Elder Payne in Baguio: First Week Out of Training!

Sooooo... this was my first week out of training. It was hard to say goodbye to Elder Manarang, I love that guy! I got a new comp last week and his name is Elder T.. He is from Kiribati and is way nice. He is a hard worker and his faith is off the charts! We get along really well. The only problem is there is a bit of a language barrier... he doesn't really speak English. It's a little difficult to communicate at times because our common language is both a foreign language for us. We are the only ones at our house so I don't really speak English during the week anymore... Except (by no small miracle) we were able to find a lady who used to teach English and wants to hear the lessons in English! It is so liberating to be able to speak what comes on my mind. haha count your blessings, even just being able to speak to people is a blessing!

Elder T. and I were able to get some really good work in this week! Thankfully Elder Manarang pushed me to lead the area in my last couple weeks of training so I am somewhat comfortable leading our area. I am far from perfect but we made some large strides in the work in Tubao this week so I am grateful for that!

We visited a family earlier this week. The dad's cousin came in to join us just as we were asking the family how they were doing and stuff like that. The cousin was so drunk! He kept trying to talk to us but his cousin convinced him that we only speak english and don't understand Tagalog or Ilokano but he was trying so hard to talk to us! He was drunk on top of that and it was just hilarious. He was using all sorts of crazy drunken hand gestures and couldn't stop laughing. It was really funny but it is kind of sad to see a full grown man that is reduced to acting like a child.

I hope everyone has a wonderful week! I encourage you all to look for opportunities to serve one another. Something small, make someone smile, open a door for someone. This world needs more light!

love you all,

Elder Payne