Friday, July 3, 2015-July 10, 2015

Friday we purchased some avocados for chips, we bought a water connection, and we went to the Center.  We came home and Ray hung the water heater for the shower with duct tape.  The walls are cement so they required a drill.  Warm water!  It felt soo good!
Saturday, Fourth of July, another warm shower--I could get use to this.  It has rained for three days.  There was a brown out for six hours last night but a nice breeze came through the windows.  I made brownies for our Fourth of July lunch with the elders.  They wanted to celebrate so they bought ground beef and buns and invited the Sorillas family over and us to celebrate.  It started with just the four of us.  Elder Watkins had a flag cutout smaller than a postage stamp, but we did the pledge of allegiance and sang the national anthem☺️.  Then we prayed and ate.  I made a dip of tomatoes, beans, corn, cilantro, spices for Tostitos.  We found cilantro for the first time and finally found Tostitos again after three months of none so we bought all the store had (3) bags.  Well, actually, Ray wouldn't let me get all three but when we shopped later in the week at another store, we bought another one.  The elders went to work and then Sorillas family came over, dad, mom, sister, brother.  They stayed and visited for a few hours.  After they left, we took the elders to Queenie and Brakies house for their baptismal interview.  That took about two hours but it was fun.  It was a brownout so we just visited inside the apartment while they were interviewed one at a time outside.  After that we attended the Mandurriao Ward fellow shipping night.  8:00 home.
Sunday we had to postpone for two weeks our "My Path" in Guimaras because of the typhoon spinning around.  So we attended Mandurriao Ward and then San Miguel group for fast Sunday.  Ray and Elder Watkins and Elder Fogavai administered to me for my shoulder.  The pain seem to go away but not the stiffness yet.  Queenie asked for Ray to baptize her and Brakie wants Elder Watkins to baptize her.  Pop corn tonight!
Monday we did one load of wash and were able to hang it outside until lunch.  We purchased water and went to the Center.  Roland stopped in to say "hi".  We went home for lunch.  Brought the clothes in before the rain started up again.  I made sloppy joes.  They really hit the spot.  I think we are pretty hungry for American food.  We picked up our water bill from the past bungalow and paid it at S&M and we picked up about three items at the store while we were there and then returned to the Center.  At 5:30 we returned home by way of McDonalds and purchased four apple pies and two sundaes for the dessert.  I weigh 62.2k now!  Yea!  20 lbs to go....and I only have 8 months to do it.
Tuesday we had district meeting and talked about being comfortable with the Spirit so you don't make silly comments.  It became a good meeting.  We went to S&M to get $P, pizza and buko juice, and shopped a little.  Then went to the Center and ate the pizza and juice.  A couple of men came in for help with resumes, one from Pavia(north stake) and one from Guimaras(newly returned missionary).   Then there was to be an information meeting with sirs but Sister Cagape never came.  Butch showed up so we outlined a new career development workshop for exiting missionaries.
Wednesday I did my wash before we went to the Ford dealership to have the truck services---3 hours later we came home.  Yes, a Minute Lube would be great here.  We waited three full hours for the same work.  This morning before we went to the dealership, I made us a mango shake with banana, pineapple, mango, coconut water and frozen coconut.  When I started to pour in the coconut water, it was pink.  I had grabbed the grapefruit juice but I didn't get too much in so I didn't think it would hurt it and then I got the right box out of the refrigerator, yes, clear coconut water.  I had put everything in except the frozen coconut.  I was waiting for it to thaw slightly.  Blended it up.  Poured us each full glasses.  It tasted a little strange.  I didn't expect it to be that strange from the tablespoon of grapefruit juice that I had poured in.  After a minute, Ray said it tasted fishy.  Oh, yea, I could taste that.  Are you sure it was coconut that you put in?  He didn't think we had any more coconut.  Did it look brown and white?  Yes, I think so.  Yes, it sure did.  I looked in the bottom of the blender and there were two white chunks that I picked up.  Whoops!  It was frozen fish!  It ruined my stomach.  Ray was worried we would get sick but the fish had been breaded with corn flake crumbs and cooked thus the brown and white.  😝. Well, it did taste weird.  Bummer.  We spent the rest of the day at the Center.  Julie Mendame came in with her three bouncy young children.  We closed up the computers😆, put away the stack of copy paper, and told them not to run the water onto the floor😇.  The drinking water.  We went home around 6:00.
Thursday we did some ironing, some cooking, some shopping, and some preparing for the baptism on Saturday.  We went to the Center and then to the Promenade for lunch.  We returned to the Center and had two young girls come in for help with their resumes.  Darlene Casas, North stake relief society president and stake specialist, came in before she taught her institute class to make sure we were attending north stake on Sunday.  We returned home to unpack groceries, do food preparation:  wash eggs, cut up pineapple, etc.
Friday we did some more cooking, jello with pineapple and apples, and bananas for Saturday.  Ray cut up carrots, cabbage, onions, garlic for the other food for Saturday and I cooked them.  He tasted and proclaimed it tasted.  It has continued raining every day and night since July started.  Only sunshine has been when I washed our clothes and that was just a brief time, long enough to get the clothes started trying.  It is very moist and damp.  Rays ties are starting to smell moldy.  But our skin is so soft.  We are at the Center now for about three hours.  This is when I write my journal email.  Baptism tomorrow!
Love Sister Robinson III