This week has been filled with birthdays, which has made it very fun and exciting. The members here love inviting us over for their birthdays. In the Philippines, birthdays are usually just celebrated with lots of food and the whole family coming over. As part of the church family, and convinced that we aren't eating enough, they make sure we always come. Here are the highlights of the week:
Monday: My companion's birthday. We scheduled a FHE with the branch relief society president which was actually a surprise party for her. It was way fun and a lot more people showed up than we thought would.
Tuesday: Sister Grace's Birthday and Sister Salazar's Birthday. I also taught in District Meeting that morning, so I enjoyed the day as a short break from stress before we started planning for an activity we were in charge of for Saturday and a lesson for church on Sunday. We visited the Salazar family (forgetting that it was Sister's birthday) and got large plates full of food as our reward. We ended our day by going over to Grace's house for a big dinner and some time to talk with their family. We felt very full by the time we got home.
Wednesday: It wasn't anyone's birthday. We did do exchanges however (when you switch companions with the other missionary companionship in the house) and I got to be companions with my MTC companion again! It was fun and brought back lots of memories from days in the training center.
Thursday:We did weekly planning which lasted much longer than it should have. We spent a lot of the time talking with the other sisters about how we can all work together to really help the branch to progress.
Friday was AMAZING: we headed out for the day and our first 4 lessons were all home and waiting for us and excited to learn. We've found a new family who is really excited to learn the gospel. When we got there, the mother came out to meet us and then gathered everyone who was home in the entire compound (large group of houses where everyone is related).
Saturday: We had a Relief Society activity were we, as missionaries, taught the sisters how they can more effectively do visiting teaching (a program of visiting other sisters in the church to help uplift them and share a short spiritual message). We were rewarded for our efforts with Ice Cream!
Sunday: This day was really busy. The missionaries were in charge of teaching the last part of church. We taught about some of the goals the church has for the country this year and how the members can all do their part to make it happen. We also went on splits, this is when my companion and I actually separate and go with ward members so that we can cover more appointments at the same time. We rewarded our temporary companions by going to the Salazar family again because the aunt was having a birthday and they wanted us to come. They had more food there than the first three birthdays combined. We ate till we were full and talked for a while before heading out to a few more appointments and coming home to close a very unusual week.
Happy Birthday (though it may appear that I've left of my typical closing line in Filipino, everyone here just says happy birthday. Even the locals have to think for a while if you ask them what it is in Hiligaynon, or Kinaray-a, or anything else)
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