Thanksgiving Day came and went as any other day here. It is through and through, an American Red, White and Blue holiday that is not celebrated anywhere else, certainly not in the Philippines. We were on a ferry headed back to Bohol from Cebu on Thanksgiving Thursday because we had just spent 3 days at the temple.
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| Quisto Family |
Two families we knew were sealed in the temple and we had gone over to support them.
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| Maceren Family |
But we decided that we had to have some kind of celebration. So the next day we talked to our sister missionaries about it. The conversation went like this:
Me: "Hey, did you get to celebrate Thanksgiving yesterday?"
Them: "No. We tried to get the Elders to do something after our Zone mtg. but they didn't want to do anything." :-(
Me: "Well, Elder Caycayon and I have an idea. We'll prepare Thanksgiving dinner if you'll invite some of your investigators over to join us and then teach them about Thanksgiving and why we celebrate it in America. What do you think about that?"
Them: "Oh, Sister Caycayon, we love you guys (lots of hugs). You are the best! Yes, yes, yes!!"
Them: "How many can we invite? We have 3 for sure (TagB2 sisters). We have 1 for sure (TagB1 sisters)"
Me:"Just let us know by Saturday so we can buy all the food before Sunday."
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| Tagbilaran Missionaries |
And so we planned for our non-Traditional Thanksgiving dinner. There are no turkeys (only live ones that live across the street that I would like to SHOOT because they "gobble, gobble, gobble" all the time) or pumpkin. So in place of turkey we had Lechon Manok (Barbecued roasted chicken). For our Filipino brothers and sisters we made rice and a bico dessert. And for our sister missionaries we made mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, tossed green salad (this is a treat because you don't often get a nice green salad), Elder Caycayon's homemade butter rolls, and cherry crisp w/ vanilla ice cream replaced the pumpkin pie.
Our meal was planned for 5:00, the sisters arrived @5:30 and most of our guests arrived around 6:30pm. (Filipino time is twice as long as Hawaiian time) But they all came and we were so happy that they were there. We had 2 investigators, and 2 that were scheduled for baptism, plus 4 sister missionaries, 3 members who had brought the investigators, and us in our little apartment.
The sisters were chomping at the bit to get at the food. It was Fast Sunday and they were hungry, but I have to say that they held themselves back with great dignity to let the others go first. Our guests tentatively took a little salad and mashed potatoes to be polite. Then we let the sisters loose and all we heard were "ohs and ahs" and squeals of delight.
"Oh, mashed potatoes, we haven't had mashed potatoes in like forever!"
"He made fresh rolls! We LOVE YOU Elder Caycayon!"
"A GREEN SALAD! We LOVE YOU Sister Caycayon!"
"Corn on the cob!! Why don't we ever make corn on the cob? Because it's too expensive!"
"This is so lami! (delicious)"
"You had how many rolls?!? That's not fair, I only had two!"
Soon I noticed our Filipino sisters coming back for more mashed potatoes and rolls. They were putting the mashed potatoes in the rolls and enjoying it so much who was I to tell them we don't usually eat our mashed potatoes that way.
After dinner we sang a hymn, had a prayer and then I told them about the first Thanksgiving and the reason we celebrate the holiday. The sister missionaries gave a lesson based on a talk on gratitude that was given by Pres. Monson and then everyone shared one thing they were thankful for - family, friends, serving a mission, life, trials and most importantly the Atonement of our Savior and the love of our Heavenly Father. Closing prayer and then dessert!
It is a Thanksgiving we'll never forget. The sister missionaries were thankful for a meal that had some of their favorite foods that they hadn't eaten in a while. The Filipino sisters and brethren were thankful for the new things they were able to taste and enjoy and we were thankful to have them in our home and to see their joy in the simple meal we prepared. We were all thankful for the Spirit we felt as we shared our gratitude for the blessings received.
That night I thought of the many things I am thankful for. No, let me rephrase that. I thought of the many relationships I am thankful for. In eternity things will not matter but relationships will. They have been and will be the source of my greatest blessings and joy. I am thankful for these:
My personal relationship with my Father in Heaven, knowing that He is truly my Father, the Father of my spirit and that I am His daughter and that I can pray and He will hear and answer my prayers.
My personal relationship with my Savior, my Eternal Father, who through His wondrous Atonement gives me Eternal Life. I am learning more each day how much He loves me as I see His hand in my life each day.
My relationship with my eternal companion which grows richer everyday as we serve each other and serve others each day.
My relationships with my family and friends. How I treasure them and am so grateful to have been blessed to have them in my life.
The wonderful thing about missionary work is that you get to expand your circle of relationships. You get to add a 16 yr. old sister who has such a strong testimony of the gospel that she is willing to wait 2 yrs to get baptized because she can't get her mother's permission until then. Or a sister missionary that has just been through Super Typhoon Yolanda and experienced things no 19 year old should experience. She had been given an option to go home having served an honorable mission but chose instead to stay. Heavy rain makes her uneasy and brings back memories but she still goes out in the rain to find and teach. Or a group of RS sisters that are having so much fun learning the hula and the laughter as they try to 'ami or kaholo for the first time.
Pres. Tanner made a profound statement in our Zone Conference today. He said, "You are the last army." Elder Echo Hawk said, "You are part of this historic moment in the Church of the Lord's hastening His work." His wife said, "We are preparing for the 2nd Coming of the Lord."
What can I say to encourage you all to be part of this historic moment except what was shared by one of our missionaries in Zone conference. "Missionary work is love." Simple truth.
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| Jagna District (one of two districts we take care of) |
We thank God for all of our blessings and the privilege He has given us to serve a mission. We love missionary work. We love serving here. We love the people and the relationships we are forming. We love our young missionaries. We love all of you. Te atua pu, Nahigugma mi inyoha! Elder and Sister Caycayon
P.S.
We thought the Kaona's were going to the St. George Mission. Are you sure? If they are going to St. George why are they opening a restaurant in Cebu?
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| Huh?!? |
1/22/2014
