Fw: Boy, that is one (actually 18) wet band

 

 

Herro.  :D

Nice to hear the band did well, even if the judges didn't agree (judges do that sometimes... :P ).  Good luck sa inyong lahat!! KAYA N'YO 'YAN!!!  :D

Also nice to know that Mr. J still remembers me even though I'm way out here in the middle of nowhere.  ;)  Ah, yess..  I remember one time I completely screwed up reading the drill sheet, and thought that I didn't move for a page (eight counts, I think), and so I didn't.  Then Mr. Mettler came over and was like, "What?  Are you sure about that?"  "..Yes.."  Then we looked at the drill sheet again, and I was like, "...Oh.  Huh."  ;P  I think that was during the Machines.

So, so far, Cavite is beautiful.  Wow.  Again, there's still parts that remind me of the city where I just came from, mostly on the main road that goes through the center of the area, but as you get farther out (sometimes not very far out), you see the beauty of the province.  Wow..  Especially for someone like me who's been stuck in a world of cement and noise and pollution for seven months, the sight of green grass and open fields and the smell of fresh air and cool breezes is a very, very welcome one.  You have no idea.

There are some things that are different about working in the province that I'll have to get used to, though.  First of all, getting punted from appointments sucks, because people here live kinda far apart, so if an appointment falls through, that's a long walk and a jeepney ride over to the next appointment... Second of all, there are a lot of subdivisions in this area, basically fairly rich neighborhoods with a guard posted at the front.  Tracting is not allowed in those areas, and we're only allowed to enter if we have a specific appointment inside, like with a referral.  Like.. In some places, they take your ID before you enter, and then give it back to you before you leave.  Security's pretty tight in some areas.  So the only real place we're allowed to tract is a place called "Soldiers' Hill".  Makes finding a bit harder.  And third, it's a bit odd, especially for a city boy like me, to be talking to someone, and then having a bunch of goats or something pass behind you, like, "Baaaa..."  O.o "Huh..?"  One of our investigators lives WAAAAAY out in the middle of nowhere, in this big, remote, farm area (large fields, crops growing, weird trees that I've never seen before..).  Makes them a bit more grateful for our visits, and they pay attention well, with the idea that, "Hey, they came all the way out here to the middle of nowhere, so their message must be important..."

One of our investigator families, the Doma family, is an interesting one..  One of them is already a member, who was baptized a few months ago, and all of them have a testimony of Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon, but the rest of them all have different concerns.  Well, actually, Danica, the youngest, doesn't really have too many.  I asked her at one point, "So what do you remember about the Plan of Salvation?  Where do we go after this life?"  She then recited almost exactly the second half of Lesson Two off the top of her head.  o.o  "...Right, then... Why don't you teach us, then...?"  Sister Dana has some weird issue with her boyfriend's mom that she needs to work out, Tatay Doma has troubles with WoW (Word of Wisdom, not World of Warcraft... :P ), and Nanay isn't quite ready to turn her back on the Catholic church.  It'll take some work, but they do have a testimony, so hopefully we'll be able to resolve their concerns.

My new companion, Elder Feinga, is pretty cool.  He's a bit quiet, but that may just be because I just met him last Wednesday.  He's still struggling a bit with Tagalog, but he's only been out a month and a half, so that's understandable.  I'm hoping to really be able to help him this transfer.

I was a bit disappointed again when I looked through the area book.  I love it when people don't update their area books.  It makes missionary work so much easier (activate your sarcasm detectors now if they're not already on...).  :P  What's more amazing is that Elder Feinga's trainer and old companion, Elder Ngaluafe, who went home at the end of last transfer, used to be an AP (Assistant to the President).  I asked Elder Feinga, "Did you guys update the area book much last transfer?"  And he was like, "No, not really."  "...Dating AP nga iyon..."  :P

In other news, Elder Smith, one of the others in our zone, showed me the music today to "All of Me", by John Schmidt.  I think it's one of the ones in that book you guys got.  It's an amazing piece.  ...And it's harder than "Waterfall".  Much harder.  It goes about 176 to 208 bpm (which is about as fast as most standard metronomes go), and the rhythms are scary.  Very scary, in some places.  There's one spot where the music says, "Use the right fingering or die."  XD My favorite part is near the end, where it says, "Use your forearm."  How many other pieces let you smash the piano with your forearm??  :D :D :D  And it sounds SO COOL!!  Look it up on YouTube (just listening to it doesn't give it enough credit, I think.  You gotta watch him play it).  I borrowed the music from Elder Smith, and I went and photocopied it, so that's my new project for the next couple (maybe more than a couple) months.  In other news, I'd still like to request John Schmidt for Christmas.  :D :D :D  Preferably an album that has "All of Me" on it so I can listen to him play it (I haven't actually gotten to hear it yet...).

Also, these are the songs that somehow didn't make it onto that last CD you guys sent:

"To Tame the Perilous Skies"

"Sonata" for Trumpet and Piano, by Flor Peeters (all three movements)

"Niagara Falls"

"Symphony in E Flat for Military Band" (or something like that... All three movements).

"River Flows in You", by Yiruma

"Dream" (the full-band version)

"Taniec"

"Missing"

"Reunion"

"Memories"

Make sure to test the CD before you send it, please...

Thaaaaank yooooouuu.  :D

I also plan on sending some souvenirs home for you guys (I, of course, have to buy them first... :D ), as well as some random biskuits, which are little cookie snack thingies that they sell everywhere at sari-sari stores.  :D

Also, say Happy Birthday to Josh for me.  :D  MALIGAYANG BATI!!!

Say "Hi" to Claire and Michael for me when they get home.  :D

Anyway, that's about it for now.  There's more I wanted to say, but I'm out of time now...  So, until next week, ingat!! :D

Love,
Elder David Jones

P.S.  Actually, I'm staying in the city of Molino right now, which is about an hour or so away from Cavite City.  Cavite is kind of a big province.. The church here is in a barangay called Pag-Asa, and we're staying in an apartment in a subdivision called "Macaria Homes".  In case you were wondering...