Being A Missionary

Have you ever been a missionary?  Was it a short term mission (a week to 3 weeks) or a long term mission (1 month or more)?  Well, when my husband and I first got called we committed to 2 years of missionary work, bam!  It wasn't local neither; it was clear across the world on the island of Mindoro.  Mindoro is one of 7000+ islands that make up the Philippines.  One minute we are active church members in our community in the States, the next we are doing water filtration for the Hanuno'o Mangyans, a native tribe of Mindoro.  Wow...10 months later and I can officially say that I still can't believe I'm here doing this.  I've learned so much about the culture of the Philippines, about being a missionary, and about how to live hot and sweaty.  Now, mind you, some of us Westerners, we don't like to be sweaty!

We have another year and 2 months to go, taking 2, possibly 3 showers a day trying to stay cool.  Powder, you say?  No, tried that.  It cakes up on you and then adds to the sweat which creates mud.  Eeeeewwww.  We have discovered powder with cornstarch in it, which actually works better.  But, on a positive note, sweating gets rid of impurities within your body.  Just make sure you drink gallons of water a day...well at least a liter but don't expect to be peeing a lot because you just sweat it out.  It's important to stay hydrated.  Something that I learned just recently is to drink green tea.  One cup a day should be sufficient and because it is unbelievably hot, drink it cold or iced.  What that does for you is balance your PH level within your body. Ha! Who knew...only the Asians, that's who! My understanding of having the right PH level within your body is to help with healing and keeping your body from being acidic.  So, it promotes overall body health.   Am I a health care representative...hahaha...no...I've been sleeping in an Asian country for 10 months!