CCCCCCCHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

hanging up the christmas
decorations you sent

making your fudge you sent
in the rice cooker on the stove

So last week when I said I was still busy partying, I meant that I was still working really really hard and not focusing on all the parties.....:)

Christmas here rocks.  New Year rocks too.  All the celebrating is pretty different, but none the less, it was definitely a party.  They party more on New Years (Christmas is just normal) and even though they don't really give gifts, they eat lots of food and throw lots of parties.  All the parties started about 2 weeks before Christmas.  

 We had a party in Subic Bay for our mission (which is a long, funny story in itself), and a party for the company of our branch president.  There was a Samson Christmas party and a Dejesus Christmas party.  Our branch Christmas party (on my birthday) was definitely one of the best.  We were in charge of games, wore matching basketball jerseys that we had made (pictures next week, my card reader is broken:/), and I SANG.  Well, we sang.  In Tagalog:).  

I STILL love christmas,
even in the PHILIPPINES

new year (the one on the end
is the district pres wife,
i love her haha)

Christmas Eve we came home at 6pm because all the people are drunk and won't listen to us:)  So we got to celebrate Christmas Eve with the Samson's.  Thanks to you, drunk, crazy people!  Then came the Christmas lunch appointments.  WOwww.  This was my planner that day.

8- Samson's breakfast appointment

12- What was supposed to be a missionary correlation meeting turned into eating and games instead

1:30- Eating at Emily Jimenez (that wasn't actually supposed to happen)

3:00- Hernandez family food appointment

4:00- Emily and Solidad food appointment

6:00- President Banzon food appointment

8- Samson's dinner appointment

Christmas Day

I took a picture of all the food the people sent home with us.  Some of it is still in the fridge.  Which might probably will just stay there until it goes bad and we can throw it away (which is an awful way to think...).  Every. single. food appointment had spaghetti, rice cakes, and purple yams.  Try eating that 5 times in a row (I still can't figure out why these people love those three things when there's a party).  Filipino spaghetti is sweet and has hot dogs and corned beef in it.  It was good the first time. When I come home, I probably definitely won't ask you mom to make spaghetti:)

We opened your Christmas presents for us that morning.  Thanks family:) You guys are the cutest.  Sister Peneranda was way excited too.  You know all that orbit gum you sent her?  She spent the first two days smelling it during personal study and then the third day put it in her closet as an air freshener.  She still hasn't eaten it because she's waiting for the smell to be permanent in her closet:)  Haha Filipinos.

our awesome jersey's
we had made for christmas

our christmas eve party
(the sisters in the next area over
got to come too)

Oh by the way, the music you sent for my birthday won't work because it's in the wrong format (it needs to be MP3) and it was still copyrighted.  When you send a package again, can you resend the music (it's probably best to send it on a flashdrive)?  Shaaaaanks!

Our New Year's was the same, lots of food, parties.  And then we all got sick with colds, coughs, and the flu.  Haha I would almost call it a missionary hangover.  

We're all still doing awesome.  Our area is still awesome, turns out looking for an apartment is A LOT harder than I thought it would be when apartments don't exsist in Alauli, so we're not sure if it going to become an open area, but pray that is does:)!

ALICEEEEEEEE!!!  You looked absolutely amazing for your baptism!  I can't believe you are sooo old now...  And Nate got to baptize you, how cute!  Being a missionary here made it different to realize my cute little sister is baptized now.

Christmas present from Josephine
 and her family
(also we pretty much spent Christmas
 at this bus/waiting stop)

Funny Story:  So one of our "stop by to say hello" appointments turned into a lunch appointment after she practically dragged us into her house to eat.  She wouldn't listen to our pleadings and begging for her not to feed us and is heeping spaghetti onto two giant plates as we are begging her not to.  Wahhhh, my poor stomach.  Sister Penaranda and I are just looking at each other, trying not to laugh and cry at the same time because there is no way we can eat again.  No way possible.  We panicked a little bit more when she brought out the sticky rice and purple yams and fruit coconut salad.  You don't say no to food in the Philippines and you eat everything they give you.  No question.  We start eating the spaghetti one noodle at a time as she watched us eat and then the minute she went back to the kitchen to get more food, we start frantically searching for a plastic bag, shove our spaghetti in the plastic bag and hide it in our missionary bag just as she comes back and sits down.  But we still pretend to chew because that's a lot of spaghetti to eat it the 5 minutes she was gone.  But I don't think she thought about that hehe.  

Love you!  Next week!  Good luck with school again!

SISTER TAYLOR