really good experience this day as I was teaching my investigator. I learned that I'm not only was I able to teach in Ilonggo, but I am able to converse with people and answer their questions, ALL IN ILONGGO. Thinking back to my first week I was really discouraged, pero I have come a long way!

[A friend I met, she's from the Philippines and she says my home ward I used to go to is where her grandma attends!]

Martes (Tuesday) - 

This day I noticed how Utah weather has it's pro's and con's compared to L.A. So a pro is that it is so dry here and not humid that my hair is straight all the time, like I don't have to do anything to it (most of the time). But a con is that it is sobrang mala (so dry) that I need to moisturize like every second! I'm excited to go to the Philippines and just look like I'm glowing without even trying. Anyways, later in the day we had the Sunday School President, Elder Callister, come speak to us and it was awesome! He talked about the physical evidence of the Book of Mormon. Even though I don't need the physical proof because I am faithful in my beliefs, it is awesome to have more evidence to back up what I already believe in!

Miyerkoles (Wednesday) - 

This day, all the people leaving for the Philippines and I practiced our Bye-Bye Song. We're singing "I'll Go Where You Want Me To Go" with the first verse in Tagalog, then the second in Ilonggo, and then the last verse in English! We are going to perform it on Sunday!

[Epic kodak]

Huebes (Thursday) -

Today was very spiritual because my teachers encouraged us to and reminded us of the importance of reading our scriptures and praying about questions of the soul. As a class we pondered on the question "Does God even care?" I shared a verse from the Book of Mormon in Ether 12:27;

"27 And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humblethemselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weakthings become strong unto them. "

I know God cares because He loves us enough to give us weaknesses so that we can become stronger when we overcome them!

Overall, I had a great week! I may be able to e-mail again on Tuesday before I head out to the Philippines pero its just basi (maybe)!

Hope you all have a great semana!
- Sister Ventura

Send me an e-mail: 

elza.ventura@myldsmail.net 

Written letters and packages: 

Sister Elza Ventura 

Philippines Iloilo Mission 

Osmeña Street, 

Arevalo, Iloilo City, 

5000 Iloilo 

Philippines

*Some names have been changed or omitted to protect the privacy of individuals.