Eat Like a Philippino, Work Like a Missionary

The four elders share a very nice apartment in Mapandan, just 15 minutes from our house. We went to church with them last Sunday and they invited us over for lunch and work with them through the afternoon. We had a tour of their apartment including the fruit trees, hammocks, bamboo hut, and an array of animals out in the back. The elders cut banana leaves and washed them for use as a table cloth. A pot of rice had cooked automatically while they were out in the morning and waited for them. A hot pot of Ulam (any rice topping) was on the table along with a bottle of lemonade and orange drink. A feast fit for a king!

The locals often have their main meal at lunch time and all meals are based on a plate of rice with a different ulam. Today we learned to eat with our hands... or more exactly, with our fingers (after a thorough hand washing).

Bananas growing in the backyard. The red fruit at the end of the stem, the banana heart, is edible also.

This is a Jack fruit. It looks like big green watermelons growing on a tree. We haven't had any yet, but we'll have some soon I'm sure.

Some of the locals live in little huts like this. Others live in a hut fabricated from scrap materials with a dirt floor, but many also live in a small cinder block house (about 400 sq ft) with a cement floor.

We finished lunch and went with the elders to their first appointment... it fell through and went to visit the sister that was baptized last Saturday. She greeted us warmly. We sang a hymn, read the scriptures, talked and asked for treasures (referrals). She gave the elders many treasures and arranged for some of them to be taught in her home that night. The elders were prepared to return and teach. We went down the road a half Km to the next appointment and left our car with a kid in a nearby vacant lot.

We met with a woman that would like to be baptized, but can't right now. She has been coming to church for two years and is more faithful than many members. We sang a hymn, prayed, read the scriptures, asked for treasures and left with a prayer and a very full heart. When we got back to the car we found it was well guarded by a lot of kids.

We left the elders in Mapandan and traveled to San Jacinto to review new apartments for the elders there. Some homes have beautiful flowers growing in small flower beds around their homes.

We walked through the light rain with the elders to review the best of the three apartments. This will make six apartments we have seen with these elders and we hope it will work for them. President Jensen wants to  improve the standard of housing for the missionaries, so we have good guidelines to evaluate new apartments. Unfortunately the apartment we reviewed will not meet the standard. We'll keep on looking. This is a picture of one of many beautiful little flowers on a bush.