Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Merry Christmas
December 19, 2012
Merry Christmas!!!
This has been a difficult week to be so far from my children
and grandchildren. There was the
horrible tragedy in Connecticut where 20 first graders and their teachers and
administration where killed, my grandson Zach had his Christmas concert we
missed, one of our PEF participants lost her mother. I wish I could just hug
each member of my family and Laumi (the PEF participant). It is hard to have such tragedy at Christmas
time and this is the first Christmas I have not spent with my family ever. I guess I am a big baby, because I am just so
sad. The only consolation is Faith and
Josh will be here soon and I will get to hug them and hold my little faith on
my lap. I did not think I would struggle
this much with homesickness, being such a cranky old lady, but boy is it tough.
The only good thing about it is I don't
have to go shopping (I will make it up to everyone when I get home)!
I received a message from my niece Kassandra that her sister
Christina wanted to talk to me so we called her. She was thinking about me so asked her
Facebook sister to contact me. It was so
nice to visit with her. I have been
sending candy bags to the grandchildren for years and when my sister Karen
passed away I decided to add her young grandchildren to the list. Christina told me that when Halloween passed
her girls asked her why they had not received mail from Aunt Joan. I was touched that they remembered. Thankfully Christina explained our absence
and that we would resume our traditions when we return to the U.S. I loved
preparing the packages for our family and mailing them on special holidays. I
never really thought it was a big deal and was so surprised they were
missed. How funny that little gestures
are really that important after all. I
loved talking to Christina. She is a
wonderful young lady and a great mom. I
also love to see and follow her sisters and all of our other family and ward
family and my students on Facebook. I
don't feel so far away when I can interact with people I love daily. What a blessing the Internet is for me here
on my mission. When it is down, I am
very sad not only because I cannot work, but I cannot check in with those I
love.
The Philippine people celebrate Christmas continually, party
after party and fireworks every night. I
don't know how they afford the fireworks when everyone is so poor, but they
party hardy during December. I wonder
what New Year will be like. There have been parties and receptions galore at
the resort in our neighborhood and the music goes on and on. The music is not half as bad as the dogs
barking though. Our neighbor's have
three dachshund dogs that bark and howl continually throughout the night. I knew I did not like dogs (grand dogs are
and exception)! I don't suppose that a Mormon missionary ought to kill their
neighbors dogs.
Well, I love you all and hope you are well and happy.
Merry Christmas!!
Monday, December 3, 2012
Sunday, December 2, 2012
December 3, 2012
December 3, 2012
The last week has been busy for the slow season of our
work. On Tuesday we taught out
Conversational English class and our students are doing wonderful. They speak English very well and are ready
learners. Wednesday and Thursday we
completed all the preparations for our PEF training. Friday we picked up our leader Franco
Avincula and Jib at the airport around 8:00 am.
Then we returned to the church to continue set up for the training. Dan and I drove back and forth to pick up the
service missionaries for Iloilo. They
had rough crossing as the wind was blowing and the waters were very
choppy. Dan was concerned about the
arrivals of everyone and hoping they would all get here safely. Then he was also worried about the catering
we set up hoping they were on time and had enough food. Everything went very well. We were so excited to see everyone again and
in one place. They shared so many
wonderful success stories with us. Hearing their stories made me realize once
again what a great work we are doing here helping these wonderful young people
gain an education and establish successful careers.
The training was on Friday and Saturday, then on Sunday we
were invited to San Carlos for one on our participant's new babies
blessing. Her name is Dionelee Mahinay. We
were very honored to be invited. We
drove over the mountain early and arrived in plenty of time. I love the drive through the mountains
because it is so lush and green. When we
arrived at the church we attended both branch Sacrament meetings so we could
see our participants. They are always so
happy to see us and the smiles on their faces just light up my whole
being. They are wonderful young
women. When Dionelee arrives with her
family she immediately came and asked if I would like to hold the baby. The
baby is beautiful and has a whole head of black hair. She is so little and precious. While I was
holding the baby, Dionelee asked if Dan would bless her baby. The babies Dad is
not a member of the church and so it was a great honor for Dan to bless Dionelee's
baby. He did a wonderful job and returned to sit with me with eyes full of
tears. What a special day.
After church we had dinner with Elder and Sister Chin, (our
new mission couple) before returning home.
Elder Chin is a pharmacist and Sister Chin is a nurse. They are from
North Salt Lake City. They have five
grown children. Elder Chin loves to cook
and made a wonderful stir-fry. They are
a special couple and we love them. After dinner we drove back home. It was a beautiful day for the drive and we
stopped a couple of times to take photos.
We planned on stopping at the falls, but there were many stopped so
there was no room to park to stop. We
will return to San Carlos soon so we will stop then.
This week we travel to Manila for training with the other
PEF couple missionaries and Franco and Jib.
We will attend the temple there also.
I am excited to go and see the other wonderful American couples. The couple who works in the office and
approves all the loan paperwork will be concluding their mission and returning
home in two weeks. We will miss them greatly.
They have been a great help to us in our work here.
Dan informs me we are on week 30 of our mission leaving 71
weeks to go. Time seemed to go so very
slowly in the beginning, but know I see that this time will pass quickly and I
will soon return to my family. I am
thankful for their love and support and their prayers for us. I love you all very much.
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