Excited About

Troung's Yummy Avocado Smoothies! Hurry up and taste one! Apparently there are only 11 avocado's left! You know that it takes awhile to get fruit in from the states or the Philippines. Go go go!




Real Christian Theater Drama is performing at Hopwood School, San Vincente Elementary School, and Kagman School this Friday. Its our first school tour and we are psyched . . . ok, alittle nervous. We are performing nine short skits focusing on the basics like having patience, forgiveness, honesty, real beauty, and the effects of drugs/alcohol. All really good take home messages and definitely NO cheesy skits. I think they'll enjoy our program . . . it beats being in class, eh? The program should last about 30 minutes if things run smoothly. I'm in charge of props/setup and i'm in 3 skits! Eeeek! I'm sure we'll pull it off.




It's a 4 day weekend for me! Woo hoo! My plans? I'm going to rock climb at Suicide Cliff, mtn bike, scuba dive, and finish my book at the Mandi Asian Spa. I hope it doesn't rain. Check out Mai rock climbing this past September. Ohhh, this is going to be sooo much fun!

























Trying to tap more into my Filipina roots=) Tan Holdings will be hosting a free concert by Martin Nievera on November 18 at American Memorial Park. Gary V. and Martin Nievera are two of my favorite Filipino singers. I've seen him perform in California before during a sing-a-like contest. He's just got an amazing voice. Here's a video clip of him and Kyla.






Judith, Jessica, Missy, and me will be backpacking Thailand together from December 21-January 7! I'm looking forward to riding an elephant, diving the hot spots, and wandering in a new country. Christmas and New Years in an exotic place . . . what more can I ask for?



22 people dedicated their lives to Christ at the end of our Kagman Evangelistic Tent Meetings. The Saipan Central Seventh-day Adventist Church held meetings for three weeks with possibly more baptisms to go. You never really know who and how many will show up to meetings like this. Saipan is predominately Catholic. The times that I did go I noticed that the crowd kept growing night after night. Its amazing how God can move and transform a person's heart when they take that leap of faith.








Baptism pics by Mai

Mmmm, Pancakes!

I figured the easiest way to get my kids to Sabbath School on time is to invite them over for breakfast! Breakfast at Miss Bev's! The thought of hosting sixteen young adults in my small apartment was exciting but frightening at the same time. Frightening because I cannot cook and entertain at the same time. Multi-tasking is definitely not a strength of mine.

Fortunately John was kind enough to come over and help me out. While he cooked scrambled eggs and turkey bacon, I was cooking the pancakes. I must really love these kids because making pancakes is not my favorite thing to make. I can bake, fry , and grill . . . but cooking the perfect fluffy and round pancake I stink at!

My kids are a bright and lively group. In the beginning of Sabbath school we share about how are week went. Lately they have been opening up and sharing some really personal issues that they are going through. Slowly they are starting to open up and I am starting to see a glimpse of their true hearts. They inspire me everytime I am with them.

John did the devotional that Sabbath and had the kids write some of their thoughts down on a piece of paper. The first question was think of someone who has hurt you the most. That someone was easy for me to identify. The second question he asked was think of someone who you have hurt. I have to admit that question really struck me hard. How many times have I refused to forgive someone who has hurt me when in fact I have done almost the same thing to someone else. Anyway, it just got me thinking . . .

Overall we had a great time together and I'd like to say the pancake breakfast was a success! Looking forward to spending more time with them.

My One-Year Anniversary In Saipan

Break ups can actually be good for you. Once you get over the initial nausea and heartache, breakups actually force you to reevaluate everything in your life. Some people react by cutting their hair, joining a gym to get back in shape, changing the focus of their career, or even relocating to a new area. I think its pretty much safe to say that I ended up doing all of that.

I can’t believe that I’ve been out here for a year. Its all kind of a blur to me since my first year flew by so fast. I remember arriving at 1:20 in the morning a year ago not knowing who was picking me up and where I was going to stay. I was kind of scared but excited at the same time.

Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I’d ever end up in Saipan. I was living the Orange County lifestyle before I moved out here. My dream apartment was only ten minutes from Laguna Beach. I had the perfect job at a Periodontal and Implant Dental office. I had my family and friends close by. Somehow the busyness of life in Southern California comforted me. But making good money, having all the material things, and job security didn’t satisfy me. My heart was longing for something more.

When I made the decision to leave the states to do dental mission work, I applied at different SDA Dental Clinics all over the world like in Thailand, Japan, Philippines, and Guam. Saipan wasn’t even a thought. In fact, I never really heard about Saipan until my Dental Hygiene instructor brought up a job opening to me. The first person I heard back from was Dr. Ken Pierson. When Dr. Ken Pierson initially offered me the job at the Saipan SDA Clinic it was for a two-year contract. I declined and said I would only come out for a year. I didn’t think I could last being away from my family for that long. I wasn’t willing to give up more than a year of my life.

Funny how much you grow and change when you are away from everything that is comfortable and familiar to you. In the past year I have realized what a blessing it is in following God’s path instead of forcing my own path. His plans were far better than anything I could ever imagine. When I look back I realize that God really opened doors for me to be here. He’s so real in my life. I think He just knew that this was what I needed to bring me closer to Him.

I’ve decided I need a theme for this year. Matthew 14:22-32 was the bible verse that helped me make the decision to leave everything behind and to follow God. It’s the verse when Jesus met his disciples that were in a boat on a lake during a storm. Peter walked onto the water to meet Jesus. The story tells of the strengths and weakness of Peter’s faith. His faith and trust in Jesus allowed him to walk on water! I know that Peter eventually began to sink when he took his eyes off of Jesus but can you imagine really walking on water? I believe that having faith alone is not enough. That exercising your faith is what really counts. That’s the kind of faith I am striving for this year.

So even though I could have gone back after this year I decided to stay. Honestly I don't know why God wants me to stay another year. I just know in my heart that He wants me here. I Just need to stop trying to understand things and just trust Him no matter what. Never again would I compromise Him for anybody or anything.

So here I go with another year in Saipan. I’m so happy to be here.

Voices 4 Him

I posted a picture of three ladies and me asking for help to name us awhile back. Thanks to all who made suggestions especially Angelo. The name that we ended up chosing though was Voices 4 Him from Crystal. There are a total of four Filipina girls including me. Our first debut will be at the SDA church on Quartermaster Road this Saturday at 11 am. So if you are awake and you are not picking up trash at Wing Beach with Beautify CNMI . . . stop by!

I'm still getting over my cold so my voice was cracking during our practices. I've been drinking alot of tea and sleeping early. Such a champion I know. Peterson will be accompanying us on his Guitar. He's awesome! He was jammin' on his guitar and singing melodies. I could listen to him all day. I'm alittle nervous so lets hope we do okay. I think its such a great song to sing and share- What A Faithful God. More on my thoughts about Faith later.