The One With the Baptisms - November 2nd, 2015

Hello po!

This week has been pretty dandy :) 2 baptisms!! hoorah!! I'm so happy for them ^_^ Glocelle and Waken are awesome. Then Maribel is set for next week (she'd only been to church 3 times b/c of the bagyo and she needs to have gone 4). 

Also, included is a picture from the baptism :) we're all looking at different cameras because there was like 700 of them. And if you look closely you can see a ZL and a Sister Naua in the back. Anywho, I wore the most Snow White -iest outfit I could find because Halloween.

Guess what! I'll be old soon. Weird... 9 more days and I'll not be a teenager any longer. Ano kahit?? Also I met my mission grandma last week :) she's nice.

I've been in a real "let's make all the things" kind of mood lately. So I made snickerdoodles in our toaster oven last night, and they were pretty not-awful. They probs would've been better if I had baking soda, and actual butter instead of chocolate margarine... but it's alright :) Maybe I'll try chocolate chip someday :) I also made a piano (I'm learning piano now). It's paper, so, you know, it doesn't actually make sounds. But I figure it'll help me with fluency and all that. I've named it Joshua to keep me motivated to actually learn how to play <3

Being on a mission has really made me realize all the things I want to do with my life. Like, I actually want to learn how to play instruments and sew all the things and travel and do ballroom and irish and start voice lessons again and... lahat! Everything! And... I'm excited for college?? What?? Anywho. I'm not quite so apathetic anymore. Just a -little bit- apathetic.

Also this week is transfer week (short transfer :P). I'm pretty sure I'm staying b/c follow up training, but who knows? I want to stay though. I love Villasis :) We have cute little old ladies here too, and they make us feel like the sons of Mosiah in Alma 27:4, "as though [we] were angels sent from God". We'll ask how they're doing and they say "So happy! Because Heavenly Father sent you here to visit me!" And I love them. And the kids too :) Like Malyn and Jennilyn and Jenny and all the cute little boys in our ward :)

Anywho... iyan lang :) not a ton to say this week ^_^

The One With the Nephites - October 25, 2015

Hello!! If anyone was wondering, I'm still alive :) except the storm took every bit of cool air with it and it's SO. HOT. 

AGAIN.

On the upside, one of my favorite days is coming up this week! :D Happy Halloween!! I don't get to dress up though. Sad. BUT we do have 2 baptisms that day :) and that's even better! I'm excited and they're excited.

Also I'm almost done with training ^_^ 2 weeks early b/c short transfer!! :D HA!! It's helpful, but I just really don't care for training all that much :) 

This week was Sister Vanisi's birthday, so I had to wake up at 5:30 to make Chocolate Things to surprise her with. I'm perfectly fine with cooking for people, but no one should ever have to suffer waking up at the "buttcrack of dawn" as Shelley and Wilcock would so eloquently put it. The Chocolate Things turned out good though :) it's chocolate pancake mix that we fry just enough that it's still gooey inside. Pretty tasty :) except I forgot to tell comp o' mine not to dump out my frying oil, so... I don't have any more oil to fry things in, which is disappointing. But she was just trying to be helpful by washing the dishes, so it's alright.

I have time to cook things now!! Happy day! Cause they have us in at 8:30, so I have a lot of time for making things. And I successfully made alfredo sauce <3 flour, oil, canned milk, garlic bread powder, shredded "cheese" (they call it cheese but it's more processed than my hair is). Anywho. Not too shabby, eh? I also eat a ridiculous amount of peanut butter here. Why didn't I like peanut butter before? Why do I like it here??

So the other day a trike driver stopped us and (as far as I understood and from what comp translated) he was like "Hey sisters, where are your other three companions?" and we're like "...what other companions? The other sisters?" And he was like "No, the three guys!" So Sister Antenorcruz asked what he was talking about and he said he saw us walking with three big guys before. So... we're thinking probably the 3 Nephites have got our backs. Cause missionary work.

Speaking of Nephites, I've been reading in Alma this week (still...) and I really liked Alma 43:45. The whole chapter, really. It talks about how the Nephites were defending their homes, liberties, families, and their freedom to worship, and how that was a righteous cause worth fighting for. It got me thinking- are we fighting for things that are worth fighting for? The world is so crazy sometimes, and we get caught up in the little things that don't matter so much. And Alma 48: 11-17 lays out the attributes of Moroni, "a man whose soul did joy in the liberty and the freedom of his country, and his brethren." He was firm in the faith of Christ, and did all that he could and needed to to defend that faith. "Yea, verily, verily, I say unto you, if all men had been, and were, and ever would be, like unto Moroni, behold, the very powers of hell would have been shaken forever; yea, the devil would never have power over the hearts of the children of men." So... where are we? :)

Love you all at least all the muchness!! 

-Sister Burton

The One With the Bagyo (Typhoon) - October 20, 2015

Hello po! Storms are crazy. But I'm still alive :) Anyway, church was cancelled on Sunday. And we were put on lockdown and I had NO IDEA WHAT TO DO. I WAS SO BORED. And no power either, so no music for us. Mostly I sat on the floor and sang songs by myself and read a little bit. Or a lottle bit. Then the same thing on Monday but they let us go to 7-11 for a little while to charge our phones and we went to the market to by groceries so we wouldn't starve and stuff. Then last night they texted us and said there was a flood warning, so all the girls in the apartments downstairs came up to stay with us, then like 20 minutes later they texted us again and said the elders were coming to evacuate us to Urdaneta. So we stayed the night in Urdaneta and now we're back home and dry :)

I still miss non-EFY music a lot but it's ayos-lang. Sometimes our neighbors listen to Journey and the Eagles and Imagine Dragons because Heavenly Father loves me. Tender mercies are a thing <3 

Also kids still love me, which is cute. On the way to Maribel's house I usually have at least 2 kids on each arm and one wrapped around my waist, which makes it a little difficult to walk. It reminds me of my mga anak at NWA :) ha. Recess was always an adventure.

Oh! Speaking of adventures, I passed my 100 day mark for this adventure last week :) cool, eh? I'm a survivor!! Haha ;)

However, that means I've also gone at least 100 days without the option of chimchims for dinner (or lunch or breakfast or elevensies). That being said, will someone go to Los Hermanos and order a chimichanga for me? And then eat the whole thing in one sitting and then feel a little bit bad about yourself but not even care because you know you can rest happily in a food coma when you get home? Thanks <3 I really appreciate it!

We're really close on baptisms ^_^ Glocelle and Waken are coming to church every week and their interviews are supposed to be this weekend! They're really excited, so I'm really excited :) So hopefully 2 baptisms next week! And Maribel is really good too :) so close!! Hooplah! (Sounds like a lot of- Hooplah! I said, sounds like a- Hooplah! Hooplah! Hoop- *brick*)

Sometimes I make Spongebob references and no one gets them. So when I sing that the stars at night are dull and dim whenever they have to be over dumb old stupid Texas, I'm pretty sure they legitimately think I hate the entire state of Texas. Oops.

Anyway... so we have a new schedule now which has us in by 8:30. Which is kind of nice :) No one wants us there past then anyway :P Also toasted siopao is fantastic.

Oh, and I found a nice little nugget of counsel the other day during Personal Study. It's in Alma 17:10 :) "And it came to pass that the Lord did visit them with His Spirit, and said unto them: Be comforted. And they were comforted." That second part is really important. How often do we ask the Lord for help and then not accept it? "Heavenly Father what do I do? This is really hard!"  And He says, "It's alright, don't worry. I have a plan for you." And then we're dumb and say "No, but you don't understand! This is hard! I don't know what's going to happen!" What? SO DUMB. We just throw away His counsel and comfort. Life is really hard sometimes. Duh! That's how we grow! It's okay that we don't know what's going to happen exactly. That's how life is! So when life seems crazy and you're feeling overwhelmed, just remember that it's for your good. But ALSO remember that you can be at peace even through the hard times. We have a perfect Father in Heaven who wants to comfort us no matter what we're going through. But it's up to us to be comforted :)

Anywho, Philippines life is still good :) storms make it not so hot here too. My area is awesome and sometimes I hold small animals. And I have a new best friend named Kelly-Dog. I LOVE Kelly-Dog! ^_^ She's always so happy to see me and runs up to me with her whole body shaking because she can't wag just her tail and she lets me pet her and I just love her so much <3 

*Bonus scripture Alma 26:2 - Can you tell what blessings the Lord has given you recently? If you can't, look harder. There's a lot, I promise :)

Iyan-lang :) Love you all!! 

-Sister Burton (buhay pa)

The One With the Kept Commitment - October 11, 2015

GenCon was the best :) I loved all of it! I really loved Elder Holland's and Elder Foster's talks ^_^ They gave me the feels x100. And also Elder Durrant's talk about ponderizing :)

Maribel came to church this week!! I'm so happy! We've been teaching her since my first week here. I was actually really worried we'd have to drop her soon cause she hasn't been coming to church, and I didn't want to give up on her :) and she came to GenCon yesterday!! Happy day!

Another thing that makes me happy is what I call the Banal na Sandwich. It's peanut butter on one side, nutella on the other, with strawberry jam in the middle, and it's all toasted to toasty nummy perfection. I also drink what may be near-lethal amounts of MoguMogu and I regret nothing <3 it's my favorite. And Mango Tang. Why they missed out on the prime opportunity to call it Tango I'll never know.

So pretty much I'm tired like 78% of the time. At this point I'm kind of hoping I'll find out that I've got some weird sleep disorder that requires that I get at least ten hours of sleep a night and that's why I'm so sleepy all the time. And then I'll have a valid excuse for when I sleep for 11 hours with a 3 hour nap around four o clock.

 

I wrote "Our Search for Happiness" in my notes for things to include in this email... but I don't remember why. It's really good though :) I finished it this week. Maybe you should read it and figure out what it was I wanted to share.

Oh, and whenever people are talking about neighbors/family/friends who have moved to America I always picture early 1900s America, not modern-day America. Sometimes I forget how time works. It's fine.

So short rant, I really dislike the phrase "You'd be prettier if..." because there are so many people everywhere who have super low self esteem and never feel like they're good enough, and there are so many conflicting views on how you should look. "You'd be prettier if you (wore more/less makeup) (had shorter/longer hair) (lost/gained weight) (etc.)". Whatever it is, just remember that it isn't your job to please other people! You're beautiful just the way you are and if someone tells you otherwise you can throw an egg at their face ^_^

Also I'm grateful for the Plan of Salvation :) One of the recent converts in our ward just passed away. He's a funny old man named Brother Virgilio :) I bet he can see now and is laughing at me as I learn Tagalog and a little bit of Ilokano and hold people's baby goats :) I'm pretty sure my life is a sitcom on the other side of the veil. And my future kids are like MOM WHY. The end :) 

As always, mahal ko kayo! Siyemps na kambing. That's totes magotes sa tagalog. I know, cause I thought of it myself. Please enjoy these pictures of me and David Bowie.

-Sister Paige Laretta Burton

The One With the Music - October 5th, 2015

Good morning!

This week hasn't been too terribly eventful. But that's okay :) 

I went on exchanges this week, which was pretty cool. I accidentally got mixed up on the lessons so I shared a big long scripture about baptism with the lady that Sis. Smith was dropping that lesson... oops :P haha but it worked out because it turned out to be the passage that Sis. Smith had assigned her to read that one and then forgot! Gotta love the Spirit, yeah? :)

We also have a member in our ward who just got back from his mission not this last wednesday but the one before. He's great to work with cause he's still all about missionary work :) yasss.

We get to watch GenCon this upcoming weekend! I'm so excited :D I hope y'all have enjoyed it! Women's session was really good. I liked what one of the speakers (don't remember who) said about how there are too many good things in life to focus on the bad.

Also I like how if you watch the choir you can kind of tell which ones are choir kids ;)

So yesterday we were waiting for one of the members so we sat in on the rest of their mission prep class. Then they asked us to do a role play for extending commitments. I. Hate. Role plays. Anyway... they said I could teach in english and I was like "YASSS I love english" But as it turns out, teaching in english is difficult now. Like ano kahit (that is, "what even", not to be confused with kahit ano, which is "anything"). So yeah.

Apparently there's no Dr. Pepper in Urdaneta :'( they have it in Manila but not here. And that saddens me deeply. So for those of you in the Provo/Orem area, please go to Sodalicious and order a Southern Gentleman and drink it for me. Salamat <3

I really miss country music. And I didn't even listen to that much country music before. But we do listen to Nashville Tribute Band sometimes which makes me happy :) 

Booorrrn

Bo-oooorrrn

Born in Bethlehemmmmmmmmmmmm

Also the other day the neighbors of one of our investigators were blaring Open Arms by Journey and I got the feels. Because Journey. And also my ballroom days.

Speaking of feels! I got a Starry Night journal and it's beautiful and it gives me the feels every day because Vincent and the Doctor.

Yep :) mahal kita! Please enjoy my journal drawings

The one where Paige holds kids - Sept 27, 2015

The one where Paige holds kids - but not the human kind :) 

This week was... well, it was this week. I managed to get a mosquito bite that swelled up to 5 inches. I measured. It was the worst. Also I think I've eaten my weight in saltine crackers. 

In addition to baby goats, the human kids are really cute too :) The other day we went to pick up one of the members and her kids all ran out to me saying "Sister! Stickers!!" And I was like "Walang stickers!" to which they replied "Sister! Pagkain!!" But I only had 2 little packs of vanilla wafers so in my kind of tagalog I said "Pero 2-lang so kailangan natin na share" and they all nodded and I gave it to them and they all broke them in half so they could share and I just love them a whole lot.

Also I realized that Sister Elena doesn't have teeth, which is something I probably should've noticed earlier. She's so cute :)

The family we taught yesterday asked how many areas I've been in and I told them this was my first. And they said they figured as much cause I'm really quiet. Like, 'scuse po, I'm always really quiet. But anyway :)

Also, everything is weirdly sweet here. Even the salty things are sweet. I don't get it. And the other day one of the sisters was singing "Teletubbies, Dipsy, Lala, Po!" And I was like 'Um, no. It's Tinkywinky, Dipsy, Lala, Po.' I probably shouldn't know that.

So I was reading in the Book of Mormon and realized that the book of Omni pretty much sums up my journal writing for the last 2 years. But I've been writing pretty much every day now :) keep a journal, friends! It's good for you :) and it's fun to mess with the future generations that will read it some day. Speaking of which, family history is important. Get working on it :) *coughcoughfamilyofminecough* 

I also rebound my BoM and it's awesome. I look forward to Personal study every day :) which, before my mission, I was REALLY bad at. Like, I think I started the BoM like 3 times and never got past 2 Nephi within 2ish years. Oops. But it really is the best once you make a habit of it :)

Also, something I really liked when reading Jesus the Christ was on pg 140. It talks about how Andrew and John asked Jesus where He was staying and rather than just telling them, He said "Come and see." I followed the footnote and it says that just like how missionaries can tell people all about the gospel, it's up to the investigator to "come and see" for themselves. They need to read the scriptures and ask Heavenly Father for themselves to know :) Love it :)

Anyway... walang questions for this week. Enjoy pictures I guess :)

The one with the church attendance ! September 20, 2015

This week has been pretty great :)

We had 2 investigators come to church yesterday... which is 2 more than we've had for the last couple weeks so it's progress :D hooray!! Also there's a recent convert in our ward named Sister Elena and she's so cute and I love her :) she's a little old lady and every time she sees us she gives us a big hug and does that asian thing where instead of kissing you they sniff your cheek. She's my favorite. 

It's still real hot but I'm still alive :) I like, radiate heat though. Like freaking Eric. I'm pretty sure I could give someone heat stroke by touching them. I never thought I'd miss winter... le sigh. Oh, and the dragonfruit here is pink on the inside! I was expecting white. T'was shocking.

People really love singing here, which is great. I love singing! And I can honestly say I've never heard a song sung in so many different keys. At the same time. After having worked at an elementary school where 3rd graders sang the nation anthem everyday. Yep :) and videoke is big. We hear people on like, every street corner singing real loud. Ees great :) Except they have interesting song mixes here... last I checked, Talk Dirty to Me shouldn't even be a song, much less mixed with We Wish You a Merry Christmas. Speaking of which, Christmas music has begun. BRING IT ON. 

There's also a lot of animals here. I love animals. Especially baby animals. I GOT TO HOLD A BABY GOAT AND IT WAS PERFECT. And there's a ridiculous amount of chickens running around (which reminds me, Ani add Link to my cosplay pinterest!). 

So I found a lovely scripture in personal study the other day. 2 Ne 31:3. And I love it because it says that Heavenly Father speaks to us in our understanding- we don't have to know everything all at once :) like 2 Ne 28:30 says, He gives knowledge to us line upon line, precept upon precept, and as long as we're using what we know, He'll give us more :)

-In Jacob 5, he talks about the good fruit vs the wild fruit of the olive trees. What's the difference? Why is the wild fruit bad? I feel like it doesn't mean as much to me since I don't understand the difference. Like when people tell me they only like Pepsi.

Also here's my address if anyone needs it :)

The postal address is 

Philippines Urdaneta Mission

PO Box 7

Brgy. San Vicente East

Urdaneta City

Pangasinan 2428

Philippines

and the package/parcel address is

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

Philippines Urdaneta Mission

Brgy. San Vicente Street

Urdaneta City

Pangasinan 2428

Philippines

Mahal kita!

The one where Paige STILL doesn't like fish - Sept 14, 2015

I've made it to week three! Three is the number thou shalt count, and the number of the counting shall be three. Four shalt thou NOT count, neither count thou two, excepting that thou then proceed to three. Five... is right out. When the number three, being the third number, be reached, then CELEBRATE BECAUSE YOU'VE SURVIVED THIS FAR WITHOUT GETTING A WEIRD DISEASE FROM THE MOSQUITOES. Speaking of counting and mosquito bites, I have 25+. I checked. I've given up on naming them cause there's too many, but I named the ones on my elbow and the bottom of my feet after their father, Satan.

Anyway, our lessons are still going good :) no one has come to church yet though... next week! We've got 3 IBDs at the moment :) they're awesome. I'm reading Jesus the Christ and Our Search for Happiness, which are really good :) I'm learning sooooo much :3 yas. 

I've named every frog I've seen so far Jason Funderberker. Except for the one at Brother Salvador's house. That one's name is Douglas, named after everyone named Douglas. Also  I got some swaggin new rubber shoes and a hipster nerdy waist-strap proselyting bag which has done miracles in not giving me scoliosis. 

Also. There's a show that's always playing when we go to people's houses called All for Juan and Juan for All or something like that, and it is the most horrifyingly obnoxious show I've ever had the displeasure of coming across ever. Just by the way.

This week in church the lessons were all on family and stuff.One of the things that stuck out to me was when they said to enjoy the time you have with your children. Which made me think of my cute kids whom I miss SO MUCH. They'll be in 5TH GRADE when I get back. WAT. So parents, tell your kids you love 'em, and kids, tell your parents you love 'em :) time is short. (PS parents I love you and stuff)

And, as always, love you all lots!

The one where everyone cancels, but It's okay - September 6, 2015

Boy oh boy has this week been a tough one! But it's alright because it ended well :)

So we started off the week alright, we taught a lot of lessons and have 3 new investigators. Then around the middle of the week things went downhill a little bit- our members all canceled on us so we didn't have a member for any of our lessons, and just about every time we went to visit people, they'd either be gone or really busy. So that's butts. BUT this Fast Sunday was SO GOOD. It really strengthened my testimony of fasting, which had kind of been fading, I guess. Yesterday was such a good day! We only taught 5 lessons, but I really felt the Spirit and we had a member with us and it just felt like it was a good day :) AAAAND I KIND OF UNDERSTOOD WHAT WAS HAPPENING. WAT. And I've extended 3 bapism invitations this week. Which is a lot more simply said than how PMG made it out to be. 

The apartment is still wonderful, it's just real hot all the time. I was also never given a flat sheet in my sheet set but I can't sleep without something on top of me so I've been using a towel and it likes to get tangled up around me at 2 in the morning. But it's alright :) the neighbors have a pet pig. I can see it from my window. I've named him after Noah's son, Ham.

Also I wrote a story to end this one off with :) love you all!

-Sister Paige Laretta Burton, the frenchiest fry

Once upon a time there was a kingdom in a far off land. This kingdom was unlike most, however, in that there was no King there. The citizens of the kingdom knew they had a King, but He lived far, far away. No one had ever seen Him.

They knew they must have a King, because He would often send messengers to tell them that He was coming. Many people wanted the King to come visit them, but He didn't come when they expected Him to. Eventually they stopped listening to His messengers. Why should they prepare for someone whom they didn't think would show up?

One day a Kind Man came to the kingdom. The kingdom didn't have visitors very often, so news of this Kind Man spread quickly.

"Is this the King?" some asked.

"Couldn't be!" others replied. "He doesn't wear a crown, or royal robes, or have knights, or... or anything like that! Besides, if he was our King, he would be doing King-stuff, not just going around visiting with people."

For that was what the Kind Man did. He visited the people who were lonely. He helped the villagers with their problems. He healed the sick, and He even helped the people who were dealing with dragons. Most of all, He taught the citizens of the kingdom how to be better people- He taught them how to become more like Him.

Many people loved the Kind Man. They wanted to be just like Him. Sadly, there were many others who hated Him.

"Who does he think he is?!" they'd say.

"He's not our King! He can't tell us how to live our lives!!" These citizens decided that they needed to do something about the Kind Man.

The day soon came when they banished the Kind Man. 

"Leave us alone!" yelled one.

"We don't want you here!" shouted another.

The kind man was deeply saddened, and it was very painful for Him to leave, because He loved the people of the kingdom so very much. But off He went.

The kingdom didn't hear from the king's messengers for a very long time.

"He doesn't care about us," most people thought. "If He cared, He would have come to us by now, or at least sent His messengers to us."

After several years, a young boy came to the kingdom.

"The King is coming! Get ready for Him!" The boy exclaimed. More messages came after that.

"The King is on His way!"

"Prepare for the King's arrival!"

"The King is coming!"

And then one bright morning- 

"The King is coming TODAY!"

Everyone in the Kingdom was ecstatic! They were finally going to meet their King! They prepared a huge feqast. The town square was decorated for the festival they would throw to welcome Him.

"He's here! He's here!" Someone exclaimed. 

Who was He? What did He look like? What was He like? All the people gathered to greet their King.

Trumpets played, many knights lead the way, everyone clapped and cheered! And there, riding in on a horse in all His majesty, was the Kind Man, their King.

Their King had come, never to leave them again, to reign in love and service. And the people rejoiced.

The end <3

The One Where Paige is IN the Philippines - August 30, 2015

We made it!! I just got to Urdaneta on Wednesday :) my new comp is Sister Antenorcruz :) she's pretty chill. Anyway! We got to our apartments and GUESS WHO HAS A RUNNING SHOWER! It's me. And I thank the Lord every day. 

Anyway, the Philippines is still taking some getting used to. It's hotter and more humid than satan's armpit. It also gets dark at 6, which helps with the heat but helps less with the fact that I can't see anything and I walk in puddles a lot when I don't need to and I assume everything I step on is a squished frog or something. But it's not too hot at night and that's what matters :)

We've taught a few lessons this weekend, and there was a stake baptism on saturday :) pretty exciting stuff. I'm starting to get to know the members a little better, which is SO great. Also we have a new investigator named Bro. Vicente :) he's nice. I -think- he accepted the baptism invitation (??) I still have no idea what's going on most of the time in our lessons because Tagalog and also rain is loud and also I'm pretty sure I have old man hearing cause whenever someone's voice is too low I can't hear what they're saying :P Joy. 

Oh! And our second night in the Manila MTC Stromberg and I found 5 cockroaches in our room that were legit like 2 1/2 inches long. GROSS. But the animals here are cool for the most part. Not the bugs. Bugs are gross and mosquitos think I'm tasty and if I get sent home early with some weird disease, that's why. But there are geckos here! I love geckos!! And lots of frogs. Some of them go tikatikatika! and some go kwek! but my favorite ones are the ones that go buuuuuuuuong! It sounds like a cross between a cow's moo and a big, heavy metal pipe getting hit with a smaller, less heavy pipe.

I got to talk to some little kids at church yesterday which was fun :) NO idea what they were saying. But they were really cute :) they're helping me learn stuff. Haha the little boy I was talking to would say stuff but when I said, "Ano??" cause I either couldn't hear him or didn't catch what he was saying, he would just say, "...Ang ganda po ninyo." So cute! They call me Snow White (: ha!

My mission president and his wife are super cute :) and Sister Deyro is either a nurse or a doctor... at any rate, she'll be helpful in my quest, for when I get a weird disease as previously mentioned.

The traffic takes getting used to. It's not so bad in Urdaneta, but Manila was ridiculous. I DON'T UNDERSTAND HOW THEIR CARS STILL LOOK BRAND NEW. Anywho, much like we need to trust in the Lord and have faith that He'll guide us to where we need to be, we need to have faith in the trike drivers that they won't let us get hit by a semi even though they cut right in front of the trucks and don't usually stop if they don't need to. But they know what they're doing (: Buses are nice. They're usually air conditioned... the ones I've been on at least. Speak of which! As we were getting off the bus yesterday I realized that Starry Night/Vincent was playing over the radio and my heart cried just a little bit because Doctor Who. But it also made me really, really happy :)

Anyway! Times up, I guess. Mahal ko kayo! 

-Sister Paige Laretta Burton

The One Where Paige Leaves Tomorrow - August 19, 2015

Kumusta!! As you may have noticed from the lovely title of this email, I ship out tomorrow!! Adventure!!! Hooray :) at any rate, I'm super excited and it'll be fantastic. I wrote a song last night to sum up my last day here. 

One day more

Another day, another destiny

Of this endless stay at the MTC

But soon enough we will take flight

I hope I last another night

One day more

How will we deal with all the heat?

104% humidity?

And all the questionable meat?

If I die it'd be a pity

But the gospel we will share

-Will we make it home again?

Many people there to baptize

-Oh I miss my comfy bed

Our testimonies we will bear

-What if I get a parasite?

And they'll feel the Holy Ghost

I'm tire of MTC Fooooood

One day more!

One more day to do my laundry

We will do it in one load

And I have to start my packing

A to-do list overload (one day more!)

Past or present tense

Study words on TALL

It's a crazy pronoun-marker free-for-all

Conjugate this now

SYL a lot

Everything learned yesterday I've now forgot

One more day all on our own

-What if we get lost at sea?

It's just me and my companion

-Did I pack all that I need?

But the Philippines will be home

-What about all of the bugs

And I'll love the people there

The time is now to serve the LORD

ONE DAY MORE!!

 *insert conglomeration of singing here*

Tomorrow we'll be far away

Tomorrow on a big airplane

Tomorrow we will do what God in Heaven has in store

One more dawn

One more prayer

ONE DAY MORE

The One Where Paige is Leaving - August 15, 2015

Last week at the MTC!! Hooplah! We ship out on Thursday, then to Tokyo, then Manila!! We're spending 5 days at the Manila MTC, which is awesome. So excited!! 

Anyway, I'm sure a ton has happened this week, but the week has been so long I can't really remember much of it :P My memory retention is prime. Um... oh! One of my elders has been having heart issues this last week so we're waiting to find out what's happening with that... scary stuff! O_o But he's doing alright right now :) We also drew pictures of the Avengers as cats in my journal. Because why not? 

It's crazy that we're leaving so soon! As super excited as I am to leave the MTC, I'll probs miss it a little bit ;) 

Oh! I saw Elder Micah Wilcock and Elder Elijah Bickmore and Sister Brittany Rytting! Love them (: Anywho! Um... yeah! That's pretty much all I can think of right now. I might send more later today, we'll see. Mahal kita!

-Seester Burton

PS, do you think there was an apostle who just made bad puns all the time? Elder Bice says it was probably Judas. 

Also PS, name the scripture!

Samakatwid, o ikaw na humaharap sa paglilinkod sa Diyos, tiyaking pinaglilingkuran mo siya na buong puso, kakayahan, pagiisip, at lakas, upang ikaw ay makatayong walang-sala sa harapan ng Diyos sa huling araw. 

Sapagkat masdan, ang bukid ay puti na, upang na anihin. At narito, siya na humahawak sa kanyang panggapas nang buo inyong lakas, siya rin ay nagiimbak nang hindi siya masawi, kundi ng kaligayahan ang kanyang kaluluwa.

(I may be a little off on that last part, I'm still working on memorization :3)

The one where Paige is really close to flying - August 8, 2015

We got our travel plans yesterday!!! Huzzah!!! We're leaving August 20, and it'll be a party. A really, really long party void of any music or movies or tv and not being able to wear sweats cause I'm in public.... ANYWAY I'm the designated travel leader for the Urdaneta missionaries... eyo. That'll be terrifying. 

This week has been an adventure. I've seen SO many people! There's a bunch that came in just these last couple weeks that I know, and our teacher has us bear our testimony in tagalog 3 times a day to people around campus so I've made a ton of friends that way too, and I see them EVERYWHERE. Ees the best.

Oh!! I found out I'm 4th cousins with one of the Elders in my batch :) through Richard Orr and Caroline Derricott :) Cool, eh? There's also another Elder in one of the districts that just came in who's from Lindon :) hoorah! I think I was in seminary with his sister. But yeah.

President Nelson came and spake to us at the last Tuesday Devo!! It was SOOO COOL. AAAH. So cool. Anyway, that's pretty much it, I think.

Also, name the movie. Do it, I dare you.

"Pero hindi nagsalita ako, 'ayos peluka,' nagsalita ako, 'pinakamabuting peluka.' Naniniwala po ako na iba nila."