Philippines for Eighteen : Friday, June 19th

Mindoro - my second area

Friday, June 19th

We had breakfast in the morning, which was included as a part of our stay at the hotel and my dad started to feel really sick. He had to go lay on the bed for a bit and was feeling really whoozy. I was worried about him! We had to get to the boat in time to get to Mindoro, the island on which I served for 6 months.

Finally, he felt well enough to get on the road. On the way however, we had to stop at a gas station so that my dad could go to the bathroom. Afterwards he felt a lot better and was more able to take the hour-long boat ride to Mindoro. But, right when we got to the dock my dad thought that he had lost his wallet. We looked everywhere in the car and couldn’t find it. Then he realized that it probably fell out of his pocket at the gas station and even if someone didn’t steal it (despite it being worth a fortune to someone there), it would take another two hours to go to the gas station and come back and upset our entire stay at Mindoro. We were really worried.

We pulled to the side of the road and said a prayer that we would be able to find it. At that moment we got out of the car and my mom remembered that my dad had paid for a Toll booth on the way, and so I looked further under the seat and sure enough it was there. We were so grateful and knew that God had answered our prayers.

We got on the boat and my parents were surprised to hear that they always play a recorded prayer at the beginning of every trip. The Philippines really is a God-fearing country. My parents also mentioned that when they were at their hotel the first night, the skyscraper across the way from them had a “In God We Trust” written in giant lettering on the side of the building. We got to Mindoro and were picked up by this darling member: Sister Andrea Quebrar. She drove us around in her cute little van the whole day. We went and visited the Cranston couple, basically my parents when I was serving there.

They are hilarious and so kind and I was really excited for my parents to meet them.

We chatted for a little bit and then decided to grab lunch at one of my favorite restaurants there.

It is right on the side of the ocean and they have pretty good quality food.

But my poor dad was feeling so sick he didn’t eat much and decided to check into the hotel early so that he could rest and try to feel better.

My mom and I went to the church and met with Jenny Rose, one of my recent converts, and her boyfriend is just leaving on his mission. Then we went to the store that Wayne works at to say goodbye, but he wasn’t there.

I left him a note and all of the girls working there were just watching me speak Tagalog and then wanted to get a picture with me. It was pretty hilarious.

You wouldn't see this sign in the United States

The Salon where I got my hair chopped

We visited a bunch of other people that I taught and my mom was so saddened by the impoverished state that they are living in.

We kept checking on dad but he was so sick, and just wanted to keep sleeping. That night we met up with the Cranston’s and Elder Wooden and his companion for dinner at a place called Lola’s (My grandma’s name). It was really nice to chat with them and say goodbye. We went back to the hotel and ordered my dad some food. He finally started to feel better.