Sunday, September 30, 2012
Masskara Festival
Ambulance drivers
September 28, 2012
YEAH! Our San Carlos Class of young women who began the PEF
process with us in June are all PEF approved and will begin school in
November!!! We drove over yesterday to San Carlos to go over the last of the
paperwork and to train our new specialist. Her name is Zinnie and she is a
teacher on the small island across the channel beside San Carlos. She said her school does not have any
electricity until 5pm each evening so they have limited resources. I can't wait to go and see her school.I have
been to the school in Isabela and I think it would be very difficult to teach
in a room without window or doors, with cracked cement floors and insecure
walls and foundation. I will take
pictures then next time I am in a school..
We also had to drive north of San Carlos so Dan could
interview a sister for baptism for President Lopez. That took another couple of hours on very bad
roads. While we were traveling we got a
call asking us to pick up two sister missionaries from San Carlos hospital and
bring them back to Bacolod to Riverside Hospital. Riverside Hospital is the best facility on
the island although Dan and I both are not sure we would want to stay there,
but it is totally enclosed and has air conditioning, television, and phones in
private rooms. We only saw the emergency
room last night but are going back to visit Sister Person this afternoon. She has only been in our mission two months
and the doctors in San Carlos thought she had Dengue Fever, but the doctors
here in Bacolod say that is not the problem.
Her blood pressure is high and her platelet count is low. Dengue Fever is a very deathly illness. So we have now been a mission ambulance
complete with IV dripping from our car ceiling into Sister Person's arm,
emergency flashers, and Dan' generated siren! Yes our patient was
laughing! Her companion has to stay with
her in the hospital 24/7 so they will be happy to have visitors today.
Dan had a sip-on and ubo' (cold and cough) last weekend and
so he rested Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Monday we had the Mission President Marlo Lopez and his wife, the Adams
and Andersons (all senior couples over for Lunch on Monday. Dan was the chef and everyone loved the best
meal they have had while in the Philippines!
(Their words, not mine even though I eat better than anyone else in the
Philippines! Luckily) He also made Texas sheet cake and that was a real
hit. He is also cooking for the sister's
conference this Tuesday. I think he is now the Mission chef!
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Sept. 17, 2012
Blog Sept
17, 2012 this was a long, long,
week. Wednesday we traveled to San
Carlos ( two hours) to help the good young people there edit their applications
now that we have a better idea what is expected. When we arrived we could not access their
applications. We called Cebu Employment
Resource Center (first approval office).
After about an hour wait the applications were visible again. Dan worked with some of the applicants and I
worked with others. Then we drove two hours back home to Bacolod. Saturday and Sunday we drove back and forth
to Binalbagan (almost 2 hour drive) to train leaders about PEF during part of
their Stake conference. We spoke in the
evening adult meeting. Sunday we also spoke in their general session. The members there are wonderful and were all
so pleased to meet us and hear from us.
We met four of our PEF students and were so excited to meet them.
One the down
side once we thought we had all the applicants application in San Carlos fixed,
we got a message from one of the sisters saying there was still a problem. Dan emailed the Cebu office only to not hear
back anything. Of course it was Friday
so we will not be able to resolve anything until Monday. We learned this week
we were supposed to pay an auto use fee (I think it covers maintenance and
insurance) which is fine, but we had never been told so we had to pay for four
months use. The day we went over to pay
that bill there was another query about our housing. The mission dept. doe not
communicate well and thus our housing arrangements are still a matter of
concern. Dan had to recount again how we
had to arrange for our own housing directly with the owner of the house with
the help of the former missionary couple.
Of course during our call and arrival we have had several missionaries
and mission President change and so we have to keep recounting the story. Dan was about ready to strangle someone. Maybe this time all will be resolved because
we signed a two year lease and there is no moving! No one said missions were all smooth
sailing.
This weekend
we have to travel to Sipalay again (5 hour drive) to teach Planning for
Success. Hopefully, the weather will be
better this time as last trip Dan and I tried to get the only geocashe on this
island only to be rained out. We almost did not make it back with all the water
on the roads. We will try again this
trip and hopefully not have to deal with the rain.
We are
planning a day off this week before traveling to Sipalay so that we do not over
due ourselves. Yes, we did learn our lesson.
Looking after ourselves. Hope all
is well with our family and friends. We love you all very much and pray for you
every day.
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Lopez and Bevans
The Bevans on their way home to
Canada after serving in Bacolod Philippines Mission.
Elder Mata at the Manila Temple
August departing missionaries.
Typical
jeepney load!
There could be a few more on this
tricycle!
One of the beautiful sunsets from our
backyard!
Elder and Sister Billiones in La
Carlota
Accomplishment!
September 4, 2012
Today was the best day of my mission!!! I actually completed
a task. This morning when we got to the
office I opened my email and had an email from Bridgette. After I responded, Maddy from ERC called to
tell us that President John Balledos the director of ERC from Cebu was in the
office and had time to see us. We went
down the hall to meet him and proceeded to ask him all the questions we had
about reasons PEF applications may be returned from his office to the applicants.
It was exciting to hear what the pitfalls are and to hear the things they
specifically check for in each application.
We visited about an hour and asked him many questions. He is a very nice man and has such high hopes
for PEF. He also said he was excited
seeing the increase in PEF applications from our mission. The amazing thing about this visit was the
timing. One of our new applicants had
found her application returned from Cebu and asked me to help her with the
problems. I was so excited to practice
what I we had just learned. We opened
her application and checked each of the questions from Cebu. Then we also typed her Age Exemption Letter
because she is over thirty years old and needs to explain why she is making an
application at her age. When we were
done with the letter we went to check if the letter was expectable with Charry,
I saw that President Balledos was still in our office. So the applicant, Ruby Santillan Ariaz and I
went to give him the letter, thinking it went to him. He informed us the letter went to Franco through
Charry BUT that he would be glad to check Ruby's application to be sure
everything was correct. We were so
excited. After checking her application
he approved it while we were sitting right there together and forwarded the
application to Franco. We were so
happy. We went back to our office and
added more information to her ldsjobs.org account and emailed Franco that her
application was sent to him and her letter was in Charry's office if he needed
it prior to her approval and Salt Lake submittal. I was so excited to not only help an
applicant but also to have the application approved at Cebu. I am so used to beginning and completing a
task from my career as a teacher. Here
in the mission field I teach a class and then the applicants file their application
and I do not see the progress of their application and approval until they are in
our system as a student. That may take
up to six months. I have felt like
nothing is really happening because I cannot actually see the progression of
applications but today I actually not only helped but saw the progression. It was so wonderful. I feel so accomplished and excited. Ruby wants to be an elementary school
teacher. She will be a great teacher and
I am so thankful for the opportunity to help her build for her future. This was a great day!!!!!!
Sunday, September 2, 2012
Sept 2, 2012
Another week has passed and it is now September. This week the sewing machine I ordered from
Manila arrived. I have already shortened
a skirt that was dragging on the ground.
I also shortened the sleeves on two of my blouses. It is so nice to have something to do in the
evening other than sit exhausted on the couch.
I have had to order thread and scissors from Julie since the thread
colors are so limited here and they do not have access to sewing scissors.
This last Tuesday the mission saw a ten percent reduction on
missionaries including the Bevans, another senior couple from Canada. They were so welcoming and Sister Bevans and
I really bonded. I will miss her very
much. The mission assistant Elder Reidhead
from Snowflake, Arizona also went home after completing his mission. There were
three elders who completed their missions from Arizona, one from Gilbert and
one from Mesa as well as Elder Redhead.
Because of the reduction of missionaries another couple, the Andersons
were transferred from San Carlos to the mission office, and we were asked to
help them find an apartment. We asked
the women in the office and they did not have any ideas, so I started to search
on the internet and found a broker to help us.
Funny how we have only been here three months, and yet we are the ones
asked to help. I guess because we are
adventurous and have traveled the entire island already we are the go to
couple.
This week was the Bacolod Stake Conference. I was asked to help with the Young Women
training and was so surprised. I was
even more surprised when I found that half or the ward Young Women leaders were
young women themselves. They are so
faithful and hard working and are just as mature as the older women. Some of the older women have served ten years
and are weary and needed to be lifted up and encouraged. Sister Colbing, the Stake Young Women
President asked me to assist her after
her husband told her how much the young
single adults love when we teach. She
asked me to teach about the enabling and strengthening power of the Atonements
and how through that power leaders can be energized and learn to recycle ideas
and lessons to help the young women of the church. The sisters all thanked me and told me how
inspired and touched they were by my training.
I do not think I will ever get used to the kindness, thankfulness and the way the saints here think Dan and I
are angels. In Tucson we were not anyone
special and sometimes felt less than others in the church due to our prior
divorces and trials in life. Yet here we are the ones who are experienced and
thought of as angels.
This week we also found out that President Ricardo Colbing,
one of the Institute directors grew up in the same city as Alma Sipalay
Andrews. I think is amazing that we are
in the Philippines and work very closely with someone that knows and loves the
only Filipina in our home ward. Small
church isn't it.
We are working hard to get applications processed so that we
can have the distinction of having the most new PEF participants in the
Philippines from our mission areas.
Looks like we will be successful.
We are even beginning a new workshop next Saturday. Workshops are usually held on Tuesday, but
we thought there should be one on the
weekend for those who are working or attending school and cannot come on
Tuesday during the day. We hope to have
a full house!
All is well with us and we so appreciate all of the support
and prayers of our friends and family.
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