So it is Monday morning here in the Philippines. It is very hot and humid and the people are as poor as ever. I absolutely love it here though. The people are just so funny. I am doing well, no health problems as of yet. SO my introduction... definitely not Tagalog. It is a language called Aklanon. I am in a place called Banga (malapit sa Kalibo) and in a region called Aklan. The Aklanon language is really different. I am very lucky though. They also speak Tagalog. I am probably in the most talented area Tagalog-wise. SO we only use certain words and phrases in Aklanon. The apartment I live in is tiny. No running water or anything really. It honestly looks like a haunted house, just a collection of cinder blocks, really. But, it is all we need as missionaries and we get by with no problem. We have no air conditioning and just drag our electric fans everywhere with us within the house. It isn't too bad. There is a part member family that lives right next to us and nay (pronounced "nigh," or woman, short for nanay) is an RM. They live in what honestly looks like a step up from a tree-house.
I hand-wash my laundry. It isn't too bad, but since it rains so much you have to have a bit of luck to get your clothes completely dry. Nay usually gets our clothes when it rains since we are never home. Nay is just what you say to any woman older than you. Tay (pronounced "tie," short for tatay) is used for men. "To" is little boy (pronounced toe) and Ne (pronounced like a sheep) is little girl. (I don't know what he's talking about here... maybe the sheep in the Philippines say neigh? Or maybe he just needs to come take a few animal noise lessons from Levi.) Everyone here has nick names and they are really weird and are not even close to their real names. I'm not quite sure why yet.
My companions name is Elder Ordeniza. He is a native from Mindanao (close to where Manny Pacquiao is from) and he is extremely nice. All the Filipinos are. He always cooks for me and helps me with my Tagalog. It is awesome to have a native to train because becoming fluent will be a lot easier for me. He struggles with English though so it can get difficult to express complex ideas to each other. We are both patient though. It will come.
The culture here is so different. The people are so poor. They are so nice. They are so soft-spoken. They are so humble. The list goes on and on. I cannot do justice to this place with only words. You would have to experience it. They absolutely adore blue eyes... so I have an in there. But, my height and my white skin makes them uncomfortable and shy. My companion always says "nahihiya sya-lang der" or 'she/he is just embarrassed elder'. They only say Der not Elder. (Ha! I'm so calling Scott "der") They are big into short cutting their words. So to help with that I just playing with the children at first. They usually really warm up after that. One thing that makes them really laugh is when I bless the little children (hold their hand and touch it to my forehead, you bow to them to do it). They pull their hand back and just laugh. I have been blessed a couple times by the little children... it is super special to me. I think it is just because I am tall and white though. Nevertheless it is humbling. The people here LOVE the elders. They will come home with dinner and forbid anyone to eat until we have eaten like at least half. I try my best to just leave if they are about to eat. It is so humbling to see people give everything when they have practically nothing. They truly live consecrated lives. They culture is so interesting and I can't wait to be fluent in their language and understand them more.
The work. We have one little girl JeckieLynn who is going to be baptized Dec 4th. She is twelve years old and she is ready. I am super excited for her. Keep her in your prayers. We are planning to extend a date to her mother Jessa this week as well with one possibly two more investigators. So just pray for us... we need as many blessings as possible. I teach usually 3- 8 minutes every lesson. My tagalog is improving and I feel somewhat useful. A lot of times I am just entertaining kids. I love the work though. I try to say like good morning to everyone. It is funny to see the confusion on people's faces when I speak their language. I can get to know someone pretty well with an aklanon tagalog mix. The ward here is great and they love the elders as well. At church the teacher will always ask me "Der, will you add something?" Again, just the white tall blue eyed guy. They are super kind and I already have my group of mga bata (children) that run up and demand high fives and to chase them around. The bata here are extremely cute. Like beyond cute. and hilarious. Mahal ko sila.
I saw Adam and he is doing really well. He is a zone leader down in Antique. (Adam is a friend who used to be in our ward in Augusta, also, obviously, serving in his mission!)
I have not bought a cd player yet. I will check and see if I can even buy one here today. I kinda doubt it. I will check though. I did buy a sweet belt though made out of horn. If you send me like $30 I can buy them for Dad and Matthew and Graham and Evan. Just tell me what color. They are honestly the coolest things ever. Mine is brown and black so it matches everything. For Christmas I would just like some money and a card and some pictures. I would like the money to get my companion and some investigators a little something. SO nothing too much at all. I felt bad enough buying this belt (it was 850 pesos= $11) All my Filipino buddies when I told them said "Ay Sobrang mahal sya der" or 'that is way too expensive der'. Just a bit of money to buy little things for people. Thanks for the little pictures we bought right before we left. We gave some to JeckieLynn's family. They flipped out and just absolutely loved them. When I left one of the bata blessed me. They are the investigators though that said they have something for us for Christmas and we should get them something. They are really big on "Maliit perro galing sa puso" So I don't need very much for Christmas at all. OH! I almost forgot. Could you send me some easy American recipes to make. My companion has never had American food. I made him and omelet yesterday and he just loved it. I will make him french toast soon. Just easy American foods that can be cooked on a stove. No oven and really nothing else, just a stove.
President Pagaduan is way nice too. He is hilarious as well. His English is pretty broken, I can't wait to be able to converse with him in Tagalog. I will not see him very much at all though for a while. I am on the opposite side of the island about 4 1/2 hours away. The very first night me and the AP's and his daughters had a spelling bee. We laughed and had fun for like two hours. I'm telling you, the children here are just so nice and outgoing.
I can't really think about anything else other than how beautiful this place is. I am up near the mountains and everything is green. The bamboo houses are also just amazing. They let the breeze through so they are way nicer than our hot cinder block house.
As far as communication goes just tell everyone to email me. I can read them and print them off and send real letters back. That should help the correspondence time.
Anyways, I love you all. I think about you often and pray for you often as well.
Be safe!
Elder Lowry
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