Wet Season

Hey mom!

SO I am doing good here in the philippines, It is the wet season right now, so far the highest it has been has been up passed my heels. Ha my shoes were wet for the rest of the week, but don't worry, I bought rubber shoes for cheap, escpecially for rainy days. It does rain a lot here, and when it rain, it rain, because it's the philippines. haha I hope jess makes it in that choir, that sounds like it would be fun! And I hope the storage room comes a long ok, the dogs need that room, haha!

It's been good here, really hot, and I have a little bit of a stuffy nose, but I am okay. We just came from getting hair cuts, and that was an interesting experience, let me tell you. So my companion is telling me of this great place he gets his hair done, for 50 Pesos, which is like 1 dollar and 10 cents, so I am pretty stoked, cause I need a hair cut. Then we walk in, it was an ok salon, not terrible, but once I saw who was cutting our hair, I thought to myself, 'You have got to be kidding me'!!! It was a Bakla, or in english, a gay guy who dresses like a girl. and it was so wierd cause my companion was calling him, "her"! Ha I guess he didn't want to be a guy, but that was a wierd experience, having a gay guy cut my hair! Ha ha but it's ok, even though he told me I was "guwapo" (Handsom) and that he, or she, wants me to come back, ha I don't know if that will happen. Oh you can share this story to the whole family if you want, the old lady kissing story too, ha pretty much if I have funny slash cool stories, you should share them. ha.

So Last week, we went with sister Edanyo, who lost her birth certificate, we need it so she can get married, and she needs to get married so she can get baptized, as well as brother Manuel, her 'husband'. so we went to the city hall again, and instead of going to the regular office we go to, we went to a different, I don't know why we just did, and it was there!!! She was so happy and excited, and then when we went back the next day to teach and talk to them she seemed so excited and just happier than could be! I am happy for her, and for brother Manuel, their baptism date is for the 17 of september!

Ha also, we went to a mall today with the other elders we live with, elders Casimero, from hawaii, and elder orcales, who is a native here in the philippines, he has been out as long as me! ha so we went to the mall, and it was HUGE!!! I almost forgot I was in the philippines for a second cause it was bigger than any of the malls we have in UTah. It was a bout 6 or 8 stories high, HUGE! ha and it was weird cause when we walked in, there was christmas music playing in every store. and decorations being set up, like christmas trees and everything. Ha ha, I guess here in the philippines, they start christmas stuff in september and go until december, so basically, all the months that end in 'ber are christmas months. Spencer would like this, not so much stephen.

Yep so I am doing well, I don't know if the pictures I tried to sent worked or not, I tried to sent some last week, but i don't think it worked cause dad didn't get any, so I sorry if you didn't get any, I will try again, next week! Oh and thankyou for the address of Days market, I have been meaning to write them.

Ha the language is hard. I don't understand a lot, actually pretty much nothing, I can pick out words and sometimes get the meaning of what someone is trying to say, but I can't really understand at all, or talk, mostly I can only Pray and bare my testimony, still, but I have been practicing teaching lessons with my companion, and i have actually given a few lessons, only one to an investigator, but others to the bishop and his family, and other members we visit, so they can help me. They always say, "Magaling," which means, good, good job, but I know they are lying, ha because they look so confused, but it's ok, I will get it one day. The hardest thing is when me and my companion are trying to communicate and we don't understand each other, I try to ask or re phrase what he was asking in tagalog to see if i can understand it better, but then he doesn't understand my tagalog at all, and I get frustrated with that sometimes, but It is helping me grow and be better.

I love you mom, and Jess, I hope you both are very very happy!!! And I hope you share my stories with our family, Ha i think they are very funny!

I love you and pray for you always, I know this church is true, and that the work i do is the work of the lord, and he wants me to do it. Do his work whenever you get the chance, you never know how your simple short testimony will help someone's interest spark and change their lives.

Again I love you so so much,

Elder Benjamin Lamoreaux Larson