We started our Philippines adventure at the Majika Island Resort on Coron, Palawan. It is a small, family owned resort. It is definitely not for people who want luxury. We had a cold shower, a bucket flush toilet, and electric fans for our AC, but it was just great for us.
We did this 20 minute hike at sunset and sunrise. It was a beautiful view of the surrounding Islands.
This is a not so great picture of our cottage. As you can tell, I was shooting the flower and the cottage happened to be in the background.
We were there for two full days and for each day they had planned excursions they took us on. The first day we did a lot of snorkeling and I did a couple of dives. The second day we went over to this amazing area with these rocks and coves of fresh water. One of the places is called Kayangan Lake. It's absolutely gorgeous.
Kayangan Lake
What a HUNK!!
The couple in this picture with us are from France. I was amazed at the variety of tourists that we met at Majika. There were people from Japan, Taiwan, Serbia, the Czech Republic, and one more I think I'm missing. It was really fun chatting with some of them.
Mmmm...we are coconut lovers.
Lot's of yummy authentic Filipino food. Josh liked pretty much everything he tried.
These cute ladies cooked and served all of the food. They loved speaking Tagalog to me and they were very anxious to grant any requests that we made. They got a couple of coconuts just for us and they made a dinner dish that I mentioned.
Jason and Jimson were both around the age of 16. They would assist us on our excursions. Jason was a great tour guide and Jimson would help us get out the kayak and help out wherever else he was needed. We really took a liking to these boys. They were so fun to be with.
After three days we flew back to Manila. We stayed the night where my beloved mission companion, Marjorie, lives. I got to meet her husband and they cooked dinner for us as well. This was much appreciated because it was Sunday. They really are two of the greatest human beings. The other woman in the picture is their landlady. It is her home and they are renting a room.
Next stop: Cauayan City. My second and fourth area in the mission. No one in this area knew that I was coming so it was really fun to surprise everyone.
The Tuliao Family--A wonderful and strong member family
The Uy Family--Brother Uy was the Branch President while I served in their branch.
The San Jose Family. We taught their two sons and helped the rest of their family come back to church.
Halo Halo--An "Only in the Philippines" special treat. I love it and so does Josh.
You can't tell but this is us squished into a Jeepney for a 1.5 ride to Roxas, one of my mission areas. Joshua is such a great sport. ;)
More Halo Halo with Jove and her daughter Lyka. Jove (pronounced jooby) is an incredible member in a tiny branch that I served in. She worked with us as a fellowshipper almost every single day and fed us lunch frequently. Absolutely amazing woman.
This is her uncles property. It is huge. It includes 8 fish ponds and the surrounding land. There are lots and lots of coconut trees. It's a little hidden paradise. Her uncle is trying to sell the property. He is getting old! You'll see in the next pictures.
Just climbing up a coconut tree. Yes, he is a monkey...AND a ninja.
Jackfruit. They were huge but still not ripe.
The old man in green and woman in purple are the owners--Jove's aunt and uncle.
We are standing in front of their home.
Arrived in Rizal! This is in front of the Cauilan's home.
The kids were swarming Josh. They loved him.
We spent half the day making lots of delicious food and treats. It was very fun.
Josh played some basketball in the scorching heat. Two on two.
Sticky rice. A delicious Filipino treat. We didn't eat that whole thing but with enough time I surely could have.
We took the Cauilan family plus a few extras swimming. It was so fun! I had no idea there was a water park right in the area I served in. Josh taught a few of the kids how to swim and they really did learn. That is amazing considering they really could not swim before.
The Cauilan family minus their youngest girl Riza.
Visiting Bishop Pascua who was absolutely incredible and really helped us missionaries to have a lot of success in Rizal 1st ward.
Just had to throw this in because he is so cute and that airport cinnabon was Amazing!
Then to Cebu to visit grandma and grandpa! We loved spending time with them and enjoying a little bit of american food again. We got to see the chocolate hills, tarsiers, and go on Loboc river.
Going to visit one of Jake's converts, but she was not home.
I was so amazed to see grandpa driving in the crazy filipino traffic. He really has learned how to drive like they do. Super impressive!!
We got to see both the Cebu and Manila temples but only from outside. They were both closed when we visited them. So beautiful!!!!
And our last stop before I sent Joshua home was the Mall of Asia. Wow. That place was huge. It was very impressive especially being located in the Philippines. It is the biggest mall I have ever seen. We only had about an hour there but it was fun to walk around for a bit.
