Rizal, 2016

Last weekend was one of the most memorable weekends of my life.

Packed my bags at Thursday night before I went to sleep. It was heavy and I think I got all the things I needed for the next day's trip. After lunch in Friday, I needed to be in Sangandaaan, Caloocan at 2 PM and since I don't know how to get there, I left the house at 11:30 just in case I would be lost. (laughs). Good thing there is a lady in the jeepney who helped me get to my destination, I was able to get there on time.

My friend, Christ, fetched me at 7-eleven after their school meeting. He is actually the one who invited me to go with his friends/workmates in a volunteer work in Rizal. He always tells me how fun it is to be with them and since they are all pioneers, they treat each other like family.  I am so excited to meet them too, and in a way, this is like a celebration for his new privilege in their congregation as a new ministerial servant (Congratulations!).

I was introduced to them and most of them are affiliated in Baesa Congregation. That brings back memories because when I was a kid, I used to play in the parking lot of the Kingdom Hall. It is adjacent to the apartment my aunt had boarded when I was still an elementary school student. I also remembered my aunt taking me to the meetings in that congregation. Small world, when I met Ate Mina and she learned my middle name, she immediately remembered someone from their congregation, an old friend, which turned out to be my aunt who now lives in a different city and whom they haven't seen for so long.

Jesus' words in John 13:34-35 are really true because really, when you meet people who belong to Jehovah's organization, you will really feel like you have known each other for a long time and you love them already. They also made me feel like someone who just visits an old friend. Hours later, we loaded our things to the car and headed out.

Ate Mina has given us our task schedule so we could be organized in our stay. I don't know the people behind these names, of course, but they seem to be happy people as I met them in the school faculty (meeting place). 

We played some games while on the way and I kind of felt dizzy because I am used to just sleeping in vehicle rides. But these people seemed very energetic all the time. I couldn't keep up. Haha.

Krisnyl reminded me of my friend back in college. She is a pretty girl who is a little boyish. Meriam is a silent girl who seems to bottle things up. Bok is not that talkative but when he speaks, he seemed to be so smart. I couldn't read Derek but he seems to be a nice person too. I easily got well with Ate Mina because she is very thoughtful and welcoming; And Kuya Boyet is easy to talk with. He listens well when someone is speaking. They are all wonderful people to to get to know with. 

We reached Binangonan at around 8:00 PM. We were welcomed by Jepte, a brother, who was their old friend. Ate Mina told me that he was a friend whom they knew when they volunteered in a preaching work in Daraitan. He was jolly and very accommodating. I will never forget the delicious meal he cooked for us. Dinner was fun and they did a lot of catching up.

We tried to hit the sack early (?) because we planned to go preaching the next day.

We prepared our magazines and waited for the others to arrive before we started the field service meeting. A pioneer name Dang, and his brother, Edward, arrived. They were with Jayde, an unbaptised publisher in their congregation. We were introduced to one another. I felt excited to start the preaching work because I want to know what kind of territory is that place. This time, Emy will be my partner.

Emy is very sweet and she is actually adorable. Aside from being pretty, she is really effective in preaching. She knows how to adjust to people and actually, I learned a lot of things from her, despite her being younger than me. 

The territory was a fruitful one. We talked to a lot of people interested in knowing the truth. The territory is also wide and it's like a mixture of an urban and a rural area, with you walking in the middle of modern houses surrounded with vast mountains. The place is not that polluted too and I noticed, it is like an escape from the noisy Caloocan City. 

Too bad this is the only photo we had.

We went to the grocery after the field service. There is an SM branch in Angono so we bought supplies there for the remaining days of our stay. Christ and Bok went with Jayde in his Bible studies. Jepte said a family invited us over for dinner so after lunch, we took a nap and prepared to go when we woke up.

In the room, while preparing. With Meriam, Ate Mina, and Krisnyl.

We decided to take a walk in the village first before going to Sister Caling's house. Roselynd Homes is a nice neighborhood, with many vacant lots and a nice view of the mountain tops.

Spotted a rest-house at the top? 

The weather was also really nice this time, although it drizzled in the afternoon.

Finally, the sky went a little dark and we knew we had to go. Joram, Jepte's younger brother fetched us. He was nice and friendly and we easily got along with him.

Time to go.

Sister Caling and her kids are very warm. They cooked spaghetti for dinner. Her kids were entertaining us with random stuff and they are really smart. They don't speak like elementary school students. JM, particularly, likes riddles and stories that will make him think hard. I was amazed with how he computed distances and other things while Kuya Boyet was sharing stories. We also played some games and I think they enjoyed. It was uplifting and fun at the same time.

We went home happy that night.

Jepte, who seems to be in a habit of entering his room and not going out after hours did it again. (Haha! Peace! :p) I was able to sleep at almost 2:30 but I woke up at 5 a.m the next morning. I wasn't able to sleep well, probably because I am still adjusting. Ate Tess couldn't sleep too and yet she was earlier than me. I heard her moving at 4 a.m. and the next thing I knew, she was already cooking breakfast.

We are all so excited with Kuya Boyet's talk and although her wife heard it so many times, I know we still share the same feeling. Joram fetched us again. We arrived in the Kingdom Hall 5 minutes before the meeting started.

Kuya Boyet's talk was really a good one. His talk is about how love manifests the true Christian congregation, If there are some things that I wouldn't forget they are the illustrations.

"Once you erased what you have written with a pencil, you don't trace your mistakes anymore. "

"No matter how light the weight of a thing is, if you hold it for a long time, it will eventually feel heavy. So no matter how little the mistake of your brother is, if you will not forget it, it will be a burden to you."

Yes, it is sometimes hard to just forget a person's mistake and shortcoming, particularly if we were hurt but love covers everything. A timely reminder for all of us, who experience being hurt by someone all the time.

The Bible reminds us that:

"Love... doesn't keep account of the injury." -- 1 Corinthians 13:5

I felt the warmth of the people in the congregation after the meeting. The brothers are very welcoming. Bloomingdale Congregation has many publishers and it is noteworthy, how their youth are very active and approachable.

We met a child named, Anthony. He has a disability and even if it is a challenge, his mother still takes him to the Kingdom Hall every Sunday to hear the talks. He cannot control his limbs but he can control his feet and upon hearing us greeting him, he became really happy and waved his foot at us. Anthony may not speak, but I know he felt the brotherly love we felt for him. Her mother inspired me in so many things. 

Anthony in the middle of us, sitting in his wheel chair.

We were also introduced to the friendly brothers in the congregation. One brother here, Kuya Benjie, who lives in a the house a few steps away from Jepte's house invited us over for dinner and karaoke for that night. 

The Caling siblings also attended the meeting. I wasn't able to say goodbye properly to their mother because she was busy rehearsing her part in the Thursday meeting.

After the meeting, Joram drove us home again.

However, we decided to eat out so we headed to SM Angono and spent the afternoon there.

Kuya Boyet and the other boys went to buy some groceries for today's meals. Us girls just spent time goofing around and taking pictures. I realized, Emy and I have a lot of photos together. Haha!

While waiting for the others to come back, we just spent some time idly. 

Since they were sitting outside Krispy Kreme, Ate Mina had a craving for some doughnuts and so she got a dozen. 

Nothing beats coffee and doughnuts so we headed to the coffee shop in front of it to have some coffee. 

Thanks to the ever so generous Derek for the coffee. However, I got really disappointed when the barrista gave me an iced cappuccino. I never order cold drinks in Starbucks (ever!) and this if the first time. How will I enjoy my coffee? :(( I just enjoyed it though, with the help of additional cinnamon, vanilla, and sugar. (LOL) And with these people, you won't mind the taste of your coffee because you are with good company. 

That afternoon, Jepte and Christ cooked for dinner. Krisnyl and I tried to help them prepare but I felt a headache, probably because I wasn't able to sleep well for the previous nights. I tried to take a nap and when I was just dozing off,  Krisnyl woke me up and asked me to move into our room. I wasn't able to sleep after that anymore. I enjoyed talking to her. She has a lot of interesting stories and partly, I saw myself in her. She has some ideas and responses that were really the same as mine when I was her age. Hours later, my headache became worse. The others went to the field service and I regretted it. If should've gone with them if I knew I won't be able to take a nap when I badly need it. 

I tried to sleep again when they arrived. I can't remember if I did but all I knew was when the others came back from preaching, they asked us to go to Kuya Benjie's house since many of those from the congregation who were in the field service are already there. 

We ate dinner and played some games (as usual). Christ facilitated 2 of the games and the other one was facilitated with Kuya Boyet. It was a nice bonding for all of us. I will not forget what Kuya Benjie said, "Age is just a number for the people inside Jehovah's organization." It is amazing to think that no matter how old or how young a person is, we all treat each other equally. Everyone participated with all the games and activities. It was a night full of laughter and spiritual encouragements. 

We closed the gathering by sharing everyone's favorite Bible texts, I am surprised with how everyone explained how they were motivated and uplifted by their favorite scriptures. Some of their words really touched my heart. Sometimes, you won't know a person unless he started speaking about his faith. 

Even after most of them went home, Kuya Benjie asked us to do karaoke with him. We spent the night singing until 12 a.m. Yeah. Really. 

The next morning, Monday, we prepared early. Too bad, this is the time for us to say good bye. We prepared as early as we can because we planned to go to Angono Lakeside Park.A lot of people visit the lakeside early in the morning to jog, exercise, or to just walk around. I was just putting my clothes on when I heard the beep of Joram's car. He was fetching us again. 

We stayed there for several minutes.

Ate Mina and other girls joined the ladies doing zumba in the central park area. Some went jogging. I just took a walk. 

There were some fishermen waiting for fishes to surface the water. Kuya Boyet asked them how do they do it and a young fisherman, while holding his gun, explained kindly. He even lent his polaroid glasses for us to check how do they see the waters with naked eye, and compare it with glasses on. 

We didn't stay in the place long. We left after several hours to go to Rizal Windmills. 

Couple shirt! :p

It was a bit of a long ride to the windmills and I got really sleepy. I woke up with the sound of their laughter. We are approaching the elevated roads and there are many motorcyle riders alongside our car. I was amazed with how big the windmills are. It was also very windy when we alight the car.

We stayed there for almost an hour, enjoyed the wind and played a game. We also enjoyed the view, overlooking the lower part of the city.

It was nice to spend time there. It was a little crowded though, since many riders go there too. 

We need to be on the way to Manila at 1 p.m. so we left the place before lunch, A brother in another congregation, invited us for lunch. He is Kuya Dong, a brother they met when they volunteered in Daraitan. I heard a lot of good things about him and I am also excited to meet him and his family. 

When we arrived in Kuya Dong's place, foods are already prepared. Ate Mina told me about how good their home-made siopao is and she was right. It was a family business and they really mastered making it. He also cooked a lot of dishes popular in their place and he was a good cook. We were introduced to one another and some other sisters arrived. As usual, we played another game and asked each other's Facebook account before leaving. 

 I went back to Caloocan happy, recharged, and acquired new friends. Hashtag 'blessed.'