I am a Missionary in the Philippines. Woah.

Today is Monday, Feburary 3^rd and my team and I are on our 8^th day of travel to our Island of Camiguin. All of our plane rides were incredibly smooth for traveling with 23 people (kids, babies, and adults). We waited in ZERO lines, breezed through security and customs, and immediately got all of our bags. It was a miracle! Thank you SOOOO much for your prayers!

Just to give a run down of our trip: we flew from Houston to Russia to Singapore to Manila(spent the night in Manila)- to Cagayan de Oro (spent 3 or 4 days here) and tomorrow me and my team of three other young women will be getting on a bus for 2 hours to go to the port to get onto a Ferry for 2 hours to get to our final destination - CAMIGUIN ISLAND.

This morning we sent off the Malabalay team. We prayed over them and stuffed their bags in a car and they took a bus to Malabalay. Their trip will only take a few hours by bus because we are already on their island of Mindano. It was bittersweet to see them go because they have all the cute kids and because this means we are literally the last missionaries to get to our mission post. We have been waiting so long for this day! The "waiting" really has been a penance, but praise the Lord for the 9^th day! Tomorrow will be our ninth day of travel and we will finally reach our destination!!!

Our time in CDO has been really blessed and jet lag has been very present. We have been staying in the Convento (Rectory) next to the Cathedral. There are nuns, brothers, and priests who live here and we are just living amongst them. The place is really huge! Let’s just talk about Sunday…

Yesterday we heard the obnoxious bells around 4AM (or maybe 3:30am, not too sure). This was the first mass of the day. They had mass EVERY HOUR aaaand the church was never empty. It was literally overflowing with people. They had rows and rows of people standing outside of every entrance and even further into the streets for every single mass at every single hour the entire day!!! It was one of the most incredible things I have ever seen. Thank God the windows are all open so the speakers can be heard pretty much everywhere. The Cathedral is very large with two sets of pews in the center aisle then a set on each side aisle and then two in the front facing the altar on both sides and then a bunch of pews behind the altar and even pews outside of the church! (how many times can you say “pew” in once sentence?)

The devotion of the people is really outstanding and so heartwarming.

Yesterday afternoon we took a little Pilgrimage to the shrine of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. We got to climb up the rays to the heart of Jesus where the Blessed Sacrament was exposed. It was a very beautiful and peaceful place!

Jesus, I trust in You

Please continue to pray for our team as we adjust to the Filipino culture, foods, bucket showers, foam beds, temperature, time change, language, and all that jazz. Also pray for our continued good health and for continued safe travels and protection from all natural disasters and that we can clearly hear what ministries the Lord is calling us to in Camiguin.