Don't hate me because I'm beautiful

August 20, 2012

Hello from Kabankalan again! Sister Molina and I came here to withdraw money again. It's truly amazing to me that the closest ATM to the southern part of the island is so far away. Thus is life.

So something unexpected happened this week. President Lopez decided that we were too beautiful for Inayauan, so Sister Molina and I were transferred to a new area. We are now assigned in Sipalay, (see-PAUL-eye), the neighboring area to Inayauan. So although we are  farther away from civilization (Bacolod) the city is actually more developed. Inayauan isn't even a city; it's an extension of Cauayan (Kauaian) which is the neighboring area to the north east. Sipalay is nice. If you look at Sipalay City on Google Maps, you'll see the LDS church near the big intersection east of the town. We live near there. If you can see the church, you can see my house. Wave hello!

Wow, I just realized that you can't even see Inayauan on the Google Map. Here's the coordinates: 9.899657,122.43443. The green lot you see in the picture is where the LDS chapel will be built in the near future.

Sipalay is beautiful. The main part of the city is right on the beach. The rice fields and coconut trees are also very beautiful.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. We didn't get transferred until Friday morning. Tuesday was Sister Molina's birthday! We celebrated by having a family home evening at the Branch President's house. We had a spiritual thought, played games, and we ate dinner. For dinner, the Branch President's wife made a delicious chicken dish. I took a scoop of the food, and I took a bite out of my piece of chicken. My chicken reminded me of the consistency and taste of fish eye ball. It was at that moment that I realized that I was eating chicken head. Of all the pieces of chicken I could have scooped, I got the head. BLEEECH. Fun fact: It's somewhat hard to detect chicken head, because the beak is cut off. Overall, I guess you could say that I've topped off my chicken eating experience. 

As are most of the branches and wards here, the area in Sipalay is very big. A least, it seems big to me because the transportation is so slow and (in my Filipino eyes. I've had to adjust my way of thinking about the worth of money) expensive. We're living on a budget! I'm proud of us. Sister Molina and I last 3 weeks without having to withdraw, and we still had left over money.

The branch in Sipalay is struggling with church attendance. That's why they brought us in. We're the Sister missionaries. We can do anything the Elders can do in 3/4 of the time. And we can do it while wearing a skirt. 

Before I forget, you all (or at least my Mom) need to add President Lopez as a friend on Facebook. His name is Marlo Lopez (his middle name is Oliver-something) and he posts pictures of the missionaries on Facebook. There's a great one from our ocean-side baptism 3 weeks ago (I hear). It's in black and white. President Lopez says that the missionaries should not add him as a friend. The relatives only. So go ahead and add him, and see if you can find me!

In Sipalay Sister Molina and I inherited a baptism! On Saturday, a young man of 16 entered the waters of baptism after a long struggle  of getting his Dad to give his consent. It was really fun and sweet. He cried, and the Spirit was really strong. I forgot my camera, so I'll send pictures next time. 

I am actually picking up this language. It's weird. I can actually understand a lot of what people are saying. Sometimes someone will use a big word, and I'll think "Oh no, I big word." But then I realize, "Hey wait... I know what that word means! Cool!" Sister Molina has been a very supportive companion to me. We'll do good in Sipalay, I know it!

Thanks for the love! Keep writing. Send pictures! Send packages! Send prayers most of all.

Pagpalangga ko pirme (My love always),

Sister Kelli King

P.S. Here's a joke we (Sister Molina and I) like to say to people.

Q. "Ano ang tawag sang cuto sang calbo?" "What do you call the lice of a bald man?"

A. Homeless! 

(Yes, the punchline is in English. If they don't understand, we explain, "Kay, wa'ay sila balay! They're homeless!" "Because they have no house! They're homeless!" 

Fun stuff.