September 5, 2023 WEEK 4 Maligayang Pasko! 🎄

Maligayang Pasko: Merry Christmas! September 1st marked the first day of the Filipino Christmas season! We got sent some pictures of christmas trees put up in the Manila MTC

The MTC has been such a great experience, we all had a weird realization that we would have already left by now if we weren't speaking a language!

HIGHLIGHTS
- Learning about an active volcano that went off in the philippines while our teacher was on his mission (I'll put a picture of his friend standing in front of the volcano erupting)
- Senior Missionaries tracked me down and found me because they are the only other people in the MTC going to my mission! They will be the first people I see when I get off the plane :)
- The constant singing around the MTC. I love it! People are always walking around singing hymns or country songs you can tell that everyone is so happy to be here
- Elders singing the Rocky theme song when runners run by
- One of the elders doing 460 pushups in one day because he said 46 words in English throughout the day when he was supposed to say them in Tagalog
- All of the fun Tagalog games and scavenger hunts we play
- Having to move out of our room on the first floor and relocate to the second floor because of renovations but now we get a window so I was happy about it
- One of the elders in my district played for Creighton in the Elite 8 of march madness
- The entire district except me getting sick! (not a highlight haha)
- Listening to the crowds and announcer of the BYU game! We also got to see fireworks so that was pretty cool too
- An elder bringing me Dr Pepper his mom sent from Arizona because I needed it
- Making a movie theater with Sister Strong in our room so we can watch Book of Mormon videos

FILIPINO CULTURE
- They make heart signs with their hands by making a fist and sticking out their thumbs
- They like repeating Korean phrases
- They only have ketchup made out of bananas
- You can't get divorced
- They point with their lips

PICS
- I didn't pack a coat and you could see your breath this morning it was so cold so sometimes we have to throw on a random sweater over our dresses for the walks
- Non stop rain and thunder storms/the pretty mountains
- Us eating cereal out of cups waiting to get dinner because we were starving from fasting all day
- The pretty murals in the MTC
- The elder bringing me Dr Pepper
- The garbage when everyone was sick with runny noses
- Finding our teacher hiding under the stairs for a scavenger hunt
- Our movie theater
- THANKS to whoever sent me cookies! Me and the district loved them!
- The Volcano erupting
- and the couple going to Baguio with me!

"Now when our hearts were depressed and we were about to turn back, behold the Lord comforted us and said: bear with patience thine afflictions and I will give you success."
Alma 26:27

Love you all! 


















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