Monday, May 30, 2011

Healthy Again

I am healthy again. i got some drugs to flush out amoebas and after i took it i got energy and my poo normalized again the next day. so either it was an amoeba or just got healthy again the following day

sister puzey gave [the medication] to me after i complained some more. i asked her if it could be possible if i had an amoeba and she said she don't think so.. i responded (respectfully) you do not think i do but youre not positive if i dont. She then said she was going to give me medicine. and now i am okay!

[while sick and confined to home] i learned a lot of cool verses to teach with from the bible about apostasy and other principles with the bible... i rarely use the bible in teaching so i just do not have my scriptures marked up like my BOM is... so yeah i gained knowledge there.. my sickness made great conversation with people... “what do you think i have?”... anyways i do not know exactly what i learned [from this experience] but i really hate just being in my house not being able to work!

the meetinghouse [in Anao] is actually a house turned into a chapel. [The meetinghouse being built] just got the steeple and its coming together. it will be finished maybe in august. Yes i have gone to the site i have walked around it and looked at all the blueprints. They just asked locals who have experience that live near the site to work [on building it]. Members and non members [work together and we] help share the gospel with them.

[regarding recent tornado activity in California] what is going on over there!!!!! that is not normal! and actually our weather is not normal as well. its more relaxed than normal around here. But we have been having rain a lot at night! OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH I SAW LIGHTENING STRIKE THE GROUND!!!!!! i did not see the bolt but i saw the splash of electricity. i was watching this crazy storm that appeared in minutes through a crack in the wall from inside a house. and BOOOM it was about 10 yards or less from the house. then lightening struck a few more times close to the area!! it was awesome!!!!!! i saw this BIG OLE BAD BOY STRIKE but i was behind trees a good ways away so didnt get to see it actually hit [the ground] but it was awesome!!

nothing really new to talk about but i am loving this area so i am happy!

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Doing Better

okay i am doing better but i am not fully okay. i am able to get out and do work but i get fatigued really quick. so yeah i do not have any idea what it is... yesterday i literally hurt all over my body and drank so much water then sweated a whole lot. i do not know if i have a fever because i took Tylenol so that would have reduced my fever if i had one. Sister Puzey has given me all the advice she has for me.. tomorrow maybe i will get permission to go to get a check up and find out. oh and no other missionaries are sick like me."

My comp is great. he is new and just happy all the time.. we are out teaching people so yeah work is going slowly but it is still going.

Saturday, May 14, 2011

The Mother's Day Call

Elder Grow was able to make his "Mother's Day" phone call on May 13th (May 14th in the Philippines). Here is what we learned:

Elder Grow has been ill for over a week and is confined to his apartment. Sister Puzey (the mission president's wife) thought he might have a type of stomach flu. He is in good spirits, laughing and joking but is anxious to get out and work. His new companion has only been serving about three months and is enjoying Elder Grow's poor health because he has a keyboard from the church and can practice his piano playing (he was worried he would not have any time during his mission to practice!)

The city of Anao (pronounced An now' ) where Elder Grow serves is in the Tarlac area. He arrived there on May 5. Here is a link to a google map: http://www.maplandia.com/philippines/region-3/tarlac/anao/
You can zoom in and see the houses and the street names! Since Elder Grow has not been able to get around the city, he is not exactly sure where in the city he is located! He thinks he is close to the Cuyapo side of Anao. Anao has a ward but there is no chapel yet, it is being built. If you are interested in learning about this city visit Wikipedia at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anao,_Tarlac

Of course we had Elder Grow on speaker phone, so when Dad asked him to speak in Tagalog we all heard him. I must say, he speaks quickly and confidently. We were impressed. Many words in the Philippines are Spanish words and many Filipinos have Spanish ancestry. Elder Grow also has some Spanish ancestry and the people have noticed how his hair, eye color and skin tone is similar to theirs. But they don't understand why he has such a long nose! You would think his height would be the most noticeable difference, but no, it's his nose.

What new adventures in eating has he had? Dog. He said it tasted VERY good. How was it cooked? Adobo, of course! Actually there is a law against cooking dog, but some people do it anyway.

What made Elder Grow laugh the most during our conversation? Our "American accents" as we tried to pronounce the names of cities or streets or anything else Filipino. He thought Ryan's idea of naming the twins "Luke and Leia" (if they are a girl and boy) was very funny. (Uh, I don't think Chelsea was laughing!) What made us laugh? When I asked if he needed us to send him anything, like razor blades for instance, he replied, "No, I have about 10. That should last me to the end of my mission." Wondering how 10 blades could last 5 months, Ryan asked, "How often do you change blades?" The reply: "About once a month." Ryan's retort: "yeah, I guess you can do that when you only shave your upper lip and chin!" Then, surprise..."hey, I've got hair growing on my cheeks now... kind of blotchy.. but yeah, I shave [more than he used to]." The Grow brothers aren't really good at growing full beards or even sideburns!! So we had to laugh at Elder Grow's new found whiskers.

What does he expect when he returns on October 19th? Well, before he leaves the Philippines, he should arrive in Manilla on the 18th and hopes to go to the temple there. He will leave the Philippines on the morning of the 19th and arrive here on the 19th due to crossing the International Time Line. He is looking forward to: Mountain Mike's Pepperoni pizza for dinner, A big birthday party with bar-b-qued food, and beef that doesn't come from a dairy cow! He has often written that he really misses In and Out burgers. Oh, and he hoped the twins would not be born on his birthday... not his actual birthday... the day of his birthday party!!!

Ps to Jordan-- Thanks for receiving the call and conferencing us through!!

Thursday, May 5, 2011

Transferred

i am getting transferred!
i am going to be transferred to the Paniqui area and that will be fun i hear the area has a brand new chapel and the area is really nice, so yeah that is about all the news i have other than may 8 or around may 8 i get to call home and talk to everyone for mothers day my last phone call home!

well monday will be pday again so i will email again and talk about what we are going to do about the phone call! yeah i am one day ahead of you! your sunday is my monday! so i will email you on monday and call later that day or week. We have one week after may 8 to call home on any other day because of the time change... This has been the same thing we have done the last 3 times i have called home... I have one week to call like always
okay love ya