Our Philippine Trip

For the last couple of months I have been working with a non profit group, Pearls With A Purpose. PWP helps abused and abandoned women in the Philippines in skills of self reliance. The Women are taught how to make pearl jewelry, they send it here to us, then we sale it, and then the money goes right back to them. The money goes to support them and there children. Prior to my going to this job, the PWP had a couple bad hits, which had kept them from making as many orders has they had in the past! Which made pearl work for the women in the Philippines really slow. A few weeks into November we found out that the women over in the Philippines were really struggling! To make a long story short we booked flights, packed our bags with food, vitamins, and whatever else we could fit in we knew they needed. My Mom came with me! She is so great and has such a love for people and I know I couldn't have done it with out her! Yes it was an adventure and it was fun but it was also one of the hardest things to witness first hand starvation and extreme poverty. Friends and Family were so great when they heard what we were doing! I am so Thankful for all of them. They were so supportive which helped me out so much because I was a little scared to see what it was really like over there. One night before I left we were over at Brady's families house and they asked me why we were going over. I told them about the struggles over there with the women. One of which was Lani! She had a little baby that keep getting really sick and had to go to the Doctors. Lani only had a little bit of money and had to spend it on the Doctor. She was able to breast feed little Markenzie but couldn't buy food for herself. She was starving and the baby was getting worse. It broke my heart knowing this and I couldn't help but cry. Caroline the next day brought over a lot of baby formula, food, and bottles for Lani and her baby! Brady's mom made the baby a cute hat and sent me with a blanket she had made when Brady was a baby! When we got there and gave these things to Lani, she was so thankful! She just loved them and couldn't believe they would send these nice gifts. My Grandma Smith sent us with some money for some food for the women and we were able to buy some corn beef for the families. It was amazing because they were starving and the first thing they did after we split it up to each family, they took their portion and split that with families that they lived by who also were in need! Wow! They were so selfless! It was an amazing life changing trip! I learned so many things and met so many people that have made a life lasting impact on my life who I love and miss! I am grateful for Brady for supporting me in this experience he is such a great husband. He is a hard worker who is always helping others and me, I couldn't get any better! I am so lucky! He is my biggest blessing! I am so Thankful for all my blessings and I know that even though the these women struggle and life is hard the Lord is aware of them and love them! And I know that we have certain struggles to make us better! I want to be like these great people who are happy, grateful, and close to the Lord through lives struggles.