The Best Busy Life Ever!

.........and the whale breeches for air once again!!!!

WHOOW. the days are so. exhausting. its putting me through the wringer. (i wish we had a "wringer" instead of our hands...that would really be useful) i honestly dont know what my body is still running on but its gotta be prayers and love cause no amount of rice could even keep me going! its the best feeling in all the WORLD!!!! ohhhh i love love love working. GO GO GO!!!!

alright let me break you down a beat- this week we were going to teach and got punted but this other lady was just looking like she wanted to be oym-ed (ha ha everyone looks like they want to be oymed in my eyes) and we ended up getting to talk to her on her floor. she told us right up front that she does NOT want to be baptized and will not leave her church, again and again. ok, got it. then she opened up to us about all of her problems in life and most of them coming from her marriage....so sad :( she has the most rotten relationship with her husband it made me feel so bad for this poor lady :( after about an hour of letting everything go to us, the ball was in our court. uhhhh. how does one even begin to respond? i've got no professional training in counseling or anything....i was really wishing the section "the gospel blesses families" section in PMG was more than one wimpy paragraph. but alas, thats not my job, i don't have to fix everything. even though she couldn't leave her church and wasn't interested, she's still a child of God going through a hard time. The Spirit told me to share a verse and we did our best to lift and comfort her. life deals such a hard lot to so many it makes me cry almost every other night if i think about it :(

shes serving in cauaian mission!! she used to work with 

us in goa 2 and now she just got her mish call!

MY FIRST EXCHANGES!!!!! oh ya!!!!! so so much good!! i love exchanges!! so since i'm the only STL and there are 2 sisters in a companionship, i split with the senior in the morning and the junior in the afternoon/night work then have a separate evaluation with each of them afterwards. my first was with sister b, the sweetest sister ever in the batch right before me. she's kiribati!!! i love kiribati missionaries!!!! we had such a good time. we went to the market and bought and fried fish for lunch like true ppinas. #marunog.

In the afternoon i worked with sister moreno who is a visa waiter, truly heading to san diego california!!! home of the district!!! and you'll never believe.......as we were sitting on the stools teaching someone the travel agency called her and she had to excuse herself (ok the weirdest feeling in the world is to teach alone....like...it is so not meant to be... it was the awkwardest feeling as i finished the lesson alone and kept on teaching with no comp......don't try it!!!!) anyways she is leaving THIS TUESDAY for cali! this was her last exchange in the ppines!!! and the coolest part of it was that she is the great great granddaughter of MY first stls i exchanged with sis rosenberg!! (sis rosenberg trained sis prestosa who trained sis baird who trained sis moreno who i exchanged with. guess i'm old in the mission huh? exchanging with the great granddaughter of my first stl)

The best part by far was evaluations afterwards. i got to tell sis m how amazing she is and what a wonderful impact she is going to make in cali. and i told her all about the wonders of target and told her to enjoy it for me. i so want to go find her and visit her when i get home! when i talked with sis b, i could just tell she was about to erupt. she did, and we just sat on the bedside and she cried and cried. she is feeling so inadequate, and with the sudden news of sis m leaving she's got the whole area in her hands and has only been there 4 weeks, and i'm sure lots of other discouraging thoughts. she cried and i just gave her tissues and told her its all going to be fine and gave her my testimony that she can do it and she is needed and all other things that the Spirit told me to say. oh i love talking to sisters and i love being able to help them in a very real way! missionary work isn't just about lifting those outside but even those right by your side!

look at this animal i found. hinawakan ko sya :D

this week has been so so busy, we have been working so hard! guess what we reached 40 oyms! not just lame oyms, every one was real legit and consisted of us teaching a gospel principle and asking an inspired question etc etc! i love to oym! even when i don't and i'm not in the mood i swallow my pride and jump again "Hi i'm sister mcgrath from the church of.............." and start again. i don't want any opportunities pass me by.

HAAAALELUIAAAAA

look at this palayan. feast your eyes.

this week i had such a beautiful testimony that this is MY mission, that i am called here, now, for a reason. we were just walking and exploring trying to find a referral, and we were climbing over rocks and crossing a bamboo bridge skinnier than my arm and there were rice terraces and blue sky and mountains so clear right before us. there were ducks and dogs and my feet hit nothing but damp dirt the good Lord made all day. we passed by tiny homes and kids and people yell out stuff at me but i don't even care, it doesn't even hit me that they are talking to me when they say american or white person or whatever.....i don't know what you guys are looking at i'm ppina. i just felt like i belonged there in that scene so much and feel like this place is what i've always dreamed my mission would be. there's nothing to hold me back, i can just be fearless and soar and approach anyone and sit down and tell them our purpose and that God has a plan for them and all of these other wonderful truths. AHH I LOVE THIS!!!!!!!!! life is the sweetest thing, it's so simple and so beautiful. and there is so much work to do! so much gospel that needs hearing! every ear! its the best work in all the world and i treasure this time so much. i love this place.

love it here.

General Conference was so amazing. i'm not going to give you my comprehensive chicken scratches on it though....you know how missionaries are....we need it more than air.....i was on the edge of my seat all conference and eating it up! too bad some elders were missing out dozing off behind us.....too bad. i had 3 questions before and all of them were answered perfectly. its just so amazing! i can't wait for the liahona!

I love you all so much and am so grateful for the prayers and love! keep it comin please i need the strength to keep me going from day to day until there are no more days in this mission!

Love SIS MCGRATH

did i tell you the green is a different hue here?