Monday, September 8, 2014

Adventures in Santa Monica!

Family!!
Hello! So to start off, let me say the computer i am using to email you is the worst! Every time i type the letter "I" by using the shift button, something pops up and i have to X it out. SO, obviously Heavenly Father is trying to teach me that i need to talk about I LESS. Haha, so that's why all of my i's are going to be lowercase.
Anyways, first let me tell you about some of the crazy awesome things about Palawan, then i want to tell you about the awesome people we are teaching!!!
Let's see...it rains here everyday and so it is super muddy. Apparently, in Manila it floods a lot and they can't work, but luckily for us it doesn't flood it just gets way muddy.  It reminds me a lot of the trek we went on.  We walk through mud puddles, and sometimes when i walk my shoes get stuck in the mud and i pull out my foot with no shoe! Haha, its so fun though.  Every day at the end of the day my legs are so gross and muddy and i just laugh. Luckily i only fell in the mud once this week! And a really nice lady helped me clean off my legs. (: What else... there are animals everywhere!! Dogs, chickens, roosters, lizards, cows, pigs, cats, you name it.  The roosters wake me up every morning, and throughout my whole day i hear again and again "cockadoodledoo!!". Its great. Some adventures with the animals this week... while we were teaching, a lizard fell off of the ceiling onto my nanay! i jumped up and screamed, while she stayed completely calm and just brushed it off of her.  The members we were teaching got a good laugh out of that hahaha. There are always tons of lizards on the ceilings of people's home where we teach.  THE DOGS. Oh my heavens, that has probably been the biggest challenge because they chase me!! There was one imparticularly scary experience with the dogs... When my nanay and i were exploring our new area we went down by the water and found ourselves at a dead end, met by 2 big scary dogs.  The began barking and running towards us, and when we turned around we were met by like 5 more dogs all barking and running towards us!!! Ah, it was really awful. Luckily, Heavenly Father blessed us with a man who came out and scared all of the dogs away for us.  The next morning when we were walking a dog started running towards me and i got frightened and hid behind Sister Parina. She told me, "don't let them know you're afraid, Sis." That really hit me and i've thought about that a lot! Since that day, when i pass the dogs i walk tall and get out my umbrella and act like they don't scare me at all. A lot less dogs have been chasing us now!! i think that that advice applies to my whole mission. Even when things scare me, i need to stand tall and not let anyone know i'm afraid.  Like the scripture in 2 Kings says, "Fear not; for they that be with us are more than they that be with them."  That is a scripture that helps me remember that i never need to be afraid or back down to anything that tries to scare me while i'm here! 
We also found some cockroaches in our apartment this week..but i can honestly say i think i have overcome my fear of them!!
There are so many adventures like that every day here...and im loving it! Everything that i imagined would be so hard i am turning into just one great big fun adventure (: 
Now for the good part, the people we are teaching!! My favorite sister that we are teaching is named Julieta.  We just found her last week and taught her a lesson, but this week we returned and she had been reading and praying and was so excited when we came back to her house! Her eyes lit up and she had questions for us and i was SO HAPPY! Teaching someone who you know is really listening and feeling the spirit is the best feeling. Pray she comes to church next week! Another amazing sister we are teaching is named Mayra.  She is muslim, and was forced into a marriage at the age of 14 to get money for her sick father.  Her husband was abusive and she ran away and ended up in Santa Monica.  She is 19 now and she is a fireball! She is really receptive to everything we are teaching her.. She is such a joy to teach because we get to be the ones to tell her that Jesus Christ lived and died for her and that she has a Father in Heaven who lives and knows her perfectly! Teaching those without a Christain background is really amazing.
President Ardern also came to speak to us this week! He is an amazing teacher and really inspired me to be the best teacher i know how to be.  President and Sister Ostler spake to us and it was really really good for me. Sister Ostler talked about how we are like a baby and He is like our parent.  Parents rejoice when their babies learn how to sit up! They clap and smile and wait for them to be able to roll over.  Then when they're ready, they start helping them learn how to crawl and then walk.  But when the baby takes a step and then falls the parents don't get angry.. they say "oh, get up and try again! you can do it!" Then when the baby finally takes one step, its the happiest moment!! As children of our Heavenly Father we are the same way.  We will continue to try to take a step but then fall, and fall again. But every time we fall He is reaching out to us to try again and take a step towards Him. I loved her talk so much and have really been trying to speak to myself the way Heavenly Father would speak to me.  So when i continue and continue to struggle with the language, i tell myself positive things and try to remember that Heavenly Father is always always smiling down on me and encouraging me to try again,.
i love you all so much! i hope that everything is well and that you never forget just how precious you are to our Heavenly Father!
Mahal Kita
xoxo
Sister Lockwood
PS. Another funny story- apparently people don't really say mahal kita to other girls here... and this week a member missionary had been teaching with us, and as she was getting off the Jeepney full of people i yelled "mahal kita!' And everyone on the Jeepney turned and stared and my kasama just died laughing.  So im pretty sure everyone on the jeepney was way confused because thats only something you say romantically hahahaha
PSS One more fun story! i had a small melt down during language study this week because i was so overwhelmed and frustrated with my tagalog...but after language study i went into the kitchen to make myself lunch and the neighbors were playing Michael Jackson really loud where it was playing clearly in our kitchen.  i had a small jam sesh by myself and felt much better. Some may call that breaking the rules...i call it a tender mercy (;
MAHAL KITA XOXO

the computer is so lame and wont let me send pictures!! boo!!

To answer some of your questions...
There are lots of mosquitos but I put on bug spray everyday so they aren't too bad.  There is a piano at church.  The other American in my apartment is from Utah.  i will get mail from the zone leaders once a transfer (every 6 weeks).

i prayed really hard that this one picture would send because i have to prove to you i'm over my fear of roaches!  (i didn't actually eat it.)  Tell J that i got another letter today from her kids this week and i am sending them letters today!

i didn't really eat it but I'm no longer afraid of them!


These pictures are from the mission blog.  This is Kayla at a Zone Conference. 



1 comment:

  1. Kayla, you met my old high school teacher! Did you say, 'Shakespeare was a genius?'

    ReplyDelete