Christmas in the ppinas! I had the greatest Christmas ever and hope you all did too. The best part was skype! Oh i have missed you all so much! I still cant get over that Matt is NOT faking his voice...I wont believe it till I hear it in person. He sounds like a husky man who eats beef jerky and spits! Ab and Liv have just gotten prettier! Han- haha still in exercise clothes and just finishing a 10 mile bike ride...I guess some people don't change XDIt was so weird looking into a little portal at you guys, sorry if I forgot to talk much I guess I'm not used to responding immediately to you! Ang hirap na palang makarelate sa inyo like what do i say?? haha it went by so fast but it wasnt nearly as hard to hang up as last year cause I just said 4 WEEKS NA LANG!!!!!! ahaha!! It's so close I can taste it! We can talk talk all the days so soon!
We had Christmas con- it was seriously like a family reunion! its so fun being the oldest in the mission cause I know them all and pretty much just ran around the chapel like a kid on Christmas saying hi and hugging everyone. except the Elders i didn't hug them...just clarifying. it was the BEST! super sad too cause it might be the last time I see a lot of them :( why does the ppinas have to be so far away!! Ok guess what we did our "talent" and it was a hit! I acted out Sis Reeder and as soon as the first line was out of my mouth the crowd went wild. I was eyeing President the whole time worried..but he totally cracked up too :) haha I had it recorded so we can watch it soon. "Don't firget'chur paye-yong!" Oh I love love love Sis Reeder she is one of my true role models and I hope to be like her someday! We sang too which was pretty embarrassing, but hey, whatcha gunna do? it wasn't perfect but we had fun so bahala na! Everyone had talents, dances and songs and it was so funny! Then we ate and got to watch a mooooooovvvviiiieeee! We watched Johnny lingo which I'm sure I would have rolled my eyes to before, but I was front row, laughing and getting way into it! What a good reminder not to settle for some island schmo and wait for a cow-bringing prince to sail in! Ya I AM worth 8 cows!! ah ha ha! it was a good good day and I think I almost broke my smiling face from all the joy coming out of it.
Then it was Christmas!!!!!!!! I wish you all could be a part of "Christmas at Bagumbayan Grande" cause it is the happiest and most touching thing ever. Sis Adino and I have been buying fudge bars and candy and tons of junk for the past forever, making a huge stock pile. A couple of weeks ago I asked the kids there what was their wildest wishes for Christmas and they said a green apple and a toothbrush. HAHA!! So we bought a tooon of green apples and more more candy, bagged it all up, and crossed the log bridge almost more excited than we knew the kids were. We started at Sis Elvies house, who hobbled in and actually HUGGED us and said merry christmas!! was shared a Christmas lesson, took pics, and then gave them candy and junk. Their smiles were bigger than the planet earth and they were so so happy with so little. We went to Cynthia and Renans home and kids were popping in all over the place!!!
Oh my gosh I LOVE THOSE KIDS. I love love love love love love Mateo and have to put him in my second suitcase. It made me so happy to give them those green apples and junk and make their wildest dreams come true!!! Sister Cynthia shoved Mateo into some overalls and he ran around all over the place! He jumped in my lap insisting he was going to pray, started it, then realized he had nothing to say :) Haha I helped him out but then it turned into all the kids there saying what I said. "ama sa langit' "AMA SA LANGIT" "nagpapasalamat po kami" "NAGPAPASALAMAT PO KAMI" haha <3 <3 <3 <3 <3
Great news is that things are all set for their baptism January 9!!! Renan Jr and Joshua have come to church and we are reviewing the questions for the bap interview and also preping tatay with how to baptize and what to say. Jan 9 is going to be one of the happiest days of my life!!!!!!! It makes me tear up when i think about them getting sealed someday. AH!
Brother Gary update- we shared 2ce to him this week, just to keep him close. We text him every day as well. But no matter what we do of course this is still a time of mourning. Especially with Christmas. In both times when we asked how he was doing, he didn't immediately respond, and his eyes got a painful look, and I just can't help but cry. I can't stop the tears when I look at him and think about what he's going through. We asked him how he felt when he stood and bore his testimony to his hard hearted family. He said he didn't know, he wished his point got across to them and felt like they didn't listen. I told him that seeing him stand there, that picture in my mind, is one of the most powerful testimonies I've ever heard. I wish you could have seen him, he was incredible! He said that this past week he just finds himself looking far off thinking about his mom, like all the time. At his house its a compound of his family, and they all are having a huge reunion right now. As we shared to him Saturday morning all his uncles and other shirtless men were drinking and being super loud right outside. Cousins were coming in and out, and we just sat on the couches crying with Gary. He said Christmas night he was feeling so sad and his family was all being so loud, and so he just went outside behind their house and prayed. I told him that so many people back home were praying for him too, and he says thank you. please please keep him in your prayers always!
Sad news too- Sister Jane is moving to Naga!! nooo!!! she got work in a house washing clothes and watching kids and leaves this January. It's so sad, she was all set to be baptized at the end of January too. She's our 17 yr old investigator with the baby, and its super super sad for her too cause she only will come home once a month to see her baby. We gave her a skirt for Christmas and she came to church with baby and all those neighbor kids again. I'm really going to miss her and hope someday she gets baptized.
Update on Sis Kharine! Her house is 1/2 torn down and all they need is materials for the last wall! YAY! As soon as her husband fixes his truck, he can start hauling rocks, earning money again, and they can pay off all their debts and start saving for the cenomar. its pretty much all out of our hands but we are patiently encouraging her and she has such strong faith that isn't lessened at all by her circumstances. I might not get to attend her baptism but I don't even care, I'm just so happy for all the changes the gospel has made in her life and for seeing her come back to life again. She is so amazing, I love her!
On Christmas day we visited nanay L who was super irritated. Haha she just woke up (like 3:30pm) and was grumbling and very sassy. We sat and ate jackfruit and listened to her tell us what a rotten Chrismtas she was having. Hahaha she said that she doesn't want to go outside her house, go to centro or anything at Christmas time cause she'll just get jealous seeing people buy stuff and eat stuff, so she just was going to sleep through it cause shes "puuur" haha :D by the end she was in a good mood, we gave her a tiny Christmas card and then she ran and put on lipstick and powder and insisted we take pictures. we got on her padjack and selfied it up! she told me to print the one of us two super big, frame it, and put it on a table in my house with a tablecloth when I get home so when I pass by it I will remember her and maybe think to send her money HAHA!! NAY!! love na LOVE ko sya! ina ko!
In the night we had curfew, so were in around 6. I cleaned the whole place, placed my Christmas cards to my comp and kabahays on their desks, then set up the most MAGICAL winter wonderland ever! I threw all the mattresses on the floor in our room, set up Christmas lights, then set all our emergency candles a flame! We all gathered around, read Luke 2, and sang all the Christmas songs in the book. Then we went around and said what we were grateful for. I got teary eyed for the millionth time this week and couldn't stop with things I was grateful for. i feel like the most blessed soul in all the land to have spent Christmas with my beloved friends, companion, and people we teach. best Christmas ever!
As usual, lots more happened that I can't write, forgive me! I hope Christmas was merry and bright for all of you too! I love you so much family, it really would be perfect if only you were here. but time is flying, I can't believe its going to be 2016. I can't believe I can count the weekly planning sessions on one hand. That theres only one more Fast Sunday. We are working SO hard, can't stop wont stop. This is it. I'm trying to go as far as I can and then farther, oym the daylights out of Goa, and keep loving and serving like Christ would. I am so grateful for this mission.
Love SISTER MCGRATH
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