Best Ice Cream Ever!

Week 1
Manila MTC: While we were at the MTC we stayed in a hotel because they didn't have room for us at the MTC. The hotel was pretty nice, had AC, and had really good food so we didn't complain. The purpose of us going there is to do the fingerprinting at the immigration office and all that stuff before we go to our missions. That way we don't have to leave our mission sometime and go back to Manila. We got to go to the temple while we were there and also to the huge memorial. Other than those two things we pretty much sat in a classroom all day so it wasn't much fun. Wednesday morning we all split up and went to our missions. Since I was Cauayan I got to fly but everyone else in my district had to ride a bus. They dropped my group off at the airport then left so all we had were our bags. We didn't know where to go so we just walked around for a little while then finally ran into some missionaries that were also going to Cauayan that had the stuff we needed to get tickets. We ate at the Wendy's in the airport and got some Krispy Kreme doughnuts. Last American food we'll have for a while!

Mission Home: When we got off the plane and got our bags, we went outside where the mission president, his wife, the AP's, and some senior couple missionaries were waiting for us. Then we went to the mission home and introduced themselves and ate lunch. We ate potatoes believe it or not! Only potatoes I've had since I left Provo. I thought this one thing was a potato in the Manila MTC until I bit into it. It definitely was not a potato and actually pretty gross. Eventually we met our companion then got in different vans and went to our area. My area is about a 3 hour ride from the mission home so it took us a while before we got there. My area is called Bambang 1 which is as far south as you can go in our mission. 

Bambang: We had district meeting Thursday morning so I was able to meet all the other missionaries around where I am. There are 4 of us from Eastern Idaho so that was pretty cool. One from Rexburg, Rigby, Pocatello, and me from IF. After district meeting we went to a chicken place to eat which was really good. Then went to work until around 8. It gets dark at 6:00 here and everyone closes down by 8 so we go back to the apartment and study and prepare for the next day. Friday was a normal day but Saturday we had family week which only happens once a year. It is a big party with all the members from the different branches in the area. Started in the morning with a walk down the middle of the street haha I thought it was so funny because cars were backed up so far since we were in the way. When we got to the church, we set up a couple tents then played a lot of basketball while people cooked the food. Basketball was a lot of fun. The Filipinos are pretty good! After lunch, they had a program and a Karaoke party. That was lasting forever so I went back outside and played soccer with some little kids and two missionaries from New Zealand. They have some awesome accents. The whole party got over around 5 then we went back and showered so we only worked for about 2 hours that night. On Sunday, church starts at 8:30 and we left around 12:30 to go to lunch at a members house. I had to go up in sacrament meeting and introduce myself and bare my testimony but I think I did pretty good. The food at the members house was great and we had ice cream afterwards. The ice cream here is amazing! Best ice cream I've ever had. I'll probably go stock up on some later today since we have a freezer in the apartment!

That's pretty much all that has happened so far. Our apartment is really nice for the area. me and my companion, Elder Zabala, are the only ones that stay in it. Showering with a cup and a bucket isn't near as bad as I thought. Doing laundry with a bucket and a board isn't that bad either it just takes a lot longer. The area is amazing and very pretty. I've been blessed to be in such a pretty area for my first transfer. Hope all is well at home! I loved reading the emails about what is going on. Love you all and talk to you again in a week!

Love Elder Haacke

 

 

Out in the Field

After spending a few days at the Manilla, Philippines MTC, Elder Haacke met President and Sister Rahlf along with his companion and is out in first area:

His first area is Bambang.

 Elder Haacke with President and Sister Rahlf.

Elder Haacke's first companion Elder Zabala. (Bryan never had a companion while he was in the MTC).

Last Minute Dental Visit

Bryan took a field trip from the MTC to go see the dentist (Bryan's Uncle) to get a cavity filled.  Hopefully Bryan will stay cavity free for the next two years!

Last Week at the MTC

It was another good week that went really fast! I had in-field orientation yesterday that lasted all day...longest meeting I've ever been to. I don't think I'll need the lounge passes for the airport because I don't think we'll have very much time. I got messed up on my seat though... I got a middle seat for the trip from Portland to Tokyo. Not excited for that at all so hopefully I can get comfortable somehow and fall asleep. Kelton left on Monday morning so I found him after the devotional on Sunday night and said goodbye and took a picture.  Got to skype a member in the Philippines on Thursday for half an hour haha it was pretty fun! Good thing she spoke English though or I definitely would have been lost! This is a really short email but I can't think of anything else that happened this week. How was Lachlan's birthday?? I hope it was good! I'll probably call you in Portland but I don't know what time it will be around. I would assume maybe 12 ish but that's just a shot in the dark. Might be able to let you know more on Wednesday. Hope all is well! Love and miss you guys!

Love,
Elder Haacke
 

Elder Haacke with his friend Elder Kelton Whipple.

More of the Same

I have no idea what to say about this week. It's just the same as the week before so I'm not sure what to say. We did get our travel plans yesterday so that was pretty exciting. We leave on the 18th from Salt Lake around 10 or 11, can't remember, then it says we go straight to Tokyo but my branch president said we go to Portland, change planes, have a little layover, then go to Tokyo from there. I would assume he would know what we do so I guess I'll go with that one. I can call home in Portland but I'm not sure what time that will be. I will know more next Saturday. There are a bunch of us going over at the same time so our group will be huge. So many elders are talking about the super long flight but I just sit back and say, I've done this a bunch of times so this will be nothing... haha living in China payed off after all! Two districts challenged us in soccer this week so we put both of them in their place haha and I played basketball once this week and that was pretty fun also! Other than that I can't think of anything else that happened this week. Lessons are good, language is coming along. Verbs are super hard though. Like you have to conjugate the word for like command, past, present, and future tense and there are different ways to do it depending on the word. Makes it super hard and so confusing. I've been studying it a ton so we'll see how it goes this week. Hope all is well at home. Keep sending me dear elders to let me know what is going on in the world. I heard Max Hall got arrested for cocaine and his mug shot was in a BYU Alumni shirt or something like that haha my teacher told me about that. Also my teacher is going to be here for the BYU game tonight so I'll get play by play updates for that! Thanks for the package and pictures however I can't remember over half of the pictures in the books haha but I hope all is well! Talk to you again in a week!

Love, 

Elder Haacke