The Hilarity of a Language, the Diligence of a People, and the Beauty of the Sky

Hello Hello Hello!

This week has been an absolute blast. It just flew by. Hmmm... Where do I start? Let me start with a Tagalog tongue twister.

"Pitongput pitong puting platong pinagpatong-patong."

or in English

"77 white plates stacked on top of each other."

This week I've learned so much about the Tagalog language. I try every day to practice it with everyone we interact with. I've learned that as beautiful as learning a languages can, it can also be quite funny. Let me explain. There is a Tagalog word: "kwan" which is really just a word you use if you forget the actual word for something. For example If you wanted to say "His house is close to the restaurant" but forgot the word for restaurant you would say "Ang bahay niya ay malapit sa may kwan." I think this is absolutely hilarious, but maybe it's just me. I hear this every day and cannot help but crack up because people use it so often. So it's the little things like these that make learning the language less frustrating and more fun. Although my language skills might worse than that of an eight year-old here, I find joy in actually being able to ask an eight year-old for help with my Tagalog. It's such a humbling experience. 

So about the people. Yesterday the entire area of Bato experienced a blackout ,or what they call it in the Philippines, a brownout. Hilarious, I know. Anyway, we were in the middle of a lesson yesterday when one of these brownouts hit. It was about 7 pm so the sun had set. The only light that we were dependent on was a single LED lightbulb. So the power went out and all of the sudden everything went pitch black. Despite that, I pulled out my flashlight and we continued our lesson as if nothing had happened. After we finished the lesson, we left the home. To my surprise, I found that the people in this provincial city were working as if nothing had happened. They kept doing their regular tasks with flashlights and candles. The people of the Philippines, despite losing something as precious as electricity, found a way around an obstacle to press forward and not give up. That was incredible to see. 

One positive about not having any light in a provincial area is being able to see the stars. The stars here at night are absolutely beautiful. After teaching and finishing our nightly planning session, we went on top of the rough and just laid on our backs, looking at the vast number of glimmering lights in the sky. Holy smokes. That's all. Words cannot describe how beautiful it is to see stars from horizon to horizon covering the nighttime sky. I love it here. I truly do. There's something enchanting about the Lord's work. Every week, I learn to appreciate it so much more. Best wishes and I'll talk to you all again next week. 

-Elder Bondoc