My Besties :)

Aldean's birthday party with some of my besties
Micah, me, Robin, Aldean, May-Anne, Ellen, Grace & Marc

The GirlsMay-Anne
Eating buko ice-cream, chocolate sundaes at the mall

May-Anne, me, and Micah at Aldean's birthday party.
May-Anne, me and Robin on our last day of painting at Onesimo
This girl is great and I miss her so much! She almost always text me in the mornings and at night with encouragement for the day. She came along to paint with us and was so much fun! She always wanted to make sure that I was having a good time. She had the best smile and always made me feel welcome. We had some great conversations about life, love, ministry, and the future. We went to the mall together and just talked and had a great time. She is such an inspiration and a great asset to ministry.

MJEating ice-cream at the mallEveryone wore checkered shorts this day except for Micah
Me with MJ & Lenny at a Pastors conference
It was a very good experience
She taught me the most Tagalog - phrases that were funny, meaningful, or useful (others taught me the mean ones, haha). She lived with Joel and Lenny so she was always around. We spent lots of time together talking and sharing our life stories and aspirations. We're both going through similar phases in life, so that was encouraging to talk about. If I needed a good distraction she was always there, or if I wanted to talk about something she was a listening ear. She tried to teach me how to cook Filipino foods one night, it wasn't terrible but it certainly didn't taste like it would have if she'd done it alone, haha.

Micah Micah, Robin, May-Anne and I at Aldean's birthday party

This girl is awesome! She is one of the only youth that I remember from last year. I talked to her some before I returned and she was eager for our arrival - which made me even more excited. She was involved in almost every aspect of our ministry, especially my internship. She was always at the church with a happy smile and a willing spirit. I could tell she really cared for me. I'm excited for her as she's getting ready to start her nursing job, which will be a great ministry for her. Her English is very good so she was a blessing when we needed a translator for ministry. I miss her so much already! She just got Skype, which is awesome! I know we'll stay in touch and be great friends!

The Boys
Aldean Aldean and I waiting to eatHe actually cooperated in this photoshoot
At his youth service at Bagong Nayon

Mmm I miss this guy a lot! He's the youth pastor at Bagong Nayon. He has a super heart and is so passionate about what he does. It is really inspiring. He taught me so much while we were together and we have tons of inside jokes. I'll never forget the first time that I met him :) My last night there we stayed up all night talking and making memories. He's a great singer and makes really crazy faces sometime. We have a running competition to see who can make the best grades before we graduate - him in the fall and I in the spring. I've talked to him a lot since I've been home and miss him a ton! I got to meet his family and they are really great people, so welcoming and friendly.

Robin
Robin and I next to our paintings at Onesimo He always calls us milk & coffee
This guy was so shy at first but now we're tight! He wasn't confident with his English but he's really good actually. While we were out the group left us alone together to force him to talk to me. Each time we saw each other I forced him to talk to me - sometimes he would just hide his face, look the other direction, laugh and say "i'm shy." He got to the point where he would text me in English and by the time I left he wasn't shy anymore :) He also went with us to paint and do VBS. When we had down time and music was playing he was always singing and dancing. Robin is very talented! He's studying to be a teacher right now.
MarcRobin, me and Marc playing with kids at the extension
We were supposed to paint this day and it didn't work out,
so they decided they wanted to do this instead.

Yellow day, haha
Marc, me and MJ at Bagong Nayon
This kid is hilarious! His nickname is "the magician" because he does lots of magic tricks. I first met him doing ministry at the dump - he was very entertaining. He taught me a trick that i'm suposed to perfect for next year. He convinced that I'm going to bring an American girlfriend for him on my next visit. While I was there he got a tooth knocked out and he's so self-concious about it. Of all the youth, he probably had the best conversational English skills.
DenisDenis and I at Aldean's birthday party
Pretty much all this guy said was "Hey man! what's up man? Man... Man.... Man..." He really wanted me to give him this IWU shirt when I left but it didn't happen. Whenever we were together he always had the whole group laughing. He is hungry all the time and gets crazy the hungrier he gets. Whenever it was quiet and there was dead air we always talked about Denis. He sang a song about catching spiders and was hilarious doing kareoke.

Me with the boys at Cloud 9
Aldean, Zimon, Robin, Marc and Denis.
Richard Richard with me and Megan at De Villa Escuvera
Megan & I got these fancy birds and Richard was jealous
he didn't get one so he held up his camera
Richard, Jerome, and I island hopping in Palawan
At Baker's Hill in Palawan
My team properly refered to Richard as The Man because he treated us so well. He is such a gentleman. We were his first guests in his guest house in Palawan. He welcomed us with a big sign that said "Mabuhay! Welcome to Puerta Princesa Palawan IWU" in the guest house. Our last night there he bought us all full-body massages. Everytime I am with him he always buys me ice-cream. When the whole team was there he was kinda reserved, but when it was just us in a small group he was crazy loud & outgoing! Sometimes he would text me just to ask how I was doing. I met him last year but this year we spent way more time together. He hates the sun but he'd stay out in it when I begged him ;) He's like family to me, I love him, and miss him.