Hallowe'en

Not many treats today but there were a few tricks. We spent part of the day with Elder Spencer helping us transfer a Christmas program from a cassette tape to a C.D. so we could edit some of it and prepare it for Sister Stucki to possibly use for the missionary Christmas activity. Anyway that Elder Spencer has a whole bag full of tricks when it comes to using computers.He's amazing. Did a great job; I had know idea so much could be done with a computer. He is getting transferred today so tonight  we took him to his new area.He's pretty subdued today because he's been called as our new zone leader and so will be working in Naic. He was pretty weepy too because he really loved this area and the people here so it was hard to leave.Elder Cayme is also transferred so there were plenty of sad faces around here. We really loved working with them both.On our way to Naic with Elder Spencer we    experienced another trick and ran out of fuel in the diesel van we are driving. But the Lord was watching over us because just as the car quit there was a gas station so we coasted in to the pump.Only then it wouldn't start again and we spent over an hour trying to locate booster cables and getting Paddocks to come and boost us.Had to bleed the lines and everything-fun.Some of my life experience payed off as I was finally able to get it fixed and off we went.Felt good to get some diesel on my hands again.

Temple and Testimonies

Had the privilege of attending the Temple again with the missionaries who are going home. The Spirit was strong and the prayer was especially touching. Testimonies of the missionaries going home are always inspiring. It's great to hear the things they have learned on their missions and how they have grown and changed. And of course it's always great to go to the Mission Home and spend time with Pres.and Sis. Stucki and enjoy a wonderful meal.

P-Day

The four missionaries that live close to us asked to come over and wash their cloths as it is transfers this week and a couple of them will probably be leaving.So we obliged them and they spent most of the day here.(Elder Record,Elder Spencer,Elder Cayme and Elder Pugmire. They are all great missionaries we love teaching with them.They are 19 year old boys and believe it or not they act like it,but when it comes to teaching and sharing the Gospel they are wonderful. They have strong testimonies of the gospel of Jesus Christ.In the evening we taught Melody again the Ten Commandments. She committed to keep all of the Commandments and wants to with all her heart but now she had to get a new job which looks like she'll have to work on Sundays. She is taking care of a husband,wife and a daughter who all have had strokes. Hopefully she figure out some way to get to church.We also taught Zeus Madlang-awa He is coming along pretty well but still is not committed to reading the the book of Mormon. But we are proud of him for attending church every Sunday he hasn't missed a Sunday since we invited him back.

Primary Presentation

Just spent a few minutes looking at Kayla's blog where she has all the pictures of the old place and her memories.Sometimes can't help wondering "what were you thinking leaving that and coming here".We know though that this is the work of the Lord and we are grateful to be part of it.Another busy day at Church,keeps you hopping trying to keep up with two branches that meet at almost the same time- they over lap one starts at 8:30 and one at 9:00.Hilda made it today but Melody had to work and so did MaryCris.Punta branch had their primary sacrament presentation today.It was good and gave me some food for thought that I then taught to a family this evening.The children sang the song " I will go I will do" so I shared that with a less active family - the fact that the Lord never asks us to do anything that we cannot do; He will provide a way.Hope it helped.

Sick And Injured

We took Sister Cielos to the doctor again this morning for more tests but they want to put a heart monitor on her for 24 hours and that would mean having to come back on Sunday so we just made a plan to get them done next week. This afternoon we went with the Elders to a young man that was injured in a motorcycle accident. He has a broken foot and they had to put pins in it to repair it and they are sticking out of the bottom of his foot. Looks painful. Anyway we taught him and it went pretty well.We offered to pick him up for church if he feels up to coming.We'll see what happens.Tonight we taught Alberto and Evelyn; I can't remember their last name but he is the retired marine that we met when we were out walking the other morning and then last Saturday we watched them make ginger.The discussion went really well.They are both really sharp  people and strong leaders in their own church and community. They listened though and asked lots of good questions.They are super busy and wouldn't commit to a return appointment but we'll work on it. If nothing else we made some more great friends.

Faith of Sister Cielos

Spent most of the day at the doctors with Sister Cielos. She has such great faith she said I know my Heavenly Father loves me because he gives me trials,he wants me to become more like him. What an attitude; most of us think the opposite,when we are faced with trials in our lives. She knows the Savior as Joshua 1:5 states " I will not fail thee,nor forsake thee". I hope we can remember the strength of these members  when our Mission here is complete. We learn so much from them. In the evening we went to the Primary Presidents (Sister Orcaz) home for supper with the Elder's. Her husband was working and she was lonely so we visited quite a while. She and her husband had been less active for years but are now back and preparing to go to the Temple for the first time. What blessings await those who keep the commandments.

Purpose of our Mission

MIS- SION-ARY,    (Noun) A person who leaves their family for awhile,so others can be with their FAMILIES FOREVER   Love that Quote!!! We have a testimony of that knowledge; that families can be together forever .What comfort this sweet sentence gives!

It has rained for two days and it rained especially hard during our teaching appointment with the Estradas. We could hardly hear each other because of the rain pounding down on their tin roof,you can see the results in the pictures we posted a few days ago of the flooding that occurred with in an hour.

Joshua is feeling  better and is recovering from his Dengue Fever and we had a good discussion.

Happy Anniversary

34 years can you believe it? Lily thinks even more than ever that I am her Knight in shining armour as I continue to have to rescue her from rats ,lizards,spiders and even dogs.I do my best! We were kind of looking forward to a relaxing day today but ended up going to Manila this morning and took the car to the area office to get it fumigated to try to solve some of the bug problem.We also went to the mission office to try and straighten out our financial costs so the Church can tell our ward back home how much we need to put in our mission fund each month.So we spent some time with Elder Grob the financial secretary and think we got that taken care of. While at the office we got to meet Elder& Sister West and Elder and Sister Peterson who are in from Palowan because Petersons are going home.It was nice to meet them; they both seem like nice couples. Once we got the business looked after the afternoon was a little more relaxing.We wandered around the asia mall and had dinner at TGI Fridays with the Paddocks.It was pretty good.Interesting coincidence that Paddocks anniversary is the same day as ours.We've become good friends; Elder Paddock has plenty of stories to tell.

Ballroom Dancing

Got a bit of a chuckle today; ya gotta love people who just want to be obedient as they learn the gospel.We were teaching Hilda  and as we finished up the plan of salvation lesson and gave her a pamphlet on the Word of Wisdom to read for the next lesson she seemed to already know about it but she asked about disco.We weren't quite sure what she was saying but then she explained that she actually meant that she loves ballroom dancing and she has even won several competitions and she wondered if ballroom dancing was allowed.We told her that would be o.k. The rest of the day we spent  taking Sister Celios first to the doctor in Trece to get all her medical records and then to Dr/ Pres Pipit to have him review her case.So we drove all the way to Naic where I understood he would be only to find out that he holds a clinic in Trece on Tuesdays so  he was back there. We rushed back there and managed to see him.We aren't sure what all he told her but he told us that he didn't think she knew how serious her situation is.Anyway she was pretty shook up and was crying.She said she is not afraid to die but is worried about what would happen to her children.She it such a strong and sweet little lady.Makes your heart break. Any way Dr.Pipit recommended a cardialogist for her to see so we will try to find out more from him.

P-day

Spent our p-day battling bugs again.We are still getting Many insect bites from some kind of pest though we are not positive what it is. Hard to fight an enemy you can't see. We laundered all our clothing and bedding and sprayed them all with pesticide and also the car because we think it might be infested; it seems we often have bites after riding in it. Hope we can figure it out because it takes so much time and is distracting us from focusing on the work of the Lord. This evening we had another good meeting with Sister Avellenosa and her two children Joyce and Bernard. The didn't make it to church yesterday because most of the family was sick. Satan never lets up on those who are trying to do right!

Sunday

Not a lot to say about today. It was a good day though; it's always a good day when you can go to church and to partake of the sacrament. Both Hilda and Melody came to church; they are both wonderful people.This evening I gave some of the the Brethren a ride to Branch Presidency training meeting in Naic. Pres Vicencio' first  councilor in the misson presidency was there and gave some good follow up training on ward councils from the last world wide training. It was very good ,he is a very good teacher and a very spiritual man.

Sister Missionaries Baptism

We spent most of the day at a baptism in Ternate. The sisters in Mandaluyong had 4 men and one boy to be baptized and they wanted to be baptized in the ocean so they held it at the Ternate Resort.

It was a beautiful day and a nice drive as you can see from the pictures.It was wonderful to see so many potential priesthood holders get baptized and to have so many families united in the gospel. One of them was a Chinese fellow who had lived in New York  and then come back here to live.He has a Filipino wife and two children a boy and a girl. All of the men bore there testimonies afterwards and it was really a spiritual feast. We had lunch afterwards and got to visit with some of the members of the ward. Some of them knew the Leverizas and other people from Mandaluyong that I knew before.This afternoon we taught Melody the Word of Wisdom.She drinks coffee but she is so good as soon as she knew she wasn't supposed to she said: "ok I won't drink it any more".It was so good!

Beauty and the Beast

"Lily's Friend" only it's way bigger than appears here!

Rice fields near Ternate, Cavite

We drove through these fields on the way to the baptism in Ternate. It was really beautiful out here.

One of the nicer homes here!

Rice field just before planting.

The people in the background are busy planting but we were unable to get closer for a better picture.

Narrow street through the country side

Ternate Resort ,the site of a baptism for 5 brethren  from Mandaluyong who wanted to be baptized in the ocean.

Five new converts

New converts and the Sisters who taught them.

This fellow is  Chinese with his Filipina wife and daughter now united in the Gospel.

Another Family now together in the Church.

Another future priesthood holder.

The whole group.

Part of Mandaluyong 3rd ward

Candidates and two witnesses.

Waters of Baptism.

Elders Handy and Anderson

Clean.

Elder and Sister Paddock. We've become good friends; it's been great having them not too far away.They are assigned in Ternate and Maragondon branches.

They called in the heavy weights

Fellow Labourers

Base's little boy. He likes me.

Poor Fishermen.

Fishing boats.

We went into a teaching appointment and this is what it was like when we came out.

It really can rain here.

The effects of a small tropical storm or typhoon.

Ginger and more

The other day when we were out walking early in the morning for our exercise we met some guy who were out biking.They had stopped to chat as we came by so we stopped to chat as well After getting somewhat aquainted we asked the one who did most of the talking if we could stop by his house sometime and visit.He said we could so today we did.His wife,his sister and him were outside stirring some concoction in a huge metal bowl over a propane burner.Come to find out they mix ginger root, tumeric and sugar in water and then cook it for 5 hours stirring it constantly.It eventually turns into a powder which they then bottle and sell as a health food- ginger tea.We sat and watched the process for the last hour and sow this brownish/yellowish liquid transform into as powder right before our eyes.It was pretty fascinating and they seemed to enjoy our interest and even gave us a sample of the finished product.They said we could come back next Saturday and share our message with them.We'll see how that goes.Tonight we stopped and gave Brother Pesimo a blessing and share some scriptures with him.He used to work here where we live for the owners{who are also members} managing there business but somehow got in a tiff with the lady and decided he'd had enough and quit so was feeling bad about it all and needed a little encouragement.Lastly tonight we visited a less active family and talked to them about helping another less active family come back to church.They had been instrumental in bringing them into the church in the first place. Anyway I shared with them my story of visiting the Leveriza family I had baptised many years ago.Thereally liked it and the son said it really inspired him and said he would like to go on a mission.We hope he does!

Dengue Fever

This afternoon we went to our appointment with the Estrada Family.They are a family we met with Brother Base.The father is a member of the church but is away working in New Guinea.The mother and 2 boys are not members because when the father was taught and baptized the mother was busy working.Anyway we had met them and she said we could come back but then missed the appointment so finally we had another meeting set up. When we got there though the younger boy was there and said his mom had taken his brother to the hospital with possible Dengue Fever so we decided to the hospital to see how they were and if they needed anything. It took a little while to find them because we asked for Estrada and the boy's name is Joshua Rivera{from previous marriage} but when we finally did find them they seemed happy to see us and impressed that we cared enough to come. He does have Dengue so they kept him in. There really isn't anything they can do for it except monitor the blood platelets because if they get to low they have to give him blood.They do give I.V. though to keep him hydrated so we went to the drugstore and got that for them. Hopefully he will be o.k.

Preach My Gospel

Preach My Gospel Says( Quote) Wherever you are assigned to serve,remember that the Lord has "suffered you to come unto this place; for thus it was expedient in {Him} for the salvation of souls." (Close Quote) We have been blessed to come here and serve;and are thankful we have but a small part in building up the Kingdom here in the Philippines.The work continues to roll forth unto the ends of the earth;and will till he once again comes to rescue the souls of men. Till then we will do our best as all of you are doing,as you serve in your various calling in the church. We miss home and family but are thankful to be here inspite of the challenges we face at times, its only with our temporal affairs. There is much work to do here.People are so friendly and humble;when ever we are at their homes they dish the missionaries food first then their own which is only a quarter of what they are eating. I asked Brother Base(1st counselor in Branch presidency) what would be his favorite meal if he could go out and eat he said a smorgasbord with all the rice you can eat. That's like us saying we don't care as long as we have all the mashed potato's we can eat. Any way today we taught Melody the Word of Wisdom she drinks Coffee but said that's OK I can quit and she did. We told her how pleased our Heavenly Father is with her for wanting to obey all of his commandments so readily. She such a neat Lady sure love her.later we went to Avellenosa  less active family it was her son's birthday (15) so I made him a cake ,I think it might have been the only one he ever had. So us and the missionaries had a little party for him,think he really appreciated it.

...."unto the least of these'

Spent the entire day helping where we can.Lily went to Manila with some other Sister Missionaries while gave the Tagacay family a ride to the cemetary for the grave dedication and burial.Again it was a different experience but it was ok. The deceased are actually buried above ground here in a cement tomb. It's almost like an apartment building- 4 compartments high and hundreds long.After I got back from the burial I picked up Lily and we went to the hospital in Trece to pick up Sister Cielos, the lady with the heart problems. When we got there the staff wouldn't let her go because the doctor hadn't signed her prescription.So we made the trip for nothing and they had to pay for there own transportation later on that night after the doc came back in. At least now she's back home but she is not cured and the meds she's on cost 100 pesos per day - her husband only makes 450 per day and it costs him 150 pesos to get to work.We are working to help her; we are certain she needs to see a specialist and likely needs some kind of surgery.We are grateful that we have been able to be of some help and pray we can find ways to continue to assist.Its' wonderful to be here and serve- there certainly is lots to do.

Funeral

Today was the funeral for Sister Anita Tagacay. She was the wife of the Elders Quorum President in Punta branch. They are a good faithful family,two of their daughters served missions and they continue to be a huge asset to the branch here. One of the sisters is in the District Primary Presidency. John spoke at the funeral which was held at their home out side on the street as their home is so small. It was different than what we are used to but that's the way they do it here. They continued to have visitors almost all night as it was the last night of the wake. She will be buried tomorrow.

General Conference

Went to the Mission home for the weekend to watch Conference. All the Senior couples go there and stay over night. Conference was so inspirational; always gives one an added desire to press forward. But while we were there we discussed the need to have Conference shown in every building. Right now it's only shown at the district center and so many people can't afford to travel there.Though we enjoyed being together in the Mission Home we felt we needed to stay in our areas and encourage the members and investigators to attend. So next Conference we will stay in our branches. It is wonderful  to share the Gospel and testify of a living Prophet and then be able to listen to his words around the world. What a great message to give to a world that needs it so badly. It was great to hear the announcement of lowering the age of missionaries. We're hopeful that it will increase the number of missionaries through out the world and our Mission. There is so much work to be done and we sure need more Senior Missionaries.

Special People

Sister Melody Iguel .She is a wonderful sweet Lady.We.went to a less active member's home to visit; they weren't home but she was there so asked her if she would like to hear our message and she said she would. She came to church even before her first lesson and only missed once since because she was sick. Really golden,likely will be our first baptism.

Melody with Elders Pugmire and Cayme

Poor picture but this is Bernard Avellenosa.We had a birthday party for him on his 15th birthday. They are a less active family we're working with and they are coming along pretty well.Two sisters in the Background

Doing The Work

Went to teach Melody again only this time we also taught her daughter in law. Was a good discussion with them ! Preach My Gospel teaches us to always ask those we're teaching if they know any one that would benefit from our message. So last time we taught her she said her daughter in law; so from us just asking we have another investigator to teach. In the evening we went and visited the Elders Quorum President again; pretty rough to lose your companion and the Mother of your children. Also went to the hospital and visited Sister Cielos , the young mother that has heart trouble.John gave her a blessing; it was pretty special. The husband just wasn't up to doing it. Turns out there was another member in the room and she also requested a blessing. Reminds us of the stories of Pres. Monson when he visits the hospitals. Philippine hospitals are a unique experience that's all we'll say!!!

Some Things Never Change

Aaron and Marrisa's Family sent us some fall and Hallowe'en decorations. Thanks!

1. 

See the door ? Someone lives in there. It's along the wall of our compound.Next picture is closer 

Humble dwelling 

Wanna disc with this Ammon?

Still the way they"ve farmed forever.

Fancy Jeepney

Great Reunion

Went to the Temple this morning with our Zone we've been so blessed to have the opportunity to go to the Temple so often.It was really neat while we were at the temple we met a group of people from Indonesia. They were there for their first time a group of 12 with a missionary couple from Heber City named Rasband .One fellow was getting  sealed to his wife who was deceased and they were doing lots of other work for their family.After we left the temple we went to Mandaluyong which is on the way home to see if we could find a family I baptized 35 years ago.A couple of weeks ago I woke up in the night and remembered the address of this family- #48 Marivales st.Well we googled mapped it and we found it! I was so excited! We knocked on the gate and a 15 year old boy comes out and I asked if this was Leveriza's house. He got a funny look on his face said just a minute and ran back inside. Pretty soon he comes back and invites us in{the Paddocks, another missionary couple were with us}. There at the door is Joy Leveriza,48, who was a 13 year old girl 35 years ago when I baptized her and her family! It was so great! At first we didn't recognize each other but we soon figured it out.Hard to describe the feelings,needless to say there were a few tears.So she filled me in on the family.There was Alice, an aunt, who was 50 when we met them who has now passed away.Lilian, another aunt,was 30,who is now married and is a Relief society president in California.Joy' father,Jorge,has also died.Her older brother Joel, was 17, served a mission, married and has also passed away.Brother Jay also served a mission and is living in Cainta so hope to see him sometime.Younger sister Jean also lives not far away. Joy married a nonmember who works on a ship and only comes home about once a year.She has not been very active and her 2 boys have not been baptized but interestingly the oldest one,Jorge,15, who met us at the gate, went to church last weekend with a friend who had just been baptized!It's almost scary how the Lord goes before us and prepares the way.Anyway they pulled out some pictures and we talked and cried and bore testimony and had a big hug at the end and it was great.I think she was really touched by the Spirit and will go back to church and the boys want to.Awesome!Incidently the Paddocks know the Elder assigned to Mandaluyong, said he is the best and so we'll get him working with them.

Hard Day In Punta Branch

We received a call from Brother Base this afternoon after Zone Meetings that our Elders Quorum President  wife died of a heart attack. She was 61 years old. Has a wonderful faithful family . We went to their home and talked with them:pretty sad occasion but they are strong.The husband will miss her so much. They do things quite different here the funeral home embalms the body the same day of the death then they close the casket right away and it can't be opened. So we were trying to find Burial Clothes for her before they closed the casket. They have to embalm the same day because they have no refrigeration at the mortuary. The body is then taken home until the people can raise enough money to bury them. Some times it takes up to a week or more.  We were unsuccessful in finding any burial clothes but some one else brought some from Manila and got there in time. When we went back to their home no one was their except the younger adopted son. We asked  where they were he said a young mother of the branch was in the hospital with heart problems and had left her 2 children home ages 6 and 8 . Come to find out they had been home alone for a day and a half because there Father was away working in Manila. As we were talking they arrived back home and had just checked on the kids but left them there. So then they were discussing what do do with the children every one was reluctant to take them as no could afford any extra mouths to feed. Bro. Base (who is a member of Branch Presidency)  said he would take them so we gave him some money for food for the kids. We don't appreciate  how difficult it is for these people to even feed there families. So here was this Elders Quorum President trying to help another family on the day of his wife's passing.Kinda tears at your heart strings

Oh Happy Day

Set a baptismal date with Melody Iguel for the 10th of November. So exciting, our first one! We're so happy for the commitment she is making in her life. Later tonight we met the Rosales Family they are also inactive so we are inviting them to come back. Also committed them to read the scriptures and pray to know of their truthfulness.

Sunshine Sunday

It always brightens up our day when we see our investigators walk into church. Zeus came for the first time in many years and said he really enjoyed it. Some of the others were sick but Sis Bagangan came again. She been there every Sunday since we met her on the road. Her daughter is also taking the discussions and very interested hopefully she can come next Sunday. It was great to hear the testimonies of the members. We also had a good branch council with Carissa Branch.

Elders Baptism

Elders' baptized a young woman today shes a single mom with a baby changed her life around.John spoke on baptism was a nice service. Before the baptism we had a good discussion with Zeus Madlang-awa  (This is the young man that the father kicked out when he was thirteen)  it went well and invited him to come to church. Gave him Elder Hollands talk on the parable of the hired servants. We particularly taught him what Elder Holland said about how there isn't any thing bad enough that the Atonement can't cover. That seemed to touch him. We also went to Sis. Cagara home and taught her about forgiveness and the importance of patching things up with her family.
It's amazing how the Spirit works as we teach and brings things to our minds to teach.and  how our teachings are helping to change peoples lives.

Life in The Philippines

This is taken from the inside of our car. Crazy weather floods every where.

A member lives here,you'll never guess what this is. Its a training ring for Pitt bull dogs.They Hang a cat (live one) on one end of the pole and the Pitt Bull on the other,then the Pitt Bull chases after the cat around and around. Thankfully its now illegal and as you can see this has been abandoned.

They also have these deer at the same place.

Rice Paddys  prepared for planting

You can see how much it rained as all these fields are flooded.

All of these fields are right across from the church. In the distance you can see a little shack where one  of the workers live.