PHILIPPINES

Perry and I are back from our trip to the Philippines... Perry has always wanted to take me back to his mission so when my aunt and uncle got called to be mission presidents over Queson City, (his exact mission) we decided now would be the perfect time to go. It was such a wonderful experience and one that I will always remember. I was planning on doing one big post-but it was too overwhelming for me so I am going to break it up day by day...
 Anyway-our flight left 6:00 am Friday morning and it took us 29 hours to get from our doorstep to my aunt and uncles, (with 4 different flights and a time change of 14 hours-we were exhausted-but super happy to see my aunt and uncle at the airport to pick us up) After about an hours drive we were at the mission home... We both slept like babies..
 The next day we got up early and took a taxi to Antipolo-(one of Perry's areas) for church...He had several people he was excited to see there...(Through facebook he was able to come into contact with several members and people he baptized-so they knew we would be there) Anyway-one of the ward members gave me a beautiful pearl bracelet that she was wearing-and another gave me a necklace and earrings.. I felt guilty taking it-but knew they would feel bad if I didn't.  (These people have nothing-but yet they are soo happy to give) The lesson was interesting as the teacher would speak a little bit of tagalog and a little bit of english-(half and half) It is huge for them to learn english-so they like to practice it alot. Anyway-I was able to follow a little bit..They also asked Perry and I to bear our testimonies in sacrament meeting...Perry did an awesome job with his tagolog and it was really neat to see him interact with these people that he loves.. It's amazing to me that after 12 years they even remember him-but all of them were very warm and kind and I could see their love for him. After church we took pictures and hung out for a little bit- and then we tried to find a family that he baptized...The mom was working in a nail salon-so we found the salon and she was completely shocked to see Perry...Her boss let her have a break and she took us to her home to see her children. When we got to the home it was about the size of my dining room with cement floors and one tiny bed...(I guess they take turns sleeping on it) It made me feel very guilty and spoiled to think of our home in comparison...) Perry says that this is one of the average to nicer homes here. Anyway- he was excited to meet Perry Max-her little boy that was named after him. (This family didn't speak hardly any english so I couldn't really follow the conversation) Her husband is a driver in kuwait and hasn't been home in 4 years. The company was supposed to give him a plane ticket 3 weeks ago to come home for a visit but then they decided not to-and it is too expensive for them to buy one so they have no idea when they will see him...She got choked up and it made me very sad and I realized that I take Perry's job for granted..I complain about him coming home at 8:00 sometimes-but at least I still get to see him everyday...Anyway-it was a wonderful day seeing the people in his mission and they all enjoyed seeing him..First thing everyone said to him was "Wow, you are big now, you gained weight. You are very handsome now that you are big." I guess being big means you have enough food to feed yourself which makes you rich and handsome-lol! (not quite the same as America)
After visiting everyone he wanted we went back to the mission home and ate dinner with My Aunt and Uncle and the AP missionaries. It was a great day...
Below is a pic of the mission home...Beautiful..                 

Perry baptized the lady's husband in the gray-but she refused to take the lessons at the time and since then she has been baptized along with her children and all sealed in the temple.

These are all the people who were either a family member to someone who has been baptized or they have been baptized themselves while Perry was serving...

This is the same wall of the same church-12 years ago...Look how tiny Perry was lol!

These are pictures of the Tarana family that is missing their dad being abroad...The little boy on the bottom right is Perry Max...He was born right before Perry left the mission.. Isn't he adorable?? The picture on the bottom left is a picture of Andy's baptism 12 yrs ago...Andy is the boy in the picture in the green shorts just below.