29 August 2010

Hey Family,

Yes, I made it to Iloilo in one piece. After two days at the mission home and doing orientation we finally got assigned our trainers on Friday (?) I think. I was assigned to serve in Roxas, which is the second largest city on Panay (that's what the Island I'm on is called) , and my companion is Elder Tiamzon. (It kind of sounds like champion.) Out of my entire district, I was the only one assigned to a Filipino Elder. Elder Pettit and Elder Andrews actually live in the same house. But they are both in my zone. I think they live like 2 hours outside of the city. So I get to see them like once every transfer or so at zone meeting, which is next Wednesday. 9 days I think. But things have been going, well good and bad. Even though I know I've only been here a couple of days, it's hard like not to be frustrated with myself. I can't like speak any Ilonggo yet. My companion is teaching me a lot, but it's coming at me so fast I don't have time to memorize any of it, just to write it down. Like the structure is really similar to Tagalog, but like every single vocab word is different! It's tough, but I just keep thinking about how good it's going to be when I can actually speak it. Another hard thing is like there is 6 zones total- Iloilo, Guimaras, Iloilo North, Kalibo, Antique, and Roxas. They speak Ilonggo in 4 of them. In, I think, Kalibo and Antique, they speak 2 different languages. And my companion went to Kalibo, so he speaks Aklano too. So it's hard to listen and learn the language because sometimes he speaks Tagalog, or Hiligaynon, or Aklano. So I just hope and pray I can get this.

The first day I got to Roxas my companion and I taught three lessons. After a 4 hour bus ride from Iloilo to here, we arrived at the house at around 5. At 6 we went out and taught a couple lessons. First we went to this part member family and we were suppose to just give a spiritual thought. Elder Tiamzon had me do it and said I could just do it in Tagalog. So I did. I just decided to read Helaman 5:12 to him (the nonmember) and told him if he built that foundation in Christ he would be able to do all things through Christ. He really opened up and told us that he had a drinking problem, so afterwards I was like, whoa, that scripture was kind of perfect. But afterwards Elder Tsamzon told me that he was surprised how much he opened up. That made me happy and he even asked when he could start the missionary lessons. I was excited about that. We taught a lot of other lessons too though. Plus a cool thing is we try to visit this RM named Brother Toto who went to the southern Philippines. He's like a ward missionary. Like we visit his house and get him to call new investigators and talk to them so he's a really cool, helpful guy. He also is a native Ilonggo speaker so he helps a lot with my speaking skills. Because it is still really hard to pronounce things. The houses here are really cool too. Right in the middle of Roxas is a river. Brother Toto lives in this house that is ontop of the river. Like there is just a bunch of bamboo sticks holding it up. I felt the first time I walked on it I was just going to cause the house to topple over. But like when you go inside they have like a television inside of the house which surprises me. But it's sweet. There's also this one house I went to when I had to walk on a piece of plywood across the river to get in this house. Like inside the first room I saw like a first with a kettle on top of it but then you go into the next room and there is a giant television. It's so cool.

So to get around the city we usually ride either a jeepney (like a bus) 7 pesos or a tricycle (which is like a motorcycle with a little carriage thing on it) 10 pesos. So they are pretty fun. I don't really know how to tell where they are going or anything but it's cool.

I went in to teach this 1 seventeen year old girl with my companion and it was crazy in there. He said that that house is hard to teach in because its so rowdy. I don't know how to describe it. There was like a 4 year old girl in there cutting her 2 year old brother's hair with scissors. And this cool little boy came up to me and like measured himself against me because I'm like a head taller than everyone there. It's crazy. But then all her siblings left to eat and we started the lesson and the spirit was strong. She told us that she read the Book of Mormon and prayed and she knew that Joseph Smith was a prophet. That made me so happy even though I didn't know that's what she said till my companion told me after.

Yeah, it is hot here. I don't know how hot though. The place I am living is kind of big. But I just sleep on the floor in the living room because that is where it is coldest. At our house we eat a lot of soup for breakfast. Which I think is a little weird because it's so hot here and soup is hot. But we also eat a lot of rice, which is expected of course. It's not too bad. The favorite thing I had to far was Chicken Adobo. I don't know how to describe it. But we also eat a lot of fried fish, because Roxas is the fish capital or something. Usually for teaching Elder Tiamzon always has me say the opening prayer, which I do a mixture of Illongo and Tagalog. And then he always says, "and now my companion would like to share his testimony." Usually I have no idea what to share my testimony on because we haven't gone into a lesson yet with a lesson plan, which I think is weird. During nightly planning we discuss what we are going to teach each person and commitments and whatnot and he usually says, oh, for them, we'll just teach to needs. So I never know what we are talking about so usually for my testimony I just follow along in the scriptures all lesson and then bear my testimony on whichever scripture.

Another weird thing is I am the only American here pretty much. So people all over the place call out to me "Hey Joe!" I get that a lot. And then sometimes when we stop like I turn around and there is like 30 kids surrounding me asking me questions. All I can say to them is Ako si Elder Burton. Ano imo ngalong? And usually they laugh at me. They are such cute kids and I love them. I wish I could talk to them. I need to learn how to be funny in Illongo!!

But things are good. I don't know what else to say. It's fun, but it's hard. I know it will be a lot better once I can speak this language!
Palangga kamo ko.
Elder Joshua Burton

P.S. Here's some other experience I've had. Like there's a lot of things my companion says to me that I don't necessarily agree with and I just want your opinions. First off is he told me like the first day that we are teaching people, not lessons. I really like that but I don't necessarily agree with the way he does that. Like because he says we always have to teach to needs. And I agree with that. We need to teach to needs. But I think there is a difference between needs and WAnts. Because what they need to know is the gospel of Jesus Christ. They need to know how the gospel can bless them. But he just does it weird. Like he spent an hour talking to this person about why we have stake conference and he like named off like all the apostles and just spends so much time like talking about things that can be answered quickly. And while we do that I think of President Hollands promise that whatever you talk about can be related back to the gospel if you listen to them in Ch10 of PMG. But we just talk about that forever and we haven't had a lesson in under 45 minutes yet, which I think is way too long. But that's okay. I just want your opinions too.
Like another thing is we finished an 1 hr 15 minute lesson and it was 9:15 and I was like, "Hey, we better hurry up and get home!" And he said, "Elder, there is a difference between being 100% obedient and standing for what it right."
So then we went and taught another 1 hr lesson and got home at 10:30 and then planned so I didn't get to bed till like 11:15
That is definitely the most frustrating thing. Because in everything I've learned at the MTC and like my blessing when I was set apart I just told myself I was always going to be 100 % obedient. Because when I am, the Lord will bless me for doing so, right? So I don't know what to do. Because I have no idea how I'm going to learn this language or do the best I can as a missionary without those blessings from the Lord. I just don't know. It's so hard. But I guess it's moments like what I talked about above that make it worth it, so hopefully I can learn fast and try to do whats right, I just don't know what to do. Sorry for venting all my frustration out on you. It's just hard and I want to let it out.
I mean I've never done anything this hard before. All I know is that it will all be worth it. I want this too be a really good experience and I just want to do things right. You know/ I love you all so much and I did get some dear elders. I got a dear Elder grandma wrote me like when she got her mission call. So thats cool. I miss you too. I can get dear elders every week so keep sending them :D I love you!!