"We Have Missed" Series - The Final Episode

We have posted a lot of things we will miss while being here in the Philippines.  But there are things that we have missed since being here.  They will appear from least to greatest importance.

We have missed our favorite music.

The night before we left for the Philippines, Scott stayed up late into the night loading our favorite cd's onto our computer.  We enjoyed listening to the music until June 2, 2013.  (If you don't know the significance of this date, ask us when we return.)

I have missed Twinkies.

I am glad Twinkies have made a "sweet comeback"! It gives me something to look forward to. There are very few sweets here that we like.  We have given up trying to find anything we like. The pictures on the packages look so tempting, but the taste of the product is usually disappointing.  Filipinos have different tastes than Americans.  However, I took a chance and tried a package of "Power Pops" a few months ago.  Score! They were delicious.  They were carmelly, chewy, "Rice Krispie Treats".  By the time we made it back a week later to buy more, the shelf was empty. That's the way it is: if you like something, buy up the whole shelf because you may never see that item ever again. But as luck would have it, a new shipment arrived a few weeks ago.  Guess what's taking up all the space in our suitcases as we speak?

We have missed our dishwasher.

Some of you may be shocked and horrified to know that I am now a firm believer of disposable dishes!  Can you believe it?

I have missed playing the organ.

None of the meetinghouses have organs.  A few of the meetinghouses have digital pianos with an option of an organ sound.  But it's just not the same.

We have missed the other three seasons.

Summer is a nice season to be stuck on, but we miss the variety.  The Christmas season is the hardest time to go through without it being winter.  It's pretty hard to listen to "Let It Snow", or "Walking Through A Winter Wonderland", or "Frosty The Snowman" when it's 95 degrees and green outside. However, the palm trees look very beautiful decorated with Christmas lights.

I have missed pleasant shopping excursions.

Not too fun when trying to find clothes that will fit. For some reason "Large Marge" keeps echoing in my brain whenever I shop.  I've always been too short for American clothes... having to hem everything I buy.  It's just the opposite here.  Nothing goes below my knees.  But it's not just the lack of length, it's the size.  In order for anything to fit, I have to buy items that are at least two sizes larger than what I buy in the states....IF those said huge sizes can be found.  They are few and far between. Not a pleasant experience.

We have missed not going to the Family History Library.

Thanks to the miracle of modern technology, we have been able to do online family history and indexing in our spare time.  Problem is, some family history questions can only be solved by looking at microfilms in the Library.  We will be spending a lot of research time in the Library when we return.

We have missed knowing what is being said during Church services.

We've tried learning Tagalog.  Honest we have! But old brains are like cement.

We have missed not being able to attend the temple.

 

 

We knew it would be very difficult to not be able to attend the temple for eighteen months.  For-no-reason-at-all visits would have been wonderful.  But it would have been an even greater experience to have attended Hazel Joy's and Joma's wedding.  We would have loved accompanying Sister Dolly when she went through the temple for the first time.

We intend on making up for lost time when we return.

But most of all.....We have missed our family!

We also knew it would be very difficult being away from all of you.  We have missed you dearly.  Every holiday, every family get-together, every birthday, every baptism, .... we have missed you.  Seeing pictures of the grandchildren getting bigger and maturing, knowing there are memories lost, has been hard.  But we have all been blessed by our being here in the Philippines.  We will always cherish this experience.  And we will more fully cherish all of you once we are all together again.  We love you!

Keep the porch light on....we're coming home!