Kamusta kag Maayong Hapon mga tawo (Hello and Good Afternoon people)!
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| [My two nationalities (it was so kasanag[bright])] |
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| [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.
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| [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!
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| [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!
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| [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.
*Some names have been changed or omitted to protect the privacy of individuals.