Maligayang Pagdating sa Pilipinas!

I recently discovered that there are a few emails I didn't post, so here they are.

Kahit mainit, kahit may ulan, dito na kami sa bahay mo!

Personal/Ashley's Mission Emails

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Ashley Mecham <ashley.mecham@myldsmail.net>	Jun 9
to me, Amanda, Patrick, Eliza, Lindsey, Jamie, kendra.knudsen, Elizabeth

I saw a member that I hadn't seen in a while and that is what he said to me. "Maitim ka!" Which means, "You're black!" So yeah, I'm no longer a whitey.

My dearest family and friends,

This week. Uh, it went by real fast. And I didn't write down any notes of things to tell you. So, blank is my mind.

RATS. We have rats in our apartment. Like, definitely more than one. And they are large. And their poop is large. And they take large bites out of my bananas. The fridge is the only safe place to put anything. Last night while planning, we heard and scream from the roommates room and Sister Reyes almost died because she was trapped in their with one of them. Then we chased him. He is large. And fast, we didn't catch him. So he still has free reign of the apartment. On of our less active families told us a story about how a rat ate one of their kittens. A KITTEN EATEN BY A RAT. Their huge here. That's what's on my mind right now.

Also, let me introduce you to Sister Ordiz. Actually, I don't know what to say about her. She is our fourth roommate, Sister Reyes' new companion. And I have never met anyone like her. She is the first filipino missionary that I've met that can't speak any english. But she is the kindest. Like, breakfast and lunch is always made before I think about it and my shoes are always cleaned waiting for me. But, also I am so scared of her. She's tiny and she moves so quickly and the only english words she says are, "YOU WANT?" whenever she offers me anything. But she's great. But if one day you get a letter that I've gone missing, it's probably her. 

So we have 7 baptisms scheduled for this month. But, only one is absolutely for sure happening. Hanzel Balut. She is golden beyond golden. Siyempre, she's a referral. He brother is one of our recent converts. But her mom is a devoted na devoted catholic and does not want her to be baptized too. Bale, kahit she's 29 years old, she still is so scared to go against her mom's wishes. It's so sad. I can't imagine it. Thanks mom for letting me get baptized :) So that's June 22. Lookin' forward to it.

This week we did a service project for the Grajo family. They're less active members who are slowly returning. I love them! I'll attach some pictures. They live in VRC which is the poorest of the poor. Their house is a tent. So we built them a structure over their table so they can still chill there when it's raining! They said it's really so we can still teach them there when it's raining :) They're the best. On the table in the picture is Tatay Danilo, our recent convert. Man, I love that guy. He's like a million years old but he still hops on the table to serve! Also, house building, totally my specialty. But no nail guns or table saws here and they tie everything together with fishing line, so I was of little to no help. So Sister Lamberte and I ate nyog! Fresh coconut from the tree, and as you can see I am more pinay than Sister Lamberte. She's using a plastic spoon and I am using a spoon made from my coconut shell. 

It's rainy season now and I LOVE IT. Tag-ulan. But filipinos hate the rain. We started sacrament meeting with 30 people yesterday because there was rain. Our usual attendance is 120ish. Sayang. 

So that's my life. I love it. I love you. Pray that I don't have to train next transfer :)

Mahal na mahal ko kayo,

Sister Mecham