LET'S GO BACK TO HALLOWEEN FOR A MINUTE

MLC

I always have great stories to tell you, and then the week (or sometimes month) goes by and I still haven't told you it.  But going back to Halloween, we totally had it Filipino style here.  Halloween here is actually on November 1st, and it's called All Saints Day.  As their version of trick-or-treating, the Filipinos spend the whole day in the cemetery sitting next to their dead ancestors and partying.  It's like a big family reunion in the cemetery, how fun does that sound!  People go home to their hometowns, and as you're maybe realizing, no one is home.  No. One.  For the missionary, All Saints Day becomes more like a No Work Day.  We walked, and walked, and walked, and walked, aaaaaand waaaaaalked (there's the reference to the primary song).  When it got dark, we finally got to go home, because everyone starts drinking, and had a cute American style halloween party.  Maybe you saw it in one of the pictures I sent.  I was a gypsy, Sister Bautista was a flamingo, and there was a pumpkin and 80's girl too.  We played stupid games, made videos that have absolutely no point (I've gotten really good at that), and ate no food because it was fast Sunday.  Ha.  

floods

And that was how we spent the week before transfers.  We also called it a transfer party, because everyone made bets I was transferring.  I even made bets that I was transferring!  Transfers came, transfers went.  I'm excited to still be here in Guagua, after I had been here for 6 months I figured an extra month and a half can't make that much of a difference.  I asked president if there was a reason he didn't transfer me.  All he said was "revelation."  But I figured that seemed like a pretty good answer too.  

ice bucket challenge

We went to visit a less-active yesterday who we hadn't been to in a couple months.  She opened the gate and was really surprised when she was us.  I thought she was going to tell us to come back another day, but the first things that came out of her mouth was "I thought you moved Sister Taylor!"  And I wanted to reply, "They said it was revelation....", but instead we just laughed and she fed us spaghetti.

our companionship shirts

But I've gotten unmeasurably close to the branch in the time that I've been here.  We had a service project at the branch president's house last week and pulled all the weeds out of their yard.  It was more like digging in the sand though.  We worked (and got really tan) for a couple hours.  And then ran through rice fields, had a water fight, carried Sister Bautista around in the wheelbarrow, and ate cow tongue that they cooked.  Yummmmmy.  You'll get to meet them when you come, I love their family.  But they won't feed you cow tongue:)

service project

When you come, it will probably still be just as hot as ever here in Guagua.  Some things just never change.  Even in eight months.  We didn't get any rain this season and I think last week we had straight 90's.  Are you ready for that?  Or a better question, am I ready for winter in America?  No.

I slowly am starting to think more about coming home.  Sister Malig in our branch here has a daughter coming home tomorrow from the San Pablo Philippines mission and I was talking to her about it yesterday.  She said she can't sleep anymore from counting down the hours, and just keeps thinking of all the things she'll cook when her daughter gets home.  Her daughter sent a backpack home last week to them and Sister Malig told me the minute she opened she started crying (on the crowded bus) because it smelled like her daughter.  I could relate, and thought it might be a little bit of what you guys are feeling.  

LOVE,

SISTER TAYLOR