Piddig Week 27

Good afternoon Francis Family,

Elder Francis is buhay pa and loving the new area here in Piddig.  We are really close to Laoag, which is really exciting and yes I do have a Filipino companion now.  He is great, he is pretty good in English but he speaks a lot of Tagalog to me.  I can understand a little bit, but we also have two other Filipinos, Elder Liska and Elder Rigonan which is crazy.   Elder Liska is so makulit and very loud and really funny,  he is the elder that did the banana dance and we have a lot of fun, but it's really hard to be with three Filipinos and not know what they are saying to me half of the time.  But I am really trying my best, and praying hard for help, patience, love, and understanding of the language. 

The language is still really hard, I feel like it's getting a little bit better, but I am still struggling a lot with it.  But I have learned some Ilokano phrases which is exciting. Our apartment is really nice and we use a bucket for our shower but that's not bad at all, I am used to it.  I love where we live - there is a huge church up the hill from us and exactly what you said, Piddig is very beautiful and there are a lot of bukids and it's very green.  I love it.  

Today we took a hike up the bundoks or mountain with two recent converts, Bro. Warren the little kid, and Bro. Nick the older brother. The hike was so much fun, I felt like we were "On Top Of The World" hahaha.  We took a lot of pictures and we had a blast, it was really really hot, I was dying. But we had a great time, but coming down the mountain was hard we got lost a lot, but we finally made it down. 

For e-mailing and shopping on P-Days, it can switch.  We either stay here in Piddig or got to Laoag, but what ever we do it will be fun.  I have met a lot of very nice people here and I love them for being so nice to me, and it's a really nice area. Elder Aribbay is very cool and very funny and friendly and super mabait, Taga siya Isabela Philippines (He is from Isabela Philippines). I love being with him he really is great, we have so much fun and love to laugh a lot, and with the other two elders it's great.  I will just have to be patient with the language and them speaking Tagalog all the time. 

It sounds like you guys had a great week, and had a lot of fun in Mesquite, and Emily had a good time. How is the Family doing?  I love hearing from you guys and seeing all the fun things you do. It sounds like dad has been traveling a lot, which has got to be stressful but fun. I really miss you guys a ton and the family, but I am doing great and having fun and loving the Philippines. 

Mahal Kita or Ay-Ayaten ka 

Elder Francis