Stories: Nanliligaw na ako!!!
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| I have a funny language story that I'm sure all will enjoy. I was just transfered into my 3rd area of San Fabian Pangasinan to be a follow-up trainer. As with all transfers, I was partially excited and nervous at the same time since I had been called to be a disrict leader/follow-up trainer in one of the best areas in the mission. For those of you not familiar with the history of San Fabian, the members there are amazing when it comes to helping fellowship new members and helping the missionaries daily by traveling with us day in and day out to our appointments, and even while tracting. Anyway, when I arrived at our duplex apartment (the other set of missionaries lived in the other apartment next door), to my suprise my "anak" was a 6'2" (I think or taller) Texas/Idaho Elder named Elder Bodily (If you know who I am we are in complete contrast of one another). His companion for the day was our ward mission leader and his name is Arthur Lumague. Now Arthur is an interesting character in the fact that he had only been a member up until this time for about a year or so and was as the filipinos say "masipag" when it came to missionary work. He's only 21 years old at the time and a "class clown" (Elder Bodily being the same way) type person who is always joking and kidding around (it's ironic that Arthur is now teaching elementary school!!!). Anyway, they treated me well and since I had just come from speaking ilikano in Abra (my first area) and in Balaoan La Union, which I spoke farely fulently, I decided to ask Arthur how to say a few words in Pangasinan or pangalatot (as pronounced by some). So I decided the best things to learn would be Good morning, Good night, and Good day, etc. but the one I thought would be the most useful at the time would be "dumadaan kami" (we're just passing by) since everyone over there announces to everyone within hearing distance that they are walking down the road. So he told me that "dumadaan kami" in pangasinan is, "onkarawak pa". I believed him and so we went on our way tracting and street contacting while on our way for me to meet a few members and our bishop. So we're going along, and I keep saying, Onkarawak pa, onkarawa pa, to everyone we pass and everyone kept looking at me funny and kind of laughing a bit. If you have heard pangasinan you know that it has some wierd dictations far more difficult than anything in ilikano or tagalog so I thought maybe I was pronouncing the words wrong. So we finally make it to one of the first members homes and we see a member who is also a dalaga named "Sister" Ramos and as I shake her hand I say "onkarawak pa" thinking I would impress her by knowing a few words in her dialect, but to my suprise she exclaims "ala Elder"! "Don't say that." Now speaking tagalog "I said what do you mean?" She said "do you know what you are saying?" I said "yeah I think so, I'm just saying that we're passing by right?" To this she replys "no your not, your saying nanliligaw na ako" which means, "I'm looking to court someone"! Then almost laughing she asks me who told me this, all the time knowing that it was the clown standing by us laughing hysterically, and I said it was Arthur. If I wasn't a missionary I probably would have beat the snot out of Arthur, but being a bit of a prankster myself at times, I had to admit he really got me good. Needless to say, I had an interesting first few weeks in San Fabian with a lot of non-members thinking I was looking to marry one of their daughters, (which I still get teased about to this day), but in the end it turned out ok. I did end up learning quite a bit of Pangasinan, and I can never thank the Lord enough for blessing me with the opportunity to serve among some of the most amazing and best people I have ever met in my life!!! |
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