"Another Day in Paradise" - it's another beautiful sunny day in Subic Philippines. We are loving it. We have breakfast by the beach each morning, get ready and head out. Most mornings we see the group of monkeys on the side of the road - our first encounter was aggressive but this bunch were quite tame.
Trykes are the way to travel in the cities in the Philippines. It's cheap and always available.
If you are traveling farther than the immediate city, a jeepnie is the way to go. We didn't take a jeepnie while we were there, but Jessica took them all the time. Each jeepnie has a specific color for the area they service.
Our first stop in Calapacuan was to see Jessica's apartment there. She went down this alley every day and night.
These were the neighbors kids - they were so excited to see her again.
This is there mom and a member of the church. She was outside doing laundry when we came and the kids were playing hopscotch. It was so cute.
We were so lucky - when we got to the apartment, the sister missionaries were there, and one of them was Jessica's "grandchild (missionary talk)."
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| This cartoon is perfect |
The next stop was to the mission home; the missionaries were in a training meeting so we had some time while waiting for them to get out. We drove up North just to see more country and then headed back to the Mission home by 1:00 pm. Jessica was so excited to see every.
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| With Sister Lariosa |
Next up were two girls that she roomed with in Santa Rita - These are the crazy girls!
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| Everyone was so excited to see Jessica |
There were a few people that were extra special to us - Sister Gorringe and her husband ...
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| Jessica with Brother and Sister Gorringe (he drove her around to all her doctor appointments and was so kind to send photos home) |
Before I could get photos of the next, extra special people Jessica saw Sister Barlow!
Betsy wanted a photo with her because she made this beautiful skirt! So nice to see my work in the mission field.
But this was the moment - Jessica's face when she sees Sister Dahle ...
Jessica rushes over and gives her one of the biggest, longest hugs ...
The sweet expression of true and genuine love
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| Look at those faces - so happy see each other |
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| Meeting president Dahle |
It was so nice to meet with President Dahle and his wife. They took such careful care of Jessica while she was in the hospital after they arrived. They had only been there a month or less when she passed out in her apartment (again).
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| Jessica, her parents and Sister Souter and Sister Larsen |
We stayed at the mission home for 2 hours allowing Jessica the chance to visit with as many missionaries as she wanted. We eventually had to say good bye and let them get back to their work and we needed to get to Lubao.
Once we arrived in Lubao Jessica directed us down these one lane roads - with our mini-van - CRAZY. I can't say it enough, Mark was an amazing driver! We are so grateful for his courage and faith. We parked the car on this main alley way and then I made a decision...there were tons of kids walking the streets so I asked Jessica if I could pass out some of the donated presents. We started handing them out to as many kids as we could. It was so fun to see the joy on their faces.
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| Jessica with Salve |
Jessica was so excited to come visit this family. She taught and helped Salve (in green) and her sister Marian (in gray) get baptized while she served in Lubao. Jessica really reached out to these sweet young women.
This is the whole family and some friends.
We also gave them presents!
After visiting there we left to get to TaTa Abi-Abi's house for dinner. She had made a special dinner for Jessica and Mark and I. It's so weird that Jessica knows everyone here and we know nobody.
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| Jessica with their daughter |
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| Mark with the husband |
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| More friends came to see Jessica |
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| Even the sister Missionaries came to see Jessica |
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| One of Jessica's best friends from Santa Rita, Meeko, came to see her. CRAZY! |
It was at this house, while TaTa was cooking Adobo that we learned about the serious storm headed our way. At first we thought TaTa's husband was joking, but then he turned on the TV to show us the news. A Super Typhoon was headed to Manila! YIKES!!!
Well, we wont worry about that now, it's time to eat! This was our delicious dinner.
As it grew time to say goodbye, of course that camera came out. This is everyone together (me taking the photo).
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| Jessica with the Abi-Abi family - she loves them dearly |
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| Betsy with Ta-Ta - her FB friend |
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| fun times together - we will never forget |
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| Jessica with the sister missionaries |
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| Jessica with Meeko! |
So we were getting ready to leave and the sister missionaries and Meeko needed a ride home. We were far from where they lived and they lived in the opposite direction of where we were going, but we were happy to give them a ride home. While we were driving them home, I mentioned that I really wanted to see Ernesto and asked them if they knew where he lived. Just moments after that, the sister missionaries said, while looking out the window as we turned down the street that they live on, "Look - there's Ernesto on the corner!"
Oh my gosh!!!! What an answer to prayer. I really needed to see him and meet him! He was so kind and thoughtful the whole time Jessica served in Lubao and he is preparing to go on his mission now.
We quickly dropped off the sister missionaries and turned around to go back to the corner. There he was. As soon as we pulled up he started crying. He said he was sitting at home and was prompted to go to the corner, so he could see us (how strange)! He followed the spirit and not 5 minutes later we showed up! The Lord truly guided and directed us to meet with this young man. He is a pillar of strength to me. I love him like a son.
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| Ernesto and Jessica |
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| Ernesto and Betsy!!! Love him!!! |
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