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. 

August 25, 2012

This has been a wonderful week. We taught a workshop Tuesday and have been working to compile data about the participants who are 150 days past due with their loan payments. We are very concerned for many of them.  We wonder what we can do to help them.  Friday we drove to Sipalay.  On the way we stopped in Binalbagan to help President Cobing with the Planning for Success there.  We had had so many problems with the computer application and the internet and amazingly the same problems occurred while we were there.  Now we have witnesses to our problems.  We were there for two and a half hours trying to get one young woman registered and begin her application.  The computer screen was projected on the wall so all the participants could see the forms. When the participant got to the first page of the application,  and tried to input her phone numbers. The application asks for area code in one box and phone number in another box.  We entered the numbers the way it is supposed to be.  The application denied the number.  So we put the number with the nation code first and The application would not accept that number either.  We must have tried at least ten different ways.  We tried to call all the numbers for the people we know in Manila.  We tried to call several leaders here in Bacolod other than President Cobing who was with us.  We tried to call the help desk in Salt lake City and Dan went outside to try to get our phone to work better.  When he came back inside he was inspired to log out of the computer and start again.  Amazingly, when the young woman logged back in  and reentered her information the program took the phone number the first time, the way we had tried many times previously to input.  I was so discouraged and yet the participants had faith and said we should just keep trying and eventually it would work.  I am so amazed at their simple faith and their endurance.  They stay positive even though things look impossible. 

The drive to Sipalay is four hours from Bacolod.  The roads are full of pot holes, unpaved stretches and of course people, dogs, water buffalos, chickens, roosters, cats, pigs, motor scooters, jeepneys, large trucks  and one or two cars so the speed is slow and precarious.  On the way down we saw an accident between two jeepneys.  I had been surprised that we had not seen many accidents with the driving  and crowded roads. The two jeepneys had crashed head on I am sure because one was either passing someone, or driving in the wrong lane (a regular occurrence).  On the way Dan had knocked the handle bar of one tricycle because they just think the whole lane it theirs and do not pull over for faster vehicles.  No one was hurt and we both just drove on thankfully.  When we got to Sipalay we checked into the hotel (The Sipalay Suites.  The room was so small with twin beds and maybe four feet of walk space.  The bathroom was not as wide a my arms outstretched,  but we did have warm water.  We decided to drive out a bit and look for the only geocashe on the island. It started to rain and gradually got harder and harder.  When we got to the part of the road that was not paved it was too muddy and rutted to continue and raining so hard we could not hike in to find the cashe.  So we turned around and went back to the hotel.  The roads were flooded and we were a bit nervous about getting back, but we did.  We had dinner in the hotel restaurant with the Bevans, and President Cobing.  We had pizza. One of the pizzas had fried egg on it and it was ok.  The bed was uncomfortable and the room's air conditioning  did not work so needless to say we were very uncomfortable all might.  We did not have a very good night sleep needless to say.  We attended the District training and completed our responsibilities.  Dan taught the priesthood about PEF  and I taught about preparation using the parable of the ten virgins. After the meeting, I was approached by two young women who had many PEF questions.  They both had loans and were 150+ days late and had dropped out of school.  They both want to become current and get back to school.  We were so excited to meet them and one other participant.  We also met the teacher of the Planning for Success Workshop who just received the calling. She is nervous and asked if we could teach the third session and we readily agreed.  We were so excited to meet participants and leaders and be able to make connections in Sipalay.  We were planning on staying in Sipalay that night also, but due to the rain and uncomfortable surroundings decided to head home.  We had lunch with President Colbing and then headed home.  After we got home we were so tired we went to bed for some real rest.  Today was our Ward Conference and it was very nice.  I was so thankful to be home and able to go to our own ward.  The weeks are rushing by and I wish we had more energy and time to fulfill our responsibilities.  I hope the lord will excuse out weaknesses and strengthen us in our efforts. 

August 11, 2011

We have been on our mission exactly three months today.  Other than my getting the bacterial infection, it has been a wonderful experience.  We have met most of the church leadership In Bacolod, except Sipilay, which is  a five hour drive and requires we stay a few days, and three of four leaders on the island of Panay, where we will have to stay an entire week to meet them all with the distance between them and necessitates taking the car across the channel on the ferry.  Both are scheduled though; Sipilay this month and Panay in September. 

One of the young men in  our first workshop has already completed his application process and is now waiting for his tuition check from Salt Lake City.  He is training to be a welder and will be completely licensed and earn his certificate in about six months.  We are so proud of him as he really jumped on the application the very afternoon he completed the workshop so he is on his way to financial security for himself and his family. 

I have started doing the new Young Women Personal Progress with the young women in our ward.  Part of that is rereading the Book of Mormon.  I was reading in Jacob, chapter 3 and was so impressed with the prophesying and instruction of Jacob to the Nephites.  He was chastising them and said that in that day the Laminites were more faithful because of three things they excelled in that the Nephites were lax in.  In Jacob 3:5-7, Jacob said that the Lamanites whom the Nephites hated because of the wars and great conflicts were a better people because they remembered the commandment to only have one wife and to be faithful to their wives.  Jacob said the Lamanites would not be destroyed because of the obedience to that great commandment and because the husbands loved their wives and their children and the wives love their husbands and children and that they are faithful to their families.  Jacob said that because of this obedience that the Lamanites would not be destroyed.  I thought how great is the importance of families, that so wicked a people whom sought to destroy the Lord's people (the Nephites) would be preserved solely because of their faithfulness and love for their families.  What a great lesson.

 I am so thankful for my family. Each of them are ambitious and hard working and work to be independent and self-reliant. Each of them are so tremendously supportive of their crazy parents running off to a third world country to serve a mission, even when they themselves do not have the same testimony of missionary service that we do.  They set such a great example for us their parents in their support and love for us and another of our crazy adventures. They could so easily be hurt or feel that we place the gospel before them.  They all know that we are not just doing this because it is asked of us by our prophet, but for the blessings it will bring to our entire family.  We are greatly blessed with seven wonderful children, their spouses and their children.  We love them greatly and rely on the Lord to bless them for our service. 

I am 100% well again and walking each morning prior to breakfast and going to work.  I feel great and so thankful to be recovered.  We are keeping a more realistic schedule now with work, teaching and traveling.  We have scheduled lighter days and go home a little earlier each day so that we remain healthy and able to work consistently and not end up down and out due to our foolishness of running faster than we are able.  We are enjoying great success with our workshops, training and contacting our participants and feel greatly blessed to be here among these wonderful, faithful, and humble people

Check out the new missionary uniform modeled by Elder Sinema!

More of San Carlos.  Our PEF specialish is the sister on the left back row (Cynthia). The District President's wife is the middle back row!

Our San Carlos Planning for Success group!  We love them!

August 11, 2011

We have been on our mission exactly three months today.  Other than my getting the bacterial infection, it has been a wonderful experience.  We have met most of the church leadership In Bacolod, except Sipilay, which is  a five hour drive and requires we stay a few days, and three of four leaders on the island of Panay, where we will have to stay an entire week to meet them all with the distance between them and necessitates taking the car across the channel on the ferry.  Both are scheduled though; Sipilay this month and Panay in September. 

One of the young men in  our first workshop has already completed his application process and is now waiting for his tuition check from Salt Lake City.  He is training to be a welder and will be completely licensed and earn his certificate in about six months.  We are so proud of him as he really jumped on the application the very afternoon he completed the workshop so he is on his way to financial security for himself and his family. 

I have started doing the new Young Women Personal Progress with the young women in our ward.  Part of that is rereading the Book of Mormon.  I was reading in Jacob, chapter 3 and was so impressed with the prophesying and instruction of Jacob to the Nephites.  He was chastising them and said that in that day the Laminites were more faithful because of three things they excelled in that the Nephites were lax in.  In Jacob 3:5-7, Jacob said that the Lamanites whom the Nephites hated because of the wars and great conflicts were a better people because they remembered the commandment to only have one wife and to be faithful to their wives.  Jacob said the Lamanites would not be destroyed because of the obedience to that great commandment and because the husbands loved their wives and their children and the wives love their husbands and children and that they are faithful to their families.  Jacob said that because of this obedience that the Lamanites would not be destroyed.  I thought how great is the importance of families, that so wicked a people whom sought to destroy the Lord's people (the Nephites) would be preserved solely because of their faithfulness and love for their families.  What a great lesson.

 I am so thankful for my family. Each of them are ambitious and hard working and work to be independent and self-reliant. Each of them are so tremendously supportive of their crazy parents running off to a third world country to serve a mission, even when they themselves do not have the same testimony of missionary service that we do.  They set such a great example for us their parents in their support and love for us and another of our crazy adventures. They could so easily be hurt or feel that we place the gospel before them.  They all know that we are not just doing this because it is asked of us by our prophet, but for the blessings it will bring to our entire family.  We are greatly blessed with seven wonderful children, their spouses and their children.  We love them greatly and rely on the Lord to bless them for our service. 

I am 100% well again and walking each morning prior to breakfast and going to work.  I feel great and so thankful to be recovered.  We are keeping a more realistic schedule now with work, teaching and traveling.  We have scheduled lighter days and go home a little earlier each day so that we remain healthy and able to work consistently and not end up down and out due to our foolishness of running faster than we are able.  We are enjoying great success with our workshops, training and contacting our participants and feel greatly blessed to be here among these wonderful, faithful, and humble people.