Another good week

Things are really good. This week went by a lot faster, I was really happy about that, but the weeks still feel really long.  We are having a baptism this week and I am doing one of them. I am excited and scared at the same time. I don't want to mess up. I don't know if I will have to do it in Tagalog or in English. We have been teaching them, but I was not the one that started teaching them, but we are really close to them. They have a little boy and he is one of the coolest and funniest little boys, he is 2. The language is really hard!  I can only say a couple of words then the rest is in English. Everyone says it takes time, but I can't wait!  I just want to know it. We have like 12 missionaries in our zone and 4 of us in our ward. I am getting really close with the Elders here and I feel like I am opening up more to them. I have just been thinking about all the things I will be doing when I get home. Then I realize that I still have like 22 months and I just start laughing. It's fun here just trying to get use to all the poverty and all the trash is hard, but I think that I am starting to get use to it.  I love you and am thinking about all of you every day. I will be able to skype on Mothers day. I told Mom a little more about it. I don't know exactly when, but it will most likely be mothers day night for you I will let you know more.

Love you,

Elder Doney 

I love it here!

My mission is awesome. I am in Santiago City. We have 2 McDonald's it is awesome. I love to go there. This is the only place in my mission that has 2 McDonald's and there are only 3 in the whole mission. The Country is way cool. There is a lot of trash every were, but it is still way cool. My companion's name is Elder Delector. He has only 2 months left so I am his last companion. Friday he had a really bad reaction to some medication that he took. So we spent the night and all day Saturday in the hospital, it was not fun. I had to sleep in a chair. When I got up to go do something my right leg was completely numb so I fell over. Everyone started to laugh. Because we were in the hospital I missed the Saturday session and the Priesthood session of General Conference, but I was able to see the Sunday sessions. They were so good. It is good to hear what the Prophet has to say. That has been my favorite Sunday. Here in the Philippines if you have great respect for someone when you shake their hand you will put their hand to you forehead. When I was walking down the street a bunch of little kids came up to us, because I am white they all just stare at me, and one of them came up to me and put my hand to his forehead. I have no idea why, but it was awesome. It made me feel so good. The people here don't have very much money. We have one Nanay (mom) here that we call the missionary Nanay. Every day for lunch she feeds all the missionaries here, it is crazy. She really cares about the missionaries. They don't have much and her husband wanted to do something for the missionaries so he fed them and when he died she continued it. She is an amazing person. I love it here and will send pictures when I get take more. I love and think about you every day.

Love You,

Elder Doney       

Mom, 

 Things are going great. It is so hot I do nothing but sweat all the time. I have not had any one yell at me. I have had people swear at me because I am white, but most of the time the kids just look at me for a really long time. Here if you really respect someone when you shake their hand you put their hand to you forehead, it is a sign of respect.  I was walking and a bunch of little kids came up to us and one of them did that to me. It was way cool. I have no idea why, but I liked it. The people here love the gospel and are willing to listen to you. They are way nice we have 3 people getting baptized on the 27th and like 4 on the 11th next month, it is way exiting. One sister we are teaching, her sister is active in the church. They are rich and they always have us come do laundry in their laundry machine. She told me last time we taught them that she tries her hardest to do what we say, and when she does she can feel that it is true. I told her lets go get baptized right now. It was way cool. I missed the Saturday session and Priesthood session of General Conference because I spent Friday night and all day Saturday in the hospital with my companion. He had a really bad reaction to some medication he took. It was way scary, but everything is okay now and he is up and about. I was able to see the Sunday sessions and I loved it!  It was so awesome to hear the words of the Prophet. Could you send stuff like top roman and Oreos and goop and what ever you can think of. My companion loves Papa Jay's jerky! I still have some but he ask me all the time if he can have some. I love you and think about you every day. I can't wait to tell you more stories and send some awesome pictures. I don't have very many pictures yet when I get some good ones I will send them.

Love You,

Elder Doney     

First Area- Santiago

I miss all of you. Things here are good. I am getting use to the food. I am starting to eat a lot of food. We will have dinner then I will make like 2 sandwiches. The people are way cool and always so nice. They always care about you and if they think something is wrong they will come and talk to you and see how you are doing. We have not watched Conference yet, we don't watch it till this Sunday. I am so exited to watch it. I heard they watch it in English. I am hoping so I know what is going on. We have 8 people with baptism dates. It is crazy and all of them except one came to church Sunday. It is so awesome I can't wait to see them get baptized. The people here are so open to listen to you. They will not turn you away. I still don't know any Tagalog. Some Elders that have been here for 5 months still don't know it. They can speak a little more then me, but they still can't talk with people. It has been so hot here. Every day is hotter then then the last. I can't take the heat - I am so tired all the time until it is night and it cools down then we have a blast. I do not have to do laundry by hand anymore in my area. We have a rich member in my ward. She said that she wants us every Monday to come and do laundry at her house in her washing machine. I am so happy!  Things are going great here. I love to here about every thing that is going on and send lots of pictures. Love you tons.
Elder Doney  

Mom, 
Things here are great. It gets hotter and hotter every day. My companion is awesome and is always trying to help me. The members are amazing they are always talking to us and helping us. We always have fellow shippers. They love to work with the missionary's. We have one member in my ward that is rich, for here, and she told us every Monday that she wants us to come to her house and do our laundry in her washing machine. I am so happy it makes everything easier. The language is really hard. All I really want are just some snacks that I can eat all through the day, and anything that you can think of. We have not watched General Conference yet, we don't watch it till this Sunday. We have 8 investigators with a baptism date. I am way exited. I really don't know what they are saying all the time so I just sit there. Other than that everything is the same. I love you and think about you every day.
Love you
Elder Doney    

Living in Paradise?

How are things going at home? Things are crazy here. Its so hot all the time. We cleaned our apartment today. I killed like 10 spiders. I don't know if i got all of them. I guess I will find out. The roads are crazy if you don't watch where you are going you will get hit. My trainer is from the Philippine, but he can speak some English. I still have no idea what the people are saying when they talk, it's crazy when we teach. There is a lot of poverty here, but the people are all so happy all the time. Most of the houses here only have one or two rooms. One house we taught in only had a bedroom and a hallway that they used for the kitchen. We have 3 families with a baptism date. It's crazy. My companion and I are opening a new area. The food is weird, I didn't eat much at first, but now I eat so much. Most of the food really doesn't have a taste, or just a little of a taste. I did laundry for the fist time today. It was no fun. It was by hand, and it took so long to do. I am luck they say because I don't have to use a bucket to shower yet. The people are so nice when you go into a member's house they always try to feed you. Sometimes the food is not good. Things are going good. If I think of something else I will have to tell it to you next week. We only get to email on Mondays. and we have to pay  for the time we use. I am always thinking about you.

Love you,

Elder Doney

 At family home evening 

Some of the food we ate at family home evening 

My roommates and my companion. 

My companion is on the right. The one in the middle

 is Elder Oldem, from the Philippines.  The one on the left is 

Elder Kaloni he is from Salt Lake but his parents are from Tonga. 

 

My bed room

   

 

 Right in the front doors of the church I go to

He Made It!

Elder Doney with his Mission President

Philippines Cauayan Mission

Mission Map

The Philippines Cauayan Mission takes in most of Region 

2 in the wide Cagayan River Valley stretching from Santa Fe,

 Nueva Vizcaya in the south to Alcala, 

                                                                                 Cagayan in the north. 

                             The Mission Home & Office are located in the very center in Cauayan City.

And He's Off!

Brother and Sister Doney,

I work at the Salt Lake City International Airport and was able to see your son off this morning. I was a neighbor of his travel companion Elder Heumann and was able to drop off a few donuts for the first leg of their trip to the Philippines. He looks great and is excited to serve. I wanted to share with you the photos that I snapped of him and his travel group.

Last week in the MTC

Hey I got my flight plans. I leave the MTC at 4 AM on Monday. My first flight leaves Salt Lake at 7:58 then I arive in San Francisco at 9:06. Then I leave San Francisco at 10:14 so I will be able to call home in San Francisco for like an hour. From San Francisco I fly to Guam. I will get there at 6:00 pm on the 26th. I am so exited to see Guam and where Luke went on his mission. Then from Guam I go to Manilia. In Manilia I have a 10 to 12 hour bus ride to my mission, but i heard yesterday that they are starting to fly people to my mission. I am hoping they do that. I am so ready to get out of here, but i will miss some of the kids. I have become really close to them. Things at home sound like they are going really great. I got the package you sent thanks so much I love it. Tell Reagan the book is awesome I read it all the time. I got an email from a friend that is in the Philippines right now and he said that at the end of the day as he was taking everything in as he walk home. He looked up for a few seconds and fell into a man hole. I was laughing so hard when I read it. This week is going by so slow, but once I get to the Philippines it will go by so fast- I cant wait. The language is still hard. Sometimes I feel like I know a lot then at times I feel like I don't know anything. I have really enjoyed reading the Book of Mormon. I don't like to read, but I have really liked reading it. I am trying to finish it before I leave the MTC. I miss and think about you all the time. Keep writing. I will send pictures of the Philippines. I love all of you. 

Love you,
Elder Doney 

Me and My Companion Elder Heumann

The Tongans