May 5th email for Dad

Dad, sorry I've been really delinquent at writing to you in response to what you write to me. I'll have to fix that in a written letter for this week because I'm a bit out of time. Of course everything I write is really for everyone although I address specific people sometimes. So, your Tagalog is very interesting :) I actually still don't know a lot of the words you are trying to use, sad as that is. I understand Gospel terms and our lessons a lot better because that's what we do all day and what I practice and hear over and over, culture and every day stuff will have to come later. Also,the grammar is a bit different. It's fun to try to decode though :)

Our name is Landrum in Tagalog... it's a name so it just stays a name. Dumaong does mean something but I'll have to look it up, Sister Mabalot can't fiture out what the English equivalent is. Kapatid is sibling and na babae, babae is girl so sibling that is a girl. They also just use Sister... some things they just say in English. Couldn't would be "Hindi Puwede" Hindi is no and Puwede is one of the words for "Can" I had my preach my gospels bound so that cost a bit of money but they were falling apart a bit so that was important. Sending heavy letters and printing pictures is also expensive and I have to use funds from home and not our missionary funds for it but if you want me to I'll keep sending them sometimes. Just make sure to keep me updated about what money is on my card still so I don't go over, k?! I'm glad you liked the pictures. They all do look very young, until they get old...then they all look really old. People always react to me very interestingly and from what I hear from Sister Nielsen who is soon to go home, it never really changes. The other day some man whose friend we were teaching just kept staring at me and then he tried to court me, he wants to marry me etc. and it was a bit hmmmm just uncomfortable for me but harmless thus far so we're having members from the ward come with us whenever we teach them. I also have to be used to people just touching my hair sometimes or grabbing my arm...it's interesting. More about leadership and the youth later so I can discuss it better, maybe in my hand written letter. That is definitely why we need good missionaries and presidents etc. to help the areas of the church in the word where it's still not established. Help them not corrupt doctrine simply because they don't know any better... it'seasy to see how doctrine becomes corrupted very easily also. I talked with the mission president about how to cope with some of my concerns, of course I can do nothing to change them but they cause me concern anyway so that was good to discuss with him. Gas is so expensive! Sheesh...I hope it goes down before I come back. I guess I probably won't have a car though so it might not directly affect me in that sense. Thanks for the "world update" I don't even know who I would vote for if I was there to do so... I think the most I can do for our country and for the world in some cases is just pray that the best for us will turn out and that we can overcome it. We live in the time when our country has rejected a lot of truth, though...and the book of mormon clearly states that because it is the promised land a curse will come upon it for those who do not follow the commandments of God. If fact, I've started keeping track of how many times that exact thing is said. Maybe I'll send all the references when I find them all. Anyway have to go, sorry...
Love, Brit