The Making of an Organist

It sounds simple enough... take keyboard instructions for a few weeks and you have a branch organist! No, not so. Mom couldn't get the keyboard training material from the Manila distribution center so she downloaded the material and printed out hundreds of pages of material for her and her student.

Ok. now let's get going! No, schedules need to be coordinated around times when both are available and the building is open. OK, worked through all that. Now we're ready! No, the keyboard won't work. Oh, that's not a problem we'll just poke these bare wires into the socket and it will work sister. Yup, sure enough, it worked!

Now we are ready to train a new organist. Well maybe. It is about 90 degrees and humid outside and hotter and more humid inside the chapel. The power goes out from time to time, the building is not opened, the typhoons and tropical storms flood the roads and there is no access to a keyboard for practice at home. It's slow, but mom will not be discouraged and neither will our dear sister, the future organist. They have been working at it for a month now and our sweet sister is understanding that it will take more than a few weeks to learn how to play hymns for sacrament meeting. With faith, great hope and a lot of work they are making good progress.

Smiles of progress.

Time for me to get out of here and let the women get to work.

Birthday Joys

My birthday is in the fall, when the leaves have long since changed colors and are all gone, there is a nip in the air and Halloween is just a few days away. This year it was the same, but different. Today was missionary apartment checks for the Rosales Zone; 9 apartments, 13 missionaries and about 160 Km of driving. The weather forecast for today was 93 degrees and a heat index of 113. Yes, this was going to be a birthday to remember.

We were ready to go... had lots of bottled water, Gatorade and Oreos to get us and the zone leaders past the lunch hour and through the day until we completed the apartment checks and had time for dinner. The sun seemed especially hot and intense today for some reason.

We met the zone leaders and went to the first apartment... four sisters. I was greeted with, happy birthday President! What... how did they know? I was so surprised and pleased.The same thing happened at the next apartment and the next and the next and... It was a great day with my missionaries. They lifted my heart and made me feel 10 years younger! What a blessing in my life they are. Thank you for your kindness and Christ-like example.

Elders Tolman and Dela Cruz made a great birthday card for me using balloons his family sent to Elder Tolman for his birthday last week.

Elders Solayao and Oculares

 

Birthday card from Elders Solayao and Oculares. Drawing in the card is by Elder Solayao.

Elders Villacer and Dickey remembered my birthday with a smile and a flan for mom and me. Wow! It was good!

Ready for a birthday dinner at Pizza Hut after a full day of apartment checks with the zone leaders, Elders Costales and Bermejo. It's October so the Christmas trees and other holiday decorations are up at the malls.

Elders Costales and Bermejo shared a birthday dinner with us and finished off a Mud Pie dessert before going to their evening teaching appointments.

It's the 'ber' months so, Christmas and New Year's lighted decorations are on sale in the stores now.

Thanks to my sweetheart, who baked the cake in a kitchen that was way over 100 degrees, hot and sticky, in a tiny propane oven... the birthday tradition lives on... cherry chocolate cake with chocolate ice cream. That's a lot of cake and ice cream over the years and I don't regret any of it! In fact I savor those moments in my mind over and over! Thanks for the sweet memories my love.

Mangaldan District Conference

The church is developing priesthood strength and member commitment in preparation for becoming a stake of Zion. District Conference an exciting time for the saints to gather and renew old acquaintances in addition to the Priesthood and auxiliary training, leadership meetings and spiritual instruction in the general sessions. It's also a time for temple recommend interviews, asking questions of the mission presidency, and taking pictures to remember the experience.

The brothers of the mission presidency. We spoke, trained and testified at the Mangaldan district conference this weekend. It was a special experience for us to gather with the saints in this conference. Pres Pavia (this is his home district), President Jensen and me.

 President Pavia's family with the mission presidency.

This little princess honored the Lord and came to conference dressed in her Sunday best.

October 2011 Transfers

The wonderful cycle of missionaries continues. Some return home with powerful testimonies and rich gospel knowledge and a new batch of missionaries arrive to replace them in the great work of the Lord. There is a constant process of teaching and training missionaries as well as investigators.

 The Jeeps are all lined up with their destination banner on the front of each of them.

The Jeeps are colorful, bright and well maintained compared to most in town.

 Doesn't it make you want to take a ride around town in this just looking at it. Remember it is 90 degrees and a dew point of 80 degrees. Not fun!

Here is a look inside a Jeep. Nice vinyl seats, this one has closing windows... most don't. It's hard to decide if you want hot air blown into your face or close the window and get hot on the vinyl seats in close quarters with other people.

 The fun begins after the transfer meeting. The missionaries find their luggage and drag it over to the Jeep that will take them to their new location. Just try putting everything you own into two bags and a small box and then dragging them by yourself from Jeep to Jeep and through drop off points. The missionaries are much better at it than I would be.

 Some of our new missionaries... full of excitement and energy, ready to get to their first area and teach the gospel of Jesus Christ and baptize.

 Three Philippinos. Two are serving, sacrificing and sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ and the other is getting paid 5,000 pesos today. Who is happiest?

The missionaries make new friends, meet old friends and share love and greetings with all. You can see mom in the center back, talking with a missionary... giving encouragement and sharing in the joy of the day.  It's a wonderful work and we are so blessed to be a part of it!

Well Done - Time to Go Home

Well done thou good and faithful servants! Returning missionaries gathered at the mission home for the final lunch and testimony meeting with the mission presidency. It is always a tender time to see those that you have labored together with depart and know that you will likely never see them again. Powerful testimonies of Jesus Christ and the blessings of sharing the gospel filled our hearts with the joy born of hard work, service, sacrifice and the Spirit of the Lord.

The sisters played the piano and sang hymns after lunch and before we gathered for testimonies.

The elders were searching out some of their favorite scriptures.

After the powerful spiritual experience we experienced together, it's now time to pack the bags into the vehicles...

...and drive to the bus station where the missionaries will board a nice bus and travel 4-5 hours to the temple in Manila Temple. They will spend Friday in the temple and Saturday they will begin their travel home.

We call the group of missionaries that came out together a "batch". This batch is one of the largest. We will miss their experienced service.

Forty-five minutes and we all arrived at the bus station.

We're still losing and finding bags, exchanging email addresses and talking of the great times we had in the work of the Lord.

Some of us are lucky enough to stay and continue in the good work with gladness.

Companions are taking their precious memories with them and returning to their families in different parts of the world.

One last picture and they are on their way. God bless you my dear brothers and sisters.

Elders Holland and Callister Speak

This morning we got up at 4:00 AM and by 5:00 we were on our way to San Fernando to meet with Elders Holland and Callister in a Priesthood Leadership meeting for the stakes and districts located inside the boundaries of the two missions (Baguio and Toag). We also joined the Baguio missionaries for a 90 minute meeting with our visiting authorities. When we were on our mission in Cairo we enjoyed a very special blessing of hosting Elder and Sister Holland and their traveling companions for several days and now to see him again on our mission in the Philippines was an unexpected blessing. We have read Elder Callister's book "The Infinite Atonement" and were honored to meet him also.

We were told it would take 2 hours to travel to San Fernando, but we arrived an hour early because there was no traffic at 5:00 AM when we were traveling. We met with the President Jensen and helped setup chairs a bit and mingled with the saints that were gathering and took a few pictures. We received clear instructions not to take any pictures of the visiting authorities... but we did get one picture of them with the mission. They took time to shake hands with all that attended every meeting and our highlight was the apostolic blessing that Elder Holland pronounced upon all present and their families at home. 

 The San Fernando Chapel where we met with Elders Holland and Callister.

 The courtyard where the Baguio Mission group picture was taken later in the day.

 The chapel that was filled with leaders for the morning meeting and with missionaries for another meeting in the afternoon. The Single Adults were privileged to be taught by Elder Callister on scripture study in an evening meeting.

 Our wives got comfortable in the cultural hall to eavesdrop on the Priesthood Leadership meeting.

The cultural hall was beautifully arranged for lunch after the 4-hour leadership meeting. Many of the brethren will have 2-3 hours to travel to get home.

 A wonderful lunch was served to the leaders after the morning meeting. Mom and I were in charge of providing 200 sack lunches for all of the missionaries when they returned home after their meeting.

The Baguio Mission with Elder Holland. Front row Sister Callister, Elder Callister and Elder Holland, Elder Teh (Area President). We were invited to sit right behind the honored guests and next to President and Sister Jensen (mission president)

It was a beautiful experience to meet with the brethren and receive their instruction.

PERSONAL EXPERIENCE
As I mentioned above, we hosted Elder and Sister Holland and their traveling companions in Cairo for the better part of a week. I knew that Elder Holland meets many people all around the world everyday and probably wouldn't remember me and our brief work together in the Middle East, so I had no expectations. During the first meeting I smiled and studied Elder Holland's face, remembering our experiences we shared together. During a break in our 4 hour meeting, I was crossing from one side of the courtyard to the other to get back into the chapel, when out of nowhere a big arm reached around my shoulders grabbed me and squeezed me tight... I looked up, right into the smiling face of Elder Holland. "What are you doing here, elder? When did they let you out of the Middle East?", he asked. I reached for words to respond and said, "We got home, saw the family and felt an urgency to return to serve another mission." He responded, "Lord bless you brother!" He was anxious to introduce me to Elder Callister. We exchanged greetings and I expressed my appreciation for his marvelous book "The Infinite Atonement". I said it would be a life study, thank you. We all moved to return to the chapel to continue the second half of the meeting and my experience was over as quickly as it had begun. I returned to my seat and pondered how I felt, that the Lord knew me and was mindful of my service because Elder Holland, the Lord's Special Witness, had remembered me. It was a sweet feeling of comfort, peace and joy that gave me assurance that the Lord is mindful of our service here in the Philippines, in the middle of the rice fields among a very humble people. I know that He is aware of each of his children no matter where they are in the world and he loves them all and will answer their prayers. I marvel at that reality. I testify it's true.

Malimpec - Chapel in the Rice Fields

Today we went with the zone leaders to do apartment checks in the Bayambang (by-am-bong) Zone. One of the missionary apartments is in Malimpec, a little village in the middle of the rice fields. The story we were told is that virtually everyone in the community joined the church. There are over 1,500 members of the church in this little village. The missionaries live in an apartment just behind the chapel in Malimpec, so we asked people along the way the direction to the chapel. We kept following their directions, but I thought as we drove along the dirt road, certainly we will come to a paved road soon that will get us to the chapel. Wrong! 3.5 Km down the dirt road...

We passed puddles, that a few days ago were lakes.

We passed the carts carrying the harvest of the day. (Not an easy task.) And then after 15 minutes of dirt road... just around the bend...

The Malimpec chapel!

It is the largest chapel I have seen in the Philippines! And it's on a dirt road in the middle of the rice fields. That must have been some construction project. I wonder if they did a helicopter drop?

And sure enough the missionary apartment was just down the street. Everyone in the village knew where the missionaries live.

Some new little goats were staying near their mother at the front door of the elders.

Hey! Who are you!

Pretty shy when it comes to getting their picture taken.

This is a sled that is used in the rice fields. It glides over the mud and is often pulled by a large carabou

People from the village work the fields. It's harvest time and there is a good crop!

It looks like a field, but there is water under the growth.

A foot bridge... no it's a dock.

Bamboo grows everywhere and it grows quickly. It is very strong and durable.

Time to move on to the next apartment, but this was a fun surprise to see a big chapel in the rice fields.