6 months down

6 months- piece of cake. JOKE that was definitely no cake. The hardest thing ever. But the best kind of hard!! I just can't believe I'm at 6 months already- I feel like I'm fresh out of the mtc still. weird. 

Hey so this week was great! First can I just say how much I love this place. I mean, it is the most beautiful thing ever! every day I feel like I'm walking in a calendar picture, or in a painting, or on discovery channel. I wish I could just bottle it and send it to you! It's so vibrant! Colors I feel like I've never seen before here! The green is SO GREEN and there are so many natural occurring colors that are so bright and vibrant, AH MAN! I love it. And the air is so fresh and the rice is so beautiful and AHH! I'm so very lucky to be in this beautiful world!

this is rice

Something not so great- 2 of our baptismal dates backed out on us this week, and our recent convert is moving to the elders area. NOO! We had a teary lesson with one of them when she told us she can't get baptized anymore. Long story but really it just comes down to sacrifice and what people are willing to give. Lots of people back out and get scared at the thought of sacrificing temporal security for an intangible faith that everything will work out. I wasn't that frustrated, people have agency and all. I was more sad than anything that they got so close but didn't follow through. Why do people sell themselves short? Why do they settle for less?

We taught a lady and the sun was out and after the lesson she told me my legs looked like the flesh of a snake when you skin it cause they are so white. burrrrnnnnn. If only these people knew how insulting that would be in America where white actually is not desirable XD oh well! 

I drank some buko juice. It's yummy. 

These are those crazy motherless kids!  I feel like Wendy from Peter Pan.

We went a-tracting yet again and oym-ed to everyone. It's rough going when your teaching pool is very small and the people in it aren't even sure people, we just go to their homes and hope they are home, hope they don't lie and hide from us, hope they will progress yada yada yada. So much walking its crazy! I don't know how my feet are still attached to my legs. 

Something I learned this week was this: remember that lady that I said looked like the mama from the Goonies? That she freaked me out because she looked just like her? Well, me being the dumb that I am didn't want to go to her, she was our back up back up back up plan, but as luck would have it we got punted from anything else and she was the only option. So we went against what I wanted and SLAM I got a nice lesson learned. She actually opened up to us about her problems and why she was offended from the leaders and what her deal was with being less active and was crying and stuff. Sis G and her are from the same province and so they had that connection, just things that if we didn't go who knows if she ever would have talked to anyone about it. I got a nice reminder that this isn't about where I want to go or what to do, but the people that need help whether they look like the creepy mother on the Goonies or not. I felt real bad. 

For a happy story now--guess what! we were way out far from town by a mountain, I stopped to write something in my planner and I heard someone yell "hey! hey you!" in English! what the heck? So I looked through these bushes and lo and behold- an old American man was in this little house! I was so shocked! We went up to him, he's here with his "woman" (ya he introduced her, "this is my woman!" so proud.....uhh...) they are from Texas but just visiting here. Anyway the cool part of the story is as he talked to me I COMPLETELY FORGOT ENGLISH!! like, no lie! He would ask me a question and I would answer him in tagalog, then he would just stare blankly and I would realize that I wasn't speaking his language, and then went back and had such a hard time trying to translate it for him. I sounded so stupid, my English was so broken! It was so weird!! After we left I just marveled at A) how lame is sounded and B) what a miracle that is!!! the gift of touuuunggggeeesss! yessss!!! but its only when I'm out proselyting. I have no problem talking to my kasama or in the house in English. But when its time to go out teaching, I am entitled to God's help in the language! I'm only learning the language for God's purposes, not my own so it makes sense that I cant speak it when I want, only when I have too. super amazing!

So the 23rd was 6 months for me, we had interviews with President and Sis Reeder. It's so nice to talk to them, its been a long time! They are the sweetest and wisest and most humble people ever, I love them! I wish we could have interviews every week or something! I've looked back in my journal and been amazed at the progress I've made. I feel like I'm not even the same person that came out of the mtc! I've changed so much and learned so much in every aspect of everything- its impossible to describe! the language- there's no way I could be doing as well as I am now without help from the other side. There's no way I could even still exist and live here in this crazy wild country and somehow be ok without help! I am not doing this alone!

I got a text from the secretary on the 23rd and he said to go check my email (it was just some legal fingerprinting paper thing) but he didn't say that in the text so I was so stressed about what it could be. Sis G read the text out loud again and then (jokingly) said "wait there's one more text! sister, start packing your things...." and i just yelled "WHAT?? and then I started to cry. Yeah. Haah what an evil joke Sis. G! she laughed and said just kidding sister!! not really! But still, it freaked me out. it was like my whole life flashed before my eyes! I am so glad I still have one year here. It's so hard but its so good. I'm so glad I am here.

the rs and the miraculous grapefruit

Yesterday some of the RS actually worked with us! We were so stoked and planned all these less active sisters that they would be great to visit with them, but it turns out we didn't get anywhere. We taught one lesson, then they got side tracked cause this lady had a huuuuugggge tree with ginormous grapefruit in it. they went over and were inspecting the fruit and then before we knew it the husband climbed up the tree and got one, the lady hacked it up with a machete and we were sitting down eating. chit chat chit chat. wasting away time. They wanted to take pictures with it. (I will include them, they are so funny and awkward but they have no idea) then we finally got out, they said there was a member waaaayyy out in the way that they knew and they said they would take us there, so we said ok and were expecting this lost-less active, we got all the way there and out comes the Elder's Quorum Pres and his active little family. Seriously? Then to make it worse instead of leaving and helping some people who actually needed our help, those people went and found MORE grapefruit and it all repeated over again! They got the machete and we sat around eating grapefruit. It's like Satan was trying to make me explode, I had way too much than a humanly portion of grapefruit for one day. Shudder shudder. 

Hey I held 2 baby goats this week, the first was in the path on the way to a lesson and Sis G ran and caught it. Yay! Then the ones that me and Sis G are both holding was with the grapefruit people. I ran and caught them HAHA! Please take notice of the mama goat in the back haha her face is so distressed. 

One more thing- I saw this wrong English bumper sticker that reads "don't get more closed to me, get more closed to god" HAHAHAHAHA yes people, get more closed to God. Not me. 

i lovvvvvee eyoouuuuuuU!!!!! thank you all for the prayers and support! i miss you mama and papa! but you're good, I'm good, I can't complain! over and out till next week!

Sis McGrath

hey this is mango float- make it! so much yum!

this is a funny sign in the store