Rescuing Young Men

The key to a successful Young Men's activity is a spiritual experience... with food, fun and friends! Last Saturday the Mapandan District Young Men's presidency held their Young Men's Rescue Day. It started out to be a leadership training event, but evolved into a hands-on get 'em out and love 'em day. The YM presidency each went to a different branch and picked up a young man and together they went out to the homes of many less active young men and invited them to come to a meeting, have a lunch (main meal of the day) and join in an afternoon of basketball with lots of friends.

I got a quick panorama shot of the YM that came to the meeting early. We met at the San Jacinto branch building so local young men in the branch would be most likely to attend. The branch was down to one Aaronic Priesthood Young Man. We had 3 less active YM from that branch join us for the meeting and lunch and another nine came for the basketball afternoon. (It ran well into the evening) We started with 11 active YM and added 27 less active YM during the event.

Speakers were fun and shared a powerful testimony of Jesus Christ. They talked of personal testimony, priesthood, preparing for a mission, leadership, Duty to God, reading scriptures and more.

After the first three speakers we broke for lunch! All-you-can-eat rice and ulam, on an easy clean-up banana leaf. No utensils, just use your hands. Is that a great YM meal or what! The youth and the leaders worked together to get the meal ready.

The rice was laid across banana leaves the length of 5 tables and then the chicken ulam was ladled on top of it.

There were plenty of YM around to make sure everything was done just right and picked the best spot along the table to sit and get the best portion of the ulam.

It's just about ready and the boys are marking out their eating territory.

There was sardines and sauce on the side for those that wanted it.

A blessing of gratitude was offered on the food and the feast began! Dig in!

It was serious business and...

...a lot of fun. Everyone got more than enough.

The YM did a great job of making the cooks happy.

They ate that food right down to the banana leaf.

10 minutes after they started it was all gone.

But wait a minute! There's more! Ice cream for everyone and even seconds!

We had chocolate, strawberry, cheese and ube flavor ice creams. The cheese ice cream was like cream cheese, but with shredded cheddar cheese in it. The ube is a root vegetable that makes the ice cream purple. It really has no taste to me... it tastes alot like vanilla, but colored purple.

The Relief Society sisters were there to cook the food during the meeting, so it was piping hot and ready to eat at the right time. You'll notice the sister has two slices of bread in her hand. The tradition is that you eat the bread to cut the sweetness of the ice cream and prevent Diabetes. The YM devoured several loaves of bread before they ate their ice cream.

When the eating was done and our bellies were filled we gathered for a group picture. The meeting was reconviened and the final speakers addressed the group. I was surprised, but everyone came back for the meeting after lunch! Must be those great speakers!

Once the meeting was over the YM were ready for some friends and fun on the basketball court. The day was hot - 99 degrees and humid, but they were out there on the blacktop basketball court all afternoon. When it was time to go home they went to their home chapel and continued baskeball under the lights.

We had 11 active YM and 18 less active YM for the meeting and lunch. Nine more joined the group for the basketball activities. Many of the less active YM came to church the next day and the AP quorum presidents and their leaders will make personal visits over the next several weeks to stay in contact with them to build friendships and encourage them to come back to church.

It was a great day for all and we hope that new and old friendships were strengthened and the YM felt the spirit and will return and enjoy the full blessings of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Bauang Youth Conference

Another week and another wonderful youth conference experience. This week we met with the Bauang District youth at the "Cozy Place Resort" in Rosales. When we left our house, the heat and humidity of the previous day had been quenched by the cool morning air. It was a refreshing, energizing air that I needed to face the new day.

An early departure and virtually no traffic put us at the youth conference in plenty of time to take a few pictures before we went in to meet the youth. After a few pictures of the place, we entered the auditorium and we were greeted by the district president, President Baybay and he showed us to our seats with the youth for their testimony meeting. The Spirit filled our hearts again as we marveled at their strong testimonies and commitment to the Lord. The testimony meeting ended and the youth got up and re-configured the chairs so they could hear the concluding speakers, President and Sister Lindsay. What an honor to speak to them and feel their love for us. We gave the same presentation that we gave last week at the San Fernando Youth Conference, so we were comfortable with the presentation and enjoyed the youth. A presentation is always a little different each time you give it. The people, the place, and the spirit are a little different each time and it makes the presentation fresh... a new presentation for all of us.

The entrance to the Cozy Place Resort.

Inside the gate and through a parking lot we found the auditorium where the youth confeerence devotional would be held.

The youth worked on Duty to God, and Personal Progress during the day and then had a talent show the first night and went swimming at night... so they wouldn't get sunburned. They already have beautiful golden tan skin.

We didn't take any pictures during the conference, but this is a picture of the Bauang District youth after the conference was closed. It was another spiritual high for us and a great experience for the youth... they will long remember the spiritual feelings they had, the friendships they made and gospel messages that were shared.

We joind the youth for pictures of each branch... This is the Bauang 2nd Branch.

This is Dave, a young man from the Bauang 2nd Branch. He is going to school now and is planning to serve a mission when he turns 19. He has a great testimony and we made a special connection when I learned that his aunt recently married my cousin. What a small world it is!

When we were done taking group pictures and visiting, the youth went to their rooms to pack and get ready to leave. When they were checked-out we all joined together for another wonderful lunch. We said our good-byes and left the youth and we went down the road to the mission office.

Along the way we saw hot red peppers drying on the road.

Hay wagons hauling their hay home to the livestock.

As we entered the resort parking lot we saw a jack fruit tree with a lot of fruits growing on it.

These are the size of a cantalope.

This is jackfruit, harvested and on the way to market. 

This is what the jackfruit looks like on display at a small corner store. These jackfruit are the size of a 25 lb. water mellon. We hear that they are very good and very expensive for most people.

The rice is dried on the street, then swept into piles and scooped into bags. The trucks are loaded to the max with the bags of dried rice. This rice is now on its way to be milled and then sold to distributors and then to the consumers. Caution: Watchout for the little rocks from the road left in the rice!

We stopped to take a picture of these men in the field havesting the rice. It only took a second and...

They saw us and had a friendly wave for the camera.

What a joy it is to serve the youth today! We had a great experience with them and felt the spiirit of the Lord. It strengthened the youth and it strengthend us too. All are uplifted and edified in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Tubao Branch Visit

This week the Branch president from the Tubao Branch, President Dango, asked if Dad could come and do five temple recommend interviews for his members. We had visited him in his wood carving shop a few weeks before. 

Pres. Dango does wood carvings to make a living for his young family. He is teaching his young sons to carve wood also.

 He lives on the side of a mountain about half an hour from the rented building where they hold Church. It is a very humble home.

The members of the Branch have to travel quite a ways to get to Church. A ride in a jeepney, the cheapest transportation, is 80 pesos one way per person. People who make a living here only make 300 pesos a day. That is enough to buy food and some of the other necessities of life. For a family to ride to Church would be very difficult to pay for, if not impossible. Many cannot come to church because of the cost. Some walk to church by wading across the river which is only ankle deep at this time of the year. During the rainy season the river will be flooded and it will be impassable. They are a faithful, humble branch of church members. 

It takes us about 1 1/2 hours to drive to Tubau form our house in Manaoag and we didn't know if we would go for the full block of meetings on Sunday. We could go to Manaoag for sacrament meeting and then leave for Tubao to be there after the block for the recommend interviews. As Dad was thinking about it, he thought "What would the Savior do?" Then he said, "When I thought about that, I immediately felt the great love the Savior had for the people in that Branch. He would want us to go and be a visible, tangible evidence of the Savior's love for them."

When we arrived on Sunday some future missionaries welcomed us to the Tubao Chapel.  We got some good handshakes from these boys when we got out of the car and felt really welcome.

This was our gospel doctrine class, which meets in the chapel.  Up the stairs is Relief Society, and in back is Primary. 

One of the first people we met when we arrived was a man in a wheelchair. His family was gathered around him outside the building. He was prepared for a temple recommend interview. Dad learned that one year ago he had been cutting down a tree with a chain saw, as part of his work, when the tree fell the wrong way and landed on him, breaking his back. Now he is paralyzed from the waist down. I saw his wife sharing some pictures and she showed them to me. They were of her and her husband as they went to the temple for the first time and were sealed together as a family. Her husband was tall and strong standing beside her. She looked at the pictures longingly as she told me it was her family. They are all still grieving over the great loss. Her husband cannot work now. He is carried from the wheelchair to be put in the tryke to go home, but they come to church every week. He asked Dad for a blessing after their recommend interview.  After the blessing he knew that the day would come when he would walk through the veil and into the arms of his Savior who would hold him and tell him how much he loved him. He would walk again and be whole and strong because of the Savior's atonement.  This man carries that image and hope in his mind and heart now and it is a great comfort to him. It is such a blessing to be an instrument in the hands of the Lord to exercise the priesthood. 

Waitng patiently for recommends.

The children have a long wait after Church for their parents, but they are patient.  Miracle Whip and bread sandwiches help.

Filipinos love music.  I played some Primary songs for the children and they gathered around me at the keyboard.  They were shy at first, but they delighted in singing.  I love having them around me.

The Elders love to sing also.

We were very touched to see how grateful the Saints were for our visit. They asked us to speak in sacrament meeting and even the tiniest children came to shake our hands and would stare at us and smile. When we left that day, they said, "We will never forget your visit!" We told them very sincerely that we would never forget them, the faithful, humble saints of Tubao.

San Fernando Youth Conference

San Fernando Stake Youth Conference was held at the Neverland Resort, in the beautiful mountians just outside of Baguio. We were honored to receive an invitation to speak to the youth, in their devotional, on the last day of their 3-day conference.

We left our apartment extra early to get through the Good Friday traffic and be on time for our speaking assignment. We caught the early rays of the sun through the morning mist over the rivers.

We traveled a couple of hours throught the lowlands and then up into the mountains and arrived at the entrance to Neverland right on time. It was a steep driveway to the top of the hill to join the youth, so I put the car in low gear and up we went.  We were pressed back into our seats as the car worked hard to take us up the steep incline, all the way to the top.

We joined the youth for their testimony meeting. The Priest/Laurel group met outside the pavillion and the Teacher/MIA Maid group met behind the screens under the pavillion. We felt the same warm spirit that you always feel when sincere testimonies are born and could tell these youth had strong testimonies and were close to the Lord.

After the testimony meetings the groups merged together in the pavillion for the final devotional meeting and our talk with the youth. Mom gave out the name cards to some young men to be Nephi, Shadrack, Meishak and Abednago. She also handed out a dozen slips of paper, to be read to the group, with a brief "Amazing Fact" on it.

The youth were excited to be together and participate with us. Our presentation was built around the conference theme, "Arise and shine forth, that thy light may be a standard for the nations.", D&C 115:5. 

I started, then mom and I alternated our parts. Mom talked of the amazing miracle of our bodies, and I talked of their more amazing faith and valor in the pre-mortal world. We told them about the power of God, to help them be victorious here on earth too and gave them examples from the scriptures and from people's lives today. Mom interviewed Nephi about his trials to obtain the brass plates. I talked about the power in the priesthood and covenants, and then told the story of the Stripling Warriors and the delivering power of their covenants. Mom interviewed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego about the firey furnace and told them Jesus Christ will be with them in their fiery furnace of trials and afflictions. I closed by telling the youth about the young lad, Enoch, that was hated by all around him and was slow of speech, but that through his faith and the power of the Lord, he became a mighty prophet of God... he commanded mountains to move, rivers to change their course and the earth shook when he spoke. You and the Lord have power over all evil and together you are always victorious! 

We posed for a picture with each of the 9 units in the stake.

These young men have so much faith that they went out and walked on the pool water.

The young women were faithful and knew how to do it too.

The lunch was prepared by the relief society sisters and soon everyone was seated at a table eating their delicious meal.

Chicken, rice, vegetables and an orange.

The young women were served first... 

...and the young men were quick to follow.

Some of the youth quickly changed their clothes after lunch and got their wish, to fly in the heavens like an angel, and took a fast run down the zip line in "Moroni" postiton before for their long ride home.

The youth were all happy and well fed spiritually and temporally. It was an experience these youth and we will cherish and long remember.