The last two days have made me realize, I am not the only family member to have visited Asia. My grandpa, who I admire with my life served in Asia during World War II. My brother served in Japan for three years and now has a house in the Philippines. My team was able to visit the island of Corrigador. Corrigador is one of the last stands for the Americans had to keep the Philippines. It was a major battle between Japan and America.
I mentioned that I admire my grandpa. I love him so very much. I even have a picture of him and I feeding birds at South Padre island in my Bible. It is the only picture I keep on me at all times. When I am at home, I always make it a point to go and see him. I have been able to do a lot of things to bond with my grandpa. My grandpa is the head of the American Legion in his hometown. Two years ago, he had to add crosses to the cemetery that represent the people that have served and now are dead. I was able to spend a day with him, digging the holes, making cement, pouring it and then making sure the crosses were straight. I will never forget this day. This weekend has made me want to just speak to my grandpa, but I will have to wait until July to do this. I love him so much and I admire everything that he has done for this country and for all the things he does to help out his friends and neighbors.
Now I will tell you about Corrigador. My team of six, DJ, Rachel, Rachel’s father, Marilyn, and Dave left Friday morning at 5:00am. We drove to the pier and waited until our 8:00am departure. When we got on the boat, I was able to sleep for part of the one and a half hour ride. Upon arriving at Corrigador, I did not know anything about the island. We drove to the other side to drop our things off. We then went exploring. We went and visited some of the tunnels, batteries, buildings, and memorials.
As I was walking through the Malinta Tunnel and listened to the story, I was reminded of a few things that my grandpa told me about his time in World War II. I kept thinking about how my grandpa was here in Asia at one point in his life. He was here for a different mission. He 
came to Asia to help our country by fighting a war. I am here to help out as a missionary. I am here to serve the people of the Philippines and I have enjoyed every moment of it. I have even enjoyed the moments when I was uncomfortable walking down the street holding some child’s hand that I do not know. I love every moment that I am stretched.
When we were done with the tour, we went back to the campsite. We set up camp and made a fire. It is strange to be able to have a campfire in December. I know that I will never do this in South Dakota. I was able to lie on the ground and just stare at the stars. After we ate our dinner and had smores, we went to one of the caves and went through it. During the n
ighttime, we had the great experience sleeping outside under the stars.
The last day was spent hiking. It reminded me of the time that my mom and I ended up hiking in Denver; at least this time I had water. It was a very long hike and I got tired. As we walked through the jungle, I could not help feeling that at one time my grandpa could have walked through jungles like these. The only difference is, I was doing it for fun and I did not have to keep quite. During the hike, we visited the batteries and some caves. During one of the caves, I was attacked by a bat and it hit me in the face. I think that it may have hit my lip, which sort of grosses me out. After our 4 hour hike, we made it back to camp. We ate a quick lunch, swam, and relaxed. We then took a boat back to Manilla.
Now we are back home, well back to our life in Manilla. I feel quite gross after not showering
for a couple of days. I am so glad that I was able to experience this. It helped me start to understand what my grandpa went through when he was around my age. After hearing of how some of the people were treated, I understand why grandpa does not speak about it. I can’t wait until I can sit across from him and talk to him face to face in August.
