My sister Kassidy left for her mission about one month before my daughter was born. She has been serving a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Later Day Saints for the past 18 months in the Philippines which also happens to be a doable trip from where we are currently living. We were excited to find out that we had received permission to go pick her up from her mission for a number of reasons. I'm grateful that everything worked out for us to be able to go. My sister has grown so much. She is a woman now. Everywhere we went she acknowledged each individual she came in contact with, stranger or not, in a truly genuine way. It could be a taxi driver, a server at a restaurant, a store clerk, anyone really. It brought to my attention how little I actually do this, and inspired me to be a little more outgoing than what I am typically comfortable with. She would genuinely try to get to know them in the time we were there even if it was short. I'm so proud of her.
I had a few reservations about this trip. I was the type of person that traveled a whole bunch before I had a baby, because I was never going to travel when I had children because it looked to hard. I have eaten those words a couple of times since Ely has been born because we have taken now 3 trips during her lifetime. Not just a few hours hear and there but LONG trips over countries and oceans. It wasn't the easiest thing to do, but I did judge traveling with a child a bit harshly. As a young adult I chose to see only the bad things associated with traveling with a baby. I didn't take into account the rewarding and amazing moments that happen when traveling with a child.
Isn't this the cutest? A little friend she made while we were waiting for our plane to arrive.
I've seen her grown so much on this trip and there were moments when we could all just relax and enjoy one another's company. Also, she is sort of accustomed to the idea of traveling now, so most of the time she did quite well and slept for most of our plane rides and longer car rides. Scooby Doo on the kindle was our best friend for the longer legs of this trip. I'm frequently looking for ways for her to learn and become more cultured, what better way to do this than to travel with her?
We had a few moments at their airport where I thought we weren't going to be able to go. When we landed on Okinawa for the first time, we had government issued passports so Ely and I had those passports stamped. In the military those are the passports that allow you to live in the country where you currently are visiting. We took our tourist passports, (that had no reentry stamps on them) and thank goodness a copy of Sean's orders just in case we ran into any issues. Military friends.... take a copy of orders with you when you vacation, they ask for them at immigration and saved us when things got tricky! Ely and I didn't have re-entry stamps on our passports and the ladies behind the counter were not going to print off our tickets until we were able to prove we were there on military orders. Heart pounding stuff. Luckily we were able to get that taken care of. We probably could have saved all the hassle had we brought our government passports with us, I didn't like the idea of carrying 5 passports, but it would have saved us this issue.
The Okinawa Airport is one of the most quiet airports I have ever been in, or at least it felt that way because my child was the loudest, even when she was happy. It is also full of honest people, we left our camera sitting on the couch for probably a good 30 minutes. When we realized we didn't have it anymore, we retraced our steps and found it. Oh the joys of being scatter brained and disorganized! We flew with China Airlines, and originally had prepared ourselves for poor service, but received nothing but great service and actually really enjoyed flying with them. I'm still confused why I heard so many bad things. They were accommodating of our little one, gave her things to play with, provided meals, no extra charges for carry on or checked bags. We did have our gate change on us during our layover and we were running through the Taiwan airport with a sleeping baby in the carrier just to have our flight delayed. That was really the only issue and it was kind of a life saver, we may have missed our flight had it not been delayed. We will probably fly with them in the future.
After landing in Manila a ride from the airport to the hotel was quite expensive, but we weren't really aware of what was good or bad. That ride was an adventure in itself. I brought a car seat to the Philippines, if you wait until later to read about it you will see why that is so funny. There weren't seat belts in our taxi or in any of the cars we drove in the whole time we were there for that matter. Car seats aren't really a thing there.
We had a few moments at their airport where I thought we weren't going to be able to go. When we landed on Okinawa for the first time, we had government issued passports so Ely and I had those passports stamped. In the military those are the passports that allow you to live in the country where you currently are visiting. We took our tourist passports, (that had no reentry stamps on them) and thank goodness a copy of Sean's orders just in case we ran into any issues. Military friends.... take a copy of orders with you when you vacation, they ask for them at immigration and saved us when things got tricky! Ely and I didn't have re-entry stamps on our passports and the ladies behind the counter were not going to print off our tickets until we were able to prove we were there on military orders. Heart pounding stuff. Luckily we were able to get that taken care of. We probably could have saved all the hassle had we brought our government passports with us, I didn't like the idea of carrying 5 passports, but it would have saved us this issue.
The Okinawa Airport is one of the most quiet airports I have ever been in, or at least it felt that way because my child was the loudest, even when she was happy. It is also full of honest people, we left our camera sitting on the couch for probably a good 30 minutes. When we realized we didn't have it anymore, we retraced our steps and found it. Oh the joys of being scatter brained and disorganized! We flew with China Airlines, and originally had prepared ourselves for poor service, but received nothing but great service and actually really enjoyed flying with them. I'm still confused why I heard so many bad things. They were accommodating of our little one, gave her things to play with, provided meals, no extra charges for carry on or checked bags. We did have our gate change on us during our layover and we were running through the Taiwan airport with a sleeping baby in the carrier just to have our flight delayed. That was really the only issue and it was kind of a life saver, we may have missed our flight had it not been delayed. We will probably fly with them in the future.
After landing in Manila a ride from the airport to the hotel was quite expensive, but we weren't really aware of what was good or bad. That ride was an adventure in itself. I brought a car seat to the Philippines, if you wait until later to read about it you will see why that is so funny. There weren't seat belts in our taxi or in any of the cars we drove in the whole time we were there for that matter. Car seats aren't really a thing there.
We stayed at the Discovery Primea in Makati, and I would go back in a heart beat. We aren't really hotel people, but we knew we were going to have a tiring and exhausting week ahead, so we decided to just hang out at the hotel the first two days we were there while we waited for Sister Norman to come down to Manila. We took advantage of their delicious breakfast, the fun pool, Sean took advantage of the gym, and we mostly lounged around and only left to go to dinner and lunch.
The view of Manila from our room.
My silly goose
3rd floor infinity pool, there was also a fun little shop, spa, salon, and a medical clinic.
the sister that so kindly offered to watch Ely for us when we did our session said that they would arrive around 5 and that is when she would meet us there. So we received two conflicting bits of information. I decided at first to trust that they would arrive at 5. When we arrived, for some reason, I panicked. We were there around 4:15. I saw several suitcases and thought they belonged to missionaries ( now that all is said and done, I realize they just belonged to members traveling to the temple from far away). I asked the visitors center if a group of missionaries had come. They said yes, that they arrived at 4, and were going into the 5 o'clock session. I even asked them to call and to see if Sister Norman was in a session, they did, and said she was. I did what any sister that traveled miles and miles to meet up with her sister that she hasn't seen in 18 months would do. I started crying, like an irrational baby. Things were not going the way I had envisioning them going for the past several months. Sean told me just to go into the temple and go to the session with Sister Norman, that he would stay with Ely. That sometimes, things don't always work out perfectly.
So I even tried going into the session, but they told me they were full so I wasn't even able to go with my sister. Because the missionaries were already in the session, I thought that our sitter wasn't going to come or that there was some misunderstanding as to where we would meet, so I ran around looking for a WiFi connection to get in touch with this sister so Sean and I could at least go to a six o'clock session. The temple grounds are big, and I felt like I some how missed her. I went around asking every person if they were Sister Mercado. I even ran across the street to the MTC and got a connection there and tried calling her, no answer. She arrived at 5, like she said she would, haha. Sean and I handed Ely off to someone we had just barely met, so I was really emotional about this. I trusted this woman and I trusted my sister's vouch for her, but I was still having a hard time leaving Ely. We arranged everything for Ely to be left with her and 2 other sisters that accompanied her. Sean and I decided we would try to do something shorter like sealings or initiatory to get out around the same time as Sister Norman. We had left Ely with the sitters, and were walking in the doors of the temple when I saw off in the distance a group of missionaries, and one curly haired sister jumping up and down squealing. I shockingly screamed, "What are you doing?!", she ran up and gave me a hug. I told Sean I wasn't going to cry, and was totally prepared not to. Lies. I cried, so much.
"Come Meet Ely."
Typically missionaries do not have permission to hold small children, because Ely was a family member Sister Norman was able to hold her on our trip before her release.
It was such a gift to be able to do this. After all was said and done, I realized we didn't get a picture with Sister Mercado and the other women that helped watch Ely while we were in the session. I believe Sister Mercado has left for her own mission recently, I pray that she will be successful at this and receive abundant blessings for her desire to serve. I'm so grateful for her service to our family. I was able to attend the session with both Sean and my sister and it was such a blessing. It was a special experience, and much needed.
The following day we headed up to the area where Sister Norman served her mission. From this point out there was a lot of traveling, and we visited so many different and interesting cities. First we stopped in Tarlac where we met her mission president's wife. Such a sweet lady, I'm so grateful for her and that she looked out for my sister during her time on her mission.
We also stopped for lunch in Tarlac, more than enough food for the 3 of us and Ely, for about $3.00. It was insane.
We made our way up to Panique. We met the sweetest family that helped Sister Norman out a few times. We ate sour mangos here, something that Sister Norman loves, and Ely had the time of her life playing with all the animals.
Pointing at doggies and kitties.
And the American baby with the cell phone...... I'm not sure if this is funny or if I should be embarrassed.
Ely's first Tricycle ride!
Halo Halo dessert, shaved ice, sweet potato, coconut, other yummies that I'm not really sure of.
She loved the tricycles of the Philippines
Ely started this thing on our trip where if she approved of the creature she was pursuing and wanted to spend time with them, she would sit down and take off her shoes, like, "I think I'm going to stay a while." It was cute the first couple of times, and then we would just hope she would leave her shoes on when she saw a new animal or baby.
Such amazing people. Such a beautiful and peaceful place, especially after busy Manila.
Following Panique we made our way to Cabanatuan, we saw some new and interesting things on the way.
Traffic in Guimba... yes I brought a car seat to the Philippines.
Some little friends Ely made
On our way to Rizal, rice crop drying on the side of the road.
3rd floor infinity pool, there was also a fun little shop, spa, salon, and a medical clinic.
The sign Ely helped me make, she mostly glued things on and then ripped them off, and colored all over it. She loved running around the temple grounds with this poor sign. It was pretty tattered by the time it got to Sister Norman.
We were planning to leave to go meet up with Sister Norman at the Manila temple later in the day. My testimony of the Lord's timing, and his lessons on faith were evident here. We don't have a temple in Okinawa. We are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. When we go to the temple we make sacred covenants with our Heavenly Father and receive reminders of promises previously made to him. The one thing I wanted to do while we were in the Philippines was go the the temple as a family. This also happened to be where Sister Norman thought it would be best to meet up with us. Sister Norman's mission told us that they were going to arrive around 4,
"Come Meet Ely."
She wasn't in a session, I was told incorrectly, she did arrive around 5 like Sister Mercado said she would. All of my panic was so unnecessary. I'm so glad that the session was full and that the brother and the desk could see my distress and encouraged me to come back later. I'm grateful I didn't enter the temple in that state and was able to give myself a while to calm down. I definitely learned a lot about assumptions and having faith from this whole experience. We attended the 7 o'clock session. While we waited we visited the temple grounds and the MTC where Kassidy trained. Oh, and Kassidy met Ely for the first time, ever.
Typically missionaries do not have permission to hold small children, because Ely was a family member Sister Norman was able to hold her on our trip before her release.
The following day we headed up to the area where Sister Norman served her mission. From this point out there was a lot of traveling, and we visited so many different and interesting cities. First we stopped in Tarlac where we met her mission president's wife. Such a sweet lady, I'm so grateful for her and that she looked out for my sister during her time on her mission.
We also stopped for lunch in Tarlac, more than enough food for the 3 of us and Ely, for about $3.00. It was insane.
We made our way up to Panique. We met the sweetest family that helped Sister Norman out a few times. We ate sour mangos here, something that Sister Norman loves, and Ely had the time of her life playing with all the animals.
And the American baby with the cell phone...... I'm not sure if this is funny or if I should be embarrassed.
Ely's first Tricycle ride!
Halo Halo dessert, shaved ice, sweet potato, coconut, other yummies that I'm not really sure of.
She loved the tricycles of the Philippines
Ely started this thing on our trip where if she approved of the creature she was pursuing and wanted to spend time with them, she would sit down and take off her shoes, like, "I think I'm going to stay a while." It was cute the first couple of times, and then we would just hope she would leave her shoes on when she saw a new animal or baby.
Such amazing people. Such a beautiful and peaceful place, especially after busy Manila.
Following Panique we made our way to Cabanatuan, we saw some new and interesting things on the way.
Traffic in Guimba... yes I brought a car seat to the Philippines.
Some little friends Ely made
On our way to Rizal, rice crop drying on the side of the road.
Photos From Rizal
On the Highway.... a dog riding on the roof of a tricycle.
Not our first ride as a family, that was late at night in Cabenatuan, and I was so scarred haha! We were pros by this point.
Sister Norman in front of us. Probably talking to the driver. She did that every time we took a ride.
The Market where we bought the fixings for our lunch. Later Jennilyn's family so lovingly prepared it for us over an open fire and it was amazing.
We love this lady, so kind and hospitable!
My little trooper, it was so HOT.
I nursed her frequently while we were at the market. We kept her well hydrated contrary to what this picture might depict.
.... and we kept ourselves hydrated with soda, drinking it how the Filippinos do!
There were Jeepneys everywhere!
There are two different words for dogs in the Philippines, Aso and Ascoe ( I probably butchered the spelling). It's kind of sad to me, an Aso is a dog that belongs to a family, and Ascoe is a stray dog. I'm giving this sweet little Ascoe some love, he reminded me of my Aso Rocco.
I loved all of the colors of this country.
At Jennilyn's house in Rizal
After they had made dinner they took us to this Dam, it was a beautiful view.
Ganda means beautiful in Tagalog
We ate lunch next to a river, it was so cool!
Such a kind and hospitable family.
Breakfast
Traditional Filipino breakfast.
Hiking up to Mother Falls
She fell asleep on the way up
I finally decided to jump in! Super cold, but worth it after that walk up!
At the beach post hike
Sister Norman couldn't swim due to missionary rules. I'm super grateful she kept an eye on Ely for us while Sean and I played in the waves. Both were within my sight and sound, another missionary rule.
Smart Beach House, loved this beautiful view!
Waiting for our breakfast to arrive.
I think I'm going to look back on this and treasure these memories some day. We had such a fun time on this beach.
I love Baler.
On Our way out of Baler, I loved the lush palm trees that we saw on the side of the road, so beautiful.
Another stop in Cabanatuan. This sweet lady fed us lunch and gave us some of these berries. It was so yummy! These berries were unlike anything I've ever eaten before.
Last visit- Cabiao, probably the most spiritual of all of the places we had previously been. The people here had such a passion for the gospel.
This woman had tears in her eyes when she saw Sister Norman. It was so emotional seeing their reunion. I only had a small sample of the love missionaries develop for the people they serve especially here meeting these families.
Probably my favorite picture from the whole trip
Ely was a little celebrity everywhere we went.
Sean made a little friend
Living in Okinawa we don't really get to feel like "foreigners" because there are so many Americans living here already. We definitely felt like foreigners here, in a good way. I loved these moments so much.
I was just a little nervous. I don't think it cared for us too much.
My filthy, worn out child. I don't think she had ever played this hard in her life. She needs more of this.
At church on Sunday. This little girl had so much fun playing before church.
A motor bike at church. I thought this was so cool! CTR=Choose The Right
A spare house Emelina's family allowed us to use. We are so grateful!
Another sweet and amazing woman. We enjoyed her kind hospitality and friendship. Emelina was so vigilant and aware of our needs. We love her and her family.
On our way back to Manila.
It was a little chaotic getting Sister Norman off to the airport. Her flight left 2 hours before ours and with a different airline. So naturally I thought I would just go with her and check our bags in while Sean stayed with Ely at the hotel and then he would meet up with me later. When I arrived to drop off Sister Norman, my airline was not at her terminal, my terminal was 1, hers was 3. I thought nothing of it until we realized terminal 3 was miles and miles away via a 30 min taxi ride. So here I was with all these bags and a little sister that was needing to get signed in to fly overseas. I had to leave her there, having not gone through security and no means to communicate with me ( missionaries don't have phones and ours didn't work in the Philippines unless we could find Wi-Fi). We said our goodbyes, which was hard, I saw her as a new woman this past week and then in that moment she was my baby sister again. When we arrived to Taiwan during our layover, she emailed us probably off of some kind individuals phone to let us know she had made it to Hong Kong. We now know the Manila airport is huge, and sort of disorganized, but not all bad. We found this while we waited which was a blessing!
I'm in love with the little friendship developed between these two. I'm so grateful we were able to make this happen. We had a wonderful time and probably won't be able to duplicate anything like it again! My testimony of the gospel has grown so much from this experience, of the importance of reaching out, rescuing people, and of missionary work.
Doctrine & Covenants 65:2
2 The keys of the kingdom of God are committed unto man on the earth, and from thence shall the gospel roll forth unto the ends of the earth, as the stone which is cut out of the mountain without hands shall roll forth, until it has filled the whole earth.
