Email #20 from July 27, 2014: Kenna's coming home

From Mom:

We received a call from McKenna last week telling us that she is not getting better.  After the doctors advised the Mission President, he issued an honorable medical release for McKenna so that she can come home to have some tests that they did not want to do in the Philippines.  We spoke to President Tye and then received a wonderful email from him.  This is a very hard decision, and there have been many tears.  But…..  McKenna is indeed coming home.  Here is her email for this week:

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So Webster’s baptism was great! It was hard because I knew it was my last but it was great. He was so excited!!!! Probably the most excited out of them all. He was so happy. It was truly a great moment for him.

Well mom I got your package. I don’t have it yet but it’s here.

I have no idea when I’ll be coming home. They are trying to get my passport. The office was closed until this morning so they couldn’t do anything until now. But on Wednesday i have to get fingerprinted. I have been here long enough that i have to get an exit visa. So after that, I am not sure how long. So ya that’s all we know right now. I don’t want to leave -- like really. But at the baptism I finally had the feeling it was right. And President Tye said that Sister Tye was fasting for me so he knows that this is the right thing. He made me feel a lot better after we got off the phone. Chad was doing his normal big brother thing. And it was hard. But he made me feel better. I was reading through all the quotes in my quote box. And they just made feel like it was right also. It is super hard. I don’t want to go but I know I have to. But it brought me alot of peace knowing that I can go back out after.

Mom not much to say --  just I love you

Email #19 From July 20th: So Wednesday - was my first typhoon !!

So Monday we went to have FHE at this home. IDK if I told you about the guy who got in a car accident or not.  But last week we met him and his truck flipped 3 times and he is now paralyzed. He can move his head and his arm and that’s all. He is a less active and his wife is a non member.  His daughter is a boy who dresses like a girl.  Well….  so we go Monday for FHE and it’s great.  But there is a Muslim church right next to their house and so hahaha in the middle of my teaching they start praying. And they’re using a mic so all you here is them praying. It was super funny. We had to stop for a second because we were all just like laughing. So at the end Sister Emily (wife) sang for us but Angelo (brother) did too! Sister helped him sit up and they sang together. It was a miracle. I can see such progress. Then we went back on Saturday and he was able to SHAKE OUR HANDS!!!! He could move his hand enough to shake ours. And he could sit up by himself without Sister Emily holding him up!!! It was seriously one of the coolest things ever!!!!

Tuesday Sister Sevia had to choose who to say goodbye to because she transferred. We went to Jamie’s and Webster’s. It was super sad. I realized that I will miss her a ton!!!!!!! And we found out about the typhoon. We were like freaking out because we would have to travel in it. But it was okay because transfers were postponed.

So Wednesday was my first typhoon! It was crazy! We lost power and water. The rain was so strong. And the wind. Everyone was frantically preparing. It was crazy!!! I have never even experienced anything close to it before. It was so loud. It was like what you always see on the news. After it was over, we sat on the porch because we were not allowed to leave all day. And I got 14 new bug bites on my left leg and 17 on my

right?!?!?!? It was terrible!!!

So Thursday was transfers. It was sad. I am not gonna lie….  I teared up a little when I had to say goodbye to Sister Sevia!  I love her!!!!  And while I was waiting for my new companion,  Sister Tye wanted to talk to me. so we went in President’s office and talked about my stomach. It was hard! She said she thinks I might have a stomach bug or something. So I had to get a white blood cell test. And well it wasn’t normal. It was higher than it should be. So a doctor gave me medicine that I have to take 3 times a day for a week. It is like de worming pills or something. IDK. I have something because it is still bothering me. So ya that’s fun. It was hard because Sister Tye was trying to call me after I got my test but at our house we had very little reception so she couldn’t reach me. So we had to walk out of the subdivision to get a hold of her. But we had no power so we were going in the dark. And our phone was dying and it was terrible! But President Tye called me and was talking to me and telling Sister Tye everything and then Sister Tye was telling the doctor on her phone. I am hoping that everything is okay. We will see.

We finally got power and water yesterday! We spent Tuesday to Sunday with no  lights or water. That was oh so much fun! I thought it was hot before…..  it is way worse when there is NO fan!

So we have a wedding next month of a girl named Maricris and Mark. And then Maricris is getting baptized not to long after that. And guess what?!?!?!?!? Webster is getting baptized this week! I am so excited. It has definitely been a long time coming!!! Very excited!

Well ya so Cali looks beautiful as always! I hope you have lots of fun!

Oops I forgot to tell you about my companion.  Haha. Her name is Sister Sefeti and she is from Fiji. She is only 6 weeks older than me in the mission but her Tagalog is super good. She speaks English! They do that in Fiji.  Weird right?!?!? But ya she is super nice.  I like her a lot!

My new companion

Email #18: SO my week was pretty much all sick.

Wow. First off dad looks SO skinny. You both do but dad looks way skinny.  We find out today about transfers but we do not know yet. So I’ll have to let you know next week!  We haven't really asked yet about Jamie becoming a member even though he can’t go to church. We have talked to Bishop but not President.  Oh and by the way have you gotten any of my cards?

So Monday was our mission’s birthday party. It was super fun.  We went to a Stake Center in Dasma. We had games outside and had cake and watched a video. It was so fun. I had to say goodbye to my lola (grandma).   She is Sister Sevia’s trainer.   She goes home Wednesday. It is crazy!!

SO this week we found out we have no running water for half the day. So we have big buckets of water in case we need them. Ya –that’s always fun. And guess what?!?!?!?!? I got sick. Wednesday and Thursday we came home early because my stomach was bothering me so much. It was miserable. Then Friday I skipped part of our studies. Saturday we came home early again. I guess I ate something bad. I have no idea what because I didn’t eat any street food or anything. But I had the worst abdominal pain EVER!!  I got medicine and it helped.  I couldn't even kneel for prayer because I had no energy.  SO my week was pretty much all sick.   I was on a rice, apple, and toast diet for all yesterday and Saturday.  SO ya that was my week.

Well momma I am fine now so don’t worry. I love you tons. Have a good week!

She emailed later and said that she was NOT transferred - she is staying !!

Email #17: Silly but a super cool experience!

$2000 SWEET!!!! That is definitely going toward school for when I get home! I will definitely need it! My knee is fine now. I am pretty sure I will have a scar from it and a permanent dent.  PRIMARY! Wow I bet that’s fun. Now all your students will see you on Sundays too! That’s a good idea actually! Haha.

I am super excited for my clothes! I hope they fit too!

So I forgot this last week. We were at a less actives house and they have a dog and it was being so loud! Like we couldn't even talk so we started and I SO prayed for the dog to be quiet and guess what?? He didn’t bark the whole lesson! Not until we said amen for the closing prayer. It is a silly but a super cool experience!

So Tuesday we went to Jamie’s. Sorry I thought I had a picture but I don’t. But I will get one this week. So last week he went to the hospital and they have so many hospital bills and medical bills and they cant afford it. It is super sad. They had to call the church for help with money and their family in America can’t help them either. We walked into that house and we could feel the sadness and stress and it was like we walked into the dark. I will never forget the feeling as we walked into the house. They literally have NO money! They are so worried because they have two babies. And they care for a really old mother. And him. Mom - like seriously it was the saddest thing ever. SO we shared my favorite scripture. Mosiah 24:14 about how God is always with us in trials and will strengthen us. They cried. They are so thankful for our visits. And he wants to be sealed to his family so bad but he can’t go to church and so he can’t be baptized. I just love that family so so so much! It makes me so sad. We are going to give them a picture of the temple and of Jesus to put up in the house to hopefully brighten it up. But seriously I will never forget that feeling walking in.

So also, Tuesday was July 1 and that is the 1 year birthday of the Cavite Mission!!!!!! So it is kinda a big deal! So today we have a birthday we are going to (why we are emailing early). So us Noveleta sisters had matching shirts made! (picture to come).

Wednesday Sister Sevia got sick again. So we didn’t work all day. We had to go home.

Ay na ko! (expression) We were punted all day on Thursday. We ended up walking straight for about 2.5 hours! It was terrible. We were so tired!!! But that night there was a YSA activity and we were invited. That was cool. But you said that it has started to rain. Mom you don’t even know what rain is. I thought rainy season started. Nope this week it did. (Just wait for the picture) It flooded and it was only like an hour and a half. We were soaking wet!!!!

So Friday Sister Sevia was sick again so we didn’t work for part of the day again. I am worried about her. But I don’t know what we can do.

Oh my gosh!  So yesterday at church was terrible. We were in gospel doctrine class and the person conducting wanted to teach a bit so he did. Then he told someone else to. However he didn’t like what the guy started saying so he interrupted him. And the guy was like, “Okay I can teach,”  So he was like, “Take your seat.”  “No I will teach.”   “Take you seat.”  It was terrible! Thy were arguing in front of the class. We were like --just sit down. There is no spirit. It was so terrible we were all like—are you kidding me?!?!? We had an investigator there too! It was ridiculous! And he wasn’t even teaching the lesson. He went to a

totally different lesson then he started with. It was so terrible!

I learned a lot this week about myself being a missionary. About how to become a better one. About tagalog! This is still the hardest thing I have ever done in my life. So hard!  But I can see how much I am learning.

Well momma I love you tons!!!! Hope you have a great week!

Love Sister Mayberry!