We have Internet

In anticipation for getting set up with the internet, we pre-composed our happenings on Father's Day. Here it is:

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Father’s Day

Made a card for Darrel and let him have a long afternoon nap. Think we’ll have spaghetti for dinner just like we probably would if we were at home. We went to the Punta Branch for church this morning. The Fershtut’s had an investigator family they wanted to take and we needed two cars. The five little girls went with us and loved being at church. Their mom wasn’t feeling well and dad was at work. They don’t have money to take a jeepney or tryke to church and live too far away to walk.

Yesterday was a fun day. We went to the SM (Supermall) in DasMarinas and did a bit of shopping. While we were there we went to Pizza Hut and shared a meat lovers! It was yummy but wasn't too fond of their drink choices. Anyway, we got a text while we were there.

The Elder’s wanted to go on splits with the senior couples. One Elder needed to go to Carissa for a baptism and the other had numerous apts. Here in Naic. We ended up with Elder Barlow here in Naic. We visited and taught 7 families between 4:00 and 9:00 p.m. That’s including driving time and searching for houses time. What a great experience. Such wonderful, humble people.

Today at the Naic Branch there were 29 investigators at church. The Punta Branch had a measly 24 investigators. There are 7 Branches in our District. The Elders have a goal of at least 10 investigators at church each week. President Howard requires that a person attends church at least 4 out of 5 weeks before they can be considered for baptism. It is hard for many families as they must walk several miles to church. Very few can afford transportation. As a matter of fact, several of the chapels don’t even have parking spaces, just a small area for senior couple cars and a basketball court. Some of the chapels have aircon but others just have fans. The chapels are small but nice and well maintained. They are a positive addition to each of the towns.

Friday night we went to the Naic Branch Family Home Evening. (Have another one in the Punta Branch next Friday.) What fun! It is so nice to see so many people having fun! Whether it’s the kids or the adults everyone participated and laughed and had fun. One of the games we played involved a sheet of newspaper. Each couple put their paper on the floor and then the music began. We had to dance around the paper, when the music stopped..we had to step onto the paper and stay there to the count of three. Then, the paper got folded in half and the dancing was repeated. Again, it went into halves and so on and on. Dad and I made it until the fourth or fifth folding. I was standing on his feet to fit in the small area. There were three investigator families there and I think they were a bit shell-shocked!

Afterward, we had a noodle soup (traditional Philippino stuff) and chunks of sweet bread and water. Very nice activity and we were glad that we went. The soup is sort of like Rahman noodles with little chunks of chicken and veggies in the broth. The noodles are very thin, sort of like glass noodles. It feeds lots of folks on a very small budget and everyone likes it. We’ve enjoyed having our car this week. We have gone all over the district and scoped out the chapels etc. I’m loving to drive around with aircon!!! You really need to have a death wish to drive here. Talk about crazy! I’m not looking forward to going back to Manila and their traffic. At least here in the province it’s not as bad. About our current apartment: it’s pink and white! It is actually large for an apartment here. We have a living room/kitchen area on the main floor with a small bathroom off the kitchen. Can’t believe we’re surviving cold water showers! Ugh! Upstairs there is a lounge area on the landing and two bedrooms.

So far the gecko record (in one room) is four. They are on the walls all the time. The poop piles are an every day sweeping event. I was headed up the stairs the other night and there was a gecko on the steps. He was running up as fast as he could to stay ahead of me. Was pretty funny. Wish Aspen was here to clear them out for me! Becky says she wants to come visit and catch them.

On Thursday, June 18th we had a p-day. The Taggs (from the Mission Office via Lethbridge, Canada), the Hussys (the apartment caretakers for the mission via London, England), the Fershtuts (our neighbors for 3 more weeks from Layton, UT) and us had a senior couples day off. There are a total of 5 senior couples in this mission. The Goldings are on Paawalan (an island to the east). We went to a beach resort near here and walked along the beach and visited. Was raining a bit but not too bad. After the exercise, we went to a restaurant here in Naic for lunch. Dad and I had chopsuey, and panquon manok. Pretty dang good!

The shopping is good here. Virtually everything is in English so usually no surprises. There are large malls with the same stuff as in the states. We have KFC, McDonalds, Burger King, Pizza Hut, Shakeys, and Dunkin’ Donuts, etc. The palanke’s are outdoor markets. Sort of like flea markets. Lots of stalls close together and all sorts of merchandise and food stuffs. Granny would love the green beans. I’ll get a picture soon. They are in bunches and are 2-3 feet long! We’re talking about serious green beans. The meats are out in the open (in the heat) and scare me a bit. I don’t purchase any. The flies are thick and some of the meats (pig head, octopus etc.) are not to my liking.

There are some things that are hard to find so will send wish lists once in a while. Dad just woke up from his nap so need to get dinner going. Hope this catches everyone up a bit on what’s happening here. Oh yes, got mom’s letter on the 18th! Thanks. First mail we’ve received. When we get money at the ATM we usually get 10000.00 pesos. Comes to about $215.00 US. Gas is about 40 pesos per liter. There is no such thing as fresh milk. All milk is high temperature processed and comes from other areas. It just sits on the shelf until you’re ready to open it, then it needs to be used within 7 days. Is best chilled! Fresh pineapple is to die for! Lots of other fruits we haven’t begun to try yet. Have bought pineapple, mango, apples, oranges, watermelon so far.

Monday, June 22, 2009

We received word this morning that our assignment in the MRC in Manila won’t begin until October so will be staying in Naic for a while.

Love to everyone!