Manila Mission

Wow! What a Ride!

2010-12-29T13:48:00.000-08:00

Yes, we are home and loving the cool weather! It was so good to see our family and get tons of hugs and kisses. We miss our "kids" and friends in the Philippines more than we imagined. We've been so blessed by our Mission experience and we're very thankful to everyone who made it possible. Thank you all! Elder..'oops, I mean Darrel wants us to continue the blog for a while so check for updates. We've already heard from many of our missionaries and members and love the contacts. Here are our last few days in the Philippines in pictures! Our best wishes for a wonderful New Year and we hope 2011 will bring great joy and blessings into your life!

Last FHE with our Zone at the Manila Temple enjoying the lights and spirit.

E. Langer, E. Richwine and David Tadeo (our first ZL)

Good bye to Elder Richwine. He has been in Naic Zone on two occasions and has served with us longer than any other individual.

Saying Goodbye to Sister Jeane Arandia. Our tutor, tour guide, friend and one of the nicest and sweetest people we've ever met.

The last dinner with our "Senior" friends. Howards, Petersons, Morgans, Smiths and Swensons

The Morgan's had a Fred cake made for our last evening at the Mission Home. The Office Elders, TA's and AP's joined the Senior Couples for dessert and paalam. They were upset as the cake tipped and slid during the ride to Makati. We thought it was beautiful (and delicious) anyway!

Arriving home. Met by our loved ones in Las Vegas!

President Curtis Steadman releasing us. We are in our living room with lots of family watching. Wow! What a ride we had!

Our daughter had our tickets for The Forgotten Carols on Dec. 21st. Was great to see the show and Michael McLean again.

Welcome Home!!!

2010-12-09T00:20:00.000-08:00

Preparing to leave soon

2010-12-05T00:15:00.000-08:00

We checked our blog earlier today and there are just 4 days to go. Amazing! In some ways it seems we just got here last week and in other ways it seems like we’ve always been here. We have visited all 7 Branches in the District during the past 3 weeks. Each time we have said goodbye to many good friends. Our hearts will always treasure the love and kindness we have experienced here.

We went to Makati this week for Zone Conference. We enjoyed spending time with the Morgan’s and seeing some sights. We took them to the Mall of Asia and noticed the Spam kiosk. It seemed to be doing a pretty good business. Our Zone sang “12 Days of Christmas” at the conference. We reused last year’s lyrics and they were great. The Zone really got into the spirit of things and sang their hearts out. We have had some fun, enthusiastic, vocally superior choirs during the past 18 months. For the Christmas Zone Conference we watched “The Other Side of Heaven” and “The Best Two Years”. The snacks were flowing and popping and disappearing. We had hot dogs for lunch and generally just enjoyed hanging out.

We will be headed to the Mission Home on Tuesday and then meeting the Peterson’s on Wednesday. We feel bad because there won’t be time to bring them out to Naic and show them around. The Morgan’s came out last week and we gave them the guided tour so they will be doing the honors. We’re going to the Manila Temple grounds tomorrow night to see the Christmas lights with our Zone. It is going to be a treat!

Spam Kiosk

Swenson's with E. Lillywhite and E. Ward (They both say "Hi Mom!")

Sister Arlene (baptized in July/2010). Shirlynn and Arwin on her lap and neighborhood kids gathered for our visit. Truly amazing Sister. We began visiting her when she was investigating the Church and try to go out to her place every week or so.

We passed 4 of these basket carts on the way from Punta to Tanza this morning

Balloons are "big" here. Used at parties, weddings, funerals and anything else. We passed 2 tryke's-full this morning.

Some kids playing by the side of the road to our apartment

Last turn before our apartment. The Tindahan is open every day and usually quite busy.

On the road to our apartment

Winding Down

2010-11-30T08:22:00.000-08:00

We hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving. We did! We had a traditional Thanksgiving dinner at the Mission Home. Everything was delicious.

Delia is an amazing cook. She has been cooking for the Mission Home for 20 years and makes some amazing dishes. President and Sister Howard are always such gracious hosts so every occasion is special.

We were without internet for several days so didn’t get to talk with anyone from home over the holiday but we’re sure everything was fine and yummy. We’ve had quite a few baptisms lately and it is exciting.

During the past 6 weeks we’ve watched 9 members of one family in Trece Branch join the Church. The Zone is doing so well and working so hard. It makes us very proud of them.

Monday night was our LAST Family Home Evening. It’s hard to believe. Our Zone was here and 8 of the office Elders and 2 Sisters came from Makati.

The roast beef and mashed potatoes and gravy were a hit. We have one more FHE on December 6th but it will be on-the-road as we are traveling to the Temple as a Zone to see the Christmas lights there.

As our time here is winding down we are so grateful for our many blessings. We have loved every missionary (over 100) who has come through our Zone. The Senior Couples are fantastic and the Howard’s are fabulous too. The members of the Church here and the Philippine people in general are beyond description. They have treated us like royalty and we love them so much. Our testimonies have been strengthened by their example and humility. We have also been so blessed to have such a stupendous support group at home! We love our family and friends very much and are looking forward to being home. But, golly, we’re really going to miss our family and friends in the Philippines too!

Monkey-ing Around

2010-11-21T19:36:00.000-08:00

It’s been a fun and busy week. Monday night was FHE. We had a spaghetti dinner and then played some Thanksgiving themed games. (Thanksgiving Matching game)

We’re pretty sure spaghetti is a fairly traditional Thanksgiving dinner since turkey is dang hard to find and afford. The fun treat of the evening was getting our new Zone t-shirts. Friends in the Naic Branch (Herbert and Aira) designed the Captain Moroni themed picture. We’ll be bringing ours home (with quite a few others) so we’ll have some additional fun memories.

Tuesday was Temple Day and Going Home fireside and dinner at the Mission Home.

It’s hard to believe that we were part of the going home group this time. It really doesn’t quite seem real yet. Transfer day was on Wednesday and we got 4 new Elders and 1 new Sister. Things are always changing in the mission field. We met the new comers Friday morning at District Meeting and they are terrific. Sister Frost transferred to Makati and is now a TA with Sister Betts. What a pair! Right now our Zone is on-fire (still) and hoping for 50 baptisms in December.

We went for a drive up Ternate canyon while waiting for a meeting and a herd of monkeys ran across the road in front of us. It took a minute to get the camera but still caught one in action. This is one of our favorite scenic drives in the area.

We were honored to host lunch on Sunday for Pres. and Sis. Howard . His brother and sister-in-law, Brent and Bonnie, are visiting from Malad, Idaho.
Lunch guests. Brent and Bonnie Howard, Pres. and Sis. Howard and the Smiths

It was a real pleasure to have them here. Our apartment complex missionaries were here and also the Sister TA’s came out from Makati.

The Elder TA’s are also visiting the Zone and came later for left-over lunch and visiting.
E. Richwine and E. Langer (ZL's) in a self-portrait

After lunch we took the Sister TA's to the swinging bridge in Maragondon. They insisted on a smooching picture (we didn't mind).

We have actually set out a suitcase to start putting a few things together for the trip home. We got our travel plans at the first of the week. These are the new, updated, final plans according to the email. We leave Manila at 6:30 a.m. on the 9th of December. We arrive in Hong Kong at 8:30 a.m. and have a lay-over until 1:05 p.m. then on to LAX. We arrive in LA at 9:35 a.m. (again on December 9th) and depart for LV at 2:37 p.m. with a 3:46 p.m. arrival time. This gaining and losing days business is strange! We have just two more Sundays in the Philippines.

We're Tourists

2010-11-13T23:38:00.000-08:00

We decided we’d better play our “tourist card” as we are counting down. Wednesday morning we took Sister Jeane Arandia to the US Embassy to apply for her student visa. The Embassy is next to Rizal Park which is a major Mania landmark.

While we were waiting for her we went to the Children’s Museum and really enjoyed the displays and information. When she finished with her appointment we decided to see the sights. We got into a horse drawn carriage and headed out.

Jeane is a native but had never been to the park so she was thrilled with the trip also. Our driver took us all over the place and we were able to see the National Museum, tons of statues, Old Town Manila (Spanish style) and much more. While we were in the Museum it started to rain. It was a real Philippine downpour!

The carriage ride back to the car was terrific with the sounds of rain on the roof. It was a wonderful experience and it was a pleasantly comfortable day temperature wise for a change.

We have a second fruit for the month. We didn’t get a picture of the insides as everyone knows what they look like. The fields in these pictures are just a few km from our apartment. We are grateful for wonderfully fresh pineapple and it is reasonably priced. It is so juicy and sweet and we love it.

Friday we went to Sonja’s Garden (again) with the Morgan’s. It was another touristy day with a couple of Branch business stops along the way. We ate several servings of fresh pineapple while we were there.

Saturday we split up and Sister Smith attended a District RS Visiting Teaching Convention in Naic while Elder Smith went to a baptism in Punta. There were 8 for that baptism and we forgot to send the camera with him. Later that evening we attended another baptism in Naic.

SM SuperMarket Checkers. We were picking up some groceries and it was slow in the store. Several of the checkers started questioning Elder Smith about where he was from, what he was doing etc. Yes, he did OYM!! He wanted a picture of them and a crowd showed up. Everyone loves to have their picture taken.

Here's proof you can transport anything on a tryke

Preparing Papayas

2010-11-07T07:23:00.000-08:00

We have a papaya tree in our front yard and this year it is loaded with fruit. However, according to the natives when it is still green, it is considered a vegetable.

So, we are going to be learning to cook a special green papaya dish as an ulam. That’s a topping for rice and a main course. The ripe ones are sweeter and used in fruit salads, shakes and just eaten by themselves. We’ll be sure to post pics of the green experiment. Papaya is the fruit of the month in its diverse forms.

Monday night was FHE and we weakened and had a Halloween themed activity. Elder Smith did a regular lesson and then the games went off the deep end.

We had a mummy wrapping contest,

bobbing for apples, ghost bingo and a wonderful dinner. Each missionary as they arrived made their own tinfoil (hobo) dinner. We had the charcoal ready and they all simmered and cooked while we had the lesson and such. Very few of the missionaries had ever tried to make one and they were quite delighted with the results. We love sharing new ideas and foods and love when we get new ideas back. Our mission has very much been a cultural exchange.

These are Philippine Weed Whackers. There are work crews along the highways chopping weeds and grass nearly every time we go anywhere. They use big machete type knives and whack away. The same method is used to trim lawns and yards. You will rarely see a lawn mower or mechanical weed whacker being used.

The Attack!!

2010-11-02T23:12:00.000-07:00

It has actually been pleasant weather this week. It is still in the high 90’s each day but has been cooling down a bit more in the evenings. It’s a very nice break. We haven’t needed to run the aircon very much.

Monday we had a terrific FHE with the Naic and DasMarinias Zones. We roasted hot dogs over the coals in our front yard and had the trimmings with them.

Elder Smith made some great hot dog roasting sticks and they worked like a charm. After the masses were gone we used up the last of the coal’s heat making s’mores. They were wonderful. A bunch of kids from the neighborhood came by and all had some. It was fun to see their expressions as it was a new taste treat for them.

We have been blessed to see numerous missionaries leave from the Naic District to become full-time missionaries. Friday we were there as Elder Nephi was set apart.

He had helped in the Zone whenever we had need of a companion or for splits. He is an outstanding young man and will be a great addition to the Bagio Mission. About 75% of the missionaries in the 17 Philippines Missions are natives. Many of them are recent converts. We have enjoyed watching future Bishops, Stake Presidents and General Authorities go through the Zone. They will truly be the leadership of the Church here.

We had 4 baptisms in the Zone yesterday. We were touched as we watched a recent convert (about 1 month) baptize his wife last night. Two of their grandchildren were also baptized. It’s is exciting to watch families join in the Gospel.


Sunday lunch with the AP's, ZL's and Sisters

Yes! There was an attack this past week. Sweet, gentle, kindly Sister Smith was upstairs on the computer when she noticed a bunch of little black beetle-type bugs climbing around near her. A quick check of the area revealed the horror! A huge swarm of the critters had somehow got in the apartment and they were everywhere! Literally there were thousands! Grabbing a can of bug spray she began to go crazy! Once the air had cleared, there were little corpses all over the place. We’re still finding and sweeping them up. They had wings and kept dive bombing during the extermination. It was not the most spiritual experience of our mission but some things just have to be taken care of. Our Tuko can only eat so much and the rats don’t seem to like bugs so it’s up to us.

Our Tuko

2010-10-26T10:14:00.000-07:00

We decided that we needed to feature our pet this week since we don’t know how we can take him home with us. The Peterson’s (new Senior Couple) had better take good care of him!

He lives in the back washroom of our apartment. He has grown so much in the past 17 months. He eats bugs so we like him lots! He talks to us frequently and has a cute little growling sound like he is clearing his throat and then says “tuko, tuko, tuko” over and over. The most we’ve heard is 9 tuko repeats at one visiting session. He is a type of gecko and many of the natives are frightened of him. There are tales of them ripping off your skin and biting and never letting go. We’ve Googled him and that isn’t exactly true. He is about 15 inches long now and has got quite chubby. We call him “VW” because when we first heard him it sounded a bit like a VW car turning over the engine when he clears his throat.

We were in Makati at the Mission Home from Sunday evening until Thursday evening. It was Zone Conference week and we checked Area Books (for the last time). It was a super fun week and we got lots done. We even went to the PBO Medical Office and got chest x-rays so we’ll be ready to leave the country. Chest/TB x-rays are required 1 to 2 months before departure.

Our Zone sang on Thursday and did great as usual. We did “Angels We Have Heard on High” in English and Tagalog. No! It is not too soon to sing Christmas carols! We are in the Philippines and have been listening to Christmas music in the malls since the first of September.

The Super Typhoon that hit the northeastern part of Luzon was a monster. Our area was on alert but we just had lots of rain and a bit of wind. There are 36 confirmed dead up north and about 20,000 or so housed in shelters for the time being. In Manila when a typhoon is coming one of the things they do is roll up all the billboard signs. There are tons of huge advertizing billboards everywhere. They are made of a tarp type fabric and when needed, they get rolled up so they won’t rip etc. We much prefer to see the ads. The frames look quite forlorn with the rolls of tarp. We snapped a few pictures in Manila/Makati.

We also had 7 baptisms in the Zone this weekend!

Elder Cook Week

2010-10-17T21:48:00.000-07:00

What a terrific experience this week has been! We started with a fun FHE on Monday evening then District Meeting and Zone Choir practice on Tuesday. Wednesday we went to Makati for a Manila Mission Fireside with Elder Quentin L. Cook. It was truly amazing. He was supposed to arrive at 2:45 in the afternoon to meet and greet the missionaries. We were fortunately all seated and enjoying personal study time when he came at 2:20!

Elder and Sister Edwards were with the Cooks and Pres. and Sister Howard also participated. Everyone presented such special messages and it really was a spiritual feast. Elder Cook “prophesized” that the Philippines would be a beacon to Asia and would lead the way in converting the non-Christian nations here. He also said that we could not imagine the things and growth that will be happening here in the next 50 years. It will be 50 years next April since the Philippines was dedicated and opened by Pres. Hinckley. We’ve grown from 1 member to well over 600,000 in that time. Elder Cook said the future growth will be unimaginable. Exciting!

Thursday we were home in Naic and then went back to Makati for Mission Presidency Meeting on Friday night. Saturday morning the brethren all went to the Buendia Chapel again, this time it was a Priesthood Leadership meeting for all units in the Manila Mission and one other Philippine Mission. Elder Smith came back very excited about the things that were discussed there. Once again, Elder Cook was presiding. We got back in time Saturday evening to attend a baptism in Ternate and visit with friends there.

We attended Punta Branch and then went to Tanza Branch for a while this morning. Now, it’s back to Makati this afternoon to spend the next four days. We will be checking Area Books at Zone Conferences this week. This will be our last check before we leave so want to make sure things are in good order.

Additional fruit of the month for everyone’s enjoyment! This cute little thing is Rattan.

Yes, it does look like a miniature pinecone. It peals very easily and has a large pit inside with a brown juicy meaty part. It is very tart and citrusy tasting. We still have several fruits to feature so there will probably be two next month also.

Family Home Evening More FHE - we made a monster pot of Pancit and it was delicious
Some of the gorgeous trees in DasMarinas Village in Makati (area where the Mission Home is located) Nearly sunset looking across rice fields near Naic

Loved General Conference!

2010-10-12T09:01:00.000-07:00

We spent the weekend at the Mission Home in Makati with the other Senior Couples and enjoyed watching General Conference. There was great company, great food, great messages, what more could a missionary ask for? We were able to see the four sessions, Priesthood session and the RS session. We also enjoyed the World Report and Music and the Spoken Word. Lots of sitting but we all managed.

This week is going to be extra special as we have a Mission Training Meeting on Wednesday with Elder Quentin Cook. Everyone is really looking forward to this special experience. Last week was transfer week and we have five new members of the Naic, Zone. They are all truly amazing. Three of them are greenies, one from Provo MTC and two from the Manila MTC. Elder Bills is a kiwi (New Zealander) and this is his third transfer. Elder Langer has joined Elder Richwine as ZL. We’re excited to get acquainted.

Last week was “going home” time for 19 of our missionaries.

We had a wonderful, full, temple session and then a testimony meeting at the Mission Home. These meetings get harder every transfer as we know more and more of the missionaries and miss them when they leave.

"Going Home" group at Krispy Kreme (Oh yes, we have them here)

Pres. Howard was organizing group pics and after our group one was taken, he said, "OK, everyone who has eaten at the Smith's get in for a picture!" The only ones left in the room where four parents who were there picking up their sons! So, Brother and Sister Cowan and Brother and Sister Graham took the picture with 30 or so different cameras.

Fred!

2010-10-03T15:12:00.000-07:00

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

Happy Anniversary to US!

2010-09-26T23:12:00.000-07:00

Terrific, busy, fun-filled week here in the Philippines!
Wednesday, September 22nd was our 43rd anniversary

and we decided to treat ourselves to a p-day at Sonya’s Garden in Alfonso. We took a back route and it was absolutely gorgeous! We passed multiple pineapple fields, sugar cane fields and lush tropical scenery that was amazing. We treated some of our favorites to dinner and the trip to help us celebrate. Sister Schardt, Jeane Arandia, Sister Frost and us. The pitcher on the table is dalandan juice.Sister Frost, Sister Schardt and Jeane Arandia (from Naic) came with us.

The table cloths are a variety of hand embroidered linens. The dish in the background is salmon belly. Not one of our favorites! The meal was delicious and the surroundings are stunning. It was a wonderful day. Our Sister missionaries actually found someone to sell them a “slug-brella” so we have one to take home! They literally stopped a lady on the street and talked her into selling it. We were thrilled!

Saturday found us in Binan for the San Gabriel District Conference. We participated in the afternoon training sessions and in the adult session that evening. Elder Sinamban of the Seventy was presiding and it was good to listen to him again. He was in Naic District earlier this year and had lunch with us. The Senior Couples and Pres. and Sister Howard went to dinner afterward and enjoyed visiting.

Sunday was a special Missionary Musical Fireside at the Buendia Chapel in Makati. Part of our missionaries are on the island of Palawan but the rest who are here on Luzon (160 plus) entertained over 600 members, investigators and recent converts. What an extraordinary experience for them and the congregation. There were soloists, groups, piano soloists, guitar soloist and the choir (all the missionaries) sang 4 numbers. Elder Swenson directed and also played an oboe solo. We loved just being in the congregation and feeling the spirit.
Keeping things short this week as our next entry is going to involve lots of pictures and explanations. Just remember to watch for “Fred”.

Change of plans..

2010-09-21T13:05:00.000-07:00

Last week we announced our 2 months to go mark. Then, Thursday that all changed. We will be extending until December 9^th. There will be a new Senior Couple coming into the Mission from AZ, on December 6^th so we will be here to welcome them and show them our wonderful Naic Zone. We’re looking forward to meeting the Petersons. We received our itinerary from the Church Travel Office via email on Friday. We would have left Manila at 12:45 p.m. on November 12^th and then landed in Las Vegas on November 12^th at 7:09 p.m. Hopefully the next itinerary will be as favorable. We’re looking forward to getting the day we lost coming over back again. So until then here's Home Sweet Home:Yes, the Zone got pizza again this month! We’re so proud of our missionaries. They work hard and deserve the recognition. There are so many variables in missionary work and stats go up and down but the hard work never stops. We are fighting with numerous allergies, staff infections, LBM’s, boils, rashes and general crud right now but everyone keeps working. We try telling everyone to keep their “bugs” to themselves. Charity and sharing are great but sometimes it’s alright to be selfish.

Thursday evening we were blessed to be at the “setting apart” of Elder Pipit from the Naic Branch.

We’ve been to several others and it is always so special to see the missionaries preparing to serve the Lord. We thought about our nephew Ethan, and his journey to the MTC this next Wednesday. We are so inspired by the faith, diligence and determination of the missionaries.

Friday evening we hosted a Naic Branch missionary training FHE. There were 22 here for dinner (prepared by Sister Jeane) and training and games and visiting.

We are busy preparing for a huge FHE on September 27^th. There will be 70 or more here including 3 Zones and the office Elders, Senior Couples, Pres. and Sis. Howard and the guest of honor..Ta da! A 35+ kilo lechon baboy! Yep, we will be roasting a whole pig in the front yard. We will get lots of pictures for the next blog entry.

While driving around the city we find sighting of things that remind us of home. Here's what was on the bus we were following one day:

Just around the corner, we were greeted by more basketball on a tryke. Basketball is huge over here!

Whoa! 2 months to go..

2010-09-12T21:09:00.000-07:00

We just realized that our possible going-home date is two months from today. We still have lots to do so have to get busy. Even if the date changes a bit it is still rapidly approaching.

Family Home Evening last week was terrific as always.We had 32 here this week. It was crowded and hot but everyone was still smiling and happy. We had sopas for dinner with fresh rolls from Sister Cristy’s bakery down the street.It was really yummy. The AP’s, TA’s and the Morgan’s came which added even more fun to our little group.

We went to Makati for Zone Conference during the week. We stayed at the Mission Home on Wednesday evening and had conference on Thursday. Wednesday evening we went to Chili’s (Elder Smith’s favorite) for dinner with the Morgan’s, Howard’s and Swenson’s. It was a great evening. Zone

Conference was very informative with training in the new 8 lesson plans of Preach My Gospel.

Trece had a baptism on Saturday and there are several scheduled for the next two Saturday’s throughout the Zone. Next month is looking good for baptisms also.

Yes, we do think about our kids once in awhile! This delivery cycle passed us in Makati and we discussed Amber's cooking skills at the Palo Verde Ward Cook Off.

here are ice cream vendors all over the place. This is a fairly fancy one. They don't play obnoxious music like at home but the bell on the handlebar dings constantly. Selecta is our favorite brand of "made in the Philippines" ice cream. The Zone is hooked on the Double Dutch flavor.

Temple Tour

2010-09-05T15:18:00.000-07:00

Well, it is officially into the “ber” months now in the Philippines. They are supposed to be the coolest months of the year! We’ve already noticed some new Christmas lights and 1 Christmas tree up in a business in the Naic bayan. We heard Christmas music being played in a tryke the other day as it was passing us so we know the holiday season is beginning.

The Morgan’s from Roy, Utah, joined our little group last Wednesday.

They are a very special couple and are going to be a wonderful addition to the mission. They are living and working with the SanGabriel District and Zone about 45 minutes away. We didn’t realize that the couple missionaries would get better with every addition but they are just like our Sisters and Elders and seem to be sharper with every change.

Last Saturday was a Temple Tour for our mission. What a treat it was to be there! Each Zone brought their investigators to learn about the Temple. We had over 300 investigators attending! They met in a pavilion behind the ancillary building on the Temple grounds and then left in groups to visit 7 stations that were set up around the Temple. They were taught about the meaning of the Temple, Temple work, the restoration, family history and so on. Many of those attending from the Provinces (like Naic) had to leave at 4:00 a.m. to arrive on time in Manila. We had 50+ from our Zone. It was such a treat to see so many there. One brother who was attending the last tour noticed the no smoking signs on the Temple grounds, he had just had the first lesson and so the Word of Wisdom hadn’t been mentioned yet. He was so touched by the Spirit that he quit smoking on the spot. He had been a 2 pack a day smoker for 30 years. He was miserable for awhile but now has a baptism date set and is very excited about the gospel. The “Temple” feeling is so sacred. The tours will be going on regularly for the mission and we’re sure there will be some wonderful success stories to unfold. This month has a fruit that is a doozer! It is stinky as the dickens! In Tagalog it is most definitely mabaho (smells bad)! Just bringing one home from the store made our car stink for days. Durian is brutally spiky with big seeds and such an odor! One of our Elders described the taste as a cross between an avocado and an onion. (Personally we think he was being kind in his assessment.) Our sweet Filipino missionaries liked it! We’ve decided it is an acquired taste but it is a totally cool, awesome looking fruit.

A new Sanders business in Rosario, Ph (yes, those are power lines hanging in the foreground)

Wedding Week

2010-08-31T07:59:00.000-07:00

Busy week! We had three weddings to attend and help with. Monday we were in Trece for a big event.

The wedding cake was from Goldilocks (big bakery chain here). It was about $14 US and was quite tasty.

The groom is a member and the bride has been taking the lessons. She was baptized on Saturday (yesterday) so the wedding needed to take place before that.

We were able to get the cake and made spaghetti (bride’s choice) for 50. Fortunately there was plenty as the guests ended up numbering closer to 70.

Friday was another two weddings here in Naic. Both couples were planning to be baptized on Saturday also and the weddings took place the day before. There is no divorce in the Philippines so many (most) couples live together. The commitment for baptism marks a big change in their lives. We were able to help with the flowers and luncheon for these weddings.

Wedding luncheon at People's Restaurant

One of Friday's wedding bouquets. They were about $5 each US! Amazing as they had roses and everything in them.

They were married in the town municipal hall by one of the mayor’s staff. It was a double wedding and was actually very nice. Both couples are young and so excited about the gospel.

Tuesday was Temple Day and going home activities for the missionaries. It is always a treat to attend the Temple and this was no exception. We said goodbye to 4 of our Naic Alumni.

Two of them were former ZL’s here. Wednesday was transfer day. We had quite a few changes in the Zone. We have a new ZL and Sister in the compound. Elder Dymock and Sister Betts were transferred and are now TA’s. We also are thrilled to have the Province TA’s living in the ZL’s apartment next door. That makes 8 of us in our little apartment complex! How things have changed and grown is amazing. The Naic District Primary had roadshows yesterday afternoon. They were very entertaining and enjoyable. Each Branch was assigned a topic and then created a performance.

Naic Zone had 9 baptisms yesterday. It will be fun to see if we get pizza again at the next District Meeting with Pres. Howard.

There are already quite a few baptismal dates for September. Sister Swenson called from the office yesterday to make sure we were heading to Las Vegas when we leave here. So, it looks like our travel plans are underway.

*Girl's Night! The Sisters baked cookies and then decorated them with ants (thanks Ginger for the idea). So much fun!

Still Raining

2010-08-15T21:56:00.000-07:00

Gotta love the Philippines during the rainy season. For one thing, it’s cooler! It is still in the high 80’s to low 90’s everyday but somehow the rain makes it feel less intense. It is always humid anyway so that never changes. It actually cools down into the mid 70’s at night sometimes which is a true blessing.

We enjoyed having the DasMarinias Zone over for FHE on Monday. There were 20 of them including 5 Naic Alumni! They have asked to come for FHE at least once each transfer. They have to rent a Jeepney and it is an hour ride to get here. They also have to have permission to travel outside of their Zone boundary. Since the AP’s love to come to FHE out here and one is formerly from Naic it wasn’t hard to get the permission granted.

Elder Smith had a nice birthday this year. The Zone Leaders and Sister Missionaries had a beautiful blue barong (native shirt) made for him. We had cake and ice cream and then had his favorite spaghetti dinner for Sunday. Sister Jeane fixed ChiliConCarne Filipino syle for Elder Smith's birthday. Yummy
Thanks for the wishes from all of you at home!

Saturday was a full and busy day with a Mini MTC for the youth in our District. There was training in the morning and then lunch. The early afternoon was spent tracting with the fulltime Missionaries. At 5:00 we met back at the Naic Chapel for a closing program. Our Zone sang hymn #335 and then Sister Smith taught the Mission song to everyone.

Here’s an additional fruit of the month. This is a guyabano. It is sort of an ugly critter and the pokey outy parts are pretty sharp. Inside it is white with lots of large black seeds. The fleshy part around the seeds is the sweetest. One that we cut was a bit over ripe and had a bit of a fermented flavor to it. Hmmm…

Beans and Egg Plant at the Palanke Bundles of green beans. they are 18" to 36" long

Exploding Watermelon

2010-08-09T21:36:00.000-07:00

We realize that there are lots of watermelons in the U.S. but none quite like the one we bought the other day. Thursday afternoon we were picking up groceries and decided a watermelon would be good sliced up for brunch on Friday. The 6th was Sister Frost’s birthday and her companions wanted to have a surprise brunch (French toast) for her. So, we took a lovely seedless melon home and set it on the counter that evening. During the night Sister Smith heard some noise downstairs but decided it wasn’t worth investigating since it probably involved something with more than two legs. At about 3:30 a.m. the need for a trip to the CR prevailed. What a sight to behold!
The watermelon had exploded! There was foam oozing out and the innards had sprayed across the counter top, across the floor and reached our little center island.
This was a true “wake up Elder Smith moment”. He was a good sport and helped with the cleanup and carcass disposal. The insides were like mush and the rind was corroded and nearly gone. When we moved the melon to clean, it collapsed.
We rinse all of our food and canned goods in a bleach/water solution. We’re not sure but suppose somehow there was a small hole and a chemical reaction? So, watermelon gets to be the featured fruit this month. Actually we do have some others that are more exotic and will post them later in the month.

Yes, Naic Zone did get pizza again this month. We really do have the best group of missionaries in the whole world.
Monday was FHE and great fun as always.
Sister Smith had a cold/flu so hid out upstairs while the party raged. The yucky stuff lasted through Wednesday so we really didn’t get out or do much. Our refrigerator decided to go nuts and started freezing everything inside. We finally gave up and went into town on Thursday to purchase a new one. It was delivered on Saturday and the old one has gone to a repair shop in GMA. It will be recycled to another apartment.

Friday evening we went to King Bee in General Trias for dinner. The Thomas’s where here from Palawan and the remaining Senior Couples where there to say goodbye to the Hussey’s. We are certainly going to miss them.
They fly back to Great Britain on Friday, the 13th. Elder Smith decided to follow in Sister’s footsteps and started in with the cold/flu crud on Saturday. So, there will be another few days of R&R then back to the business of being busy.

Birthday Brunch for Sister Frost (Sister Martinez, new in Zone)

Where to go in Carissa to get a dog bite (and whatever)

Out of Sync

2010-08-01T22:23:00.000-07:00

We’ve really had a nice “couple” of weeks but Sister Smith has been lazy so the letters home have suffered a bit. We have been having lots of rain all month. We both really enjoy it but the poor missionaries certainly have a ton of shoe cleaning to do. The rainy season is typically in June, July and August. The Natives tell us that this has been an extra wet one so far.

We had a great FHE on the 19th of July. We used the same menu from the day before when the Howards were here. It was fun to have no big preparations of food to do. We had already done most of it on the Saturday previously.This past week we were in Makati at the Mission Home. It was Zone Conference week and we were able to review and check about 60 Area Books. They are really looking good and the missionaries are getting things in proper order. It was a fun week as we were in excellent air conditioning and went to all sorts of fun places with great people to eat.
At Chili's with the Swensens, Howards, TA's, AP's and office EldersIt doesn’t get much better than that.

On August 5th we will be having a mini-transfer in the Mission. The Manila MTC has 7 new missionaries who need homes and we are lucky enough to get them. Two of them will be coming to Naic Zone so we will be doubly blessed. Regular transfer isn’t until the 25th of August so this will be an in-between transfer. It looks like it might be another pizza month and the projections for August baptisms are great so will wait and see. One of our companionships is working hard to set a Mission record for the most OYM’s in a week. We’ll let you know how they do.

The TA's were visiting and had breakfast with us before heading on to other ZonesBuilding a bahay kubo in Maragondon Branch. Elder Smith and Elder Hussey were there helpingThis will be the new home of a husband, wife and baby in the branch

Hello Conson!

2010-07-18T22:17:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday, July 13th we went to the Temple and a going-home fireside and dinner for this month’s missionaries.

Elder Cudiamat

Elder Matheson

It was a lovely day and we were thrilled to see the growth of our seasoned missionaries. Elder and Sister Hussey (end from right) will be leaving soon so they were included in the group.

It started raining during dinner and progressed throughout the evening. We knew there was a Tropical Storm coming but we were in for a surprise. By midnight the storm had become a Category III Typhoon. Oh my goodness what a storm! We arrived home in Naic at about 12:15 a.m. Wednesday and within 5 minutes of arriving, the electricity was out. Then the winds hit with a vengeance. Needless to say it was a very long, dark night. There were 6 Elders in the ZL apartment as Wednesday was transfer day and they were going to ride together to Makati to pick up our new Zone members. They finally called the AP’s at 4 a.m. to let them know that the buses weren’t running and it was impossible to get there. We ended up with flooding in 3 of the 6 apartments in our Zone but not serious. The Philippine news says that there have been 68 deaths attributed to Conson so far. This is our second Typhoon season and the power of the storms still amazes us. There is at least another 1 ½ months to go so have extra water and candles ready. We were without power for 2 days and without water for 2 days. Thank goodness for candles and our bumba (water pump to a well) in our front yard. The water is a funny shade of brownish yellow but it can be boiled and used.

The majority of the week was spent in clean up and trying to stay dry efforts. There has already been another tropical storm that has blown through. The weather forecast is for rain, thunderstorms and temps in the high 80’s and low 90’s for the next week at least.

Sunday lunch was a treat! Pres. and Sis. Howard’s daughter and family are here visiting from Virginia. They were seeing the countryside and attending church (where Pres. had meetings/interviews) and came to Naic for lunch. The Tylers are a beautiful family and very nice. It was a real thrill to meet Shelley (Sis. Tyler) as she practically knows us from following the blog. We will see them again later in the week in Makati and are looking forward to it. They walked down to the beach after lunch and we had Cassava cake for dessert. We were shocked when Pres. Howard said he had never tried it before! We thought he was practically a native. Thanks to the Howard’s for sharing their special family with us.

It can’t be July already..

2010-07-12T11:06:00.000-07:00

We missed a week somewhere in the shuffle! We were on-the-road quite a bit doing area book checks and got sidetracked!

Things are back to normal now and it is a new month so definitely need to get a new fruit posted.

Some friends in the Tanza Branch (Pesa’s) gave us this spray of Makupa from the tree in their back yard. It is quite pretty and they taste like apples. They don’t have millions of seeds like so many of the Native fruits over here.

We ate them for a Sunday afternoon snack with some of the missionaries and some Naic Branch members. Everyone really enjoyed them.

We were excited to find out that the 4^th of July is a holiday of sorts here in the Philippines. It is US/Philippines Friendship Day. All of the missionaries in our little compound are Americans so we celebrated the day together with a traditional meal of meatloaf and Kraft Mac ‘n Cheez. It doesn’t get much more American than that.

The Sisters provided a flag for a centerpiece we talked about what we love about being an American. Monday, was a morning FHE. We walked to the beach near the apartment and the missionaries played beach volleyball, kick ball and baseball. Lots of exercise and fun in the heat! Afterward we came back to the apartment for hot dogs, potato salad, chips and watermelon.

It was undoubtedly an American celebration. The Zone sang “happy birthday” to Sister Smith as she turned 29 once again.

This is transfer week so there are changes brewing once again. We will be getting several new Zone members and we’re excited to meet them. We always miss our transferring members. The Zone is doing well with 10 or so baptisms already for the month. Lots of additional baptisms scheduled for the rest of July and the first part of August.

President and Sister Golding who have been serving on Palawan for 19 months went home to Las Vegas this week. They are an exceptional couple and will be greatly missed. They are going to be taking up permanent residence in St. George so will hopefully get to see them on occasion. Next month the Hussey’s go home to England and we’ll be the senior Senior Couple! Hard to believe.

Pizza Yet Again!!

2010-06-27T10:15:00.000-07:00

Yes, that’s right our Zone was on top for another month in the baptism department. After District Meeting Pres Howard furnished pizza for everyone. We are so proud of all the hard work our Elders and Sisters do and so thrilled with all the new members who are “coming to Christ”. We are on line to be on the top again for this month which would really be amazing. We’ve been the pizza recipients for 7 of the past 12 months.

FHE last Monday was awesome as usual. We had a traditional Philippine dish called Beef Kaldereta (Sister Smith style). We always warn the Zone that we put our own twist on things just in case it doesn’t taste quite like a Filippina nanay would make it. Elder Smith swears he is going to take our favorite wok home with him. It’s hard to say what customs will think but he refuses to consider parting with it. He does the majority of the sautéing over the open gas flame since Sister Smith is a sissy and sweats into the food! Gross! We were able to visit several families with the Missionaries this week. Some were investigators and others were less active. Everyone is so polite and welcoming. We really love to go to the homes and share the spirit with them. We had 7 baptisms on Saturday but were only able to attend one in Trece.

Times and distances were not compatible.

Sunday evening was a treat. The ZL’s and Sister’s had a training meeting for the Naic Branch Presidency, Mission Leader, EQ pres., RS pres. and so on. Everyone came with their spouses for dinner and the meeting here at our apartment. We enjoyed having them here and the lessons from the missionaries were terrific. Dinner was chicken in gravy (cream of chicken soup, evaporated milk, onions, garlic, salt and pepper) served over rice. We also steamed a bunch of cabbage (a huge favorite here) and some mixed veggies with cheese. For dessert we had brownies (made in the crock pot) and ice cream. Two of the sisters asked how we made the cabbage so good. Our super technical answer was “we steamed it”.

Dad's Rule!

2010-06-22T21:19:00.000-07:00

Happy Father’s Day to all the Dads out there! Elder Smith is the prime example of “practically perfect” in that category! Love you Sweetheart!

The week began with quite a splash! The Zone Leaders have volunteered to keep our front lawn trimmed. We don’t think they had any idea what they were getting themselves into but..Monday morning bright and early they were out with the machetes chopping grass. They took a basketball break and returned with a couple of branch missionaries for reinforcement. Three large garbage bags of clippings later they were finished. Then, things went a bit whacko! The Sisters had been cleaning and they were all on P-day. The Sisters decided to help the Elders cool off and a monster water fight ensued.

You’ll notice that the pics are all from a distance as it was quite a war zone. Elder Smith thanked everyone afterward for not only cutting the grass but watering it also!

Thursday was Zone Conference and our Zone sang “Love is Spoken Here”. It was so fun to have soprano voices in the group and they hit some high notes at the end that were lovely.

Once again we have a group of great singers! If we can get it to come together we’re going to try to sing “Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho” for next ZC. We’re reading the Old Testament as a Mission and when we read about Joshua we got inspired! If we can pull it off it will be great fun.

A Spiritual Feast

2010-06-17T22:34:00.000-07:00

Sunday, June 13^th was the dedication of the Cebu City Temple. It was wonderful. President Monson, Elder Oaks and Bishop Burton were there from SLC. Our own Area Presidency was there also. We attended the 3^rd (and final) dedicatory session on Sunday afternoon. The new temple is beautiful and we were honored to be the session that Pres. Monson decided to speak “off the cuff” to. He kept saying that his remarks weren’t in the script but he continued talking and telling stories. We loved it! He also did the dedicatory prayer. The night before (Saturday) there was a big Cultural Celebration that was on live broadcast to all the stake and district centers in the Philippines. The youth from the Cebu Temple District did native dances in costume. It was extra special because they had huge screens that broadcast youth from the outlying areas doing the same dances. It would have been impossible for them all to fit in the arena and the cost of transportation would have been too high so they filmed other groups ahead of time. We were worried that Pres. Monson would have issues as he kept his suit jacket on the entire time! The temperature had to have been in the plus 100 degree range and humid. They must have had an aircon positioned to cool him.

Monday was FHE. It was the first official one with the new Zone members and it was very nice.

We had spaghetti and meatballs (Italian style). Filipino style sauce is with very sweet tomato flavored catsup-ie stuff. Even the natives ate a ton so it must have passed with approval.

Tuesday was DM and choir practice. We have some terrific voices in the new group. It is a very talented group. Wednesday we went to Makati for Mission Presidency meeting. Then, on Friday we fixed breakfast for the Zone at 6:30 in the dang morning

and then went to Manila to the Ocean Park.

We enjoyed our time with the other senior couples and the fish were happy to see us. Dinner was at the Manila Hotel.

It is one of the older and more elite hotels in the city and was quite impressive. Elder Smith had fish and fries and Sister Smith had pasta with eggplant and marinara sauce. They were pretty yummy. We had several baptisms this weekend but it was raining or rushed and so didn’t get any pictures.

Changes in Naic

2010-06-06T22:16:00.000-07:00

Wow! It’s been quite a week. We went to the Temple and the going home activities on Tuesday. We said goodbye to 2 of our Naic alumni. When the transfer notice came Monday evening we also found that we were saying farewell to lots of our current Zone.

Good bye Elder VillaCarlos

Good bye Elder Valasco

Good bye Elder Mahe

Wednesday at transfer meeting we got 8 new Zone members. That’s half of our Zone.

Our Sisters are finally here. Sister Frost and Sister Betts are the best! We have 2 new Zone Leaders, Elder Dymock and Elder Richwine (an alumni)!

New Comers - Sis. Frost, Sister Betts, Elder Richwine, Elder Dymock and Bruce Pipit (Naic Branch member)We also have 4 other new Elders in the different areas making half of our Zone “new”. It’s going to be great! We went to a planning meeting on Friday morning and the Zone members are really excited and it was so good to get to meet everyone.

Thursday we went to Makati and met Sister Schardt. She had arrived the day before from the Provo MTC. She had found our blog after receiving her mission call and contacted us. We corresponded several times so it was nice to put a face with the name and letters. She is assigned to the DasMarinias Zone which is nearby so we’ll probably get to see her again soon.

Saturday was a different experience for us. The Tanza Branch asked us to teach a class about Conversational English. We had over 20 YM/YW there and practiced saying words in English and learning some basic rules. The kids were really good sports and were able to laugh at themselves when they made mistakes. They were much braver in English than we are when we speak Tagalog.

Our schedule for next week is full, which is a blessing. We both prefer being busy. (Keeping busy keeps Sister Smith out of trouble and makes Elder Smith’s job much easier.)

The fruit of the month is Sineguelas. It is small and the skin feels like the skin of a plum. It is fairly sweet and juicy with a large seed in the middle so there isn’t much substance to them. They remind both of us of plums but are more oval shaped.

Getting ready for Sisters!

2010-06-02T20:24:00.000-07:00

The focus this week has been getting the apartment next door ready for the Sister missionaries who will be here on the 2^nd. Our Zone will be growing to 16 members and so far everyone is thrilled about the additions.

Monday the Elders were here at 7:00 a.m. and cleaned the apartment.

They did a good job as there was 9 months of dust, dirt, dead critters, webs and crud to clean.

(fixing pancakes for the crew)

Elder and Sister Hussey came a couple of times with supplies for the apt. We think it will be very comfortable for the Sisters and we’re expecting great things from them.

Monday evening was Zone FHE. Elder Mahe (going home) had requested Chinese food. So… we had broccoli beef and sweet and sour chicken.

We hadn’t realized that coming to the Philippines would make us multi-cultural cooks but it has. The meal was wonderful! We’ll try to post it on the blog (if I can remember and figure the measurements).

Thursday the Tanza Branch had an activity. The Pesa family lives in a subdivision that has access to a clubhouse and pool.

The party was there and was really nice. Everyone had a great time and the kids were like kids everywhere and couldn’t get enough swimming. There was enough food to feed a small army and all very delicious. The RS president, Sister Gorresetta fixed a raisin pudding from a recipe from a friend in Orem, UT. It was really good and did taste like home.

This evening we had a lovely roast beef dinner for our ZL’s, AP’s, TA’s and some Naic branch missionaries. It was a farewell for Elder Mahe and was the first time we’ve made “real” mashed potatoes here. They tasted so dang good! It’s a pain to have the gas stove going and water boiling in this heat but it was worth it and we’ll do it again soon.

"Slug-brella" leading the Catholic women's parade Sunday morning. The "slug-brella" is a fixture over here. We have seen at least a thousand of that particular umbrella since we arrived here. It is an Avon product and they are everywhere. We had been "slug-bug" calling one day riding to Manila and switched to calling "slug-brella" since there are so many!

There's a Cold Spell.....NOT

2010-05-23T07:09:00.000-07:00

Can’t believe it but it is down into the mid to low 90’s this week! It is still frigging miserable but a bit cooler and there is rain in the forecast for the week also. It’s so dry here that the rain would certainly be a blessing. We had a busy “traveling” week. Went to several Zones to do area book checks so we were in Manila traffic way too much! Fortunately most of the books were in pretty good shape so it didn’t take long at each place. We love going to the other Zones and seeing our Naic Alumni. It is amazing how attached we get to each one who serves here.

Pasig Zone

We’re excitedly getting ready for Sisters to move in next door. We will be cleaning (the Elders doing a service project) and the Hussey’s will be getting the furniture and fixtures this week. Transfers are on June 3^rd so not much time to get things ready. Elder Mahe will be leaving then to go home and we’ll really miss him. Not sure yet how many or which of our other Elders will be transferring. We have a couple who have been here for several transfers so imagine they’ll go this time.

We had several baptisms again this weekend. Attending ones in Tanza, Naic and Ternate kept us traveling even more.
Tanza BaptismNaic BaptismTernate Baptism Tuesday May 25^th will be our one year mark in the mission field. Several of our Elders have asked us to extend so we don’t go home before they do. We’ve explained that they will surely be transferred by then but they said they like the idea of us still being here for them. Ahhh..

One of our new "favorites". Crab, white fish, broccoli and shrimp. Steamed and seasoned! Awesome.

Rocking the Saints at the Fiesta Parade

Parade in front of the apt.

More parade

Heading back from the end of our road. Notice the Jetti Oil storage tanks. They are right on the beach.Neighbors dropping by. The goat herd had just left minutes before.

Pizza Again!

2010-05-16T15:14:00.000-07:00

We are so proud of the Naic Zone. We had the highest baptism rate for the mission again last month so Pres. Howard treated the Zone to pizza after district meeting on Thursday. The nearest Pizza Hut is nearly an hour away but the AP’s delivered it on time and it was delicious. Yes, just in case you noticed we are so excited about our Zone and the amazing Elders. However, things are going to get even better! President told us on Thursday that we are getting Sister missionaries beginning next transfer! They will be moving into the vacant apartment next door to us. The Mission Office is already working with the landlady on the lease and hopefully everything will be ready to go for the first of June. Somehow the Zone just keeps getting better!

Much of our week was spent getting ready for District Missionary training on Friday evening. We held it at the Naic Chapel and each branch mission leader and missionaries were invited. The Elders did the training focusing on reactivation, correlation meetings, referrals and helping the full time missionaries. We had a good attendance and very informative meeting.

One of the best parts was that the District Presidency called an emergency meeting with the Branch Presidents at the same time. So, when their meeting was finished many of the presidents and the District Presidency came in for dinner and visiting with everyone attending. We had hot dogs, chips, pakwan (watermelon) and juice packs. We had ordered little ice cream sundae cups from our neighborhood bakery and odds and ends store for dessert. We will probably be doing another one in a couple of months. We’re concentrating on getting the members more excited and involved with the work.

Maragondon Baptism

Naic Baptism

Our buddy, Elder Tadeo, came to the meeting and to spend his 26^th birthday with us. He enjoys visiting with the converts from his days here in Naic. He even got to “finally” see our tuko. It was living here when he and Elder Bowman were ZL’s when we got here last year but it was his first sighting. On closer observation Friday night, we’re guessing he (our Tuko) is about 14-15” long now. He’s pretty impressive.

Happy Mother's Day

2010-05-09T11:20:00.000-07:00

Yes, we do celebrate Mother’s Day in the Philippines! Sister Smith was wished a happy one at least 50 times at church. There were lots of smiles and good wishes. The Primary children sang some songs and the YM/YW did a number and furnished a speaker. Sort of felt like home!

It’s too dang hot to do very much so we had a fairly low key week. The temperatures are in or pushing 100 degrees every day so the only relief we really get is when we are in the kotse (car). It is still in the high 80’s or low 90’s even during the middle of the night. Phooey!

We did have a super fun FHE Monday with our Zone. We had Filipino food this time and since the majority of our Elders are natives, they were pleased. We had secured a bunch of trumpo’s (wooden tops) and had a spinning contest. Elder Smith is determined to develop the skill before we head home. The tops have a nail at the base and string to wind ‘em up. The trick is in the release. When it is done correctly the things will spin like crazy and you can even do lots of tricks with them. The kids here are playing with them all the time.

Zone Conference was on Thursday so we went to Makati the night before and went to dinner (AT CHILI’S) with the new office couple, the Swensens. It was a lovely visit and good to get acquainted. At the Zone Conf. our choir sang to Sister Howard as a Mother’s Day tribute. She seemed really pleased.

We had several baptisms this weekend. There were more than we could attend which is wonderful. We did make it to two of them and have included pictures.
Trece Martires BaptismTanza Baptism It is amazing how hard the Elders keep working even in the heat. Another month or two and they’ll be doing their work in the mud and heat and they just keep on going, and going, and going…

It's Elections in the Philippines. There were at least 500 million posters up on every available surface! The elections are May 10th. Will be glad when it's over and things get cleaned up a bit.

Some draught relief

2010-05-02T21:54:00.000-07:00

It finally rained! We have gone several months without any measurable rainfall and finally this week we had a couple of gully-washers! It actually cooled our 100 degree temperatures down at least temporarily. More rain is forecast for this coming week and we sure need it. The rainy season doesn’t officially begin until June but this little head start is welcome.

We had a pretty typical week with visits to less-active members, tutoring, meetings with our Zone and so on. Wednesday we went to Makati for a meeting with the Mission Presidency. We didn’t get home until after 11:00 p.m. so was a long day for us. Our Zone choir is getting ready to sing at Zone Conference on Thursday. We wrote some new words to “Mother, I love you” from the Children’s Songbook. Sister Howard hopefully will be surprised and pleased when we sing to her. We’re on rat #4 during the past 2 weeks. Our back porch is surrounded by fields that are full of miscellaneous crud and vermin. The roof has a gap of several inches between it and the walls so they don’t have to work very hard to get in. There are also assorted holes in the floor and walls. Elder Smith has patched most of them and is always on the lookout for more. These guys are just wimpy, regular sized rats. They’re nothing like the Godzilla rat we had when we first got here last year. (Thank goodness.) We started off the month of May with a baptism in Trece. The projections for the month are looking very good. Our Zone is so awesome and works so hard. We’re really proud of them.

Another new month and new fruit! This time it is Buko. We realize that you all recognize coconut when you see one but buko is the green coconut. It is full of milk and gooey, chewy coconut meat. Once it matures it turns brown and the milk pretty much goes away and the meat portion is much thicker. They are a very popular drink here. There are also buko pies, buko shakes, buko smoothies, buko salads and about any thing else you can think of. The buko in the picture has the top trimmed so a straw can be inserted to drink out the milk. At the palanke the buko is P15 each or about $0.30 each.

Our new sofa set. It's fairly comfortable and we no longer stick to it! Fabric vs vinal

A ship that Elder Smith is nuts about. Found at a Handicraft store in Makati.

Did I mention RATS!!

2010-04-25T10:47:00.000-07:00

Monday we enjoyed FHE with our Zone. We always appreciate the time we spend with the Elders and they are so amazing. It was transfer week so we went to Makati on Tuesday. We took the car to the PBO and they fixed the bumper owie while we went across the street to the Temple. It was a full session with the Senior Couples, 12 going home missionaries and a few extras thrown in. That evening was dinner and testimony meeting at the Mission Home. Two of our Naic alumni went home. Elder Vaka and Elder Arrelano will both be missed. They were hard working and dedicated missionaries and a pleasure to serve with. Wednesday and Thursday were spent getting stuff ready for our special dental project. On Saturday we attended the District Kiddie Conference and did a workshop on dental care. It was great fun and the kids were pretty dang good even if the topic was a bit boring. Dental hygiene is a real issue here. Many children exhibit early signs of decay and tooth loss. We taught about proper tooth brushing technique (with the help of 3 lovely Laurels from Tanza Branch) and pretended to brush our teeth and played some games. We were near the end of the conference so as the children were leaving we gave each one a bag with a toothbrush, toothpaste, instruction sheet, tooth brushing record chart, coloring pages and crayons inside. They were all excited about them and we’re hoping it will encourage some of them. We handed out 230 bags. Aunt Faith and Uncle Devon sent some money to help pay for the supplies and we surely appreciated it.

Friday night we went to the Tanza branch for a FHE. There was lots of fun with entertainment from the Primary and YM/YW and games for everyone. Elder and Sister taught the song “Horsy, Horsy” and then danced a jitter bug. Yes, we were a hit. Isn’t that what it means when everyone is laughing and applauding?

We were blessed to attend baptisms for 6 new members this weekend. It is such a pleasure to hear the testimonies of those new converts. We look forward to those moments. It was especially nice to see several of our alumni who came back for the baptisms. With transfers this week we lost 5 and gained 5 but the departing Elders will have a special spot in our hearts even as we learn to love the new ones.

Yes, we did mention rats! For some unknown reason they’ve decided once again to visit our back room. We’ve been on search and destroy missions and have terminated 2 so far. Not certain why there has been an influx but be assured, it won’t last long!

Showering with Frogs

2010-04-21T22:12:00.000-07:00

It’s hot! The natives are even complaining about the heat! Sister Smith thinks heat is a four letter word, not the good kind. Elder Smith does great and even takes his afternoon nap with the temperature in the bedroom at 95 degrees and higher. Our aircon isn’t very efficient and only cools a bit and costs a blooming fortune to run so, we just complain lots and sweat!

We were invited to the Cavite Zone for a Family Home Evening on the 12^th. It was so fun. There are 24 Elders and Sisters in the Zone and they had also invited the Hussey’s and Thomas’s and investigators and recent converts.

With 50 of us in attendance it was a real treat. Elder Smith was the concluding speaker and did a nice (short) talk.

Sister Betts and Sister Garcia with some investigators

Elder Richwine (Naic alumni) and Elder Hubert

Tuesday we had choir and then spent the afternoon visiting less actives here in Naic. Wednesday we picked up and then delivered a stack of chairs to the Hussey’s for some apartments.

Thursday we spent on-the-road looking at possible apartments for the Maragondon Elders. We also contacted their landlady about some of the problems in the current place. Friday we met with her and ironed out things and repair work will be starting on Monday. The four Elders will be moving into the ZL apartment next door until the repairs are completed.

Saturday we met the Hussey’s at the Maragondon apartment to review all the things that were happening and then came to our place to pick up a sofa. We then followed them to Cavite City and unloaded it into an apartment there. It is so strange here because it isn’t that far in miles from place to place but it takes forever to get anywhere. We were traveling for 5 or more hours and it is about 20 miles each way. At least it is cool in the car so we don’t whine too much. Didn’t do much missionary work this week but helping the Hussey’s and the Elder’s with the apartment situations is part of the job also.

Elder Adamson and Elder Ramos our Mission TA's. They came for dinner and a visit after training here in Naic Zone

"Tim Tam Slam" Tim Tam is a cookie made in Australia. Elder Mahe got some and was nice enough to share. When Sister Jeane saw them she was so excited. In her mission (Hong Kong) they had a tradition with Tim Tam's. You make hot chocolate and then use the cookies as a straw. They are chocolate covered wafers with caramel inside. Really yummy! The cocoa melts it as you suck and it is a real treat

Mexican Fiesta FHE The taco casserole is sooo good. Will be putting the recipe on the

Family Cooking Blog

It will be a very busy week ahead with stuff packing nearly every day. Oh yes, the frog! Last night Sister Smith hopped into the shower and there was a frog sitting in the corner. His eyes were really bugging out which is understandable. Someone that big and naked would scare anyone. Elder Smith came to the rescue and escorted him outside. It’s not even the rainy season yet so this is not a good omen.

Yes, we still have our Tuko. He serenades us all the time.

Loved Conference!

2010-04-11T10:23:00.000-07:00

We had a terrific week! Monday night was FHE and our Elders did a great job and had lots of fun. We fixed Sister Smith’s version of Pepper Steak with rice, corn, rolls and ice cream for dessert. All you have to do is add calamansi and it becomes Filipino! Love those little green babies!

Tuesday and Wednesday were spent visiting and choir practicing and all sorts of good stuff.

Thursday we went with the Tagg’s, Hussey’s and Thomas’s to Tagaytay to visit the Peoples Park there. It is up on a hill and has an amazing view of the surrounding area.

Giant Pineapple in Peoples ParkWe rode in a Jeepney up and down the mountain which was fun. After walking, visiting and sight-seeing we went to Alfonso (a nearby Barangay).

We went to a Bed and Breakfast called Sonya’s Garden. What a delightful place! They grow their own veggies, chickens, eggs and fruits so everything is wonderfully fresh. We had a late lunch there which consisted of: freshly picked salad greens, boiled egg, pineapple, olives, cucumber, broad beans, mango, jackfruit, papaya and who knows what else. The salad bowl was surrounded by the toppings and you piled on whatever you wanted. The salad dressing was Sonya’s secret recipe and was great. With the salad there was fresh baked whole wheat sesame bread with homemade dips and toppings including: basil pesto, white cheese (fabulous), anchovies, bruschetta, mushroom pate, black olive tapenade and fresh green peppercorn in olive oil. Then they served pasta. There were two sauces: sun dried tomato and chicken cream with mango. Then, more toppings: ratatouille, salmon belly, shitake mushrooms, black olives, capers and grated parmesan cheese. As if that wasn’t enough, then came dessert. We had glazed sweet potato, banana rolls with sesame and jackfruit, and dark, rich chocolate cake. Everything was served with freshly-squeezed dalandan (green mango) juice. Now for the really good part: it was all-you-can eat! So, if you like pineapple, have some more. Cake? Yep, just ask. It was an explosion of flavors that we have rarely enjoyed before. The cost was P610 per person (about $12.00). After lunch (2.5 hours) we went on a tour of the gardens, greenhouses, and cottages. It really felt a bit like we were in an English garden. Everything was very Victorian and so many beautiful details!

Elder Hussey in one of the green houses We can’t wait to go back.

Friday we left for the Mission Home. Pres. and Sis. Howard and the Golding’s joined the rest of the seniors and we went to Tony Roma’s for dinner. (No, we do not eat all of the time!) Well, maybe we do. The weekend was a big sleep-over with viewing of all 5 sessions of conference and the YW broadcast. What a spiritual feast! We were in charge of preparing breakfast for both days and dinner on Saturday evening so we did get in some cooking time. We even baked Bisquick rolls (first thing we’ve baked over here) on Saturday evening and then served them with sausage gravy and beef gravy (SOS) the next morning. We spent lots of time discussing Mission happenings and working on solutions and ways to improve the Mission. Great company! Great Conference! Good friends! Spiritual Feast!

Happy Easter

2010-04-06T13:00:00.000-07:00

We had a lovely and busy Easter Sunday. We went to our regular meetings in the Tanza Branch this morning and enjoyed the fast and testimony meeting. Elder Smith taught the YSA class and then I went to YW and rounded up some volunteers for an activity we’re planning later in the month. We met with the District Primary president during the afternoon to work on ideas for the Kids Conference on the 24^th then headed back to Tanza for a missionary fireside. The fireside was well attended and everyone seemed excited about the suggestions to increase branch activity and encourage missionary work. Our full time Elders were in charge and did a great job. Elder Afaga and Elder Avincula are such a dynamic companionship and are working very hard.

Our week was hectic with Area Book checks in 3 Zones, Tuesday in Cavite, and Wednesday in DasMarinias and Thursday in Naic.

During the next couple of weeks we will be visiting two more Zones and getting their books in order. It is always fun to meet the missionaries and to see our Naic alumni so we look forward to this assignment.

We had a visit from Elder Tadeo (former ZL) on Thursday and he stayed with us overnight and was able to visit with some of his old converts etc.

We were so happy to see him and proud to see how well he is doing. We’ve been blessed to hear from several of our released Elders and we love it.

Early Friday afternoon Elder Smith went with the Ternate Elders, Elder Homer and Elder Hart to visit inactive and recent converts in Ternate. Their first visit was a recent convert who the Elders had been encouraging to go to the temple to do baptisms for the dead. Somehow she thought she had to wait a year before she could go at all. Elder Smith shared the Family History program with her and she seemed excited to start on her genealogy. They then went with President Ramos and his recently returned missionary son to visit several other inactive families. Friday evening we went to Trece Martires to witness Sister Jovie being set apart for her mission. She went into the Manila MTC Saturday morning and will be serving in the Bagio Philippines Mission. President and Sister Howard were here and after Pres. did the honors we went to King Bee (a senior couple favorite) for dinner. The Hussey’s and Thomas’s were there also.

After dinner we headed back to Naic and as we were going through the main intersection in Trece we got “kissed” by a speeding SUV. Elder Smith hit the brakes with a vengeance and stopped just short of disaster.

Our front bumper and license plate look pretty pathetic but there were no injuries and only superficial damage to the SUV. This preceded our first experience in a Philippine police station. Now that was interesting!

No citations were issued and we will be forwarding the police report to the PBO once we get it on Monday afternoon. It was fascinating to be seated next to the driver of the SUV. She started asking where we are from and why and how long we’ve been here. So, being a good missionary, Sister Smith OYM’ed her. We reviewed the Articles of Faith and she has her own copy now. She is Catholic and one of her bosses is LDS but she really didn’t know anything about the Church. Once the accident stuff is settled we’ll be turning her name and address over to the Elders in Trece. Saturday we attended a baptism for the Maragondon Branch. Baptisms have been down this month for the entire Mission. Not sure what the problem was but there are a ton scheduled for April.

Another new month and new fruit! This one is Chico.

Yes, it really is brown and has a rough leathery skin. The inside is also brown and leathery (kind of tastes like leather too). Actually it is juicy and sort of sweet but chewy and dare we say it again, leathery? Once it has ripened it has an aroma like beer. Yes, we sniffed it. According to Sister Jean if you eat 5 or more ripe ones you’ll get pretty hammered. No, we didn’t try it.

Party On!!

2010-03-29T21:05:00.000-07:00

We are finished with the party scene for at least a few days. Monday night was a fabulous FHE with our Zone and the District Choir. Yes, they showed up and we had a great evening. Actually, quite a few of the choir members couldn’t make it so we only had about 35 here for dinner.
Some of the District Choir members

We fixed a monster pot of Pancit and some Sloppy Joes. Everyone ate lots so it must have tasted pretty good. After dinner the Elders presented a lesson and then we played games. Our apartment isn’t huge but we all managed to fit and participate. It was hot as the dickens but that’s the norm here so guess we shouldn’t complain.We really enjoyed the interaction between the choir members and the Elders. Our AP’s drove out from Manila for the evening which was extra special.

Elder Vaka and Elder Ngluafe (AP's) entertaining usThey are Naic alumni and we miss them.

Sister Smith managed to get a sinus infection and snorked and sniffled the rest of the week but there was much to do so we kept on. Tuesday the Elders all came over after District meeting and had leftovers for lunch.

In the Philippines it is customary to remove your shoes before entering a bahay (home). Usually when the Elders come the shoes are all over the front area and a big mess. Elder Mahe (ZL) cleaned up the area and arranged the shoes to surprise everyone. What a difference!

Ice Cream (the Zone favorite) for dessertWe had a Zone Choir rehearsal and finished polishing our number for Zone Conference.

Wednesday we left for Makati and took care of some things then went to dinner that evening at Chili’s. Oh yes, we love it! Chips and salsa, yum! The Howard and the Taggs joined us and it was a lovely evening. We stayed at the Mission Home that night then went to conference early the next morning. Our choir sounded good and we were very proud of them. We did “More Holiness Give Me”. We’ve come a long way in the past few months and sing multiple parts and everything now.

Saturday was a treat! The District Relief Society had road shows in honor of the RS Anniversary. Each branch was assigned a parable to present. They were very creative and clever.

Tanza Branch dancing to "Under the Sea" during their roadshow.Times like that make us wish we had a video camera but like most productions it really is better when it’s live. Sister Hussey and Sister Smith enjoyed the show while the Elders did some apartment maintenance and then came back to pick us up. The event was scheduled to begin at 3:00 but was 40 minutes late starting. When we left at 6:15 or so the road shows had just finished and they were having some Filipino spaghetti for dinner.

We were late today getting home from Church as we had a meeting to plan a fireside for next Sunday. One of the branches will be having a fireside to try to get the members excited about missionary work and reactivation efforts. We have two dynamic Elders assigned there and we’re sure they will do an excellent job. We are sort of the cheering section and background advisors.

Hope everyone has a super Easter holiday and we’re a bit jealous you all get to watch conference before we do. Our broadcast will be the following weekend for the stakes and branches here.

Party Central

2010-03-23T08:10:00.000-07:00

We’ve had several comments from home that we seem to be having too much fun over here. Well, you’re all correct! We not only love to spoil the Elders but lately we’ve been able to enjoy having the Senior Couples and some G.A.’s to spoil. What a fun and rewarding mission this is!

(St. Paddy's Day Celebration)

It was an exciting, busy, spiritually uplifting week for us. We also have the brightest sunburned shins in the Philippines. We were able to visit some less active members this week and encourage them to attend District Conference this weekend. It is so rewarding to go into the homes of these amazing people and share our testimony with them. We were thrilled to visit with them before the conference started today. Earlier in the week we kept busy with tutoring, visits and Mission Presidency meeting in Makati.

Friday we went with the Senior Couples to Pagsanjan Falls near Laguna. It is out of our Mission area so Pres. Howard got permission for us to go. We got to ride in small canoes up the river with 2 boatmen per boat and couple.

It was beautiful and the rapids were fairly mild since we are in a draught here. We tipped the boatmen quite handsomely at the end of the trip because there was some serious work involved in getting us “up” the river!

The ride back down wasn’t too strenuous but keeping us balanced was a challenge. We wore sun block but still managed to get burned. The splashing and waves coming into the boat probably washed it away as quickly as we applied it. Elder Smith really enjoyed the raft trip under the falls. (I’ve already seen the back side of water so didn’t go with him.)

Saturday was the training and adult sessions of our District Conference. Elder Sinamban (one of the area seventies) was here and delivered several outstanding messages. The Saturday meetings weren’t well attended but the session today was a full house.

We sang with the District Choir and they did very well. We sang prelude hymns for 15 or 20 minutes before the beginning and then did 4 hymns during the meeting. The choir members were so excited and pumped after the meeting that while the congregation was leaving we sang another number as postlude. Then, they (the choir) began visiting and wanted to know if they could have a choir party. One of the ring leaders asked if they could come to our apartment for the party. We said, “sure”, then.. they said great, we’ll be there tomorrow afternoon. It’s a holiday of some sort tomorrow so it is a good day for a party. We didn’t know how to say no to 25 smiling excited choir members so.. We’ll let you know later how things turn out. We’re really honored that they want to do things with us. Yes, we love it.

After the conference we hurried home and put the finishing touches on lunch. After some interviews at the chapel the guests arrived. Pres. and Sister Howard, Elder and Sister Tagg, Elder and Sister Hussey, Elder Sinamban, his driver, Pres. Vincencio, our Zone Leaders, and some friends from the Carissa Branch were here.

(The Husseys, Taggs and Elder Smith at lunch)

We’re wondering if we’ll be able to keep up a G.A. per month eating with us for much longer. Last month it was Elder Teh and then Elder Sinamban this month. We fixed meatball subs, coleslaw, pasta salad, chips and strawberry crumble for dessert. We prepared the salads last night and did the meatballs and desserts in the crockpots today. We had to be at meetings by 8:00 a.m. so were thankful there wasn’t a brown out.

On another note: Sister Sonia passed away March 5th of cancer (See blog from Aug. 2009) She was a special baptism from Ternate.

Freedom!

2010-03-11T08:46:00.000-08:00

It is so nice to be free to leave the apartment and go into public again. Elder Smith is better and we are very thankful. He still has a few red spots on his cheek but they are fading quickly. The temperature at the desk right now is 88.3 degrees and will get a bit warmer in an hour or so. It is officially summer time in the Philippines. The humidity is only at 79% today (we’re in a draught) but there is a chance of rain during the next 3 days. Our aircon simply doesn’t work very well so the temperature in the room rarely gets below 83 even with it running at full blast. Since the electric bill is so high, we usually don’t run it except at night. Just think, we only have another 8 ½ months of this weather! We didn’t think we’d ever live somewhere hotter than Vegas.

We were able to go to the Mission Home on Tuesday for a going-home dinner and testimony meeting for this months’ departing missionaries. 4 Elders and 2 Sisters are leaving for home and it was so good to hear their testimonies and share this exciting time with them. After the evenings’ activities, the 4 Elders, 1 Sister and Sister Smith had a cut throat game of Winnie the Pooh Uno! This is hard to believe but Sister Smith lost! Two of the Elders are Naic Zone alumni so was super fun to just relax and goof off with them before they left for America the next morning.

Farewell to Elder Brewer Wednesday morning we went to Transfer Meeting to say paalam to our departing Naic Sons and to greet the five new-comers. We so enjoyed the testimonies from the AP’s, training AP’s and the new TA’s. We are constantly impressed with the strength and testimony of the missionaries. Then, it was back to the Mission Home to wait for the arriving missionaries from the Provo MTC. What an amazing new group! Ten Elders and three Sisters including Sister Jill Hales from our Stake! We were so pleased to see and hug her and welcome her to the Manila Mission. She will be assigned in Palawan which is the lovely island part of the Mission.

Monday night we celebrated St. Patrick’s Day with our Zone. They were assured that on St. Patrick’s Day, “everyone is Irish”. We learned a bit about the history and culture and lore of Ireland and then had a hunt for leprechaun treasure. Lots of fun and lots of green food!

the 1st team to get their treasure

Wearin' of the green! Elder Heranez, Elder Valesco and Elder Smith

We’re afraid that our native Elders are going to think that all Americans are as crazy as we are. Actually at the FHE there were 2 from Britain, 2 from Australia, 1 from Singapore, 1 from Canada, 3 from the US and the rest from the Philippines. We’re pretty sure that they all think we’re crazy. But, we’re lots of fun! Our FHE’s have become known throughout the Mission and we constantly bombarded with requests to be invited. Many of them are spiritual feasts which in our opinion makes them even more special.

This month’s fruit is the Mango.Yes, they are in America but certainly not as fresh as here. Nearly every restaurant has a mango shake or slush of some sort on the menu. Green or yellow or orange, they’re all good. It is one of the most popular native fruits and is available everywhere, year round.

1. Kubo with living quarters. These are made of bamboo and are everywhere.

2. Right- small kubo (5X6') cost about $220.00 U.S. Left-larger kubo (5X8') cost about $260.00 U.S.

Elder Smith is crazy about these and wants to ship one home. He was looking at some the other day and the salesman/manufacturer said the price includes delivery. Elder Smith said, "to Las Vegas?" The guy back pedaled pretty fast!

Still Quarantined!

2010-02-28T08:06:00.000-08:00

Elder Smith went to the doctor on Monday and his quarantine was extended another 10 to 14 days so… He is healing well and on the mend but is still contagious. The Mission Tour was this week and so we had to do some creative planning. Tuesday was the meeting for our Zone (along with four others) in DasMarinias. We had previously taught the new Mission Song to the Zones and had committed to leading the music at the tour. Elder Smith drove me to the stake center and then sat in the car for 3 hours while I was able to enjoy the meeting and lead the song. Yes, I did feel guilty! But, Elder Teh was amazing! It is always a pleasure to listen to a G.A. and this was no exception. He is a member of the First Quorum of Seventy and in our Area Presidency. We were scheduled to feed the Teh’s, Howards etc. on Tuesday before a fireside here in Naic. Well, with Elder Smith’s guck we were in a bind. We finally figured we’d somehow transport all the food etc. to the Naic Chapel and serve the meal there. After checking with the doctor on Monday he said that as long as Elder Smith stayed upstairs and didn’t interact with the guests we could have the dinner at the apartment. So, as soon as the meetings were winding down in DasMas we headed for home and put the finishing touches on dinner. We prepared Beef Steak Tagalog with rice, mixed veggies in cheese sauce, rolls, cucumber salad and brownie/ice cream/cherry topping for dessert. Dinner was scheduled for 5 p.m. with the fireside to follow at 6 p.m. At 5:00 the phone rang and it was Pres. Howard. They had been delayed in DasMas and were just leaving the Stake Center, a 45 minute drive from here. We quickly put all the food on “stay warm” mode and then went to the Naic Chapel for the fireside. Elder Smith was here to stir things once in awhile and make sure nothing burned. We were all back at the apartment by 7:30 and ready to eat.

It was actually a blessing in disguise as we were able to relax, visit and enjoy the time and meal together. Sister Jean (our tutor and Naic Branch RS pres.) came over to help with the final preparations and serving. She is such a sweetheart.

Tuesday morning we were up bright and early to head to Makati for the second day of Mission Tour. Five more Zones were able to meet and enjoy Elder Teh and his message. The Mission Song went well and was great fun. Poor Elder Smith set in the car once again for hours! Sister Teh is a former Manila Mission missionary and actually served some of her mission in Naic. I was very inspired and uplifted by Elder Teh’s messages and felt so sad that Elder Smith missed them. One thing is certain, we are here in the Philippines for a reason! The Lord does issue Mission Calls and we needed to be here to serve. We are so thankful for the things we are learning and for the blessings of being in His service.

Now for a little taste of home. Our KFC is Kapag Fried Chicken. The original recipe tastes like home and the crispy is quite spicy. All meals come with rice and gravy.

****3/5 Update****

Elder Smith went out in public today and was shaking hands and everything. Back to normal! Hooray!

Quarantined!

2010-02-21T10:40:00.000-08:00

Okay, so it’s boring being at home all the time! Elder Smith was thoughtful enough to accept a case of viral herpes and now we’re paying for it. He hasn’t shaved for a week so the sores can heal. He has them in his mouth and on his right cheek and jaw. We saw the doctor Monday morning and he has been on a ton of medication and is responding well. In the meantime, we are grounded! Oh well, we did clean a few cupboards and we’re way ahead in our Book of Mormon reading assignment.

We had a fun FHE last week and then on the following Friday we had a work/service project here at the apartment. The Elders worked hard and things outside are pretty spiffy now.

While working one of the Elders found a baby boa constrictor. No idea where Mama was! Far away, we hope!

After a hot dog lunch it was back to teaching. We fixed a Mexican layered dip with Tostidos for lunch.

It was a hit. None of our natives had ever tried it and they were quite fascinated. The Americans were elated.

We finished up Area Book checks before the plague hit so the Zone’s we’re responsible for are up to date and looking good. Next week is Mission Tour and so wanted everything in order before then. Have a few supplies on order from SLC then they’re really going to be perfect.

The fruit of the month is a Pomelo. We’re almost sure we’ve seen them in the States but never tried them before.

They look like a large grapefruit. The peel is quite thick and the white lining is bitter. (Yes, I sampled it!)

The sections are pinkish and are a lot like grapefruit except they’re quite bland tasting. They have small white seeds which is a requirement for any fruit over here.

There are seeds in nearly everything! It didn’t make our “gotta have more” list but is better than some of the other things we’ve tried.

For Valentine’s Day we fixed some Muddy Munch snacks from Chex cereal mix. It turned out well and after packaging it and adding some heart shaped marshmallows we delivered them to our Elders. They seemed tickled.

They are all looking forward to the next FHE as we’ve warned them that it is going to be a St. Patrick’s Day affair. Over the years we’ve had some fabulous St. Patty’s FHE’s so this one will be fun.

We’ll be back to the Doctor on the 22^nd to get a clean bill of health for Elder Smith! How’s that for confidence. Then we can get back to visiting folks and going to Church and all that good stuff.

Picture from last weeks Zone Interviews

With Elder Whitman and Elder Cowen ** two of our Naic alumni

***Update 2/21***

Brother Smith is doing well and we're very optimistic that the Dr. will release him from his quarantine.

Corregidor!

2010-02-02T21:24:00.000-08:00

We loved going to Corregidor Island last Friday. All five couples in the Manila Mission went and we (Elder Smith and I) especially had a wonderful time. So much history! We left Manila that morning by ferry. It was a 90 minute ride. There were TV monitors we could watch and there were some videos about what we could expect to see. Then, one of the guides for the tour company got on the microphone and told more stories. Once we arrived at the island we went to a buffet lunch at the hotel. Overnight tour packages are available and we’d actually like to take advantage of one before we leave the Philippines. The tours are on open buses with about 30 passengers, driver and a tour guide.

We've arrived!Elder Smith in front of the Pacific War Memorial
Our guide was an American who lives on the island. His father was on Corregidor when it was captured by the Japanese and he and his wife retired and moved from Minnesota to live and study the area. He is currently writing a book about the events there. The Philippines was a vital link in WWII. We won’t go into lots of details about the actual battles and such as you can go to Google or whatever and read those. However, seeing the remains of the barracks, theatre, homes, tunnels, gun placements, bomb craters and more was overwhelming.

Remains of the Movie Theatre. Last movie shown there was "Gone with the Wind" or "Sargent York" according to rumorElder Smith and I both had fathers who served in WWII so maybe that’s part of our fondness for this site.
The Barracks were 1/3 mile long and 3 stories tall, hence the name, "Mile long barracks"Guns and a fascinated Elder Smith We learned about the Death March in Bataan and other happenings in the Philippines during 1942 through 1945. The Japanese navy surrounded the entrance to Manila Bay and once they secured it many thought they would end up securing the entire Pacific Theatre. In 1945, U.S. and Filipino forces regained possession of the island which was a second huge battle on this small rocky piece of land. We saw where General Douglas MacArthur’s home was located while he resided on the island. We also went through the tunnel where the allied headquarters for the Pacific were located.Malinta Tunnel map. So much concrete! If you ever have a few extra hours and want to have us bore you with stories, we’ll be happy to oblige. Nearly everyone snoozed on the ferry trip home as it was a busy day.

Sunday was a meeting for all members in the Manila Mission area. Sister Allred, 1st counselor in the RS General Presidency was here for a training and leadership meeting. Elder Ko from our area presidency was also here. We met at the Buendia Chapel in Makati. We’re not certain what the final attendance count is, but surely over 1,000. The chapel, cultural hall, RS room, hallways and parking lot were all full. It was a very good meeting with lots of encouragement and information. Sister Allred is a dynamic individual and Elder Ko is terrific also. The meetings began at 2:00 and ended at 7:30 in the evening so it was a marathon of training. We were honored to be able to attend. It will be interesting to see if some of the things discussed will get implemented. Hopefully it won’t be like the U.S. where we tend to implement the things we like and sort of ignore the rest.

A week and a half update..

2010-01-27T08:07:00.000-08:00

It’s been an interesting few days. We haven’t remembered to update things, old age probably setting in. Nah, that couldn’t be! We were in Cavite Zone and DasMarinias Zone last week to check Area Books. We will be checking the Naic Zone’s next week. So far all of the Zone’s we’ve visited are practicing their Mission song and doing well with it. Last Wednesday evening we had FHE with three families here in Naic. There were about 25 of us at the Gromell’s home. During the lesson there was a game. The three couples, Elder and Sister Smith, Bro. and Sis. Gromell, Bro. and Sis. Grameca , had to take a test. We were each asked to answer 4 questions about our spouses, favorite food, favorite place to be, favorite song and favorite flower. Yes, you’re all correct, we lost! We’ve decided that we must have too many favorite things. By the way, Elder Smith’s favorite food is spaghetti, favorite flower is tulip, favorite song is “As I Have Loved You” and favorite place is Cedar Mountain. The only one I got was spaghetti. We may need to be married another 42 years so we can get to know one another.

Saturday we were able to attend two of our Zone’s three baptisms. There were 8 new members baptized.

Sunday we were in Tanza Branch and got to teach the YSA class. What a great group of young adults. One of the men likes the Lakers so now I like him. Another liked the Celtics but we didn’t hold that against him. Basketball is so popular over here. We’re convinced that most of the boys dream of growing 15 inches taller and playing in the NBA. There are improvised courts and hoops everywhere and pick up games are the norm. Sunday afternoon the Hussey’s stopped by and had lunch and a lovely visit. They needed to pick up a few things for the apartments that we had stored for them.

Monday was Zone FHE. We told the Elders we would be eating Manila Mountains. By Monday evening they were very curious.

A couple of the U.S. Elders guessed from the ingredients when they saw them that we were having Hawaiian Haystacks. What a fun meal. Elder Smith explained the importance of the order in preparing the dish and then let them have at it. We did have some mountains on the plates! The consensus was “masarap”! Several of the native Elders told us afterwards that they had never had some of the combinations before and loved it. Golly, we thought everyone had celery, nuts, coconut and cheese with their rice and chicken. Tuesday we left early for Manila.

Took our car to the PBO for service and then went to the Temple for a session. It was “going home” day for 2 Elders and 3 Sisters.

We had dinner at the Mission Home and then a testimony meeting. It was a lovely day and the traffic wasn’t too bad. Got home late last night so slept in a bit this morning. We’re heading back to Makati tomorrow for a Senior Couples adventure. Details later on that.

This is what we had next to us while stopped at a light in DasMarinias

Still singing our way thru Manila.

2010-01-17T07:46:00.000-08:00

It was a fun, musical, traffic filled week. Monday we went to the Makati Zone for Mission song practice. We hoofed it home in a hurry as we had Zone FHE that evening. We’d put on the crock pot full of meatballs and spaghetti sauce at 7 a.m. and it smelled dang good when we got here in the afternoon. We served a traditional spaghetti feast with meatball sauce, Alfredo sauce, garlic bread, tossed salad and rice! Ice cream and donuts finished us off! We really look forward to these gatherings and the Elders seem to enjoy themselves also.

Tuesday morning it was off to San Gabriel and Las Pinas Zones. Wednesday found us in the Paranaque Zoneand Thursday we went to Pasay

and then Manila Zones.Elder Smith and I have reached a “Manila Traffic” driving agreement. He drives and I close my eyes! When my eyes are open I tend to shriek, slam on my driver’s side brakes and motion frantically with my arms and hands. For some reason that seems to distract him so when my eyes are closed, we’re both happier. After our last Zone stop I told President Howard that anyone who lives in Manila by choice is nuts! He agreed. Living in the Provinces is much quieter but still hectic compared to home.

Friday was low key for a change. We had tutoring during the morning and then went with Sister Jean to visit some less active Naic Branch families during the afternoon. It was lots of fun and so nice to find new friends. Next Wednesday we will be going back to one of the homes for a FHE. It will be great and we’re excited. Most of the ones we visited were at Church today which is the biggest blessing. Saturday evening there was a Naic Branch FHE. The lesson was about Gossip and its negative effects. It is great to know that the members have the same problems everywhere? There were lots of fun games afterward and some sopas for dinner. We are hopeful that someday we will be able to convince our wards at home that simple is good. The games that are played and enjoyed here are just that, simple. The difference between here and home is that everyone participates, laughs, has fun and enjoys themselves. It is a noisy confusing mass of laughter. It just “feels” fun.

We’ve included a rehearsal copy of “The 12 Days of Christmas” (a bit late) in this post. Just in case you can’t understand the words, here goes:

1 Dear John letter from my sweetie 2 sweat cloths 3 boring ties 4 socks with holes

5 letters from home 6 cups of rice 7 dingy white shirts 8 roosters crowing

9 geckos climbing 10 miles of walking 11 ants ‘a marching 12 hungry skeeters

It was such a fun song and the Elders loved singing it. During our visits to other Zones this past two weeks several have greeted us with lines from the song.

12 days of Christmas- Mission.wma

We are the Manila Mission

2010-01-10T18:14:00.001-08:00

It has been a week of singing those words. Elder Smith wrote a second verse to the Valiant Song in the Children’s Songbook. It is about the Manila Mission and has been adopted by the Mission President and Sister Howard. We are traveling to every Zone and teaching it to the missionaries.

This week we were in Cavite Zone Das Marinias Zone Naic Zone

(We got Pizza for having the most baptisms in a month, again!) and Pasig Zone Next week we are going to Manila, Makati, Pasay, San Gabriel, Las Palmas and Paranaque Zones. What a treat it is to meet all of the missionaries! We’ve had great fun visiting with Naic alumni and meeting many we’ve only heard about before. We will be singing the song next month during Mission Tour and it is going to be terrific. We aren’t thrilled with all the travel time but we’ve cleared the calendar for the most part so that we can spend as much time as needed.

Last Monday evening we were invited to dinner and FHE at the home of some members of the Tanza Branch. What a lovely time we had. They treated us like royalty and the dinner was masarap! We’ve had Graham cake several times but not one as tasty as the dessert the other night. Yum! The nanay (mom) is the District choir director so we were visiting about music. I commented that I had enjoyed hearing the choir sing “Celebrating the Light” at one of the Branches last month. Since I’m a big fan of Michael McLean’s music I told her how glad I was that his stuff was being performed here also. She started talking about her favorite McLean songs and went crazy. The entire family is huge fans of his music. When she learned that we know him I thought she might have a heart attack. We are now the heroes of the Pesa family in Tanza. We’re going to arrange a time to watch “The Forgotten Carols” with them as they have the CD, love the songs, have read the book but have never seen it performed. Now, to get in touch with Michael and arrange for an autograph will probably secure us a spot in the Celestial kingdom.

We went to dinner in Makati on Friday evening with the Taggs, Husseys, Howards and the Hussey’s friends from UK, Mark and Mary. We had a lovely evening at The Spaghetti Factory. Not exactly what we’re used to in Utah and Nevada but actually very good. It’s a bit strange to go to an Italian restaurant in the Philippines and be greeted by the owner who has a German accent.

We were able to visit some investigators this afternoon with the Punta Branch Elders. We always enjoy going out with them and bearing testimony. We were able to visit about the Plan of Salvation, Restoration and Families today. We had the pagkakatoon (opportunity) of speaking in the Tanza Branch this morning. Elder Smith did great. He’s getting better all the time. I’m still just the back-up cheerleader. Really do hate to speak in Church.
I did mention the new mutual theme for 2010. I really like it! Everyone needs to read Joshua 1:9!

Whoa! What a New Year!

2010-01-04T09:28:00.000-08:00

We were so amazed with the New Year’s celebration here in the Philippines. Believe us, they know how to throw a country-wide party! It was absolutely amazing.

We were thrilled to have our Zone over for dinner and another sleep-over. We even went with a traditional dish, Pancit Canton. It was yummy even if the shrimps we bought spoiled before we could cook and add them. It was supposed to have chicken and shrimp but ended up being chicken and hot dogs. Don’t gag! It was dang good. The Mission curfew was 6:00 pm for New Year’s Eve so everyone was here by then.

We watched “The Forgotten Carols” (only made it through part of it on Christmas Eve.) It was a hit and we’ll probably watch it again soon. The Elders wanted to have a fire for the evening and some brought a bit of wood. We have an area in the front yard that was just right for fire making. We sat around the fire and visited and shared stories.

Then, we brought out the makings for s’mores! It was a new experience in the making for many of the Elders. They loved them! They were like most folks and pilfered extra chocolate whenever possible. At about 11:30 the noise began! Not just the 14 horns blaring in the front yard but the entire barangay.

We couldn’t believe our eyes and ears. There was at least an hour of fireworks exploding all around us and noisy yelling, banging, blaring and music. Fireworks are quite inexpensive here and I’m sure everyone except us bought some. Most were the bottle rocket varieties that made tons of noise but there were many colorful, up in the air regular ones also. They were exploding all around us and you nearly got dizzy trying to see them all. We had 20 mattresses stored in our apartment for the Mission so each Elder was able to grab one and had a comfortable spot on the floor. It was a New Year’s Eve we won’t soon forget! The Elders were up bright and early and on their way the next morning.

The fruit of the month is one of our favorite things in the Philippines. Calamansi! This delightful little green fruit really packs a wallop. It is a miniature lemon/lime with attitude. It is delicious but you have to squeeze a bunch to get enough juice. Actually, that little bit of juice goes a long way because they are so full of flavor. We use them in cooking all the time. They are great as a hot or cold drink. They do have tons of seeds (something that happens a lot over here). The seeds are edible but sour so it’s best to strain them. Just thinking about them gets the saliva gushing.

Calamansi is one thing we’ll really miss. We’ve heard they aren’t available in the US, even in Asian markets. We’ll be watching for some!

It's for real! Sign over the toilet in the ladies CR. Footprints are common on the toilet rim and seats (if there is one).

It doesn't get any better than this!!

2009-12-27T10:41:00.000-08:00

This was our first Christmas away from home and family and it was amazing. We are so blessed to have our sons (Elders) and friends here in Naic District. We’ve been to so many Christmas parties we are beginning to feel guilty. We had dinner on the 23rd at the Mission Home with the senior couples and Pres. and Sister Howard. Ham and funeral potatoes, can’t be beat! We even had homemade cherry pie with ice cream for dessert. The traffic was horrendous the days before Christmas. It took us over 6 hours to drive the 50 miles to Manila on the 23rd. We probably should have walked! Going back to Naic on the 24th only took a little over 2 hours so not sure what the problem was the day before. We had Zone Conference on the morning of the 24th. Our choir sang “Angels We Have Heard on High”, “Guard Him Joseph”, “The Mission Song” and the “12 Days of Christmas” (with a twist). It was great! We re-worded the 12 days to go along with missions and the Philippines. “5 letters from home” was quite a hit with the crowd. It was a fun meeting this time with movies, snacks, pizza and singing. We were glad to enjoy and laugh with the missionaries for a while.

Thursday evening, Christmas Eve, was fabulous. All the Elders came over as soon as they got home from the Zone Conference. We had dinner together (freshly baked rolls with egg salad, chicken salad, tuna salad and cheese fillings), chips, drinks, trimmings (lettuce, pickles, olives, onions etc.) and generally made pigs of ourselves. The rolls were a hit. We had ordered them from a bakery that is about a block or so from our apartment. Christy and her family are members of the Naic branch and we get lots of stuff from them. With all the craziness of the holiday she forgot about our order! We stopped as we got back into town to pick them up and she was so upset because she’d forgotten. She sent us on our way (this was at 4:00p.m.) and promised they’d be ready by 6:00 p.m. when we planned to eat. At about 6:02 here came Christy, on the tryke with her hubby, with 2 large trays of warm rolls. The American Elders went nuts with the smell of home! It was great! Everything tasted masarap! We watched the video “Best Two Years” and then had a gift exchange. It was so fun. After that we were still seated in a big circle so we went around and shared what one of our favorite Christmas traditions is. Elder Smith and I almost didn’t make it through. Several of the native Elders commented that this was the first time they had ever had a Christmas. The stories were heartbreaking and made us appreciate all we have so much. One Elder commented that he wanted this (meaning our evening together) to become a tradition for the family he hopes to have someday. We are realizing every day just how blessed we are to be here. How we love the missionaries! After ice cream, cookies and visiting they all trooped next door to the Zone Leaders apartment and went to bed. We told them that IF they had been good, Santa might come! They had been good because he did come. The next morning Santa’s gifts had been handed out, socks opened, breakfast eaten and everyone was out the door and heading to work before 8:30! We collapsed for a bit and then started on the dishes. We met the Taggs and Hussey’s at King Bee (a favorite Chinese restaurant) at 2:00. Had a great dinner and visit then came back to the slightly messy apartment to play games and visit. We all went to the Naic Branch Christmas party that evening and had a good time. They made we three senior couples get up in the middle of the group and play a game. Each sister had a necklace of marshmallows and the Elders had to eat them. First one finished was the winner. Our necks were sticky the rest of the evening!
The lights on our apartment. Best one on the block! Punta Branch party. Kids acting out the nativity We’ve had numerous baptisms during the past few days. 3 on Christmas morning, 5 yesterday and 11 this afternoon.
Trece Martires Branch baptismElder Smith in front of the Trece ChapelCarissa Branch baptismThis was so great! When we went outside for pics in Carissa, a young man from the Branch went back inside and grabbed an umbrella. He walked around and shaded me the entire time we were outside. So thoughtful and kind.We got up early and went to Golden City for their chapel dedication this morning. Left home a bit after 7:00 a.m. We finally got to meet Elder Edwards and his wife. He was raised in Boulder City. He did the dedicatory prayer. We’re thinking things might slow down a little now, but, who knows? Manigong, bagong, taon! (Wishing you a prosperous New Year.)
Yes, we did still miss our family…

Christmas Rush!

2009-12-20T09:15:00.000-08:00

We were hoping that things would move at a slower pace in the Philippines around Christmastime. We were so wrong! Wow, it has been busy and fun. Monday night we had our Zone FHE. We went caroling! It was wonderful. We rented a Jeepney and all piled in.

We went to a local orphanage and caroled for the children there. It was so fun to watch the interaction of the kids and our Elders. We aren’t certain who had more fun or were more excited.

After the orphanage we went to the Naic Jail. Yes, that’s right, the jail! We had made arrangements previously for both visits. We were ushered into an open area and the inmates were invited into an enclosed area where there were some benches and chairs. Many were standing and they did seem to enjoy our little concert. As we were leaving they yelled “Thank you Brothers and Sisters!”

We had such a good time at the orphanage that we’re hoping to go back soon and possibly do a service project. There were 50 children at the orphanage and 100+ at the jail. It was our first Jeepney ride and we had a blast. It’s not something we’d want to do every day (like the missionaries) but it was fun. Elder Smith kept bumping his head as they are built for the smaller Filipino folks.

Tuesday was a trip to the Temple with the “going home” missionaries. We had a full session with the senior couples, 13 Elders and 1 Sister who left the next day. That evening we went to the Mission Home for dinner and a testimony meeting. Was a long day (with Manila traffic) but very nice.

Wednesday we went to the Hussey’s and worked on wrapping over 1,000 gifts! They received money from their ward in England to buy presents for some of the children here. With the UK money, some from us and some from the Hussey’s we were able to get a bunch of stuff. Sister Hussey knew that it would be the only gift some of the children would get so she wanted them to have the fun of opening several packages. So, every little item was wrapped individually and put into a gift bag. They were delivered to Bulihan Branch on Friday evening and will be given to the Maragondon Branch children on Wednesday evening.

Friday we were able to go to the setting a part of a new Elder from the Maragondon Branch. Julius is a remarkable young man and will be serving in Mindanao. He was able to save enough money to get a pair of pants, a pair of shoes and a new white shirt for his mission. He is the only member in his family and has a smile that simply makes you feel warm all over. We’ve been blessed to work and visit with him lots in the past few months and we’re so proud of him.

We had three Christmas parties this weekend which is enough to get nearly anyone “partied-out”. So many fun games and good food and even a choir presentation in the Punta Branch.

They started a Branch choir this summer and have worked hard to get ready for Christmas. They really sounded great! They did an unaccompanied arrangement of The Carol of the Bells that was wonderful.

One of the most exciting things I've seen over here! A baseball field! They simply don't have them and then poof! This one crops up in a rice field on the way between Naic and Maragondon. Notice the cow in the outfield. He's a regular Joe D'Moogio. I think he marks the bases. The dug outs are quaint with bamboo and thatched roofs. We're pretty sure the goat plays short stop.

Golly, this is the last post before Christmas! We still have several parties to attend, Zone conference, Mission presidency meeting and our Christmas Eve sleep-over with our Elders. Whew!

Maligayang Pasko at Manigong Bagong Taon to everyone. We love you, and love the Lord and love being missionaries! (Yes, we do miss you too.)

SHOCK!!

2009-12-13T09:40:00.000-08:00

What a week! Things started normally, then, poof!

Monday we studied Tagalog (and failed).

Tuesday was choir and district meeting.

Wednesday we worked on some projects for needy families in the area.

Thursday we studied Tagalog again (and failed). After tutoring we went to the local orphanage, jail and one of the hospitals. We made arrangements for our Zone to visit next Monday for our FHE caroling activity. Going to be great!

Friday we went to Makati for a planning meeting at the Mission Home. We spent several hours working on 2010 with the other senior couples, TA’s, AP’s and office staff and of course, President and Sister Howard. If you need to know when a transfer day is, just let us know. We had dinner and then got home late that night.

Saturday we went to DasMarinias to the market there to get hot dog buns for the FHE. Didn’t dare get them too early as we don’t have lots of storage areas and things tend to mold pretty fast here. We also attended a baptism that afternoon at the Trece Branch. (We've had 6 total in the Zone this week)

Saturday evening we were scheduled to go with the ZL’s to visit families here in Naic. I was bushed and suggested that Elder Smith should go and I would stay home and protect things. There are no sidewalks here in most areas and so I get nervous about walking in the dark and some of the places we go are very uneven and let’s face it, I’m a klutz!

The ZL’s told us 6:00 and to meet them at the Naic chapel. They texted to say they were running late so to come at 6:15. Elder Smith then texted back to tell them that he would be coming alone. Here comes another text. “Oh, no, Sister Smith needs to come because we told the investigators about her and they can’t wait to meet her. We’ll teach them here at the Chapel so she won’t have to worry about the terrain.” Let’s admit it, I’m a sucker for an investigator and dearly love the people here so I put on my shoes, a smile and we left a few minutes later. We arrived at the chapel and the ZL’s were out in front to meet us. They said to head on in and the family would be right there. There were activities going on in the building so they said we were meeting in the (air conditioned) high council room. Sounded good to me! When we headed down the hallway the lights were off in all the rooms so when we reached the high council room we opened the door while reaching for the switch. Suddenly the lights came on and “our sons” were all there yelling “Surprise!” and “Merry Christmas”.

They had arranged permission from Pres. Howard to have a Christmas party in our honor to thank us for everything they seem to think we have done for them. Yeah, I blubbered! Elder Smith was fighting a suspiciously runny nose too. They had decorated the room and prepared dinner for the group and had even brought us cold cans of diet soda! They know us too well. Hopefully, the pictures with this post will show our amazement and joy.

After a lovely, masarap (delicious) dinner we were all seated in the room and they started the program. The stinkers took turns each expressing their love and appreciation. We’ve never had a more touching or wonderful Christmas gift. We are so proud of the missionaries here and love them all so much and this was such an amazing experience. A few friends from the Branches showed up also to wish us Maligayang Pasko! We are so blessed and thankful for the love that we are receiving. It is hard to be so far from home and family until we look into the faces of the missionaries. They are our family right now and they make every day a blessing for us. Elder Afaga told me today that I said “dang it” and punched someone 30 or 40 times during the evening. I hate that the mission rules don’t allow hugging because that’s what I wanted to do to every one of them. At least Elder Smith was able to get those hugs. For those parents who read this blog, Thank You! We love your sons. Be very proud of them, they are the Stripling Warriors here today. Transfers are on Wednesday and we’ll be having a few changes. We’ll get new sons to love and learn from and others to tell good bye for a time.

Today, Sunday, has been hectic. For some strange reason we didn’t get much sleep last night after the shock! We were able to attend Sacrament meeting in two different branches then attended a baptism in Carissa. This evening we went to the First Presidency Christmas Devotional. Loved it!
Now to get some rest so we’re ready for the coming week. Tons to do! We’ll wait to impress you until next week’s blog. We’re taking President Monson’s counsel to heart. Simplify, relax and enjoy the season. We’ll finish up the projects we have to but no more. Actually, with over 1,000 gifts to wrap this week, 8 Christmas parties to attend, a trip to Manila to the Temple and then dinner and testimony meeting for the going –home Elders and Sisters, preparing a dance routine for the Naic branch party on Christmas day, delivering gifts to all the Branch Presidents, organizing the Christmas Eve party for the Elders, and finishing the Old Testament (Elder Smith) and Aklat ni Mormon (for the fourth time this year) for me, we just might get a little frazzled. Nah, we can do it!

Our rice field has been turned, plowed and replanted. Time is passing.

A spiritual high!

2009-12-07T14:56:00.000-08:00

It’s quite a deal when one of the highlights of our mission takes place in the Las Vegas Temple! Our daughter Heather and her husband, Nathan and their two boys were sealed on December 1^st. We are so thrilled for them! Such a beautiful family and blessing for us all. Many others in our family were there with them to represent us and we certainly appreciate that. Congratulations Kids!

It was Zone FHE again this week and we had a good one. The Tanza Elders were in charge of the games this time and they had some wild ones. We haven’t heard so much laughter in years! We always have lots of fun but this one was almost out-of-control fun. We fixed some Beef Kaldereta and Sister Smith’s chicken ulam for dinner. Beef Kaldereta is just a spicy beef stew that can be eaten alone but is usually served with rice. The chicken ulam is a progressing recipe that we’ve been inventing and the Elders love it. They finally named it “Sister Smith’s Chicken Ulam” at this last dinner. They all say it’s the best whether they are American or Filipino. I’ll be posting the recipe on the family recipe blog site. It is best with calamansi juice in it so will have to substitute for that. The next FHE will be on the 14^th and we are going to go caroling. Can’t wait!

Not quite as many baptisms this week but have included a picture of one held at Ternate yesterday. They (Ternate) have 8 baptisms scheduled for Christmas Day and every other Branch has several baptismal dates throughout the month. Our Manila Mission had 200 baptisms for the month of November. Not sure how that compares to other missions around the world but we think it is pretty dang good.

Another month, another fruit. Okay, so this isn’t really a strange or unique fruit but it is different here than in the US. Bananas are our featured delight. We went to the palanke (market) on Friday and bought 5 different, common varieties. The ones in the US, like Cavanagh, are imported here also from South America or wherever so we didn’t count them. These are all native bananas and can be found growing all over the place. A. is saging na saba and is used for cooking in soups etc. B. is saging na berde and is green even when ripe. It is a firm and sort of pithy variety. K. is a saging na senorita and must be yellow before eating. D. is a saging na tundan and is for eating. E. is a saging na lakatan also for eating. We like the tundan and lakatan. Lakatan tastes most like the banana we are used to eating. The tundan has a hint of apple-ish flavor. The berde is nasty (our opinion), senorita is alright and the saba is pretty good too. (F.Y.I. There is not a letter C in the Tagalog alphabet instead they use K. So, A,B,K,D,E is actually correct.)

Just had a group of carolers at the front gate. We’ve been getting “caroled to” since the 3^rd week in November. Mostly it is younger kids but the other night we had a group of adults. They had guitar accompaniment and sounded really good. They sang “Whispering Hope” as one of their songs. I hadn’t thought of it as a Christmas carol but it was done beautifully and we enjoyed it. We keep candy on hand to give out after performances. According to the locals this will continue and get more frequent until the holiday.

The local lawn mower:

Cutting grass in the Philippines requires a machete and being able to squat for hours

Piles of waste after the trimming in our front yard. They spent several hours cutting grass for P250.00 (about $5.00).

Palawan Slideshow!

2009-12-03T07:42:00.000-08:00

After sorting through hundreds of photo's we've narrowed our trip down to these...
See our previous post to read all about our adventure!
Enjoy!

Wow! What a fun couple of weeks it’s been..

2009-11-29T07:14:00.000-08:00

We left for Palawan on November 20^th. Spent the 20^th and 21^st in Makati at the Mission home and then flew out early Saturday morning. While we were waiting for our flight we saw Manny Pacquiao with his entourage. He had just whooped a guy for his 7^th title the weekend before. He is a certified hero over here. (He’s a boxer, for those who aren’t “in the know”.) He’s short and small and I think I could probably take him out if I could just figure how to sit on him without being killed. He was very friendly and smiling and waving at everyone. We think that the fact we’ve seen him makes us important. Hmm, back to the trip. Upon arrival in Puerto Princessa we went to the hotel and checked in and then relaxed for a couple of hours. The meeting house was across the street so we walked over for an afternoon of training sessions and the evening conference session.

The next day, Sunday, was spent at the District Conference and then just kicking back. It’s a good thing we had a “day of rest” as the next days were crazy. We even had time for a game of Uno somewhere in there. The Senior couples are wonderful and it was so nice to spend time with them. The Taggs will be leaving in April, Goldings in June and Husseys in August. Then it will just be us and Pres. and Sister Howard. Sure hope we get some more couples!

Monday, Nov. 23^rd we went by van to the Underground River. It was a 2 hour drive through some beautiful country. The Underground River is located under a limestone mountain. It is on the shoreline so that the fresh water from the inland river and the saltwater from the ocean mix in huge caverns. We ferried over

to the entrance via outrigger boat (Elder Smith took a dramamine). The water was a bit rough but great fun. Once there we stomped through some jungle to the docking area for another boat ride. This one went into the mouth of the cave. It was about 1.2 km long. The caves in total are over 8 km but some areas are impassible except with scuba gear. There were tons of bats, albino snakes, strange formations and according to the guide, fish. The folks on Palawan have nominated it to be one of the 7 natural wonders of the world. If it makes it something else will get bumped.

Tuesday was spent on the water again. We went island hopping! We visited 3 or 4 different islands and played in the sand and water and mainly got sunburned! There were lots of seashells, star fish, clean beaches and other sea life. The water was wonderfully blue and clear and warm! Wednesday was spent visiting a crocodile farm, butterfly farm and other island sights. We went to a memorial for 150 American POW’s who were slaughtered by the Japanese in WWII. The memorial lists all the names and gives details of the incident. Only 11 escaped death that day and 2 of those were LDS. I guess they were instrumental in getting the memorial erected. The Japanese ordered the POW’s into underground bomb shelters and then dumped gasoline in and set it aflame. We were all touched by the story. There were children entertaining in the park there. They were playing mandolins, guitars, drums and singing. Actually, we were entertained by several groups of children during our visit. We flew back to Manila that evening after some serious fresh water pearl shopping.

Thursday morning (Thanksgiving Day) we had District interviews so after arriving home the night before after 11, we were at the chapel at 8 am. It was good to see all the Elders after being gone. They had tons of questions about the trip and a few who have served over there already were excited to hear how things were going. We drove back to Manila that afternoon for a masarap (delicious) Thanksgiving dinner at the Mission home. Afterward there was a Mission Presidency meeting and then we once again headed back to Naic arriving a little bit before 11 pm this time.

Friday was spent doing laundry and going grocery shopping and recovering. Our biggest treat that day was visiting with all of our children via Skype. They were at Ginger’s home for Thanksgiving dinner and we were able to see them all.

Other than making us homesick it was the highlight of a busy, eventful week. Dang it, but we love those kids!

Saturday was a District RS activity/bazaar. Each Branch had a table set up with items for sale. Yes, we supported the local economy!When we get home we’re going to all learn how to play “Bring Me”. The sisters here love it. After the bazaar/selling time each Branch had a special number that they presented . Some sang together and others did a dance. It was entertaining and fun. After the RS activity we had an hour or so break and then the District roadshows began. The youth here are fabulous and very talented. The theme was Church History and each Branch was assigned a different area of focus. We had a reenactment of the First Vision, Martyrdom of the Prophet, Mormom Battalion, Building the Nauvoo and SLC Temples,

Willy and Martin Handcart Company and on and on. The whole thing took over 3 hours. It was so exciting to see the youth become better acquainted with what is now their heritage as members of the Church. There was a snowstorm, guns blasting, square dancing and singing. The cultural hall at the NaicChapel was jammed. We were seated by Pres. Pipit and his wife and we all agreed that we’re going to need a larger building when we become a stake! It was humbling to be in attendance at these activities. No big fancy decorations or pricey costuming or members competing to be the most professional. Just lots of fun, love and friendship.

Today was an amazing day. We visited the Trece Martires Branch for services during the mo rning. After that we drove to Carissa Branch for a baptism.

There were 3 families baptized and confirmed this afternoon for a total of 14!

There were several other baptisms this week in some of our other branches also. We had a bit of a dry spell but things are getting back into gear. At the conference last weekend Pres. Howard told us that the largest number of members of the Church is in the USA, next is Mexico then Brazil. The fourth largest number of members in an individual country is in the Philippines! Now, the plan is underway to stomp on Brazil and Mexico. The US may take awhile.

Elder Smith and the ZL's repairing the light in our front yard

How many missionaries does it take to change a light bulb??

Singing a song is fun to do..

2009-11-14T12:06:00.000-08:00

Great experience this week! Our Zone Elders choir sang at the Zone Conference in the Mission Home. They did a great job. We sang “Guard Him Joseph” by Sally DeFord.

Guard Him Joseph

The recording doesn’t do the choir justice. For some reason all the clunkers sound worse when they are recorded up close. From back in the room it sounded wonderful. Then we did our very own newly written version of “The Valiant Song” from the children’s songbook. Sister Howard had asked all the missionaries at the last Zone Conferences to learn it and be ready to begin singing it. We went a step further. Elder Smith wrote a second verse (with a little help from his companion) and it was a smash hit. He recorded it live with our little MP3 and it is included with this posting.

I will be Valiant

The chuckles during the song are because we incorporated our Mission Motto. “Magtrabaho, Magtrabaho, Magtrabaho, Magdasal, Magdasal, Magdasal, Pagsunod!” (Work, work, work, pray, pray, pray, be obedient) Most of our Elders speak English as a second language so I’m always amazed at how clearly the words to the songs are. You can download the music attachments and listen to them. Sure hope it comes through for everyone to hear. We spent Thursday night and all day Friday at the Mission Home.

It was Zone FHE again this last Monday. Was great fun with a breakfast for dinner menu. Elder Smith flipped pancakes for the masses and fixed scrambled eggs with corned beef. It was yummy and the Elders all seemed to enjoy it. The American Elders were thrilled with the pancakes and since I fixed a pot of rice, the native Elders were happy also. We so love the spirit that the Elders bring into our home. We fixed enough extra so that each companionship had leftovers in a bag for breakfast the next morning.

Thursday evening was the second training session for Branch mission leaders. We fixed sopas again and enjoyed the evening. The attendees seemed to enjoy themselves and had lots of good questions. It is going to be fun to see the response to these training sessions. It is helping to make a more effective working relationship between the full time Elders and the branch leaders. We are planning a follow-up training for after the first of the New Year.

We’ll be leaving Thursday of this week for Makati then early Saturday morning we will be flying to Palawan for a conference and fun time. We’ll get back on the evening of the 25th then head back to Makati for a Thanksgiving dinner on the 26th. We won’t be home and settled until after that so no post next Sunday but we’ll have a doozer the following week! Since we won’t be in touch until afterwards, Happy Thanksgiving Everyone! (And happy birthday, Steven! )