Eat more rice

Epistle from the Philippines #2 - "Eat more rice!"

Monday, May 7, 2012

Hello once again from the Philippines! I am alive and well, and many things have happened since last week!

First off, I want to thank everyone who has sent me emails this week. I loved them. Keep them coming. Yes, my Pday is on Mondays now, so for everyone in America, it's more like late Sunday night for you. As I write this, it's 4 p.m. In Utah it would be 2 a.m. East Coast, 4 a.m. I hope you are having sweet dreams.

Since last week I have hand washed my clothes for the first time in my life. It is very exhausting, and I'm not really looking forward to doing it again this week. But alas, it must be done. God bless the inventor of the washing machine, and God bless the inventor of the electric fan. That is something they have in abundance here, for which I am very grateful. I've decided that I know what hell is going to be like. It has everything to do with humidity, heat, and stuffiness. Think of a porta-potty/greenhouse. Glass walls and ceiling. No air circulation. Ugh, that would be awful. On the subject of humidity, I had a precious little conversation with my companion, Sister Rosina on the subject. She asked me, "What is humidity?" I really didn't know what to say. How do you explain darkness to a blind person, or wetness to a deep-sea fish? I told her it's when the air is wet. A few days later she had the gall to tell me "It's not humid today." -serious face- We are in the Philippines, Sister Rosina. It is ALWAYS humid. She and everyone else I come in contact with seem particularly concerned at the fact that I sweat so much. IT'S BECAUSE I'M HOT, OKAY? My body isn't used to this.

The money that we use here in the Philippines is called pesos. One American dollar is worth about 44 pesos. When I first got here and I bought my umbrella for P450, I was like whaaaaaaaaaaaa? But then I remembered, "Oh yeah, that's like ten bucks. No problem. In fact, it's a deal!" The cost of living here is low. We get around by riding the tricycles, which are essentially motorcycles with really fancy sidecars that can hold several people. The Bishop in our ward has a tricycle. Last night, we fit 9 people in/on it, and we technically could have fit more, if they were babies or small children. Safety regulations here are none existent. Those things don't have seat belts! The drivers don't wear helmets! And a ride only costs 7 pesos a person, which if you do the math is like, 16 cents. It costs 16 cents to get across town. That's awesome.

The missionary emphasis in the Philippines is not new baptisms. You see, there are just under 650,000 members of the church in the Philippines, but only about 150,000 of them are actively going to church. Those aren't good odds. They (I don't know who they are) are calling it "The Rescue." All the active members of the church are encouraged to fellowship and "rescue" at least one inactive church member by the end of the year. Wards and branches are setting goals to increase priesthood ordinations and number of missionaries going out to serve. It's a lot harder for people to go to the temple here, since there isn't a temple on our island. Luckily, there is a temple in Cebu, only one island away. Our ward is having a temple trip next month. A big group of people will spent 4 or 5 days traveling by boat to Cebu, going to the temple, and coming back. I'm excited for that. Temples are beautiful places to be. Anyway, we as missionaries spend a lot of time visiting people and reminding them that God is their Loving Heavenly Father who cares about them, and wants them to be obedient and faithful. We share scriptures, and we bear testimony. It breaks my heart, really. Something that all these inactive people have in common is that they don't read the scriptures (especially the Book of Mormon) anymore. They aren't finding ways to remember Jesus Christ every day. As a missionary, I spend a lot of time reading the scriptures, and I can honestly say that that is my favorite part of the day. I love to learn about the gospel, and I love how I feel when I read the words of God. I just want everyone to be able to feel how I feel. But I can't do that if I don't speak the language.

Here in Negros Occidental (the state/province I live in) people speak Hiligaynon, otherwise known as Ilonggo. The people are Ilonggos, so they speak "Ilonggo." Get it? It's like saying that Americans speak American. Anyway, all I've been given is a simple language book, which is insufficient at explaining the language. I'm very lucky though, because pretty much everyone here speaks English. And Tagalog. And some speak Cebuano (the language of Cebu) as well. Like I said last week, language is more like guidelines than actual rules. Listening to Sister Rosina (and anyone else) talk is so weird. For the most part they speak Ilonggo, but every once in a while they throw in English words and phrases, and Tagalog words and phrases. It kills me. Can't you just keep to one language? That would be much easier for me to stick to. Plus I'll be way less tempted to speak English if you stop speaking English! I spend a lot of time in silence, mostly because I don't know how to speak Ilonggo, and I feel guilty about speaking English. So I just sit there and listen. My comprehension is decent. Even if I don't know the words, a lot of times I'll get the gist of what's being said by the body language and by the English they throw in. The Ward members are very helpful. They like to help me learn words. I'm so impressed with their ability to speak a million languages each, and I can barely speak one. And sign language. I can sign. And I know bits of French and Spanish. But I'm in no way as proficient as these people are in their second and third languages. It's amazing.

I have to tell you about the cat. As I mentioned last week, there are so many dogs and cats running around here. Most belong to people I think, but most of them are also mutts, because none of them are spayed or neutered. It's so easy to tell who the girl dogs are, because they almost all have motherly teats on them. Anyway, a few days ago I notice a white cat hanging out by the garbage can in our back yard. This poor kitty looks like it just recently lost its right ear in a fight. The ear area is all read and ear-less. I felt so bad for the poor thing. No, I didn't touch it or name it, but I didn't try too hard to chase it away from our garbage. It has since found sanctuary in that backyard. This morning I saw it reposing in the shade. First thought: Oh no. It's dead. I can't deal with a dead cat. But we're going to have to move it because it's going to rot and contaminate the house etc. So I walked toward it, and it looked up, thank goodness. I'm afraid it IS going to die from an infection from its ear injury. I just hope it finds its resting place somewhere else, because I don't know what to do with dead cats that are dirty and not mine. I'll keep you posted if anything happens.

We have a secret admirer at our house. Earlier this week we found a homemade Father's Day card in our mailbox, complete with stick figures and hearts. It's a bit odd, considering not a single one of the Sisters in our house is a father. A few days later... we got something else: an envelope with hearts with little slips of paper in them that said things like "I love you so much" "I can't breathe without you" and "I'm lost in your eyes" on them. It was hilarious. I hope this is the extent of our admirer's affections.

If anyone is curious, I'm losing weight. Yes, I'm eating, and no, I'm not starving myself. I just sweat half my body weight on a daily basis. I noticed that my shirts were fitting looser only after being in the Philippines for eight days. Now I have weird fantasies of becoming a swimsuit model when I return to America. Then I remember that I'm me, and that would never ever ever ever happen. But I do want to take better care of my body. It's funny. Sister Rosina and Sister Ombao (the other filipina in our house) have both gained weight on their mission. I guess it's sort of like how Americans gain weight when they serve stateside. I can't help but lose weight here. I'm not trying to, but it just happens because I sweat and walk around and don't snack and stuff.

Best quote of the week: Random guy I met on the street (might have been a Ward member) - "Hey Sister King! I'll teach you how to speak fluent Ilonggo: Eat more rice!" Using that logic, I'd say that there are a lot of people around the world who are fluent Ilonggo speakers. In China, and in Argentina, and in Japan, and in Brazil... I do my best NOT to eat too much rice here. I don't want to gain weight on my mission, thank you very much.

I should finish. I'm getting more adjusted. My cough is sort of getting better. The people here have good taste in music. I love going to the grocery store, because they're always playing the best of 80s rock. I love the people, and they all call me beautiful even when I'm a sweaty mess! "Kana" is a common word. Kana is short for "Amerikana" which is what I am.

Keep writing! I mean you! Yes you! The person who hasn't written to me in a while or ever. Yeah. You should write to me. It's easy. Write Sunday night, and I'll get it within a few hours!

Love always,
Sister Kelli King