so i got sick

hi mama,

kumusta po nay,

so i got sick. but i’m not sick anymore so now its just a good story. not going to lie i was a little afraid. this was probably the most sick i have ever been in my life and it felt weird you weren’t in the same house as me mom and Sister Hiatt was 4+ hours away. not to mention the closest approved hospital is like an hour away. but time cures all things. so it started right after my baptism.  we were walking home after an appointment and my legs felt super weak. we got to the bahay and i just laid down and couldn’t do much. i couldn’t even write in my journal. i then mustered enough strength to shower which always helped back home but a big diffrence back home is the water is warm and there is an actual shower.  here, the already freezing cold water felt absolutely frigid. each bucket dump over my head had me shivering. after the shower i was still shivering so i put on my fleece pg pants, long sleeve t-shirt and the only sweater i brought. i laid down, put my sheet over me and was still freezing! super concerning. i slept a lil and then felt really hot. managed to take off my clothes and sleep a bit more. that night was filled w over 15 trips to the CR (comfort room = washroom) and litterly coming out of both ends simultaneously. good thing the floors already gross. took care of my mess slightly and threw up 2 other times. the next day i slept the whole morning w more painful trips to the CR and made 2 hours of church. came back home more CR trips more sleep. felt better for Pday so emailed and stuff then made an appointment but the next day i called sister hiatt. ended up resting that whole day again on tuesday,  with the help of an aritao elder so we could still get some work done. that night i went to sleep at 8:30 and have never slept so well in my life,  other than first night in manilla MTC. woke up feeling good and have managed to work since. my appetites been coming back and im pretty well back to normal. it was pretty scary as we were on the brink of no water but a prayer was answered. i was honestly pretty confident i could make it these 2 years without getting sick but turns out im not completly immortal. things are good tho!!! painful week but i’m over it now so like i said. just a good story!!!! 

ive also noticed something strange on my thigh. if my grade 10 sports med knowledge does me any good i think theres like 4 muscles in the thigh. yeah one muscle is like 5 times more devolped than the rest so its pretty funny. 

im now at a point where i can understand better than i can speak tagalog and im naturally speaking some tagalog over english!! good by my canadian identity. 

the dog who spends all day every day on our porch, brownie, got sick and has died :/ this is hard for the whole district as we all love him very much. life goes on tho. we heard the news from one of my best friends, dave who is 4 years old. he is a character and a half. at his young age he is "so fluent in speaking" as my comp says and often calls me "baklat" (gay) and "pangitt" (ugly) but dave means it w love. we always ask him his name and its cute when he just says "dave!" every morning when i’m lifiting some weights, getting huge, i ask him how he is. always "ok lang" (just ok). we often invite him to come work with us but he is usually too busy running around and messing with our shoes with the other kids. great crew we have here. 

i’ll finish by mentioning 2 very strange experiences this week. i was in aritao on splits and we went to teach a guy who actually was born and raised in Illinois! it was weird to go up to him and hear "hey bud!" and then proceed to missionary in all english! he has an interesting past w the church and there is great potential. he ended up giving us a ride in his pig tricy and conversing in all english was super strange. even seeing the american companion i was with speak in english to someone else was strange. just afterwards i felt so bizarre and as we went to our next appointment in tagalog i felt super super strange. 

the other situation is about that couple who moved from england.  so the husband who doesn’t like missionaries and is very distant from the church pulled over and offered us a ride to the lil barungay we were headed to. in a car even!! it was absolutely wild being in a car and whizzing past on the road and seeing the world move so quick. and i even wore a seatbelt! he has a deep english accent and is actually pretty friendly. he has an interesting story and its was very great to speak in english to people twice this week!! i cherish communication so much.

all that aside ive done some thinking and started wondering why i wanted to learn a language. but as i look at my progress and i can’t help but get hyped on the stuff i can actually say, i am pretty far. i am studying hard and loving this opportunity to learn. i realize how stupid english is. 

also conference was a amazing! some very powerful talks and many of my personal questions answered.  I  have received some much needed guidance. i cherish the talks and am excited to read them in next months liahona. i love conference.

long rambling email i hope you don’t mind. life is good. i am still cruising and enjoying this work and beautiful country and people

much love,

elder kearl