.... this place is hot. and im still alive

Family and friends! do you like my letter title? haha cuz i do! its my life. Want to get the closest impression to how it feels here? its a bit like sticking your head in a 400 degree oven plus humidity times 20. It was so humid in manilla when we got off the plane when i took out my journal from my bag the next day the pages were all wavy like id dropped them in water. think on that for a while.

Let me silence some crazy talk i heard premish for all ya'll. THEY HAVE TOILET PAPER. dont even sweat it(heh heh see what i did there... cuz you literally sweat all. the. time.) on that subject... get used to sweat. i haven't been dry since i got here. i now embrace it. Serioiusly we went in the church for an activity this week (it has ac) and i about froze. love the sweat. its good for you. it gives your skin a permanent sheen. dripping it just makes you look like you belong on a comercial for gatorade. gah! i wish i had more time on here. pero its okaylang! umm the food rocks. i hope you like rice. if you don't (like me) you will by day 2. you have it every meal and i now look forward to it. its quite odd. Tricees rock!!! seriously if i ever come back here one day im taking 10 bucks and riding one alllllll ddddaaaaaayyyy. 

I have not yet seen any crazy spiders. just one normal one i smashed outside. Cock roaches exsist. On our way home one night one flew into my face and i about had a spaz attack. and i matrixed a flying one last night. other then that... really you're good. oh you don't burn here. its great. i think the humidity is so great and the sweat on your face the sun trying to get to your skin is like trying to tan under the ocean. but dont let it dappen your dreams. im working on a pilipino skin tone still. its coming along slowly and surely. line upon line you know?

hmmm last thing. Pilipinos rock! They are seriously so fun. they love to joke. and sometimes (especially tall white americans that dont know what you're saying ie: me) you get to be the brunt of those jokes. Its great. I joke back in a broken way. They are so kind. They always give me the fan. Their houses seriously feel like the surface of the sun and they still give us the fan. Its so automatic for them. take lessons americans. They're super happy. They seriously live in places the size of my room but like 50 times hotter made of cement and whatever else they can put together. Roosters dogs cats and whatever else wanders through. no biggie. 

I first got here and i was like: WHAT DID I SIGN UP FOR??? i seriously was close to breaking that first day. pero now. i just love it. I embrace the awkward stares and americanas by saying hello po! or kumusta po kayo! they always smile when i do that. Im trying to figure out if im a laughing stock or a celebrity... ill probably figure it out soon. Till then im hello po'ing every pilipino i see. 

WE COMMITTED  TATAY ABRAHAM TO BAPTISM with A DATE!!!! (the with was left lower case to emphasize it)  because before he didn't commit because he'd already been baptized so i whipped out moroni 8. he read. we asked if he had questions and he was seriously quiet for about 4 minutes straight. i kid you not. really. don't fear silence. then he said he didn't. we will make sure we get him to baptism. wow ive never been happier. its odd cuz we get punted and its hot and i could  complain pero instead every punt is a challenge accepted. and sweat... im still working on its positives but ive adjusted:) man i love this work. so hard. so good. seriously EVERYONE TO GO ON A MISSION. its so flippin hard. but soooo fun. such an adventure. i love the people. the language (taglishano that's right they switch between english tagalog and ilocano with out a second thought... its trippy and a bit confusing. but its coming!)

 

I loooovvve my kasama. she's about the size of sarah. i didn't know how itd be at first but we're totally tight now. she's got a sneaky sense of humor and she's suuuuupppperr patient. WHY DO I LOVE ALL MY COMPS AND ALWAYS RIGHT IN CAPITAL LETTERS??? i really couldn't answer either of those but the lord blesses me. and he loves me. and he'll help me. oh ps: everyone that came in is training in 6 weeks... not sure how i feel about it pero i can do all things with the lords help Nephi 17: 50-51. its pretty much my motto. look it up. i dare you. i love you all. missions absolutely blow your mind. but when you lead on the lord he will make you happy. i testify its true. its what ive learned in my short time here. sorry i said i didn't get a p day. turns out i do. but i love you. send me encouragement. and stories. i just love hearing about life. love you

sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much. ( i mightve held the o a little long)

love seeeester (how they say it) hansen

Give Your Cousin a Hug

hahaha oh dad i love you. seriously i was all hey sister porter

... yeah

we're 12th cousins

no. way. (oh i love it)

then sister storey is all... sorry we're not cousins

me: one day, one day....

hahah speaking of family history elder Nelson and his wife just came up on sunday... or tuesday and talked to us. about family history work especially. did you know the spirit of elijah is a real thing? obviously some like me are slower then others. but sis Nelson talked about how thousand maybe millions of people on the other side are praying for us to baptize their posterity so they can have their temple work done. ooohhhhh.... well yay for extra pressure and a large audience. i will do my best! but it really was so cool. she said we could call for help from the other side by name, character or attribute. how cool is that? *yes id like one of the strippling warriors please to be with me today. that'd be peachy.* k pretty sure its just like ancestors and people you've done your work for but STILL. elder nelson was on the ball too. man do i love the people in charge of the church. they're so funny. it's like they hide their funny bones until they get in small settings then they cut loose and you die laughing.

Sooooo i really don't know what to tell ya'll about this week except homesickness comes in waves. NEVER like it was at college. not even close. i was the most home sick thing since.... ever. but i just have these like minutes of sadness... where im just like oh... well... i miss home. im gunna miss my district. im gunna miss my comps ( who are the best thing since swiss cheese... swiss cheese is pretty darn great i might add) daaaahhh and im going to the land of spiders and rats the size of cats and a people that are just sooooo kind. did i tell you we skyped philippines on thursday? oh well we skyped philippines on thursday for TRC. i seriously love filipinos. already. still waiting for the time we can stay out to jump up because i KNOW im not going to want to leave them.

May i tell you about volleyball? jolly good. ha its not like you have a choice so here goes. i killed it. friday was seriously the funnest day of pe yet. i was spiking and blocking (k maybe it was just once but i think im ready to play on the byu mens team hellllloooooo!) and bumping and not so much setting cuz im no good at it. but i seriously felt like a polynesian. if you didnt know. polys KIIIIIIIILLLLLL at volleyball. its like ingrained in their genes. and like half the people going to the philippines here are. (not really but it seems like it when you're on the court and every time you look up a polynesian elder is spiking it mock 80 at your face) so im trying to become like them. ive lost my will to run and replaced it with volleyball. a good choice? eh. maybe not the healthiest. but ill die happy with a volleyball smash to the face. twill be inspiring. Volleyball. i hate it, but i love it ;) (thats a tony quote from p90x if you didn't catch it)

So i got a letter from radelle at boot camp. i seriously jumped out of my skin with joy. then she told me about boot camp. it sounds like death killed twice over. oh man is she going to come back and be able to do anything. but so am i. sometimes i just marvel at how the mtc and the army/navy/airforce really forces people to grow up. in toooootttallly different ways. i really think she is just so strong. she said theres no way she could do it with out the lord and i second the motion. you need the lord in everything. EVVVRREERYYYYTHING. or life just basically... is lame. truth.  

well ive got to jump. know i love ya'll. sorry this hasn't been the exciting... est. but life is great and im flipping out cuz i feel inadequate to go to the philippines. but i go anyway. trusting in God. Nephi 3:7 status. love you.

mom ill have to send home my suu password via mail and i don't know my t bird number anymore but it started with like two 00's maybe you could find a paper somwhere with it on it... thank you for helping me though even when im not there. i sent home a box the size of kentucky. it was like 5 bucks. yay mtc discount. please put the two boxes inside straight into storage but the candy and gifts are all ya'lls :) im not sure when my flight is from the salt lake airport but ill probably call in seattle sometime.... i dunno. expect a call sometime between 830 and like 2... sorry. ill just keep the phone open! ill call the home phone. and we can chat for abit and cry for a bit and all

mahal kita erbody

love me :)

2 languages 1 blessing

k dad let me get this out before you have time to ask again... sister porters great grandparents are... Leon David Porter and Maude Walton, Arthur Snyder and Clara Venetta Garside, Guy Reynolds Justis and Ardis Carolyn Larson, and John Raymond Erickson and Muriel Harris. and sister storey doesn't know hers. sorry that's all i got. But i hope you have some fun with that.

I miss you partiers at the hansen house. staying up all night playing board games and penny pinching off the streets for shakes... ahhh good times. mean while back at the ranch (thats a saying from oldie books if you didn't know)

Im doing peachy.

 Might as well start with the spiritual. thats always kinda important. So As you might know WE GOT OUR TRAVEL PLANS AND ARE LEAVING IN 9 DAYS. WHHHAAAA???? or in tagalog nagsasalita ANNNOOOO??? yeah im a dork and my mtc humor is very mtcish right now. but back to the back drop of my story. well we're leaving and i really got pretty sad. I balled. k i said it. i love my district and mga kasama so much. we're seriously together like 10 hrs of the day. they are family. very disjointed but true. i love them and it made me sad to leave them and my kasama was getttiiinng a blessing sooooo.... i piggy backed and asked for one too. But then Elder Smiti from Samoa wanted to give it.... in Samoan. so the thoughts running through my head are just like how am i supposed to know what to do and what the Lord wants me to know if its in another language??? but he explained in his (pretty good for only speaking english for 6 weeks) way that  whether samoan or english the blessing God gives is the same. 2 languages, one blessing. Okaylang. still kinda with this doubtful mind i let him start. It was the coolest experience i started out with all this doubt and just skepitcal wondering thoughts in my mind but then gradually it was replaced with a sweetness and confidence and feeling of power. it seriously was the coolest thing. i realized it REALLY doesn't matter what language it is or if i understand. if im living righteously everything he blessed me with will come to pass. it also made me think of my language im trying to learn. how am i supposed to communicate and convert people i can hardly talk to??? But now i know if ive prepared and im living right, no matter what language im speaking the language of the spirit will come through and they'll understand whatever they need to. 2 languages one message. k my vent on that is over. but really its so awesome what the Lord will show you. Elder Smiti was inspired in more then one way.

k so more light stuff as is how my personality goes. haha so every sunday night after devotional we get to watch a movie or talk or something of our choosing. so last sunday we chose to go to the movie Legacy. i never enjoyed that movie so much in my WHHOOOOLLLLE LIFE.  was it a bit cheesey? indubitably (spelled wrong get over it this isn't word girl) was it mushy? absolutley. did i love it. YES! seriously david in that movie is such a babe with his sappy lines (ex: well maybe ill slow down and just work one day in 10) i really died. it was so lovely. haha you could actually hear all the guys shushing everyone cuz they hadn't seen that much kissing in months. elders are sweethearts. Let it be known Legacy is the Pride and Predjudice for elders and sisters at the mtc. it was seriously so awesome. in the ddddiiiiissstant future when i get home i might have to watch it like 5 times straight.

Oh so i thought you might like to know i was talking in my sleep AGAIN... in tagalog.  saying something like nagaral (studied in tagalog) hahaha yesssss its permeated every thought so now i even sleep talk in taglish.

miracle of the week:

i have a foot tan line. i may now be called a sister missionary with OUT shame. it really is quite lovely. it cuts right accross my foot where my grandma shoes finally show my foot skin. im so proud

ANOTHER MIRACLE:

I FINNAAALLLLY SAW QUININSKI!!! about time!  made me happy. please tell my brother in law i made larryanne and she sits adjacent to him on the sil by my bed. well. times up. i have so much more to say but it will lhave to wait

SOBRA mahal kita

sister hansen :)

Some pictures of Rachel with Quininski

um so yeah the time warp is coming to an end...

Guess WHAT??????

I GET MY TRAVEL PLANS THIS WEEK!!!! what the fweak just happened(kid history). i feel like i just got here then WHAMO!! oh hey you're leaving. say whaaa? whatever. ill conquer it or die. IM pumped tho!!! i can't believe ive almost been here 4 weeks the days have flown this place rocks! Im so glad i inspired stake conference :) i knew i was an inspiration character. and yeeeaaah sorry dad! i asked them but i forgot to write it down so i'll have to get a letter to you this week! sorrrry! im pretty slow at things sometimes but ill get on it. Yeah my district is made up of babes. i feel like an ugly duckling. not really. but seriously who looks good when they wake up? THEY DO! who looks like the walking death? I DO!! zombie lady coming through... let me wipe off all my smeared mascara that's makes me look like something worthy of the zombie apocalypse. ill have to send another letter and look at the picture before i can tell you their names. hahah ok so about me these 2 weeks since i feel like you've missed my whole life since they changed my p day. first off there is an elder named zimmerman who has the total hots for my kasama who is claimed!!  she has a boy friend. before she told him this it had come to him calling her pet names like ballerina girl (shes a dance ps) anyway she told him and now they're just bosom friends  but he's such a sweetheart. hahahahhah we'd count how many times he'd pop out of no where and talk to her a day. it was li;ke 8. also we have a "investigator" named patricio and you know how you can get things engraved with names here for free? well you can. and they did. but with patricio. hahahha they gave our teacher/investigator with a fake name his own book of mormon. it was funny. we are creepy loving missionaries. So the other day we were playing volleyball and gym... me being the awesome person i am was kicked in the face with the ball and also had it spiked into my face. yay. team. hahah it was soft tho so i didn't totally look like id been abused. That's what i get for being lazy this week and not running and working out and becoming the new p90x tony lady trainer. eh. tony is over rated anyhow. sorry this letter is basically a letter composed of all my funny moments so thats what you get cuz that's what i concentrate on. i carry my journal around with me during the day and write down whatever funny thing happens or is in the least bit quote worthy. for example:

we were talking at the breakfast table and sister porter with her pneumonia like symptoms was dying and she kept saying she felt like a sloth, then randomly she says "did you know sloths are so dumb, they will grab their arm thinking its a tree branch and fall to their death?" who even KNOWS that??? hahahahah we were dying. like bad. she has lots of random fun facts. she also said you have to tip turkeys over if they're drinking water as it rains cuz they'll just stand there with their mouth open until they drown. stupid birds. anyway we have a quote wall and it's really quite fun. really. if you concentrate on the good moments in the day it makes your day like triple the happiness lever as usual. try it. write down every little funny thing that happens. its great.

so you know how thomas edison said something like "i didn't fail, i found 2000 ways not to make a lightbulb" yeah well i can top you thomas!! "im rachel and ive found 20000 ways not to speak tagalog and butcher it past the point of recognition. im skilled like that. but not to worry i can manage a few basic, elemenary sentences to get me through. reminds me of when dad was all. this is all you need to know in spanish "donde esta el bano" got tit! haha so basically im in business with the latinos and the pilipinas.

the other day we were on mormon.org and we just started stalking everyone and their dogs profiles, let it be known you don't need fb with mormon.org. we found everyones boy friends. except mine. eli hasn't made one yet. which reminds me im so mad i missed his grunts and slobbery kisses. I MISS MY NEPHEW. and all ya'll too :) This week consisted of mostly sister porter dying slowly. as i stated she had a temp of 103 one day and went to the instacare then followed migraines and other stuff. mean while sister storey and i made a hobo corner in the hall and basically looked like the most spiritual homeless creatures you could find. ive got to figure out how to get you pictures so you can see it. we seriously saw daylight at dinner and squinted at it like we just emerged from a cave we'd lived in our whole life and took of some tinted sun glasses. it was like sun? what is sun?

word to the wise. you think men look good in suits with tags? HA! Try normal clothes. pretty sure street clothes are the most attractive thing ive seen since the dawn of time. you know what else is nice? sercret agents. last night i dreamed i was a secret agent with a fine looking partner in justice and we scaled the brooklyn bride which had made its way to seattle oddly enough trying to ditch some bad guys which we eventually did through some skilled driving. it was quite nice. reminds me of the time we went into public. as missionaries. yeah you heard me. we went out to go to the byu pharmacy and it was the oddest thing ever. i really did feel like i stepped out of a bubble and had a mantle placed on me. we were all feeling like weirdos so we said hi to about every person we met and creeped out some little kids. hoo ra for us doing our duty. it was a super cool feeling., not going to lie. they were real people!! not like ive seen those before.  anyway ive got to go but just know ng espiritu santo sa lakas and this place is istig!!! love the gospel. love this work. and love to learn. AND love bringing true happiness to others and myself. its great.

mahal kita

sister hansen :)