Week 3 (July 25, 2014 MTC Manila, Philippines)

I'll be in the MTC for about 2 and a half more weeks until the August 12. That's 2 and a half right? :P
I haven't received the Debit card yet, but I did get a letter from Avy! It was really cool to finally get a letter :P I also decided I'm keeping everyone envelope I receive too, just because I'm weird like that :P I also got 2 Dear Elder's from uncle Mark forwarding Nik's letter as well as adding a bit at the end of him buying a new printer for his envelopes with Evan and Jill, breaking it, and then getting another :P
I went to the Temple last week and this week. I'll go again next, but it's closed for maintenance after that :( It's SO beautiful though!! It's really small, and a session can only fit about 25-30 people, but it's gorgeous! I've seen the same video 3 times now :) I've yet to see the other new one, but it's okay, because the one I've seen is still So incredible!! I learn something new everytime I go :) Sorry I forgot to tell you last week!!
Our teachers, Sister Hernandez and Brother Aracena, pose as Investigators (Sheena Lopez and Jaymar Tesani respectively), and we teach them as a companion ship. They portray investigators from their own mission's so they're real profiles, and they know a lot about who they're portraying. Even though they just act, they do really well, and it seems very realistic. It can be frustrating at times, but I don't let it get to me. I can't say the same for Elder Murdock :/ He throws fits and mini tantrums quite often. He's rough, but I'm not a walk in the park either :P He's actually watching over a Filipino Elder in the Hospital, so I'm doing a threesome with Elders Chan and Delamare for 24 hours. So excited! :D
Thank you SO much for highlighting the questions. It makes it a Lot easier for my crazy mind :P
So, on to the main stuff- I've been given quite a few look a likes :P All the RTM (Regualar Training Missionaries - Filipino Missionaries) Say I look like Elder Murrary and Elder Helpworth from the District :P One of the ladies that works in the cafeteria says I look like Harry Potter :D Elder Guttenbeil will part my hair (Tongans are very... friendly :P) after I get our of the shower sometimes, because he thinks it makes me look like Elder Holland!! :D :D And then sister Toai is just a psycho, and says I look like Mr Bean :P Whenever she sees me, she says "Hi Elder Bean :) " In her Samoan accent, just like Katelyn would sound. It's hilarious :D Even when I'm not a look-alike, though, I'm still not Elder Syphus. Most of the RTMs see my name as "Elder See-puss" or "Elder Sigh-Puss" they don't understand the F sound in Syphus :P I better get used to it though :P
Because of all the things I don't need while I'm here, I was able to repack my midsized suit case completely full :D Though I understand that it's better for your shoes if you switch them around every day, rather than every transfer like I was originally planning :P So I guess I have to unpack those ;)
Just because- word for word translation from Tagalog into English makes it sound like Yoda speak, because they use VAOL (Verb Actor Object Location) rather than AVOL, like Americans do. Just thought I'd tell you :P A Tagalog word I learned the other day is Bundok which means mountains. So when we say that we live out in the boondocks, we've been speaking Tagalog all this time! :D :D I thought that was really cool when I found the out :)
Do you think you'd be able to send me a copy of my farewell talk, a typed copy of what you can remember from me getting set apart (like what was said), and a really cheap suit from DI? Just as something to wear on Sundays, and to burn for my two year mark :P ( I probably won't really burn it, so don't worry.... but that's why I want cheap :)
Tell Mark thank you SO much for his Plan of Salvation Book! It's awesome!!
So, because we have a lot of Polynesian Missionaries here, every hymn sounds AWESOME. They have a really special way of harmonizing, that makes EVERYTHING sound Polynesian. It's beautiful :D
Elder Echo Hawk is speaking here at the MTC in a few weeks!!!! It's going to be So Awesome, and I'm SO excited!!!!!! BE JEALOUS :D
Elder Eves (one of the senior missionaries with his wife) does a intense workout routine every other day during Gym, which I participate in. It's Super heavy duty, but feels SO good :) During the off days, I found a Jump rope, so I gust go crazy with it :P. I've already broken one of the handles because of Double Unders. I'm actually pretty good at those now :) I want to get a jump rope out in the field, because I think it would be really good to use throughout my mission :)
For Dinner the other night, we had Burgers and Fries, but the fries weren't salty enough, So I thought of Kambree as I perfected my meal :P Just thought she'd like to hear that.... now that I think about it more though, she probably doesn't care :P I love you all!!! Miss you so much!! I'm going to try to send pictures again, but we'll see :P Ingat Kayo!

LOVE
Elder Syphus


​Pizza!! Every two weeks on Tuesday they have a "Birdathday Dainner" for the leaving batch. They serve Pizza, Spaghetti, and Cake. SO good, but it doesn't match anything from home :) They also give us...

​KNIVES!!! This was the very first time I saw a knife in the Philippines. They cut their food with a spoon or just tear it apart with their hands. We've had fish, chicken, and some other tastyish meats, but never a knife. They need knifes for pizza though... huh?

Well, I'm outta time, so I better go :( I love you all so much!! I'll makes sure to send NEW pictures next week :)
I really cool quote I find about missions that as beginning to hold true is "The Days feel like Weeks, and the Weeks feel like Days" It's true :)
Love you!
With Love,
Elder Syphus