Elder Dodd - Olongapo Philippines Mission: Email #8 - Arrived in the Manila MTC

[Introduction]

Hello everyone! So much happened this week and I'm super excited to share.

[Friday, November 29, 2019 - Day 45]

Happy Thanksgiving back at home!!

First P-Day in the Philippines! So this morning, Elder Watt and Elder Reynolds made a reservation for us for the temple (which by the way was so amazing). We watched a recording of the Provo MTC Thanksgiving Devotional, a talk was given by Elder Neil L. Andersen from the Quorum of the Twelve and it was really sweet and funny. Afterwards, I got to talk to my family and honestly I really needed it. Then we traveled to the Manilla Temple across the street, something that is really neat is to get to the temple from the Manilla MTC, you travel through an underground tunnel to cross the street. Found out that Sister Ross took pictures of me while I was sleeping on the plane, I'm kind of glad that she took those haha. Met President and Sister Clark at dinner.

A funny story, so Elder Karr (one of the Elder's in my district that is also referred to as Elder Kotse [koste = car in Tagalog]) was talking to us earlier this morning on how he was done getting leadership positions and all that. Later when we were at exercise time, President Clark was walking around grabbing Elder's to talk to them about possible assignments and turns out that Elder Karr became the new District Leader. Thought is was pretty funny, I swear they heard him this morning. Almost forgot to mention this, so after our temple visit; we took a trip to the shops next to the MTC. There was a market store, a bakery, a Starbucks, and a few more little shops. We first stopped at the market to look around, bought a loaf of Sourdough Rye Bread (really good by the way, gives you the hiccups a lot though) and a few other snacks like this interesting flavor of Doritos. Nacho Cheesier? Honestly tasted just like normal Doritos but from an orange bag. After the market, we stopped by the bakery, named The Purple Oven, and oh.. my.. gosh.. The smell of fresh dough and bread killed me. So good. Had to buy a Sausage Bun. We also stopped in at Starbucks to look at it and it was pretty nice. Elder Seipert bought a cake, looked and smelled really good. Overall, had a great day and can't wait to get out into the field.

[Saturday, November 30, 2019 - Day 46]

My left ear decided to plug itself and it was so annoying, it finally popped after multiple attempts to unpop it. They gave us 72 hour kits for the upcoming typhoons, still unsure what is going on with that. It was raining heavily on and off but supposedly it has flooding and destroyed some areas of Olongapo. Our teacher had us go to the temple and talk to random strangers in my broken Tagalog, honestly it went better than I thought. For exercise time, went out into the parking lot and played a little bit of soccer but also the best game of Volleyball I have ever played. It was so much fun. I still can't believe I'm in the Philippines.

[Sunday, December 1, 2019 - Day 47]

Finally December! I got to open one of my Christmas gifts and was so happy to get a picture of my family. For sacrament meeting, today was fast Sunday in the MTC. It was a very active testimony meeting and it was awesome to hear everyone's testimony. Today was actually super busy, like all we had were meetings. We did have some sacred time at the temple though, I laid down in the grass and took a nap, it was actually really peaceful. My camera battery might die cause I don't have a converter but hopefully when the MTC store opens on Tuesday, I could pick one up. Being out here has made me realize a lot of things and it makes me want to be a better person. Every person should feel loved and valued and I want to bring that to the people I teach. We had a little meeting learning about the culture of the Philippines, like taking your shoes off before entering people's homes and to watch out for street food. We also had an Evening Devotional which was pretty much a 90 minute roasting session. President and Sister Clark were pointing out the little things missionaries do but shouldn't be doing. It was a good speech though: "Knowing who you are, changes what you do" - Sister Clark. We had a little snack after and honestly couldn't describe it, it was pretty good though. It had cheese, meat, onions, vegetables, all wrapped up in a deep fried coating. Almost like a Filipino Hot Pocket.

[Monday, December 2, 2019 - Day 48]

Last day of class! I am actually really sad to have to say a final farewell to my fantastic Elder's and Sisters of my district. We said goodbye to our teacher's and I feel really bad that we didn't get back with them to take a picture. Brother Basco (one of our teachers) said this to us that I thought was inspirational. "What is 18 months to two years? When your impact is eternal." - Brother Basco. Not a lot really happened today other than that.

[Tuesday, December 3, 2019 - Day 49]

Today was super stressful, I don't even know where to begin. It's last day at the Manilla MTC and then it's out into the field. I went to the MTC and bought a converter for 600 pesos (about $12 USD). Now I can finally charge my camera. Unfortunately couldn't get a haircut but might get one out in the field. Today was a true test of my patience, we spent around 5 hours at the immigration office. It was difficult because I didn't really understand what was going on. We got there and our guide was there to help us do what we need too, he brought us upstairs and kind of just left us. Found a few seats for me and Elder Seipert and took a nap. Our guide finally came back and we got going. It was pretty funny, so when they were taking my picture, I had to bend my legs a little so my face would be in the view of the camera. I was so relieved when we left that place. It was raining and the driver was kind enough to offer us if we wanted to stop at a fast food place but I kindly declined because we needed to get back to the MTC as soon as possible. Once we got back, it was full force from there. President Clark rushed us to eat lunch so that we could get to the travel meeting. Keep in mind that I still needed to pack and do laundry and stuff and they gave us a deadline of 6:00 PM to get this done, yet we got meetings!

Lucky we got our stuff done before the Departure Devotional (they changed the time on us unexpectedly). It was really strange cause members of the MTC presidency came into our hallway and told us that we needed to get the activity center (gym) to sing in the choir. I was like WHAT!? I didn't sign up for that? Me and Elder Seipert were literally out the door to drop off our bags at the front but I guess not. It actually made me pretty upset. Went to the Departure Devotional and it was pretty good. Afterwards took a trip to the cafeteria for a snack. They gave us chocolate muffins and lemonade. It was way more difficult to say goodbye to the Elder's and Sister's that I won't see for a while. I wished them the best and how much I'm going to miss them. I hope everyone is doing great by the way! Also almost forgot, we had Filipino pizza and spaghetti for dinner, top notch stuff.

[Wednesday, December 4, 2019 - Day 50]

Travel day part 2 and also day 50! It has been a very long day. We left the MTC at 6:15 AM in vans and got to a bus station. Unloaded our stuff and got onto a bus to go to Olongapo. Got to Olongapo at around 9:30 AM and met our Mission President for the first time. Took a car ride to the church (which doesn't look like any church I have seen.) Like to make the joke that it looks "off brand" haha. It was really neat though, got inside and was greeted with people singing going up the stairs. For the next four hours or so, we got welcomed to Olongapo and went through everything we need to know. Had a place called Chow King for lunch and it was not bad. Their Butter Rice is where it's at though. Met my new companion, Elder Bybee, and found out that I am the tallest missionary on record for the Olongapo Mission. So that's awesome. They gave us some new stuff like medical supplies and packed up our stuff again to drive another two hours or so to my first area. Cabcaben, Orion. It's been pretty awesome so far (in a good way), we got beds on the floor, bucket showers, a hose to wipe yourself with, and ants. I get my own personal fan though.

Once I dropped off my bags or so and was shown around the property. My companion took me to my first family. It has been pretty eventful.

[Thursday, December 5, 2019 - Dau 51]

First full day in the field! Woke up and took my first bucket shower. It wasn't that cold, I mean it was cold but tolerable. Learned more about my companion, Elder Bybee is from Soda Springs, Idaho. He also owns several cows and shared with me some homemade beef jerky. Went to the bakery across the street for breakfast and got a sugar and cheese doughnut. Wasn't bad. Panned and waited for a bus to come to take a ride down to Marivelas. A beautiful town to withdraw 7800 pesos (roughly around $150 USD). Hung out in the area for a bit, met some other Elder's and ate at this burger place called Angels. Sounds awesome but unfortunately, it wasn't a hamburger. But is was a decent attempt. Took and Jeepney home and took another bus down to Storage (yes, that is the name of the town). Taught some really good people. Stopped by the ocean for a minute and went home and crashed.

[Friday, December 6, 2019 - Day 52]

Surprising I'm not sore. Visited the local grocery store, Pure Gold. It was neat to see how grocery store's work outside the US. We walked in and one of the employees told me to give him my water bottle since I can't carry it around the store. They place a number label and give me the number to come back and pick it up. It was kind of strange but understandable. Took a bus to a place called Housing. These names haha. Stopped and took a picture of an ironic sign that said "Bawal Magtapon ng Basura" or in other words. Prohibited to throw trash. Met a fellow american that is living here. Had dinner at a member's house. Fish and rice.

[Saturday, December 7, 2019 - Day 53]

Unfortunately I have ran out of time and cannot write this section, I will get to it next time.

[Sunday, December 8, 2019 - Day 54]

Unfortunately I have ran out of time and cannot write this section, I will get to it next time.

[Closing]

Thank you for reading my emails. I love you all and hope everyone is doing well. Please take care.

- Sincerely, Elder Dodd

** If you don't know, you can click on the picture to blow it up bigger to see.. :)

The Manila Temple in the Philippines..

Me and Elder Seipert in Manila.. My living room/kitchen in my apartment.

My bed is the one with the different color blanket.. Yes, we sleep on the floor.. My desk area

They say we are lucky to have such a nice apartment because it has 2 bathrooms, Lol.. but one of them caught fire before we moved in and they haven't fixed it yet. The other bathroom has the shower with the bucket.
Bucket showers with cold water... Definitely something to get used too