Week 8

Hey everyone, 


I'm out in the field now. It's been really cool. So my first area is Bautista and the people are great. It's hot, but not very bad actually, I enjoy it so far (probably because its not the hot season yet). My trainer Elder Hilis and I live on the floor of an apartment which is actually outside our zone, but the old one was too messed up according to President Espinosa. Sorry this is a short email. It's great out here though. I'm excited to work even though I can't speak Tagalog yet. At least I'm in a Tagalog area and not an Illocano one.

It's been good,

me

first picture is my kasama elder Hilis

second picture is me and Elder Terry from HB

third picture is what the Urdaneta Temple is going to look like

First Week in the Philippines

Kamusta mga tao,

Well, I'm here in the Philippines now and the MTC here has been pretty great. We left San Francisco at 11pm on Monday and got to the Philippines at 6am on Wednesday. Someone should let me know what happened Tuesday because I kind of skipped it. Anyway, the second we got off the plane we immediately felt the humidity, and we were indoors in the airport. I for sure missed the warmth though. We took a bus to the Manila MTC and the traffic is super crazy here. Manila is a really cool city, and you can see the skyscrapers from our dorm.

Right when we got to the Manila MTC we had breakfast (which was delicious, but also weird because it didn't feel like 9am. Right after breakfast we were just in time to watch the Tuesday night devotional in Provo where we got to here from Elder Gary E. Stevenson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. He spoke to us about us being called by revelation and I really believe it. The rest of the day was long, but I learned a lot and then took an accidental and not allowed 3 hour nap before exercise time, but it worked out because I passed out at 8:50pm and slept until 6am which is when we get up (I guess that's what not sleeping more than 4 hours in a 3 day period will do for you). 

Thursday we had a surprise visit/devotional/concert from David Archuleta, so it was pretty cool to see him again, and I took some notes about how I can be a better missionary. 

We've gone to the temple visitors center at least 3 times now to talk to people and teach mini-lessons and I do not know very much Tagalog turns out. On the bright side, everyone here understands English super well, and Taglish is a real thing here.

The food here is great, and we already have had rice with every meal since we've been here. I might get fat out here, but it'll be worth it because the food is amazing. 

Next time I email I think I'll be out in the field. The Philippines is already great I love it here and the people are all so nice.

Until we meet again,

-me

the first picture is the snow we woke up to our second to last day in Provo, that I only saw after I thought about how I was going to make fun of all the people who told me it was going to snow because it hadn't snowed and I was leaving. #ironic

the second picture is the view of the temple with Manila in the background

the third picture is us at the Manila Temple after we reserved our session for this afternoon (our new district)

Week 6

Hey everyone,

So I'm out of the Provo MTC on Monday, and I'll get to the Manila MTC on Wednesday morning. We get to completely skip Tuesday so that's fun stuff.

Lets see, this week was a good one. Tuesday night I sang in the MTC choir at the devotional and it was a really cool experience for a couple reasons. First, it was awesome singing in a choir with 845 other missionaries. Second, the song was "Precious Savior, Dear Redeemer" arranged by Brett Stewart who was my old choir director. It just brought back a lot of good memories singing in OCMCO, and I even have that exact song on my mission music playlist. That night, the devotional was about Faith and finding the balance between relying on yourself and relying on the Lord.

We also had the chance to teach a 30 minute lesson over Skype in Tagalog. We taught a person in Ohio, which was a little unexpected, but still a good lesson. Tonight, we teach another one, and hopefully this person is actually in the Philippines.

Well, I have to start my packing today. The next email is gonna be from the Philippines!

Still me,

Elder Collier

The first picture is the MTC's resident Four Square Champion Squad (and Elder Lucas who usually plays basketball)

The second picture is Elder Lucas and I with our favorite new Elders in the zone who are also going Tagalog speaking 

Week 5

Ten days!

Hey everyone, I guess this means it's been another week even though it really doesn't feel that long. This week has been a pretty good one.

Last Saturday (because we have Saturday nights off from class) we played kickball as a district and then we went up to the terrace on T3 (not that any of you really know where that is) and did face masks and played signs. It was some of the most fun I've had since I've been here. 

Also, this week we had a devotional from Matthew L. Carpenter who spoke at conference a few weeks ago. He spoke to us about companionship and it was really good. 

This week my kasama and I taught some really good lessons in Tagalog and I feel like I can do pretty okay for having only been doing it for 5 weeks. Tonight we have a lesson on Skype so we can teach an actual person in the Philippines. I'm way excited about it.

Sorry this is a short email, but we have a lot to do today! 

Ingat!

-Elder Collier 

The first picture the one Sister Marchese is in. She was nice enough to give us all the face masks she was sent.

The second picture is a fun Filipino nursery rhyme that we learned in class. Its fun.

The third picture is our district minus Sister Marchese who took said picture