LIZARDS LOVE MY HAIR

this is what happens when there's only two of us in the apartment

Today seems to filled with all sorts of "well, this was supposed to happen, but because of the typhoon..."  

We planned a service project for a member today (we were going to paint her fence pink) but it's raining, so that won't happen.  Then Sister Bautista and I were going to do the ice bucket challenge later, but you can't do anything outside when the winds are blowing roofs off places.  Ice cream isn't worth buying either, and we have to be home early just in case the street outside our apartment floods.

So this is how our typhoon-style P-day is actually going.  

a less-active that I'm almost positive
I knew in pre-existence

We woke up at 6am (and actually got out of bed by 6:20) to go to the market.  There was an overwhelming amount of fish this morning (it's a fish flood too!!!), so we bought a couple of kinds that we've never seen before.  Came home, cleaned the apartment (killed a couple cockroaches in the bathroom), and the breadman delivered hot pandesal for breakfast:).  I planned to exercise ...but blamed not doing it on the typoon.  We danced around with mops to Christmas music for a little bit instead:)  

After we email, I want to buy a cake (it just sounds good right now), develop pictures I'm sending you next week, and then we're going to go try some hole-in-the-wall restaurant for lunch.  The rest of the day will be sleeping, planning our workshop for tomorrow, and updating the area book that I was to lazy to update yesterday...or the day before.  Hee, oops.  I blame that on the typhoon too.  

for some reason, all my pictures are of cats,,,

But, fun news for the week, I FINALLY MADE IT TO THE NORTH.  FOR AN ENTIRE DAY.  Last week we found out a general authority was coming to visit, so they shipped all the leaders up to Luizon for a day for some meetings with him, let us stay the night up there and then travel a little bit west for another combined conference.   It's really reaaaally pretty up there. 

There's an American that just came into the computer shop, and is speaking English.  I keep getting distracted from my email from wanted to stare at him!  

Oh ya, that north.  I just want it to call my name next transfer!!  

recent convert. this is the one that
knows how to sew anything!

I think rainy season finally decided to come down to Guagua.  After a couple looong weeks with the el nino (no rain, all humid), the rain might finally be here to stay.  I've spent quite enough time roasting in the heat, and this sister missionary might be becoming a little, over-roasted.  Plan on welcoming home a daughter who now looks like a slightly whiter version of an African-American.  Big, frizzy hair included.

Funny Story:  Oh yes, lizards love my hair.  We could just generalize that and say insects and crawling things love Sister Taylor's hair.  We were teaching our investigator, Roland, as our last appointment that night.  He's still trying to figure out if he's feeling the spirit, so we were grilling him with super deep, spiritual questions.  I'm asking about President Monson, and all the sudden two giant lizards fall on my head, squirm around in my hair for a couple seconds before running down my shirt and onto the floor.  Time it, and the whole thing happened in about 5 seconds, and Sister Taylor didn't even miss a beat.  But I don't know if Roland noticed.  

LOVE,

SISTER TAYLOR

Picture Week!!

branch members

I finally skinned and cooked my fish!  part 1

I finally skinned and cooked my fish!  part 2

this is what a little of the bargin market looks like

MERRY CHIRSTMAS!!

it almost looks like an american dog!
(those are rare and few inbetween)

It's officially Christmas season here!  We walked into the computer shop this morning to "All I Want for Christmas" and a couple of homemade Christmas lights (gotta congratulate the Filipinos on that one:))

edmar's baptism!!!!!!! and the garcia family

There's not much to report this week, we just keep chugging along, and stopping to talk to new people as we chug.  ha.haa

One of the new investigators we found this week was really nice to us.  She even let us come back and teach her more than once!  The second time we came back she welcomed us inside her house, took two chairs from outside and she sat on their bed.  She had the pamphlet we had given her in her hands, almost like a worn copy of a well-read book.  Her house isn't big, just big enough for the bed, a plastic dresser for the family, and enough walking space for the door to open.  When you walk outside, that's the kitchen.  

FLOOOOD!!

And she was wearing the greatest shirt.  Filipinos seem to always be wearing shirts with words.  Usually those words are words that shouldn't be on shirts, or things that don't make much sense in English (oh, the good ole Chinese imports here).  But her shirt made sense.  So much sense, I'm writing my email about it.  

"The sun is shining, I'm alive, and it's a new day."

it's a haunted houssse!!!

A couple of words that helped change my attitude for the whole month.  I don't know if she realizes the impact of those couple of words, or the implication of her wearing that shirt.  A wife, with kids that only eat when there's money, a husband that doesn't come home, and in a house I can't even stand up straight in.

But despite that, she was right.  The hot Philippines sun was up, the day was waiting for her to make the most of it, and she was alive.  

haunted house!

Our attitude determines our destiny.  What we think becomes what we do, and what we become.  I am so glad to be able to have a good attitude, even on days where it's easier to not try.  

we had exchanges! and i rode bikes!

Funny Story: I always seen to include in my emails how small my companion, Sister Bautista is.  And almost all the funny things that happen during the week, somehow end up revolving around her smallness.  Yesterday we were walking on a bridge, over water that was a green, grey color, with floating fish at the top and some kind of... plant I think.  She was closest to the rails of the bridge and I was on her left.  Halfway across the bridge, I pick her up like I'm going to push her into the river and she lets out a scream that stops all the people on the street.  The street in a big city with lots of people.  We both were laughing until our stomachs hurt, trying to make it across the rest of the bridge without collapsing on each other.  But the people going the other way gave us a couple weird looks about why the foreigner was trying to drop a small filipina in a river. 

I love you all, enjoy the mountains.  And Nate, remember don't drink the orange juice:)

LOVE,

SISTER TAYLOR