Week 11, Sapang Palay, Philippines

Hey everyone!

So this week was exciting! We're supposed to have a typhoon but that ended up not happening which was both good and bad, good cause there was no typhoon... but bad cause i really wanted to see how cool a typhoon would be :) 

On Saturday night I ate Balut! ( I think that's how it's spelt)

So Elder Aue and I got back home and the other companionship were outside with some members that they worked with for the day. Elder Aue and I then closed our day and then the American, Elder Waltz told me they had a surprise for me. I walk outside and he's like, hey man we're gonna eat Balut together for the first time!

So yeah, it was kinda fun, i guess :/ Google an image of it, it's like an egg with a 1 month old duck in it! They're boiled for 1 day and then steamed for another and then you can eat it. To be honest, it wasn't too bad, like the taste wasn't that bad but you eat an entire duck and yeah, it's got the beak and all that on it so it's kinda crazy! It's mostly a mental challenge rather than a taste thing for me at least.

Anyway, so first transfer is pretty much up, this week is my 6th week so my first transfer out in the field! 

It's also Easter! So Easter is kinda different in the Philippines, like it's way depressing cause they only focus on the death of Christ. A lot of Catholics inflict pain on themselves as part of some random rituals that they do so it's kinda weird. But as missionaries we got given dvd's with a bunch of really cool Easter videos that we got to show to our investigators and members which was really awesome.

So we have 16 baptismal dates but only 3, maybe 4 are realistic haha A lot of people will accept baptism dates but most of the time they aren't 100% committed so they end up falling through :(

However, we have our first baptism this Sunday! So Kieth (10yrs) and his Sister Annalaya (8yrs) are these really awesome kids that are really spiritually smart, like they give really deep answers which is really awesome! Although we've gotten their cousin whose about to go on a mission to baptise them so you won't see me in white but yeah :D still first baptism! We have a guy named Kimpee who's 18 and he's a really awesome investigator who's developed a really strong testimony, he's kept all our commitments so far which has been really awesome :D His baptismal date is later on this month. 

A lot of the times during lessons I won't understand the Tagalog but through the sprirt and specifically the gift of interpretation of tongues you understand what they are saying. Which is really cool just in its self. A lot of the times as a missionary your best won't be enough (e.g. my Tagalog) but the Lord fills that gap to make it enough which is crazy, many times throughout my time in the field this happens not just this week :) So yeah, Awesome stuff!!

Anyway, Hope you all have a great week!

Love Elder Holzworth