Fred!

We realize that we are on a mission to share the good news and spread the message of truth but.. we’ve decided that Heavenly Father also sent us here to make missionaries happy! We truly do love the missionaries and holding regular FHE’s is one of the ways we are able to show that love. Last Monday was a monster FHE! We had three Zones in attendance plus all the office Elders, Senior Couples and Pres. and Sister Howard (about 75 people total). Our day began at about 4:30 a.m. when Fred arrived by tryke. Fred was a 67 kilo pig who was slated to be the guest of honor?

Brother Gayeta from the Naic Branch was our butcher and cook. Cleaning the hair off with boiling water
Fred was cleaned top to bottom and inside and out by about 9:00 a.m. and mounted on the spit. Ready to roast! Yes, the sun is finally up He was rotated and simmered until 4:00 that afternoon. Nanay and Tatay Gayeta worked hard all day basting and turning.
Our Outdoor Kitchen
Sister Guyeta cleaning corn The Missionaries began arriving at about 1:00 p.m. and by 2:00 they were down at the beach playing games, volleyball, football, frisbie and visiting. Everyone was excited and impressed with Fred. Yes, we realize that naming your food is a bit unusual but after referring to “the pig” for several weeks we just felt he needed something more personal. Sister Smith suggested “Fred” and it stuck!
Ready to serve!
Our former ZL and friend David Tadeo came for the day and was a huge help.
Dinner - Pork, rolls (fresh from the Tompias bakery), rice, gravy, corn on the cob and Filipino style fruit salad Brother Guyeta carving Just a little crowded
The Seniors
Still more meat
After feeding the masses there was still meat left over. The Gayeta’s took it home and fed 5 families in their bayan which was a real treat and blessing for those families. We also let the Gayeta’s have the dugo (blood) and innards as they are bawal (forbidden) for missionaries to eat for health reasons. The Natives use them in several dishes so they were thrilled to have them.

The missionaries were just ready to head back to the compound for dinner when the sky turned black and the rain began pouring! There were kubo’s at the beach so the missionaries huddled under the roofs and visited. They texted and we told them to wait for a weather break to head back. In the meantime we were pretty frantic here at the compound. The rain was so heavy that the tarps we had up for shade were falling down from the water weight. We ended up moving Fred into our apartment for carving and serving. Once the rain slowed the hoards descended and were served in our apartment. The Sisters went to the Sister’s apartment to eat and the Elders went to the ZL’s. That still left quite a few bodies in our place. The rain eased soon and so we were able to migrate to the front yard. By the time everyone was gone, the dishes were done, the floor mopped, the food put away and the sun was setting, we were exhausted but happy.

Yes, we are still doing missionary work also. Our Zone had a baptism last night in Trece and we have about 15 firm dates this month and several more that could come through in October also. We are working on some Christmas music with the Zone choir and are talking about a possible musical fireside for our Zone sometime in November.

It is a new month and we do have another fruit to share. The dalandan is a native orange. It is green skinned and comes in seeded or seedless and tastes very much like an orange in the US. It is a milder flavor and is great juiced. They peel easily and we enjoy them as snacks.

Zone lunch at Lolo Claro's Part of the menu and yes, those are the Christmas decorations already up