Toilet Ice Cream and Head Lice

Hey y'all!

Here is the Philippines we've had the coldest day in 7 years, 76 degrees. It was absolutely wonderful. There's not much to say, my days are all about the same. I love the MTC, I'll be sad to leave in TWO AND A HALF weeks! Time has flown by.

So, my stories for the week. Last Friday my kasama and I were walking home and she saw a man with a little ice cream stand, which was really just a metal box on wheels and an umbrella. She insisted we try it, even though I was not enthused. We got "ice cream sandwiches". Which is three golf ball sized scoops of ice cream on a hot dog bun. Silly. It was pretty awful. No sugar. Tasted like dirt and milk. We were eating it and we get back to the MTC and a teacher said, "Oh no, why are you eating the sorbeto bano?" Literal translation: toilet ice cream. Thankfully we haven't gotten sick, but I told Sister Paasi she can no longer make decisions about what we eat. Later in the week she was sitting in bed and she said, "These lollies (candy) I got from the store are so awful, American candy is the worst!" I looked up and she had eaten almost half a bag of Halls cough drops. I love that girl, she keeps me laughing.

If you need an uplifting project for this week, check out One in 8 Million by the New York Times. It's an amzing photo/video project. It's truly inspiring. We watch one of the short videos and then we talk about how we would tailor the teachings of the gospel to fit the needs of this person. It's a great activity.

Everyone on our hall this week excluding the four American girls, got a serious case of headlice. I washed so many heads of hair I thought I was going to smell like lice shampoo for the rest of my life. But, thankfully, I think we're all okay now. I washed every stitch of bedding in our room.

The language is getting easier, I say hesitantly. Maybe not easier, I'm just beginning to understand it more. My English and my spelling are getting worse. My lessons are going well and one of my investigoators has agreed to be baptized the week I leave. I'm so happy for him. I know the gospel will bless his life endlessly. Tagalog words to know: magsisi (mahg see see), to repent, people say this anytime you've done something to be ashamed of. Joklang (joke lahng), like "just kidding". If you're playing ping pong and you whiff, you yell, joklang or if you tease someone you smile and say joklang. The missionaries and teachers alike love this term.

Have a great week! Thank you for all of the emails. Love you all!

Sister Cork