December and January

First off apologies for taking so long to communicate.  December and January have been crazier than I expected. I got the chance to see so many people in person on my US visit that I didn't actually have much time online!  Now my time has been filled with preparing for my wedding and family and friends visiting. All of that while also having four classes every week still😁

My visit to the states was very full with stop overs in 5 different states.  It was kind of funny to me, but my family asked the least number of questions about Jun and life here.  I realized that is because I generally get to either call or text them at least once a week. Often it is frustrating and only 5 minutes of conversation over the course of an hour though.  It was nice to just spend time sitting together talking, playing games, and eating meals. I also spend some time sorting through the rest of my personal things and sent several boxes of supplies and donations via balikbayan boxes.  The first set sent from my parents place the week of Thanksgiving and I told them it will be a race to see who arrived first them or the boxes. I was sort of joking, but now it is true! The boxes made it to Manila on the 23rd, but are yet to arrive in Juagdan.  Mom and Dad arrive in the Philippines on Sunday night, but we will stay in Cebu for a little bit…. which will get to Juagdan first?

It was a joy to meet with so many of my supporters during such a short visit.  It helped me remember how much I love what I do even if the day to day gets overwhelming.  I know I tried to get one pals going, but I haven't had much luck getting people to keep up.  Maybe after all the visitors and interactions for the wedding here it will make people more excited to do it.  Two of the best visits with supporters was the layover in Seattle, WA and my home church missions team. In Seattle I got to be treated to lunch on the water by my sister in laws parents.  Her mom had so many questions I was glad to hear and answer. It reminded me that peop!e are curious but often don't think to ask questions unless they see me. Meeting with my church had me excited to see how much it means for them to personally meet and know the missionaries they are supporting.  It was also good to start communicating about the potential additions to ministry with Jun joining me.

I returned to Juagdan in time to have Christmas with my local community.  I had a couple people try to get me to wait until after visitors and my wedding to start class, but it had already been a month of no classes so upon my return we just waited for the Christmas and New Year celebrations to end then we got going during the first full week of January.  Tomorrow will be four complete weeks for each class and I have still been averaging 50 students each week. They are very excited to meet my family. My mom wants to join class so we have been working on question asking and answering as well as short autobiographies. This week the assignment is to write out at least one question on a note card to ask my mom.  I had one student so excited he wrote 5 questions! In March I hope to add back the two other classes which includes my advanced high school students that were working on reading and writing.

As I already said, my parents are arriving in Cebu on Sunday night so Jun and I will head over there after church.  Perhaps when we are there I will be able to add some pictures and share a little more information…. perhaps, but no promises!