i learned my first swear in tagalog

so its been a week! a super sunny sunday and that has been the best day of the past 6weeks!! btw sketchy keyboard. 

so on wednesday, we took the hour plus and super expensive ride out to Solano for the dentist then she wasn't even there! made it home, worked and stuff, then on friday we went again and still no root canal! cmon. she said she forgot to do something to the tooth hole so i have to come back next thursday. oh man, its been like 5 weeks of weird mouth stuff but for the past 3 weeks no pain or anything like that, just a tooth hole. the worst part is that it affects our work. after the jeepneys and tricys just sap all of Elder Mebulos' energy, so he has to rest once we get home so we cant do much work those days.  mostly just 3-9. but i was still proud of the work we put out. it sucks wasting all this time w my tooth, but the stories have been pretty good,so hard to hate. 

funny language things. so i learned my first swear in tagalog! at an appointment i asked what a certain word meant that i saw a while ago and had noted down. they all just said "thats a bad word" lol pretty funny but kinda awkward because they kept trying to figure out the english equivilent......... but then something that happens a lot is when i'm teaching people how to pray i mean to say 'your prayers should come from your heart'.  but what i actually say is 'they come from your cat! heart in tagalog is puso and cat is pusa! usually leads to a good giggle. "your prayers are supposed to come from you cat".

so yesterday was like the coldest day ever! the morning was straight frigid! like long sleeves and pants worthy. so in the morning, we worked before church nice and early and doing studies in the evening bc of sundays early curfews. and just biking around on a clear, sunny, crisp morning brought me back to similar mornings back home.  it was my "heavenly day". 

at church, out of the 30-40ish that attend, usually there are no kids. but this time one 9 y/o attended. and after i taught the adults, i found him just sitting around, so we went outside on the lawn in the shade of a huge mango tree and had our own private class. i used the gospel picture book and explained stories of Jesus. later tatay picar came and joined us and we spent a good 30 mins just talking Jesus stories. there was love there. ended the day squeezing every bit of time to teaching and finding. the day was one of the best for no apparent special reasons but the spirt of god was with us and we had powerful lessons. huge up from a long streak of lows and stress!! love it. 

HYMN 97: Lead, Kindly Light 

"pride ruled my will, remember not past years"

a lot of tough lessons have been learned this cycle and this hymn has helped me fix some personal weaknesses in my life. music heals the soul!

may pananmpalataya kay Cristo,

KEARL 

a new years surprise from Elder Waites mom

A few weeks back, Laura White, contacted me on Facebook.  She has a son serving in scott's mission and had noticed some pictures of scotty in photos her son sent home.  We made the connection and conversed for a while.  They are from Ogden Utah and went out around the same time.  They aren't companions but have been together for fun on PDays.  She was kind enough to forward me some pictures of the boys from New Years Eve.  Her son is the one with lighter hair.

So appreciated on my end and a wonderful mid week surprise!

still getting rice in the tooth hole

hi mama,


kamusta po nay,

its been a week thats for sure, but before i get into to it, i got two things. the philippines is really english especially in like banks and government stuff so the other day a family was talking money and they kept saying "cheeky".  i was super confused and then i thought about it and they were saying "cheque" lol. second is me and the comp are trying to learn Illocano. that's the other big language in this part of the country. it's as different as like spanish and portuguese where you can't understand the other but sometimes you can make it out. so if i try, i'll be able to speak 3 languages. we will see how it goes. this country has over 200 RECOGNIZED languages oh man.

so my root canal is this week now because my face didn't leak enough. so i'm still getting rice in the tooth hole but its all good. that day, president and sister hiatt were there and he gave me an awesome blessing that was beautiful. andgrandpa rosenvall sent me a letter with $40 american, i converted it and its enough to feed me for well over 2 weeks. thanks grandpa!  but as i was converting the money, i met a couple from calgary, filipinos visiting their parents. they are even from beddington! it was weird taking high schools and stuff. since its the holidays a lot of people are visiting. i've seen tons of white people too, like 5!! they stick out like a sore thumb.

so new years was pretty sunny. so they start celebrating christmas in september but that's because they are secretly excited for new years. that's their day! oh man. so the culture is just be as loaded as you can on and around 12 am. one guy leaned on his car horn for like 5 full minutes and these kids let off these air cannons that are insane loud and sound like gun shots so all you hear are cheap plastic trumpets and gun shots. impossible to sleep so we sat on our porch and watched fireworks from any and all directions. the day following everyone w a big smile says "HAPPY NEW YEAR" to each other. now this is the happiest day of the year. i've had to deal with a lot of drunk men too. usually just walk em home but one was even like burying his head in my chest and kissing me! super funny.

all in all, it's been a long and stresful cycle with many unexpected issues,  but i'm figuring it out and mostly just learning!! it sucks having so many weaknesses, but thats the point of life, so i'm into it.  don't worry about me.  i got this!

keep living and loving, 

KEARL

deciding for 2017 to do a weekly hymn so this weeks is: hymn 130, be thou humble, and my fav line from it
"Be thou humble in thy calling, and the lord thy God shall teach thee.  To serve his children gladly with a pure and gentle love."

there is a special place in heaven for mission presidents and their wives.....they travelled 6 hours to be with scotty for his dental work today and kept sending me updates with pictures!

Tuesday morning

Hi Sister Kearl, 

he is actually scheduled for today at 9:00 a.m. our time.  We are meeting him in Solano to give him the money he needs to for pain medication.  His pain meds are reimbursable.  President will offer him a blessing if he feels he needs it.  

I understand you concern completely as we have sent 6/7 of our children out on missions (our oldest daughter married at age 20:-).

if you could get a glimpse of how these young men and young women step up to manhood and womanhood in such a quick and beautiful manner, it would overflow your heart with joy.  Elder Kearl is wonderful.  He is happy, obedient, willing and trusted. His Tagalog is remarkable and he is already serving as a district leader at a very young 'mission' age.

We had a wonderful Christmas, there is a special feeling spending Christmas in the mission field - it really can't be duplicated.  We hope yours was too.  I'll update you on his progress.

Keep him in your prayers as do we.

Love, Sister Hiatt

Tuesday evening

Hi Sister Kearl, 

just thought you'd like a bit of a visual of the dentist location here in Solano.

Sister Hiatt

Hi Sister Kearl,

President Hiatt and Elder Mebulos gave him a blessing- all will be well. I picked up his antibiotics and gave him sufficient ibuprofen for pain, just in case. The dentist assured him there would not be any after the procedure.
I'll update you after the root canal is over.
Love you!

Sister Hiatt

Hi Sister Kearl,

This is the clinic where the root canal will take place. This dentist has been highly recommended.

Hi Sister Kearl,

A couple fun photos, a funeral procession and the city Christmas tree.
Elder Kearl and Elder Mebulos traveled about an hour from their area in Dupax Del Sur (south) in the zone of Bambang to Solano. They are the southern most area of our mission.
It's a great and wonderful life here!
Enjoy 

Sister Hiatt

and finally, an email from scotty boy from President Hiatt's phone.

Hey nay hey tay! Elder Kearl here in the flesh. The Oh so lovely Sister Hiatt is letting me write a little note to ya guys! All is well in Del Sur, en route to the root canal after a lovely blessing from President Hiatt and Elder Mebulos. Whatever happens just know it will make for a good story and Sean Frieberg can probably fix it. Love ya, praying for ya.

KEARL

AND AFTER ALL THAT.....NO ROOT CANAL TILL NEXT WEEK

I emailed Sister Hiatt and thanked her for looking out for my boy.  She replied......

You are welcome, however, in your son's words...
"So still no root canal. We'll return next wednesday for that. The abcess still needs to drain. But those meds you got are perfect thanks! Enjoy banaue!

      Elder Kearl &
          Elder Mebulos
    ¤Dupax Del Sur¤

I responded to go get a burger and celebrate. 
He texted back: "Were on it! That christmas card from my grandpa had a life saving $40 (american) in it as well! And we can work today! :D"
  We love these elders!
Sister Hiatt

i keep getting freaking rice stuck in my tooth hole!

kamusta po nay, 

sunny days for sure. and my first christmas of 2 in the field! helped me appreciate christmas back home, thats for sure. 

so about my tooth. i actually get my root canal wednesday so you can start praying then. on tuesday, doc just drilled a hole in my tooth to drain some junk and ive had no problems, no pain, handsome smile now. but the tooth is still kinda loose and i keep getting freaking rice stuck in my tooth hole!! and its a challenge to get out. i notice if its clogged for too long, i then get the rice out and a huge burst of face fluid pours out and tastes bad. the tooth holes weird, but good stories right? 

so some more things about my companion. so one night i was busy with something and asked him if he could sweep the apartment for us, he simply said "its not my culture".  i asked why and he said its more filipino to sweep the apartment in the morning! super into it! love what i'm becoming! also he loves to sing in the shower. so he will be singing and then all of a sudden you hear him pour the bucket of cold water over himself, then silence, and a "OH freak!! MALAMIG (cold)!!!" every time. he is a hoot. falling in love with the kid.

as for christmas, bc of the build up since september, i was getting hyped but it was pretty low key. mostly bc no one can afford to do much at all. christmas eve meal was just a canned ulam (side you eat with rice) and christmas dinner we actually skipped bc i was busy w my calling and we had no rice!! we did get an awesome christmas lunch tho which was great! i had a lot of fun telling everyone "merry christmas" and getting a sunny response back. the presents you sent me were so great, thanks!! i followed our tradition of putting the stockings on the couch and i was the santa this time... miss ya! super low key christmas, full of mental flash backs to my fav parts of christmas back home......christmas eve!! we had church, i was asked and honoured to be the concluding speaker. for my 7th time speaking in church, i was given 30 minutes to fill and i really prepared my talk about grace! in my super ugly tagalog but i love talking in church! hope they understood...... crazy how i have one more christmas left! idk if that is encouraging or depressing.

weekly scripture about my current favorite study topic. a classic.

Ether 12:27

And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness.  I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.  

his grace is sufficient everyone,

yeah thats it! still learing tons, improving a lot, having fun, struggling here and there. just the mission life. sunny days!! 

KEARL