BAPTISM FOR SANDRA

The sister missionaries have been teaching Sandra for several months. We heard that she was home-bound and could not come to church because she did not have a wheelchair and could not afford one. With our background in humanitarian work we talked with the right people in the Welfare Department and got a wheelchair sent from the area office to our mission office here in Urdaneta. We picked it up there at the office and delivered it to her. She has a "frozen" immovable knee... it can't flex, so we had to rig up a way to support her leg. You might be able to see our bamboo pole lashed to the wheelchair arm and the sling we fastened to the pole. It works! and she has been attending church and Relief Society activities regularly. She has a wonderful testimony of the Book of Mormon and has received good fellowship from the saints of the branch. She was ready for baptism. A big strong elder carried her into the font, carefully baptized her and carried her out of the font. She had the biggest smile on her face when she came up out of the water!  

 This is Sandra and her three little children, and her sisters.

 Sandra and two other girls that were baptized that day.

The Missionaries, the baptismal candidates and the branch president. It was a happy day for all!

FAMILY HOME EVENING WHIZ KIDS

Each week we go into homes to teach Family Home Evening to members. Most of them know about FHE, but just don't know how to do it. So we help them get started and have some fun with their family and help them recommit to some gospel basics. The Spirit touches the hearts of the family and we have a wonderful experience together, sometimes in very humble circumstances. We are so blessed to be here and serve in simple ways that are so important in strengthening families.

 Father organizes the agenda for the FHE and the kids anxiously look on to see what their assignment is going to be.

 Assignments made and we're ready to begin with an opening song. As we sang "Families Can Be Together Forever" little neighbor children came in the open front door to join us. Geckos gathered on the wall. The kitties and the family dogs came in and sat down. Everyone wanted to be a part of home evening.

 Little six year-old Nicos opened with prayer.

During the lesson on family prayer we read from the scriptures. Everyone had their scriptures and was eager to read.

 The children colored pictures of families kneeling in family prayer while the older children, mom and dad played a bean bag toss game. Who ever got the bean bag thrown to them (not at them) responded with things we can give thanks for. In the second round they responded with things they can ask for. At the end of the lesson we committed mom and dad, as well as the whole family, to have family prayer everyday and FHE every week.

 The children delighted in sharing some of the pictures they colored while we were teaching the others.

The lesson done, closing hymn and closing family prayer... The family is committed to regular family prayer and now on to the important part of FHE... the Miranda! Chez Whiz sandwiches and soda pop.

Is that a kids delight or what! No wonder this is such a happy family!

Fishing... no, Frogging!

We were out working with the missionaries and did an apartment review to make sure a new apartment met mission standards before we set up a contract. It was a great apartment and we were happy to approve it and let the mission office know they could go ahead and set up the contract and utilities for it.

When we were leaving the apartment I stopped to see what a young man was catching with his fishing pole in a nearby marsh area. This month the rainy season really kicked in and we have noticed a lot of what looked like fishermen, fishing along the shore of the rice fields. Then I saw some kids fishing in a little ditch. There are no fish in there! Maybe they are just pretending to fish like their dads. No, they were too old and there were too many of them doing it. I stopped and asked a boy and found out they were "frogging". They have a bamboo pole with a string attached and tie a bundle of frog innards on the end of the line... no hook. They dangle the bait in areas where they think there is a frog and wait a few seconds, if there is no bite they move to a new spot. You can see the results of a half-an-hour of frogging in the boys bags. They take the frogs home and their mother cooks them for dinner. Sorry, I didn't get any recipes to share with you.  

 This handsome young man was the first real froggerman that I met.

 He and his friends found a "hot spot" for frogs and loaded up their bags. Just two days ago all this area was under a foot of flood water when the rivers overflowed from the runoff after Typhoon Mina.

The catch of the day! You can click on the picture above and open it to enlarge it and see the frogs more clearly.
 Ummm, ummm... I can just smell the frogs a cookin'! Tastes like chicken I hear.

5 Days After Typhoon Mina

Today we had plans to spray for bugs, review and approve two new missionary apartments, deliver a wheelchair to a couple going to Manila next week and do a little shopping on the way home. We started out well. I got the apartment sprayed for bugs and got three geckos in the process. I felt like it was going to be a good day. The clouds in the sky got lighter, so I got the wheelchair loaded into the trunk of the car and we were off to meet the elders and review our first missionary apartment. The clouds darkened again and we knew what that meant... it started to rain like it does everyday. A half-an-hour down the road and we came to our first flooded road. We slowly followed traffic into the waters and hoped that we didn't hit a deep pot hole. We could see the homes that had been flooded and our hearts went out to them. It has been five days since typhoon Mina passed over us dropping about 14 inches of rain and then we get our normal few inches every day. 

 The water was rushing over the road.

 A little waterfall right outside our car window.

 Vehicles all follow each other through the flooded streets, trying not to splash pedestrians and passing trikes. 

 The kids think it's a lot of fun to have a swimming hole in their own front yard.

A loving goat owner put a rain coat on their family goat.

We traveled through miles of flooded road until we came to the fork in the road to go to Malasiki, where we were to meet the zone leaders to review the apartment. The water got too deep and I could feel the rear wheels lose contact with the road and float to the side a little. We decided not to risk getting the car flooded and called the zone leaders to reschedule the apartment check. We had to retrace our journey back through the slow traffic in the flooded streets.  

 

 We made it out of the rice field area and back to the big city of Dagupan only to find minor flooding of 6-10 inches of water on their streets. A deep breath and onward to Linguyan for another apartment check. Fortunately the roads were wet but very passable.

Here is Dad and the Elders in Bugallon. When I asked Elder Smith if they had trouble getting to their teaching appointments, he told us that they went to teach an investigator last night and had to walk through thigh deep water. The path to her home is three to four feet wide, but has a trench in the middle and a lake on either side.  They try to stay right on the path. Elder Smith slipped on the mud and fell off the path into the lake.  His companion was laughing so hard he fell in too. When they got to the investigators house she said that she felt it was one of the signs of the true Church that they would come to teach the gospel of Jesus Christ no matter the conditions.  

We met the zone leaders and walked to the new apartment. It was still under construction, but it will be finished in two or three weeks, just in time for the elders to move into it. 

 The picturesque view from their new apartment.

 

 A few friendly carabau graze in the rice field and don't mind the rain and wet.

 A few local cows munch a meal in their backyard.

Howdy neighbor!
 See ya 'round.

Y'all com' back now, ya hear.

Typhoon and Training

TYPHOON MINA

 The storm of the typhoon started on Friday and lasted until Monday. On the first two days it rained at the rate of 0.66 to 1.0 inch per hour! It has been cloudy and overcast for days and Friday and Saturday it rained hard all day. Sunday we had lighter rain all day and evening and Monday there were fewer rains. We must have received 10-14 inches of rain this weekend. That will keep the car clean!

 We live in the first big notch on the west coast... the red and gray part, where all the rain is dumping! The storm with 100 mph winds crossed land on the NE tip of Luzon, winds in our area were strong but not damaging. We live in a nice two-story house with cement floors, so we were safe. Some members live in bamboo huts with a raised sleeping area with dirt (mud) floors. Despite the rains and the winds the work goes on.

 Saturday we met with the district and branch presidencies to train the trainers. They all had their stories of wading through deep water. Many took shoes and socks off on their travel to church and dried off their feet and put shoes and socks on there. They all had wet clothes and hair despite rain gear. It was a real demonstration of faith and desire to serve the Lord to attend this training.

 The Relief Society had an activity where mom showed the sisters how to make flowers. They braved the elements and came away happy with their experience.

 The sisters were eager to show off their flowers and each of them wore them to church the next day.

With a little training the sisters were busy creating their own piece of art with, glue guns, fabric, beads and pins.

 Sandra is confined to a wheelchair and she came to church for her baptismal interview and also attended the Relief Society activity and got to know the sisters better. She will be baptized next Saturday.

 This flower was fastened on a headband. I'm sure this little girl is anxious to attend Relief Society when she grows up.

It was a busy day with trainings, interviews, and more trainings. We enjoyed it and it kept us out of the rain most of the day. My umbrella broke when I left the building, so I just had to get wet like everyone else. A mission is a wonderful adventure... we love it!

A Week of Recovery, Planning, and Zone Conference

The flu bug caught us and laid us low for a week. A high fever for a day, bad headache, weakness and a little nausea to top it all off. Yes, it was quite a week. Mom felt like she was going to die in Manaoag, but she pulled through and we're back on two feet. The weakness and dizziness lasted for a couple of days after the fever spiked. I got it Sunday and about the time I was getting mobile, mom came down with it Tuesday. While we were recovering we considered our work and found a better way. We have an overview of the district and understand the branches and their challenges, so now we will focus on one branch for 8 - 10 weeks and explain, demonstrate, practice, evaluate, strengthen and re-train. We're excited to get into the training deeper and get closer to our members and their leaders. Saturday I will show the branch and district presidencies how to effectively train leaders and all in a calling. I know it is the first of many trainings that will be needed, but it is a real start at making a difference.

While we are working with the leaders we are also working with the members. We will visit families and challenge them to study the scriptures daily, have family prayer daily, hold Family Home Evening and plan to attend the temple. If anyone has a great FHE idea send it our way. We'll take pictures of us giving the lesson and let you help us in the work here in the Philippines. It needs to be fun, active, scripture based and low/no cost.

 This is inside the door of the Mission Office. We have a hand carved Moroni and the Title of Liberty carving on order. Someday it will remind us of our work of our mission to rally the saints to action to strengthen and protect their wives and children, homes and rights!

 We had an inspiring zone conference and after we were done we took a few pictures of each zone that was there. This is the mission paparazzi at their best.

 There were more taking pictures than were in the picture.

 Here we are, healthy and well again, with our Mapandan Zone.

 The birthday missionaries get their picture taken by everyone, a birthday song in English and another in Tagalog and then a trip to the gift box.

 There is a lot of excitement and decision making around the gift box.

Do I want a bookmark, notebook, stickers, markers... decisions, decisions!

We had a good week once we recovered and got back to work and met with the missionaries once again. We were blessed again, the typhoon that was headed straight for us turned north and we will only get clouds and moderate rains. The work goes on rain or shine, but it's nicer to work when it shines.

Another Week in the Work

We travel all over the mission and see sights that are difficult to look at and other times we catch a glimpse of the beauties around us. The fish farms have made some people wealthy, so new homes are going up in these areas.

This was a striking new home on their fish farm pond.

I don't understand the fish farm process, so I don't have any comments on the fences.

This is a shop where they build side-carts for bicycles. Some towns have their streets filled with these pedicarts. They are less expensive than using a motorcycle trike. We see them hauling pigs, chickens, sugar cane, coconuts, bananas, and lots of kids... sort of like a SUV at home.

A nice foot bridge over the river inlet waters. This is a river island near the mouth of the river that flows into the South China Sea.

We got bananas growing in our yard by our front gate. 

These bananas will be ready in a few weeks and we'll have to eat a lot or just share them with everyone. The big reddish fruit under the bananas is called the heart of the banana plant and it is edible too. We see them for sale in the grocery markets.

This cow was not use to seeing a car in her domain, but thankfully the road was wide enough here we could pass the trike and the cow without any problem.

This is a family we went to visit and invite back to church. It's actually the grandfather and grandmother watching their granddaughter while her mother was at work. When we arrived they were all curled up on a wooden square on the ground. It was hot and humid and a perfect time and place for a nap. We visited for a while and then went on our way. I asked where I could turn the car around and he pointed way down the road, over a bridge that I was not comfortable traversing, so I picked the widest spot on the road this side of the bridge and made a lot of back and forth maneuvers and finally got the car turned around. When we came back the family we visited was waiting to wave good-bye to us. I leaned out the window and took their picture. 

A friendly caribou, taking a rest from work in the rice fields this morning.

Rice fields with a "hay stack" on the far right. That is food for the caribou.

A look at a home, fields and hay stacks as we passed by.

White A-Frame chicken shelters on the hillside above the rice fields.

They plant string beans on the side of the fields and the beans climb these poles.

We visited a family with a new baby. The mom took a break fro doing the washing (by hand) to talk with us and share the smiles of her little girl.

We got our first packages from home! They were pretty well beaten up and had been taped to keep everything inside, but we got everything.

When we went to district conference they gave each of the speakers and leaders a rose. We got one too!

President and Sister Jensen were there. We always love to see them and share our experiences with them.

This was the view of  the yard at the end of May...

...and this is the view of the yard yesterday. The banana tree is about 6 feet taller, the trees have filled out, the vines have covered the fence and the goats were moved across the street.