I'm home!!!

on the rooftop in the mission home! they are
moving mission homes this saturday! bye bye!

I'M BACK. I'm back in Goa!!! its been the weirdest week of my life, its like going back to a dream!

awkward bishop photos

When we pulled in last Monday night I eeked and was jumping in my seat cause I saw the toron lady and la purisima street and the smelly fish port and ukay ukays and nanays and tatays and graceland NOT SM style and its was pretty much a flood of memories. Especially when I walked into my apartment AHH its good to be home! I feel like I'm coming home after a 6 month trip working in a big city OH WAIT thats exactly what happened. I'm bacccckkkK!!! But it was all so bittersweet because everyone in my head that I match up to this place in my memories is GONE :( all my mission-berry friends are gone from this time in the mish! I'm the oldest one and the lone ranger! I almost cried when I realized that Sis Coons actually wasn't out washing clothes, or Sis Marzan wasn't just upstairs....its like there are all new people who have been living in the tomb of my memories. All week I've been feeling like that dinosaur in the best seller children's book "all my friends are dead" available at a local bookstore near you. deep sigh.

So ya. But this time around Goa, I've got to sit in the stl's chair. it feels so unnatural, I should just be upstairs at my safe little desk, but no, I'm at the bottom with 3 area books and reporting to do and sisters to take care of and a bunch of other things that I've only seen my legendary kabahays do. yiiiiikkkekeeeeekekeekesssss!

goodbye to vallenciano family :( :(

This week has been more than a little overwhelming. Everyone who's walked this area has been an amazing awesome legendary stl, and I've got some big shoes to fill! There are so many backstories and people and records and I can hardly keep everyone straight in my little pee wee brain! Ironically I feel like I'm back to square one, back to training all over again. My companion (Sis B, super nice and funny, has the coolest re-activation story that I'll spill someday over coffee HA gotchaaa) I've just felt dragged around by her all week, to this person to this family, oh here's the backstory, dragged around to all these people I don't know but have heard about, not understanding everything cause PSYCH I'm in deep Bicol again, getting referred to in the third person ("does she speak Bicol? where's she from" HI YES i'm HERE people just talk to me, ha?) Not getting any eye contact from anyone in lessons cause its all on sis b, fumbling over words in Tagalog and feeling like a dunce running out of things to say or messing up, having sis b re-teach everything i just said but like a million times better, blah blah blah i could go on and on. At the end of the whole week like that i just plopped down in my chair and wanted to yell "ARE YOU SERIOUS???!!" does it NEVER END??  Does this feeling never go
away?!?! oh cruel irony.  Even with 14 months under my belt i'm still feeling like i'm 14 days in the empty sea.

goodbyeeee sis manoaaaaa!!! farewelL!!!!!

It's been a long long week and all felt like a bad dream especially when I realize WAIT I'm the stl here? im the one who's supposed to be a leader? I'm hoping this is as bad as it gets and its just gonna get better from here. Actually I know its going to get better, because David Archuleta told me in a song. But even if he didn't, I know that its just my first week and I'm being a baby and things are gonna be fine soon :) I've just gotta keep reminding myself that they didn't call another ppina here, they called a sister mcgrath. I know a ppina could prob ace this better than I could but that's not what President Monson wanted, he wanted Sis Mcgrath to serve here. I've just gotta trust that I can do it and stop comparing myself!

But- silver linings! OH IT'S GOOD TO BE BACK!!!! I wish I could describe the beauty of this place. I will take loads of pics next week. I've MISSED THIS. The rice fields are never ending, Mt Isarog and all the other baby mountains are blue and the clouds are low and the color green is just a different shade over here. My feet are filthy dirty by the end of the day, there are bugs hitting my face, I walk on more dirt than pavement AH its a dream!! The grass and weeds we walk through are waist high sometimes and my feet and legs get itchy and I just want to kiss the ground cause SM is not in sight and there are more bugs than people. (exaggeration). I feel all the materialism of Naga leaking out with every step! Its awesome! another awesome thing is that I got to see people that I've visited once or twice on exchanges, but now its my area, anyways its been so sweet to come back and it feels like I'm seeing old friends.  Especially with the ward! I saw my Bishop and his two counselors and that sweet sweet tatay that I love that I spent mahal na araw with (remember the one who gave a tour of his garden?) and now there are ysa on missions and people I remember and its just fun fun fun.

Sis Reeder texted and gave me an update on Naga 3rd. I called and we talked- Sis Jane is back! She is home from Manila and Sis reeder invited her to come with her to women's conference this week! And tatay Betito received a calling in the elders quorum presidency!! YAY!!! Sis Reeder said that the members said they were going to miss me and that they were grateful for my hard work. Awh, I will miss you Naga 3rd! sad to say goodbye when thats been my home ward for 6 months.

That's all there is, there isn't...anymore!

LOVE YOU or MAHAL KITA or PADANGAT KITA blehhh langauge is the worst right!?

inyong minamahal na aki,

sis mcgrath