Day 327 Allen, Philippines happy Easter!!!

This week was full of adventures---from giant spiders on my bed to speedwalking next to Catholic priests, trying to get home during Good Friday processions/parades. (There was only one street to get to our apartment, and it just so happened that the Catholics were parading around with their “saints’” caskets and stuff. . . We walked right by the priests! We ended up going a back way to our apartment, just to be safer. . . Bonfires with priests dancing around them with what look like KKK hats aren’t terribly comforting at night, haha. Our town is small so we didn’t see any reenactments of the crucifixion or anything super sketch.)
Well, there’s no time left so it’s time for bullet points:

-I wore a long sleeve sweater for the first time.

-I met an American WOMAN (it’s super rare to see anything but old men here) from the Peace Corps. It was actually a kind of wake up moment for me. The past couple weeks, I haven’t had much enthusiasm for finding until this day. We went out to eat after district meeting with a bunch of missionaries. One of them nudged another missionary to go talk to the American sitting in the same restaurant. They all joked and said no way. I didn’t really feel like that was the right attitude, and then I was able to see that attitude in myself. So as we got up to leave, I went to talk to her. Turns out she has a friend who served a mission too and I just happened to have English pass-along cards with me!

-Sister Mier was my hero and killed a HUGE UGLY GREEN EVIL SPIDER on my bed, right by my pillow! Yucks. . . I love having Filipina companions who kill stuff for me.

-Exchanges with Sister Bingham! :) She is super awesome at finding and was also reassigned in Cebu so she helped me regain what I had while I was in Cebu.

-Mormons here don’t do anything for Easter. We didn’t even sing a single Easter song. So Sister Simkins and I are planning to buy some eggs and decorate them with crayons then make our companions go on their first ever easter egg hunt! Whooo!

-During a lesson, I saw chicken caught and butchered right before my eyes!  In a dirt floor house, chickens just live with the people, a man grabbed a chicken right in front of me. I’ll spare you the details, but a few minutes later, I see an old nanay plucking the feathers out in the kitchen. Whoah. Fresh chicken. The whole time, I was just like ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm k.

-oh yeah and we had 3 baptisms on Saturday! haha forgot the most important thing that happened!

How are my old piano students doing? Just curious about them. J

Also, can you DearElder me the talk about Joseph Smith’s experience with O God, Where is thy pavilion? I can’t remember who it is by. . .

Question: What keeps families apart if they aren’t sealed for eternity, even if they go to the same kingdom?
I love the 6th verse of Sweet is the Work! Read it! Or better yet, sing it! :D

Last thought: Alma 24:19 What would the world be like if everyone would rather DIE than commit sin? Can you even imagine? Satan would have zero, zip, WARAY power over anyone. I guess that’s what the Millennium will be like in some sense.

Do you know what Vine or Kakao Talk is? I’m thinking of using a member’s phone to call home for Mother’s Day and those applications are free! But transfer day is right before then, so I don’t know what time or anything yet. . .

Sorry this is so scrambled! But i love you alllllllll! :)

Sis Baylon, Sis Mier, Amanda, Sis Bingham, Sis Simpkins, Sis Cambell

HUGE EVIL SPIDER on my bed. Compare to the size of the suitcase wheel!