Christmas Skype!

Although Jacob has only been gone a couple of months we were still waiting on pins and needles to be able to visit with him through Skype on Christmas Day.  Being new to this program and coordinating with different days and time zones across the world did have it's challenges.  We waited patiently on Christmas Eve thinking that would be the magic day but unfortunately went to bed that night a little disappointed.  Christmas Day came and we celebrated as a family going about our regular traditions which included going to a movie that afternoon.  As the movie ended I turned my phone back on and panicked when I noticed 11 missed Skype calls.  Within seconds the magic 12th call came in and I thoroughly embarrassed myself by practically yelling at my phone, "Jake, we're here...hang on!"...We unceremoniously worked our way out of the theater, (gratefully the movie had ended) and stood out in front of the theater trying to crowd around my phone.  We must have truly been a sight! Next step was to head to the car and "plug him into" the car speakers for about an hour and then finally we drove home and transfered to the computer for a final few minutes.  What an adventure!  It was so good to talk to him and to see him.  I have attached some pictures and a couple videos.  Enjoy!

Things Jacob shared about where he lives and what he's doing...

  1.  No running water means...a walk into the village with his companion and their buckets to bring water back to the apartment...they ride a "Jeepney" home to shower and wash clothes in said bucket.
 
2.    McDonald's menu is not quite the same....rice, noodles, chicken (no chicken nuggets) and no Big Mac.

3.    Umbrellas aren't much good in the rain...the locals only bring them out for shade when it's sunny.

4.    He's invested in cheap rubber shoes that look just like dress shoes.

LOTS AND LOTS OF RAIN!

5.    When trying to approach someone's door to share a message the missionaries holler out a hello to the door through the gates and a classic response is, "My mom says she's not here."

6.    The very best mangoes in the whole world.

7.    He loves the people!!!!

Merry Christmas from the Philippines December 28, 2014

First Christmas in the Philippines and first Christmas away from home. It was hard but we stayed very busy. On the 23 we went to a ward Christmas party in Mandurriao. It was a lot of fun. I got to meet a few members and eat a ton of food! The Philippines really know how to throw a party! Christmas Eve we went to Sister Teresa's house and she fed us a lot of food! And wouldn't let us leave till all the food was gone. She made us each drink a whole liter of 7up. I was so full! After that then we went to the Sorilla's home for a big Christmas Eve dinner. They are super rich! They also fed us a ton of food! They were super nice. After that dinner Elder Staples and I went to The Zone Leaders home (Elder Cabatuando and Elder Kimall). This is both of there last area. They are great Elders and leaders. We slept over at there home that night because it is to dangerous to be out at night on Christmas Eve. We woke up on Christmas day. The zone leaders had to go to a White Christmas (Huge Baptism) that morning so Elder Staples and I just went home. We went and visited Sister Geraldean. She is a recent convert to the church. We talked to her for awhile about things she is struggling with then gave her a blessing. She is a super strong person! She is awesome! For lunch Elder and Sister Robinson (Senior Missionaries) invited us over for and American Christmas meal. It was sooo good! We had cheesy potatoes, ham, rolls, and cake! Then we played farkle with them for a little while. They made us feel right at home. When we got home from there house Sister Teresa wanted us to come over again. Of course she had more food. Haha We had a great visit with her and ate more food. So I think i'm going to name this Christmas The Christmas of Damo Food! (damo=a lot) I also had the best Christmas present ever! I got to skype the family back home! I miss all of you back home a ton. Hope everyone had a great Chritmas!

Ps If you can't tell by the pics there are damo Rice Fields here!

-- 

Elder Jake Frandsen

Philippines Iloilo Mission

View from Jacob's first apartment in San Miguel

A few pictures from Jacob's current home is San Miguel.  Sounds very rustic but looks beautiful.  Also including some pictures of the local flora and fauna.

First letter from the Philippines December 21, 2014

Wow. Okay so this has been a crazy week! We arrived in Iloilo on Wednesday. We were picked up by the mission president and his APs. (Assistants to the President) We went by jeepney to the mission home where we did some orientation stuff. That night we slept in a hotel (no showers or flushing toilet or drinkable water) But it was alright. Then the next morning we went back to the mission home where we got our assignments. My companion is Elder Staples from Utah. I am in the Iloilo central zone in San Miguel. It's a new area that just opened 3 months ago. My trainer has only been here for 12 weeks. We are the only missionaries in this area. We don't quite have a branch yet because we only have 4 members. But we hope to grow quickly. On Sunday I got set apart as the 2nd assistant to the group leader and my companion got set apart as a group leader aka bishop. So yeah it's interesting to be the person running the group (small version of a branch) here. 

The language is super crazy hard and it gets really frustrating at times like when I am trying to talk to talk to little kids and I just can't understand them :( The language in this first area in ilonggo mixed with Tagalog and karay-a. But I will just keep praying for the Gift of Tongues and work hard and I know I will get it. 

We are teaching the Cemral Arogona family. They have tons of kids! I love them so much. Hopefully they will be a family baptism pretty soon. The members here are great! 

I am so grateful for everything I had at home! Here there is no running water. No dishwasher. No shower. No Washing machine. No air conditioning. But yet the people here make up for all that! They are so amazing! 

It's kind of funny. So my companion and I are both Americans. So anytime anyone see's us they yell "Hey JOE!" or "Hey friend!" or "KANO!" Haha They are just trying to be funny. 

But yeah so that's been my first week in the Philippines! :) Thank you everyone for all your prayers and have a MERRY CHRISTMAS!!  

-- 

Elder Jake Frandsen

Philippines Iloilo Mission

Elder Frandsen's first area Iloilo Central Zone in San Miguel with companion Elder Staples.

Jacob is always making new friends.  Looks like the kids love him there too! :)

A Quick Update

Over the course of the last 10 days Elder Frandsen has sucessfully traveled to the other side of the world and is now in the Philippines.  He had a brief stopover in Manila of about 5 days and stayed at a local hotel with a group of the missionaries he traveled with.  During the time he had the opportunity to do some proselyting and begin sharing the gospel with the locals.
On Tuesday the 16th of December he flew to Iloilo on the island of Panay which is the  general area he will be serving in during the next 2 years.
Attached is a picture of Jacob in front of the Manila Temple during his time there.
This brings us up to date and the next post will be his first letter from the Philippines.
Thank you for all your love, prayers, letters and support.

Julie Frandsen
(Jake's Mom)

A surprise from fellow missionary parents

What a fun suprise when we woke up at our hotel in Manila and found it full of missionaries. Wonderful! We are her to pick up our daughter on Monday who just finished her mission in Olongapo. We love tender mercies and thought we'd share one with you. Tim & Becky Taylor Murray, Ut

Last Week in MTC December 5, 2014

Well nothing super exciting happened this week. It's kinda hard to compare to last week. We've just been going all out in our language study till we leave. Yesterday we skyped a member in the Philippines. We understood a lot more then I thought we would. Which was awesome. They just talk SUPER fast there so you are always trying to listen super close to understand them. She lives in Iloilo and she kept talking about the typhoon. Sounds like it's a kind of a bad one. So when we get there we will be doing a lot of service. (building houses, repairing houses, cleaning the streets,etc) Everyone just keep the Philippine people in your prayers. Salamat! (Thank you!)

We leave for the Philippines early Thursday morning. When we get there we will be staying at the Manila MTC for five days. Then we fly to Iloilo :) It will be interesting to see what happens when I get there. There is a good possibility I won't even be speaking ilonggo. We could speak waray waray, akyonon, aklonon, tagolog, or cebuano. But no matter what happens I know Heavenly Father will help me along the way.

I have seen so many blessings here in the MTC. I know it's just the start of the next two years. I wouldn't trade this experience for anything.

Well this will be the last email for a couple of weeks. But I just want to thank everyone for your support and prayers. Palangga Taka! Have a great week!

-- 

Elder Jake Frandsen

Philippines Iloilo Mission