The day that I heard that my team was visiting the Philippines in September was exciting to 
me. I knew that no matter what I would try to visit my sister-in-law’s family in Manila and my brother’s house. It was a dream of mine. I never thought that I would know someone in a country I would visit and this was my chance. The only thing is, I had no idea of how this would happen. That is until I found out that my ministry was in Manila. I then anticipated the day to meet Rhose’s family.
This morning, I woke up excited. I had been planning to visit my family (or more my sister-in-law’s) for a week. I was told that they lived in Quezon City and we would meet at a place called the Mega Mall. I was hoping that everything woul
d turn out. The reason for the meeting place was that it was across the street from church that we sometimes go to here in Manila.
It took a lot of text messages to set up the meeting. I got a message saying that Bec Bec, Rhose’s niece, was on the way. We were going to meet at Sbarro at 12:30. Well, I should know by now that nothing goes as planned no matter how much you try. I was waiting outside of Sbarro when Bec Bec arrived at 1:0
0pm. She knew instantly that I was Wayne’s sister. I must look a little different from a Filipino. Upon Bec Bec’s arrival, I found out that my brother’s house was a lot farther away than I thought. We discussed what to do and decided that I would go with Bec Bec and her friend Lindsey and take public transportation. I then asked each of my teammates with me if they wanted to go along for the adventure. Lindsey and Sarah agreed to the adventure.
The day started with the 5 of us standing outside the mall, waiting for a bus. It took about 10 minutes for a bus to arrive and we all boarded. We got to ride the bus for about an hour. When we go off the bus, we 
had to wait for a jeepney to pick us up to take us on a 15 minute drive to a tricycle. The tricycle was the interesting part. We had to take two tricycles. I was in one with Bec Bec, very snuggled in. I think we weighed done the tricycle to much because we had a little trouble going over some of the speed bumps. We actually did not make it over one and had to back up and try it again. We eventually made it to the alley.
Upon the arrival at the house, I was greeted by Rhose’s dad and uncle. Lindsey, Sarah, and I went inside of the house and sat down. I will explain now that my brother bought a house last Christmas to help out his in-laws. He plans to retire in Manila. I looked around and found a picture of my family. I knew that my brother had been there. It was amazing at how I knew the things that Wayne had picked out. His presence is felt in the house. Being in the house even made me understand more about why their house is decorated like it is in Alaska. The house was perfect to me. It was the right si
ze and just wonderful. I enjoyed getting to explore the kitchen and bedrooms. During our visit, we got some snacks and drinks to start out with. Then we were asked if we liked chicken adobe, which I said yes. We were then served a dish of rice with chicken adobe. The food was delicious and reminded me of Rhose’s cooking. The visit did have some awkward moments since the family does not speak a whole lot of English, but I do have to say that it was worth the time to get there.
We then had to leave. We got to take a tricycle, FX, and sky train to get back to the mega mall. Rachel and DJ picked us up. As I look back at the day, I am so thankful for being given this opportunity
. I may not have understood everything that was said, but I do know that the family will not be able to forget my visit very easily. I smiled and just tried to show them how much I appreciated them and loved them. I just want to finish by thanking Wayne and Rhose for helping set up this amazing adventure that I will not soon forget. I think this day was one for my books as my best day so far. I love family and being able to meet some sort of resemblance to my family makes me still smile, two hours later.
