So hello everyone!
This week was awesome. Elder Valdez and I are learning so much from each other every day. My umbrella has yet to break, it's been months seen cats have gotten into my bread, and our electricity went out in our apartment for only about two days. I am not being sarcastic when I say we were truly blessed this week. My feet kinda hurt from walking, but I mean hey, what should I expect, right? Ummmm.... Yeah, nothing new or exciting happened this week. The weather is going absolutely bonkers though. Yesterday it was pouring and actually kinda cold, but today took a complete 180 degree turn with unrelenting sunlight and scalding heat (I guess that's kind of an overstatement, but you get the point. It was cold and now it's hot.) Tagalog is coming very well now. I am very pleasantly surprised by that. It's awesome to be able to understand (most of the time) and be able to respond accordingly (hopefully). Of course there are times where I just open my mouth wide and absolutely nothing discernibly sensible comes out, but those times are actually the best. They're funny, and it's during those times that I learn the most.
Which brings me to my topic of discussion and the reason for the title of this blogpost. Something that I learned this week was the importance of gratitude for the things we have rather than jealousy or remorse for things we don't have. This week we had the chance to teach lessons, and a common theme that I noticed from all the families that we taught was this: They were happy. Despite the lack of certain commodities that we, back at home, cherish and find an absolute necessity, the people here are content and quite happy actually. They find joy not in material things, but in being with their families and sharing time with each other. I love that. A lot and I think that's something I took for granted while I was back at home. So I invite all of you to take thought and pleasure in the simplest of things. I promise you that when you cherish those things, you'll find yourself 100% happier than you were before.
Thanks for all the love and support as always. I truly feel the blessings of your prayers and am so thankful for your emails. Until next week!
-Elder Bondoc
Congrats for finally getting the hang of the Pilipino language. 'Hope your umbrella does not fail! I'm glad you were able to observe how Filipinos are content and happy even without the usual creature comforts we take for granted here in the US. Your narrative will help me remember not to whine next time I'm inconvenienced. We have so much blessings we take for granted-but Filipinos will be eternally blessed for being content and doing their best with what they have!
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