Hey Family and Friends!
I'm doing great! Our travel to the Philippines was hard. We made it fine but we spent over 53 hours traveling from Nicaragua to our ministry in Puerta Galera, Mindoro, Philippines. We started with a 4 hour flight from Managua to Atlanta then another 4 hour flight to Los Angeles where we had a 6 1/2 hour layover then left LA at 1:20 am. We had a 14+ hour flight to Hong Kong and then caught another plane to Manila, Philippines. When we got to Manila we had a surprise waiting for us. My team and another team had our contact waiting to take us to our ministry site. (we were supposed to have 2 days of recovery before they came and got us) Awesome! So then we had a 7 hour trip which included a 3 1/2 hour drive to a 2 hour ferry right followed by a 1 1/2 hour drive to our home for the month. Needless to say I was beat. I was SO TIRED! That was really rough. But we survived. And looking back I am excited we got it all over with at once instead of having another travel day.
Here are some things I learned on my way here.
1. No matter how long I tried to remember that in the US we put toilet paper in the trash. When it came time to put it in the toilet I froze and couldn't remember where to put it.
2. I have changed. I am no longer the person I was when I left. I have different views on the world. I have different cares and worries. I find importances in different things.
3. When traveling for 53+ hours you never know what time it is. When you ask you don't know if that time is in the time zone you are in or the one you just came from or the one you originated in.
4. I miss my family and friends more then I thought/ more then I knew. While flying through the states I was very sad not to get to see my family and friends. It was hard to be so close and yet so far away. I love them very much.
5. I don't sleep well on planes or boats or cars. So while traveling this month I slept about 8-10 hours and that caught up to me pretty quickly.
6. Team Leading is hard but it can be really fun if I let it. This month I am leading a team of 6 other girls through our month in the Philippians. I am so blessed to get to work with this amazing group of Godly women. I know God has greatness in-store for us!
These things are great revelations. I can't wait for what I learn in the next 8 months! Please continue to pray for me and my team. Also pray for the people we are working with this month. As I write this to you, I have 3 adorable young girls reading over my shoulder. They are telling me what I write. Please pray for them! (Here they are! From Left to Right: Valerie, Janaica, Me and Josephine.)
