Cavite State

Today we went with Paddocks to Cavite State University in Indang because someone suggested that their agriculture college there might be able to help us locate the fertilizer we need for our grow boxes. It is a good sized school and at one time was  probably very beautiful but like most things here in the Philippines it is pretty run down and old. I guess there just isn't the money to keep things up. Anyway we met with the ag department head and he was kind and  appreciated what we were trying to but they are pretty indoctrinated in organic agriculture and weren't to keen on using chemical fertilizers so weren't a lot of help. They did show us around though and showed us some of their organic production projects so it was kind of interesting.After we got back from there I was supposed to have branch presidency meeting at 5pm and branch council at 6pm but the branch president didn't get there til 6 and none of the sisters came so we had PEC meeting and then B.P. meeting after. Change happens slowly.

Home Teaching

Home teaching is such a wonderful program! We recently helped the elders quorum get it organized and it has been exciting to see it start to take hold. Went with Brother Rosales and helped him do his and he went with me to one of mine. It was fun to show him how to do it and we had a good time and the families really appreciated it. He shared with them some of his experiences with coming into the church and so did they and it was really neat. Loved it!

Grow Boxes

After district meeting today the Paddocks came over and Lily and Sister Paddock went and got hair cut and Elder and I went with the missionaries to a teaching appointment. Afterwards we visited for awhile and talked about an idea he has for helping members grow food in grow boxes. They just build a box and then use sand and sawdust for soil and then he has a fertilizer mix he uses for feeding the plants. He used to do the same thing back in Florida and says it works really well. The trick here is finding the chemicals here that we need for the fertilizer and then if we find it will it be too expensive to work. The welfare office has some initiatives already going in this endeavor and are interested in what we can come up with. So we made some plans to look into it some more and see what comes of it. We are hopeful that we could help some of these families grow at least some of their own food and maybe even augment their income.

Errands

Hadn't planned on doing much today just clean house etc. but got a call from landlord that the rent still wasn't paid so decided to make a run to the mission office to get the check. Rent was over a month late; guess someone had missed entering our new contract in the computer. Anyway we got that straightened out and went to the distribution center and got some scriptures for a sister who wanted to give them to her husband for his birthday. We also went and ordered an air conditioner for our living room.We got a really late start but it was actually good because the traffic wasn't bad at all and we got in and out of Manila in record time. Made it back home in time to go out and make a few visits this evening. Went to the Rosales family and offered to go home teaching with him because his partner isn't available as his wife just had a baby. Brother Rosales is a good man to bad that his work takes him away so much; he works on a ship and is gone often for six months or more.

Returning

Today we had 6 Brethren at church that we've been working with. 2 are investigators and will be baptized on Feb.9,  3 have been there 4 weeks in a row and so are now considered returning and 1 is a young  who's been coming steadily for awhile and is working diligently on quitting smoking so we were excited to see them all there. One of them has been less active for over 20 years and  would hardly talk to Bro. Base and me when we first met him but it's been absolutely amazing to see his whole countenance change in just a few weeks as the missionaries have taught him and he's been coming to church.The gospel of  Jesus Christ changes lives! Also in the Carissa Branch we had 3 investigators and  3 returning members. We can all take part in the Rescue; where ever we live. We don't have to be  on a full time mission. President Hinckley said "We are here to assist our Father in His work and His glory, 'to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man' Your obligation is as serious in your sphere of responsibility as is my obligation in my sphere" Hope we are all helping in this great missionary effort . You will find great joy as you do; we can promise you that!

Busy Saturday

John left early 6:30 a.m. to do a service project for some members in the Branch. When he got home we had all eaten breakfast (Elder&Sis. Pugsley) and I. So John quickly showered and ate ;then off we went to Indang to their apartment. Spent the day there again trying to help them. Sis Pugsley is quite sick with terrible bad cough,so she wasn't able to do to much. Great people though,they will be a great asset to the people there. They were full of gratitude for all the help! The Senior couples always help each other out its great. Keep having a hard time calling ourselves Senior Couples.Guess we are in that category never the less!

New Couple

Pres. Stucki asked us to come to the mission home and escort the Pugsleys out to their area today so we met them about 1 p.m. after they got back from getting their drivers licenses.That is always an experience. Anyway we met Paddocks and Forinashes in Dasma and bought a bunch of stuff for their apartment- bed,stove,fridge, fans, and other small appliances and household items and headed out to their place.It was after dark then and we tried to convince them just to stay at our place for the night but they really wanted to go to their own place. However on the way we got word that the apartment wasn't ready so we came to our house after all and put their new mattress on our floor. It worked out fine and they are really nice people. This is their 5th mission so they've had lots of experience.

Time Flys

It's already transfer day again. My how the time flies! We took some elders from our district to Manila  today to meet their new companions and also dropped Sister Celios at the hospital for another consult with her obstetrician after getting her ultra sound yesterday. Then we brought two elders and a sister back with us to their new areas. Gotta love these missionaries! They are always so happy and excited to serve. I had P.E.C and B.P. meetings tonight and they went well.Most everyone was there and they are starting to catch the vision of the work. It's exciting to see the progress.

Baby Girl

Took Sis Celios to Manila today for Ultra Sound. Great news she is going to have a Baby girl! First thing she said was another blessing from Heavenly Father. She has two boys so shes so happy to be having a girl. I might be going in with her when she has her baby, that would be exciting since I can't be there for all of my grandchildren that are coming. Nothing like the experience of  holding a new born  baby right after it has left our Heavenly fathers arms. So we are thankful that we kind of get to be grandparents here and enjoy those tender mercies of our Heavenly Father.

Beautiful Temple

Another beautiful day at the Temple. The Senior couples went to the Temple again today. Always love going to the House of The Lord. Its been wonderful to get to go at least once a month some times twice. Afterwards we went to the Mission Home for Testimony Meeting with going home missionaries. It is an awesome experience to see how these young men and women's lives have  changed because of their Missions. It was a tearful evening as we listened to their testimonies of the Savior Jesus Christ and shared how they have grown because of their Service. Every calling in this great Church is like that. We are the ones blessed because of the opportunity we have been given to serve in His Kingdom here on the earth. We can never repay him for all he has done and given us,he continues to bless us for every thing we do. There is no doubt in our minds whose work this really is!

P-Day

P-day again today already.The weeks just fly by. Today we pretty much stayed home.We washed the car washed clothes. Fixed some stuff around the apartment and did some study. It was kinda nice.

Teaching the Gospel

It is such a privilege to teach the gospel! Many of our less actives and investigators came to church today! Nothing makes missionaries happier than seeing some of the results of your teaching and encouraging. The last few weeks we've been doing some training sessions with the teachers of the the youth on the new curriculum. It is really wonderful and the youth leaders are really responding to it. It's going to make a huge difference in the lives of our youth and will really help them prepare to be Preach My Gospel missionaries. After church we went with the elders to an appointment but they weren't there so we went to check on the E.Q. President because he wasn't at church and neither was his family. He said they didn't have money for fare today. Man it's tough here! Anyway he took us over to his neighbours and introduced us and we taught them. It was great! They were really interested! After that I went to meetings in Naic with branch presidency. We talked about some of the new Area goals and how we can accomplish them. Was a good day.

Finalizing Apartments

Went to the town (Indang) neighboring city ,with Elder and Sister Forinash to look @ the apartments we found for the New Senior Couple and some Elders who will be moving there the end of February . They liked the apartments so we met with the owners and signed the contracts.So we can now focus more time on missionary work. Although we might need to help Elder&Sister Forinash take furnishings to the new apartments. We got home just before Branch Council so we both attended that. We went over the area goals and also came up with 15 names that the Branch Council will work with to reactivate. Things are progressing here but so much leadership training is still needed. It's a joy to work with these wonderful people though, they are very humble and teachable. We continue to Love it here in the Philippines. Talked to the Relief Society Pres. today she told me that her, her counselor  and 5  Y.S.A. went to this newly baptized member home. He is a Y.S.A. Rommel I think we told you about him. His mother is not a member and she had a stroke leaving her  hardly able to walk. Any way they all went there and cleaned their house, they were there for 6 hours. It's a great to see the service they render. These Y.S.A. are amazing !

Indang

After all the house hunting on Wednesday we hadn't found anything but then a sister from Indang called and said she had found an apartment so we went and looked at it today. Pres. Stucki had mentioned he was considering opening a group or a branch there as there are some members that live there. It's the next town after Trece heading south. He was considering putting the new couple in Trece but we just couldn't find any place for them to live so we felt and so does he that  it's time to move ahead with Indang and have the couple work with Trece and Indang.There is also an apartment for elders in Indang so it's looking like full steam ahead for the work in that area. It's a beautiful town and area- the cleanest in Cavite. So we are really excited to see the work go forward there!

Interviews and Answered Prayers

Went to the Stake Center in Naic for interviews with Pres. Stucki we only have them once a quarter. Its always great to sit and visit with him to discuss the work going on here in our Branches. We have sure grown to love Him and Sister Stucki. Did some more house hunting, never found any thing yet! John had to get back to go to Branch Presidency meeting so he is there now. So that has been our day! Taking care of different things ,but all is to further the work.Also after branch presidency meeting John went with the elders to visit a family that we had been to only once when we first came here.They are a really neat family and really want to come to church but are having a real struggle financially.The father  has to work every Sunday and the mother wasn't working but just got a job and was grateful it is only Monday to Saturday so hopefully she can come to church.Anyway the Elders taught them a lesson and then after, because john was there, the mother said, " can I say something?" She went on to say that one day she had gone out looking for some work because she didn't have a job then and all day she was worrying what she was going to feed her family and was praying for help.That night she got home and there was the rice and other food that we had brought as a Christmas gift from all you wonderful people back home. She was so very grateful and said it was an answer to her prayer. It is a wonderful thing to be able to be an answer to a prayer and not even know it!

House Hunting

Today Brother Cantado came and finished our bottom cupboards so I stayed here while he did that. John went with Brother Salvatus to look for a house for a new senior couple that's coming. Pres. Stucki asked us to find them a place. They will be in the town adjoining  us! So John was gone till  6 p.m. Didn't find any thing yet but this is a priority so we will be doing this for a few days. Pres. Stucki  just found out they were coming. Should be here in two weeks! This is their 5th Mission. He was a former Mission President in England and not sure of where all the other missions are that they served. He is a Lawyer from Utah and has his own firm there. Elder and Sister Pugsley is their name. Any way they are 71 years old,and we are looking forward to serving with them in the mission. They requested a proselyting  mission because they have never been able to do that in all the missions they have served. We need so many more couple Missionaries so if you know any send them our way. Also went to Brother and Sister Pesimo's home . John had challenged the young boy who is turning twelve to memorize D&C Sec 13 last Friday and it had only been 5 days since we seen them last and he already had it memorized. We were all surprised! He shared it with all of us so good. Their whole family has now returned to church. They have 5 children, so wonderful to have them back!

Sister Celios

Not a whole lot to write about today,spent the whole day in Manila at the Hospital with Sister Cielos . She had two doctor appointments, same hospital. But they don't make appointments so you just wait and wait and wait. We left @ 9a.m. and got home @ 9 p.m.  She is doing pretty good though. Her heart seems to be doing well ; but her white blood count was quite high so we're  going to be doing more blood tests . Her doctor also wants her to have another ultra sound to make sure the baby is doing fine.So glad we are here to help her the little bit we can,she's such a sweetheart.

Sacrament Attendance

Our joy continues as our Sacrament attendance continues to increase. As we see our less actives return to church we feel to rejoice as Alma did! Brings tears to our eyes as we see them,doesn't get much better than that.But of course we also rejoice in the 5 investigators that come! They are progressing and are preparing for baptism. We went to Regi's again on Sunday afternoon ;he is so golden. We asked him to read a half hour a day but he said he usually reads an hour. We also asked him to write down what he got out of each chapter and his feelings. He had pages and pages written down. He said he had learned so much and didn't want to put the Book of Mormon down. His has changed so much. He's like a totally different man than when we started teaching him. But that's what the gospel does for people who diligently seek him and want to follow and keep his Commandments. Work continues to go forth here what a blessing it is to be here and work with these great people.

Pictures

The Orcas Family waiting to go in the Temple

Together Forever

Us  and the missionaries[ Elders Record and Burgos] together with the Orcas Family and the Mendozas on their special day.

The Mendozas finally sealed after 30 years of marriage!

Nativity scene at the Temple

Just a random beautiful couple that was also married that day.

Mendoza's son Ford.

Part of the group that went to the temple.Far right Bro and Sis Celios. Far right Sis Tagacay and Sis Cunanan

Car belonging to one of the young couples getting married that day. We thought it was pretty so took a picture.

This is a picture of a dance we got to watch when we went to Tagatay with the couples

Another dance.They were really good and fun to watch.

 Taal lake and volcanoes in the background

Another shot of Taal Volcanoe. It looks different now than when I was here before because it was more active then and pretty hot so there was no vegetation on the sides of the crater.It still puts out some steam once in awhile.There are actually 4 craters there.

These guys played some songs for us while we ate.

Christmas Lights in Dasmarinas,Cavite.

Handsome Couple,eh?

More lights in Dasmarinas.

Carissa Branch Christmas Party

These kids love to dance!

Carrissa members

Playing Games at the Christmas party

Brother and Sister Salvatus. He's the branch mission leader.

This is Sister Bagangan. She's the lady we first met when we got here. She is now a member of the  Church and doing well.She loves to ballroom dance and has even won some competitions.

These little girls are really good singers.

These youth performed the nativity scene in the district road show and again in the branch and did a wonderful job.

We had our whole zone here for Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve.

Our tree.

Elder Stephens birthday is December 25.

We had the young adults over for a party on New Years Eve.It was a lot of fun and they really enjoyed it. MariCris Bagangan is in the yellow dress on the left. We taught and baptized her and her mother.

New Beginnings

Today they had a district wide New Beginnings activity and they asked Sister Gwilliam to be their special guest speaker. She spoke on the new theme " Stand Ye in Holy Places" and did a really good job except for the parts where she lied to the girls and told them what a good guy I am. She certainly is a good woman and I really love her. They also asked me to speak at the end because President Pipit was away because his daughter was giving birth to a new baby boy. Following New Beginnings they held a leadership meeting and then we watched a broadcast from the Area Presidency on their goals for the Philippines for 2013. It was really good and their talks were really inspiring. I wasn't able to write fast enough to get it all down but they sent out packages to each unit with the goals. We made good progress last year bringing over 4000 less active people back into activity but there still is lots of work to do.

Keys

It really is important to have the keys of the priesthood functioning. Today I went with the branch president to visit the family of the girl we gave a ride to the hospital last Sunday to see how things were and if they needed anything.The branch president had even suggested they might need some assistance and wanted to be prepared to give it if needed.I was so impressed!Making progress! We had a great visit with the less active mother; the nonmember father wasn't home. I was really proud  of the good job the branch president did and though the interview could use some polishing it was wonderful to see the proper priesthood keys in action and the Spirit was definitely there and the sister really responded positively to the visit from her priesthood leader.As it turned out they were doing well, the daughter was feeling much better and was at school and for now the medical expenses were taken care of.It was great!

More Tests, More Meetings

We went with Sister Cielos to the doctor again this morning for some more lab tests that the heart specialist wants done but she had to go fasting and no one told her it would take all morning so she was supposed to come early so she decided to go back tomorrow because she was afraid she might get sick from not eating for so long.This afternoon I did some training with the elders quorum presidency and then during PEC we spent 2 hours with them and the missionaries and the branch presidency and reorganized or should I say organized the home teaching in the branch.It was a lot of work but we got a lot done and it feels good. It may seem strange but they had no idea how to get started and do it. As near as I can tell there has been no home teaching done here for along time. I just hope we can help instill a desire in them to do it.

Exercise

We finally went for a walk again this morning.We have been so busy the last few weeks we haven't had time to even go for our morning walk. Finally this morning we went and it felt really good. There is a street out in the Carissa area that is really wide and there is almost no traffic on it and no houses just grass and nice trees along the sides so it pretty and peaceful and lots of people like to go there to jog or walk.Anyway that's where we like to go and it seems that almost every time we do we meet someone and they invite us to come and visit.This morning was no exception; we met a really nice couple who are about our age who like to walk and they also like to play badminton so we might play with them sometime and they invited us to come to their house. Guess it pays to exercise in more ways than one!

Revelation

Today at zone meeting we talked about revelation.The Prophet Joseph Smith was once asked what the difference was between our religion and all the others and he said " we have the Holy Ghost". I know that the Lord continues to guide this His work through the promptings of the Holy Ghost. No really earth shattering experiences lately to share but in just small things that we are prompted to share really seem to make a difference as we help people along the path towards conversion.Lily told a family the other night that they needed to be active and bring their children to church now because if they didn't now in a few years the children would no longer want to.They really listened and were touched by that and the next morning they were all there and thanked her over and over for her words of counsel. Just one example; she felt prompted to say that and it helped.

P-day

After our busy Sunday we were really ready for a day of rest but had to go in to Manila again to take care of some more just busy type stuff. Not much to say about it but we did get a short nap this afternoon which was really needed.

Sabbath Day Rest

Another beautiful sunny day here in the Philippines. It is always nice waking up to the Sun Shine we must admit. Especially when your in your air conditioned room, it's just when you have to go outside and get wet and its not from the rain. Had a wonderful Sabbath day, the attendance was probably up by 25 people in both branch's. Its a very tender scene as we see the fruits of our labor as people are coming back to church . The Chapel was full today and the testimonies sweet to the soul. Was thinking what if we hadn't come on our Mission at this time we wouldn't have gotten to meet these wonderful people here and have the great bond of friendship and fellowship we now have with them. We have truly been blessed so much! Went teaching with the missionaries after church to a man named Regi he is committed  for baptism in February. He's going to be a great member of the church and it's been wonderful to see his progress over this last month. The change of heart is a marvelous thing to witness. Then went to a less active family and talked to them about desire and faith. While we were there got a text from some members that asked us to take their daughter to the hospital as she was very sick. John gave her a blessing, then brought me home and took Elder Burgos (Missionary) with him and family. Needed Elder Burgos to go so he could talk to the mother on the way to hospital. While I'm home here I received another text from a sister in our branch who is very sick and needs a blessing, so after they dropped off  the other family they went and gave another blessing.While they were there John received another text from Family who they took to the hospital. They won't admit daughter there so now John and Elder are on their way to Manila to the hospital there. They won't be back till late as it takes an hour and a half to get there. So that's why I titled my Post Sabbath Day Rest. We are always so busy; but that's the wonderful part of being a missionary.Love our Mission!

Another Good Day

Another busy day.We spend a lot of our time teaching and encouraging less active people to come back to church. Today was spent almost entirely with less active members but it was good. Some of them are coming along and we just keep praying and hoping they will continue to progress in the gospel and come closer to the Savior so He can bless their lives.

Backup plans

Today almost nothing went as planned and yet we taught a lot of lessons and had a good day. Almost everyone we planned to see wasn't home but a lot of people we really needed to see were home and it was great. The Lord continues to bless us every day and it truly is humbling to see Him use us to accomplish His work and we don't even seem to realize it. It truly is His work.

Temple

What a wonderful blessing it is to be able to go to the temple every month! The temple truly is the house of the Lord and it  is so refreshing to go there and feel His presence.At Pres. Stucki's request  we went and picked up the Trece sisters and gave them a ride to the temple at 5am. They had to be there early because the newest Sister Akram from Pakistan had not yet received her own endowment. So that was kind of neat to help her with that in a small way.She had come directly to the mission from Pakistan so had not had a chance til now to go to the temple.Sometimes we take things for granted and don't realize how much harder it is for some people in some other countries.

Progress

It is so wonderful to see people progress in the gospel. Their countenances light up and their whole outlook and demeanor changes. I don't think they realize it or notice it but it sure is obvious to us. We taught Regi again today and he is really coming along. He knows the church is true and he wants to be baptized. He's pretty well ready and will have his interview on Friday. He's excited. We also taught Zeus today and he is coming along well. He committed to quit smoking and said he would cut down from 15 to 5 per day and then go from there. He has really come a long way and we are so proud of him. He has had such a hard life but is really doing well and seems so much more confident and happy. He also just finished high school through an adult learning program and wants to go on to college and become a teacher.

New Year's Day

All the senior couples and the Stucki's came for dinner to celebrate New Year's.It was kinda fun and it was especially nice to give the Stucki's a couple of hours of relaxation. They sure deserve it and I think they enjoyed it. They like to play Rook so they played with Sis Dietrich and Elder Forinash while we taught the rest how to play Canadian Salad. It was fun! They all left around 4pm  and then it was back to work. We went with the Carissa Elders to a few families. One was a less active man who' s wife is a nonmember. He was drunk and asleep but his wife wanted to listen so we shared with her; never know... Also had a F.H.E. with  widowed mother and her 3 daughters.She is less active because she has to work Sundays but the girls come some.