Elder Austin Russell Cook Philippines, Legazpi Mission 8-2016 thru 8-2018: Elder Bednar is actually coming to our mission on the 22nd of this month and I get to play the piano for it, which is actually pretty cool.

So this week I got another new companion, Elder Maga! He's pretty cool and we get along really well! He doesn't know how to speak English very well, so we only speak Tagalog, which is helping me improve my skills a lot! He's hardworking, and is like super obedient to all of the rules which is a huge relief. He's basically just like Elder Thompson, who was my companion in the MTC, except a lot nicer. He just has the same social skills.

THAT'S RIGHT, STRAIGHT UP PLANTING RICE.
I don't think it gets anymore Filipino than that to be honest

This week not much happened. We didn't get much work in because we had a lot of meetings and a lot of random craziness, but that's alright!

One story that I want to share just because I think it's so dang cute is when we went to go teach the Porcado kids. Yna, who is 15 and speaks perfect English, and John Ray, who is 12. We went to go teach them, but only Yna was there, and she told us a little story about John Ray. She said that he has been pretty upset with life, and just kind of sad this past week. She says that whenever he is sad, before he goes to sleep at night on his spot on the concrete floor, he takes all of their copies of the Book of Mormon, and all of the little pamphlets we use to teach them, and he lays them in a perimeter around his sleeping area. Yna says he feels safer and happier when he does that because he thinks all of the Book of Mormons and stuff will protect him and keep him happy when he sleeps. I don't know why I wanted to share that, I just thought it was such an awesome thing that he did that. Whether it helps or not, it makes him feel safe and happy.

So not much for this week, but I'll have more for you all in the coming week, I promise! Alright I'll email in another 7 days, and remember, I love you all!!

Good old yummy chicken feet

P.S: Elder Bednar is actually coming to our mission on the 22^nd of this month and I get to play the piano for it, which is actually pretty cool. Also Brooklyn asked me if I have been sleeping ok. Sleeping is easy here. I’m pretty use to the weather now, so I don’t sweat hardly anymore. Oh and we got to plant rice out in the rice fields last week and I felt like a true Filipino. I also get to play the piano in sacrament meeting every week. The piano is super crappy and wobbly. There are a ton of normal upright pianos that I play here also. So some of the crazy foods I have eaten here are chicken heart and chicken feet. I’ve eaten pig skin, chicken fetus, and pig and cow intestines. Yeah, we pretty much eat everything over here.