Tanay Area- Philippines: Week 15

What's good OGs

We grinded this week, BUT it was super hot just because it's not the rainy season. So there isn't a cloud in the sky

Word of the week: frick

I don't know who taught my Filipino companion this word, but he uses it like no tomorrow. It's pretty hilarious though because his voice is high.

ESPN Top 10 Highlights of the week:

10. Me and Elder Docilidad suffered a bit from the aftermath of the fiesta, he definitely got it worse than me. I don't know what we ate, but it wasn't right. Elder Docilidad took his pillow into the bathroom after like the 8th trip in the middle of the night it was pretty funny for me, but he was pretty sad.

9. I ate chicken feet for the first time… it was not it. Basically what you have to do is bite the outside of the toe off and leave the tendon, then chew on the outer skin and spit out the bone. Sorry for that description. It was pretty gross and not worth it at all since there's basically nothing To eat. So 0/0, I do not recommend. And the lady told me she'll cook blood soup next time, so pray for me please

8. We went to the plaza this pday after playing basketball and watched some schools compete in a dance competition. Dancing is actually like a crazy huge thing here in the Philippines. But it was really interesting to watch these people so seriously doing a synchronized dance to like some tik tok edit music. The Philippines isn't real sometimes like idk where I'm at.

7. I went on exchanges this week with Elder Orten, our American DL. So it was just 2 American guys walking the streets of Tanay which was pretty awesome. He's ¾ of the way done so he's got a Filipino accent which sounds pretty funny. He told me I need to sound more feminine when I speak because that's how the Filipinos do it. He's like dead serious, so I might have to lock in with my feminine side of my voice box so the Filipinos can understand me better.

6. Some girls ran up to me and asked for a selfie when we were just out working, which was insane. Like chill out guys I'm tryna be lowkey and I'm at work like c'mon. But I allowed it just this one time it's funny how people still react to seeing me. Especially in the mountain area, I'm probably the first American they've seen so they go crazy. They think I don't understand them, so they don't even try to hide what they're saying, which is funny for me to hear but like c'mon guys stop I'm locked in   

5. We’ve gotten to watch NBA highlights a ton the past week. Especially since we were just waiting on a member to finish cooking, we obviously offered to help first but she hard declined. We just watched some of the Lakers highlights  because Docilidad is a big Lakers fan. Dang, they look pretty crazy this year. I've only seen a few game highlights, but they were cooking. I miss watching sports Next time we get the chance I wanna see the Notre Dame and Ohio State highlights so don't spoil it for me. Also the COMMANDERS were even in the Superbowl conversation? I leave America and everything falls apart.

4. We had a FHE (family home evening) and went to this family's house and played games, taught a lesson and had dinner. And then we did some karaoke. Karaoke is literally like everyone's #1 hobby here. If you walk down a street you can just hear people belting their hearts out. I think the best ones are the groups of drunk old guys singing some love songs. Seems like a pretty good time to me but I sang “I will always love you” - Whitney Houston and I actually surprised myself. The sisters took a video, they still haven't sent me yet, but it was lowkey a masterpiece. Literally the family doesn't even sing anymore they just keep requesting me songs to sing because they think its hilarious 

3. On PDay we Played basketball with other Missionaries which was pretty fun. Just 3v3 half court but it got pretty intense. Especially when we put large McDonald's fries on the line. We ended up clutching up the win. The losing team DOUBLED DOWN so ofc we played again and pulled out the W. So we hit up the golden arches to celebrate our win 

2 We had a fiesta this week in Tanay. A fiesta is basically like Thanksgiving for the Philippines, some guy told me. So literally EVERYONE was cooking tons of food. The traffic was crazy and everyone was busy so we kind of just went around and tried everyone's food… I was so full by the end of the day, like I actually got obese. JK obvi not, but still I felt obese.

1. We had a baptism this week! 3 of our friends chose to be baptized, and it was another super cool experience. Hearing them bear their testimonies afterwards is amazing and hearing how they've grown closer to their Heavenly Father. I did have to baptize one girl 3 times in a row though because her foot kept coming up. You're usually just supposed to just bend your knees and lean backwards, but she just like fell idk. It was a bit of a struggle but we finally got it down It was cool to see their full progression from their first lesson all the way till now!

Espiritual Na Isip:

Alma 36:3

And now, O my son Helaman, behold, thou art in thy youth, and therefore, I beseech of thee that thou wilt hear my words and learn of me; for I do know that whosoever shall put their trust in God shall be supported in their trials, and their troubles, and their afflictions, and shall be lifted up at the last day.

I really like this scripture from Alma. Teaching his son Helaman that God is there for Him. It's such a basic principle, but it's so important and so true. 

God is always willing and ready to help us. His arm of mercy is extending unto us all. He listens to our prayers and answers them, and He knows us better than we know ourselves.

Jesus Christ knows what we're feeling because He felt it, because He took upon Himself all our sins, guilt, pain, and afflictions, He knows exactly what we need and when we need it.

Trust in the Lord. His plan is much better than your own, it's easier said than done, but when we get to know Him and strengthen our relationship with Him, we will trust in Him and learn to rely on Him. I've been having to learn to rely on Him, especially here on my mission.

But the promise is so amazing, We will be supported in our trials and afflictions. We all need that for sure and He's not far or hard to find so seek Him out!

—-

-Elder Tyson Smith

Tanay Area, Philippines: Week 14

 Magandang Umaga Po!!

Kinda a crazy week but it's been pretty fun and it's been moving a bit faster now.

Word of the week: chismis (gossip)

I feel like I can finally understand people now. I've been able to just talk to anyone I want and I can understand and hold a conversation, which has made things so much better. So grateful for the gift of tongues. It's coming in clutch right now. 

ESPN Top 10 Highlights of the Week:

10. Elder Bulilan transferred He moved to another area and actually became DL so good for that guy. Learned lots from him, he was a pretty fire trainer. I taught him some slang which he doesn't quite know how to properly use so it still needs work, but he was super fun and his english was great so we cooked and had fun. 

9. I dropped a bowl of PIPING hot oatmeal… It was really devastating. I think I probably had a slight first degree burn on my fingers. I couldn't even save it because I dropped it face down. I just went hungry because that was the last of the oats.  super sad. AND the bowl broke. It really ruined my morning.

8. I got served RAW chicken. We went to some shady thai restaurant and I just ordered some fried chicken and rice because it was expensive and I'm not the biggest Thai fan. But they brought the chicken out, I cut into it and it's legit purple pink in the middle. Like they just handed me a raw breast with breading on it. I basically lost my whole appetite. I didn't even have to say anything, the waiter just looked over my shoulder and then took the chicken and fried it again so I think I'm safe from salmonella.

7. I met my new comp! Elder Docilidad, he's a hard worker so hopefully we're gonna kill it this transfer. His english is pretty solid too so we're gonna be just fine. Only con is that my google photos album might be drier than the sahara desert because Elder Bulilan was my photographer, so RIP to my photos. JK I'll still try to take some but say goodbye to the fire candids Docilidad is pretty cool, he's crazy at basketball so we're definitely gonna be playing a lot more which I'm hype for.

6. We had a zone conference which meant for like 8 hours we were in a chapel listening to council from our President. It might've been the only time I've been cold here in the Philippines, the AC was PUMPING. I brought a long sleeve and I was still cold. But the advice was pretty fire, he dropped some spiritual bombs and we got to eat nutella and bread for breakfast and adobo pork and squash for lunch. So pretty worth it if you ask me. This coming week we have a foreigner conference, so just all the americans and islanders and everyone not filipino is gonna pull up so it should be hype.

5. We requested bikes for our area because wow the travel money is way too expensive. So hopefully I'll be able to afford food again in the upcoming weeks once the bikes come in. IF they get approved. If they don't I'll probably just become malnourished because I have to spend all my money on transportation... jk we'll make it all work out. I guess I'm really gonna learn how to budget on my mission. Apparently the whole Philippines is reviewing if bikes are even safe here… so we won't hold our breath for bikes.

4. On Elder Bulilans last day here we played basketball in the morning It's only our second time ever playing after saying we'd play like every other day... so my jumpshot is kinda broken but it went in every once and a while. A member passed by and saw us so we chatted with him for a bit and he told us to try some sort of sticky rice with coconut which was pretty fire. We kinda just spent the day visiting people that he wanted to say bye to, we bought a big chicken, and that was it. Elder Bulilan is awesome and I'm gonna miss that dude.

3. We had a member meal that was pretty hilarious. They made us bikol express which is some kinda pink pork cooked in coconut milk. It was actually pretty delish. Also the family was pretty funny. They were just talking about how they were happily married for 2 years then it went downhill. I think they were joking. It was a good meal.

2. We got to go to the Mission Presidents house for lunch because our whole zone achieved the baptismal goal YAY! So we got to eat some fire food, it was adobo pork and lumpia so finally nothing too nasty. It was fun, but it took up our whole day. The Mission President's house is nice, I looked in his freezer and there were like 5 tubs of ice cream!!! I'm pretty sure it's not all for him, but dang.

1.My comp got kissed!!!! Don't worry guys he didn't get sent home. Basically some crazy drug addict guy just ran up to him while we were shopping, and kissed him on the cheek and then ran away giggling. It was actually hilarious. I think if I was him I'd be so mad, but he was just so shocked he didn't even do anything. Maybe when you've been in the mission so long you just take what you can get, just kidding but it was pretty funny.

Spiritual na isip:

I was reading in Helaman chapter 1 this week in the Book of Mormon and a lot of chaos, a lot of wickedness all began because of a disagreement. It led to an attempted revolution, and to murders. This all could have been avoided if the people Had remained level headed.

When we are angry we tend to act rashly or without much thought which leads to regret and bad decisions.

This reminded me of a talk by Prophet Gordan B Hinkley titled “Slow to Anger”

“Now, my dear brethren, in closing I plead with you to control your tempers, to put a smile upon your faces, which will erase anger; speak out with words of love and peace, appreciation, and respect. If you will do this, your lives will be without regret. Your marriages and family relationships will be preserved. You will be much happier. You will do greater good. You will feel a sense of peace that will be wonderful.”

The prophetic promises of simply being slow to anger that Prophet Hinkley shares here are really amazing. By simply controlling our anger, our lives will be blessed in so many ways. I loved this talk by Prophet Gordan B Hinkley and I'm grateful for scriptures which give us a guide on what we should do each and every day to maximize our happiness.

So this week do your best to be slow to anger and to exemplify the attributes of The Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ, in all your interactions with others.

______________________

Appreciate you OGs

Elder Tyson Smith

Tanay Area- Philippines: Week 12

 HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Dang it's 2025, that's crazy! And this whole next year I won't touch my feet on American soil 

New Year, New Me!!! JK I haven't even made goals for this year yet... so I've already procrastinated in 2025 I'm cooked

Word of the week: basta (Whatever)

Might be my new favorite word

ESPN Top 10 Highlights of the Week:

10. I think there were probably about 2 or 3 times this week I had to shower with one eye on a cockroach at all times. Yesterday there was one on the wall and I was locked onto it ready to sprint out if it even flinched.

9. We've been trying to save money any way that we can so we went to the palengke Friday morning because apparently it's cheaper. Firstly, we had to wake up early to go to get the “freshest” meat. And when we got there holy it STINKS! There's legit rats running across the floor over people's feet and mystery sticky juices on the floor, the food cannot be safe like there's no way. The FDA would shut this place down in a heartbeat. Nevertheless, we purchased some grey chicken breasts for a little cheaper than the mall. So if in the next email I say I have tapeworms, well this is why.

8. Our smoke alarm has gone off in the middle of the night like 4 times this past week. It legit makes me mad, it's already hot and hard to go to sleep and then the fire alarm goes off at like 3 AM...bruh. I would just throw it out the window but it's kind of a necessity so we don't burn alive unexpectedly in the middle of the night. So far we haven't burned the house down though, our alarm just thinks we are.

7. We grilled in our house. Let me make it clear  I said it was a bad idea but Elder Bulilan insisted. It kind of worked with no smoke by having the fan just blow it all out our window but the ash got EVERYWHERE. And our room still ended up smelling like smoke and chicken afterwards. But the chicken was pretty good so I'd say it was worth the experiment.

6. We have transfer calls this week, but I don't think I'll be moving. If anyone does it will be Elder Bulilan, my comp that I've been with this whole time here in the Philippines. He requested to stay because we work well together. He's pretty cool and we get along so it works out.

5. Our mission president did his regular check in interviews this week. He's kind of the GOAT, he was super nice and they went really well so that's good. The Mission President and I are just tight like that I guess. He will be switched out halfway through this year and replaced by a mission president from Utah!

4. We extended 3 Baptismal dates this week and they all accepted Should be for January 26. So hopefully they can stay locked in and still be good for that date. We're seeing lots of progression in our area through different referrals and findings. This month we're HOPING for 5 so we'll keep praying for them and inviting them to church.

3. I sang some fire karaoke again! Why am I becoming a singer out here in the peens?? Idek but the families love it. I sang “Aint got you”- Alicia Keys and “When I was your man” - Bruno Mars. It was pretty sensational if I do say so myself. The sister missionaries joined us for the visit and they just whispered into the mic so I think we won the families hearts over with song, which is clutch because the ward usually loves the sisters and we need dinner appointments too.

2. Because of New Years, everyone invited us over to try their best meals! We legitimately had 6 meals that day, just going from house to house trying everyone's cooking. We ate lots of spaghetti (banana ketchup Style obvi), surprisingly famous on new years was pig guts and potatoes (not a huge fan). Nothing too great but also nothing too nasty, thankfully. I was really full after and we did find the best cook out of all our friends, so we'll have to return to her as much as possible.

1.We celebrated new years this week and it was CRAZY. New years here is bigger than Christmas so they went all out. Like legit the atm lines were full because everyone was cashing out. People prepared so much food and 12:00 on new years… It was a warzone. I thought China just invaded the Philippines. There were tons of fireworks, and everyone was just making as much noise as possible. Everyone removed the mufflers off their motorcycles and were just revving the engines. Safe to say I got little to no sleep that night but it was pretty impressive. Yeah the Philippines doesn't have flushable toilets, but they have infinite fireworks!  just the Necessities. 

Spiritual na isip:

2 Nephi 9

51. Wherefore, do not spend money for that which is of no worth, nor your labor for that which cannot satisfy. Hearken diligently unto me, and remember the words which I have spoken; and come unto the Holy One of Israel, and feast upon that which perisheth not, neither can be corrupted, and let your soul delight in fatness.

I really like this verse and how it puts into perspective our Earthy desires and our temporal wants. Yes while they can bring us temporary joy here on Earth, the greatest happiness we can find is in the gospel, which transcends this Earthy plane to our life after this one. 

The words of God are everlasting and His grace is for all. He only asks for your love and devotional and a little of your time. 

So this new year I invite you to prioritize the things which perisheth not and cannot be corrupted. Prioritize your scripture reading, prayer, and sabbath day worship, and as you do, you will be granting yourself joy in this life and the one to come. 

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Appreciate You guys,

Elder Tyson Smith