We attended church today in our home ward.  It is the Magsungay Ward.  It has 570 members, but not that many attend.  The people are very warm and welcoming.  The children are so precious, but shy.  I did get to hold a 3 month old baby girl who was so sweet.  The ward building is modern and beautiful.  it is two buildings with a foyer.  The chapel is one building and the classrooms and offices are in the other building, which is about  the same size as the chapel.  There is not cultural hall but there is a basketball court on the parking lot.  I felt so warm and accepted.  We were asked to answer questions and comment in our classes.  The spirit was so strong in the chapel and in our classes.  The testimonies and lessons are conducted in a mixture of Hiligaynon (Ilongo) and  English.  The scriptures are not available in Hiligaynon so all the reading is in English so I was able to follow along pretty well.  Elder and Sister Detal picked us up at the airport yesterday and took us to do a bit of shopping last evening so we could manage until Monday when we will pick up the car from the mission office.  They were also kind enough to pick us up for church and return us to our home after church.  We are so thankful for them as we would have been lost without them.  Our landlady was at the home waiting for us when we arrived and showed us everything we needed to get by.  We are so thankful for her generosity in allowing us to live in her beautiful home.  It is beautiful and far above the normal standard of living here in the Philippines.  We feel a bit spoiled. 

It was a beautiful morning and the rain held off until we made it home from church.  We were going to walk after church and explore our neighborhood, but by the time we had had lunch are were ready to go, the rain began.  There is a tropical storm hitting the islands and the rain is very heavy.  I am glad we were in the house when it started raining because it was not raining one minute and pouring rain the next.  I will learn to love the rain!  I will, I will.  Actually I must or I will be truly depressed.  It has rained every day since we have been here.  It is the beginning of the rainy season.  So far we have not been too inconvenienced by the rain.  It has been kind to us. We did not get our bags rained on, or been stuck out in heavy rains, we have been blessed.  

Tomorrow we are going to the office and beginning the journey of our work.  We are anxious to begin and hope the Starks, who we are replacing have left detailed instructions.  Otherwise we will just dive in and learn as we go.  We do know we need to contact each student and introduce ourselves and offer any assistance they need.  We are ready and willing to go and serve the Lord and his people.  We do not have internet at our home or cell phone service so we will have to scope out the contacting our family latter.  We do have a land line, so in emergencies we can be reached. 

Love to all our family and friends back home.  We are thankful for your sweet and generous support.  We know you are sacrificing for our desire to serve the Lord.  He has blessed us abundantly and thus we desire to bless others.  Thank you for your support both emotionally and temporally by caring for each other and our home while we are away.  We love you all so very much and will continue to pray for you.