Kennedy Faith Pearson
Monday, September 2, 2013
Seven month countdown
We have been in the Philippines
now 15 months! We have 7 months left of
this missionary journey! I must say even though this has been very rewarding,
it has been the hardest thing I have ever done.
Living in a third world country is rather difficult. I must say I have
had many eye opening experiences. Here
is a sample of the weird things we see daily: a young man working diligently to
safely secure his motorcycle helmet to the motorcycle rather than putting it on
his head; a woman sitting side saddle on the back of her boyfriend's motorcycle
holding a child size helmet on top of her head with both of her hands (it was
too small so it did not fit, plus holding the helmet means she could not hold
on to the driver); and drivers driving down the wrong side of the road (not an
irregular occurrence). Traffic rules here are "just a suggestion" so
says the Philippino's. When we first
came here we had to go to get a Philippine Driver's License. The test was just a urine test! Thank goodness we both passed! The man who
gave us our licenses told us to "just fill in the blanks", which has
been good advice.
Another weird thing is every
house has two kitchens. One is called a
"dirty kitchen" because it is outdoors. In our house here though our
dirty kitchen is just another kitchen with the oven in it so it doesn't heat up
the main living area. When the owner of the house met us and gave us the tour I
did not understand why it was called the dirty kitchen because It is just as
clean as the rest of our house. September
is the beginning of the "ber months"! All the retail stores will have
their Christmas music and displays up September first. The first year we thought that must be a joke
until we went to the grocery store and saw it for ourselves. It is not just in Costco or in a special
holiday section like in the U.S. but everywhere. The cities put up their trees on the
capital's gardens, the restaurants put up decorations and it is not
unusual.
Another interesting thing is
there are holidays several times a month! They have "heroes day", the
"assassination of Pres. Aquino day", different Catholic
"Saints" holidays, "Black Christ Day", each city and
province have their own festivals, and it goes on and on. in the last week the
Institute has been closed two days for different holidays. We go into the
office and we will be the only ones there working because it is another
holiday. Birthdays here are a big deal
also. Everyone brings food and lunch
lasts all afternoon. We are not very
good at playing all afternoon and so we eat and go back to work. Everyone here says we work "too"
hard and "too" much. They think Americans are crazy to work so hard!
We have told them we think we are slackers, because we are only in the office
from 9:00am until about 2:00pm, Monday through Friday. In the afternoons we
spend so much time running errands: grocery store, pay our bills (you have to
go to each location to pay them because there is no mail or on line bill
paying), have our car serviced, or help the young missionaries or other senior
missionaries. Then of course when we
travel we may be gone for full weeks at a time, so I guess we are not really
slackers. We remember the days when we would leave for work by 6:00 am and
often not return until after dark prior to retirement.
Thursday, August 22, 2013
Reyson
August 21, 2013
Today I do not feel very well. My stomach is upset and my tailbone also
bothering me. But we got up and got into
the office. Today is a holiday
commemorating the assassination of Ninoy Aquino. So the Institute is closed. There has been a tropical depression and many
parts of Manila are flooded, but Bacolod is just a bit overcast and rainy.
After we drove into the office we discovered the internet was down so we can't
do any work anyway. Although I have time to write a little about one of our PEF
students whom I love. His name is Reyson
Jucal, and he has severe Muscular Dystrophy.
He was at one time homeless and disabled and the stake president,
President Condari, saw him and was inspired to
help him. The President took him
home to his wife and they offered to clothe him and feed him. Then they made him a cart that he used to
gather recycled metal and other goods he can resell and earn a living for. Eventually, Reyson found a place to live and
joined the church. Many of the good
people here have offered to help him even though they have little
themselves. Reyson wanted to go to
college, despite his handicaps he is very intelligent. It is difficult for him
to walk and to talk. He joined our
Planning for Success workshop and we worried how we would ever be able to help
him. We knew that many would feel that since his life span and abilities are
limited, he would not be assisted. We
were so unsure of how he would be able to overcome his speech impediment to not
only attend but participate in the educational process. He worked very hard and had many assist him
with the homework which he did very well.
He participated in class and gave very insightful ideas although we had
to listen carefully to understand him.
When he gets excited his speech is more impaired. As a result of his
going to the schools to interview them, one of the schools (STI) was so
impressed with him they offered him a
four year scholarship and a free laptop to assist in his education. Through word of mouth the news people and
others submitted his name to the equivalent of the "Make a Wish
Foundation" here in the Philippines
and they have scheduled to interview him on television and assist him in any
many other ways to help Reyson succeed.
I was so touched by the many offers to assist him. I am so thankful for the blessings the Lord
has seen fit to offer to Reyson. His
face was just gleaming as he came to share with us that he no longer needed a
loan from PEF. He was so proud of the
opportunity he has been given. I know that his success with influence many
people here, both in the church and in the community. I am mindful that the Lord does go before us
in all we do many times in ways we never expect. I am so thankful to have been just a little
bit of assistance to Reyson and to have been a part of his life here in the
Philippines.
Tuesday, August 13, 2013
Bohol, Cebu Philipines Mission
Saturday, August 3,
2013
We left the house about 8:30 am to drive across the island
to San Carlos to catch the ferry to Cebu island. It rained all the way and finally stopped as
we entered San Carlos. We had been
concerned about the weather and the effect it would have on the ferry
ride. Thankfully the ocean was calm and
we were able to get to the island without incident. We then began the drive over the mountain to
Cebu. The road over the mountain is not marked and so we missed it and had to
turn around to get back to the national highway. As we drove the rain began again and we were
able to travel without the normal people, animals and people in the street due
to the rain. After we arrived at
Harold's Hotel and checked in we drove down to Ayala Mall to enjoy a TJI
Friday's burger. Then back to the hotel to sleep. What a long day!
Sunday, August 4, 2013
Attended church at the Temple complex. The ward remembered us from our last
visit. It is a very nice ward and we
enjoyed the meetings. We were both still
tired from traveling so we took naps prior to our four thirty meeting with
President Dumas and his presidency. We
answered their questions and prepared for the fireside we were to speak at
which began and 6:00p.m. We spoke about education and the Perpetual Education
Fund. After the meeting we enjoyed
refreshments and visiting with President and his counselors and their
families. They are such wonderful
people. I loved visiting with the three sons of President. They are such
darling boys. I sometimes feel that with
the changed in PEF we are almost ineffective and thus wasting time that we
could be with our family, but the people here are so thankful for our service
and treat us like we are angels. It is
hard to not be gracious and kind to them.
August 5, 2013
Drove up to the community of Carcar so Dan could find some
Geocache. Of course it was difficult to
find them and we were only able to find one of the three. I do not feel comfortable wandering around on
property that might be private in a foreign country so I am not as supportive
about going off road too much. When we
got back to Cebu in the afternoon we went back to Ayala Mall and had a late
lunch. We also went to buy some new ties
for Dan since his are getting really grungy.
We also went to the grocery store to buy some snacks and things we
cannot find in Bacolod. We went back to
the hotel to relax in for the evening. Tomorrow we will attend the temple which
I am really looking forward to. Each
time we are in the temple I have had such a wonderful experience that I am so
thankful for the time we can spend there.
Wednesday, August 3, 2013
Our seventeenth grandchild was born last night. Jackie and
Caleb and baby are doing well. We have
not been able to see or talk to them yet, but received a message. Today we met
with the Cebu East Mission President, President Tanner. He and his wife just
began their mission here, but that is half the story. A mission president is called to serve for
three years. The Tanners had retired and
began to serve a mission in Croatia. They had been serving for 15 months, when they received a call from
President Uchtdorf, from the first presidency and was called to serve as
mission president in Cebu East Mission. The Tanners returned to Utah for three months
to resettle their affairs and train for their new assignment before coming to
Cebu. I just cannot imagine how I would
ever cope with a situation like that. I
am anxiously awaiting the time when we can return home, and would be heartbroken
if that became such a short time. I
really believed time would pass quickly and that the service and opportunity to
help others would be so satisfying that I would not really be too sad about
being away from my family. Especially with our new baby's arrival I wish I
could just get on an airplane and fly home, but that is not an option. Thankfully, Dan will not be asked to serve as
a mission president so I will able to return home in April. After we left President Tanners office we
drove to the Ayala Mall to have one more TGI Friday's Hamburger. Tomorrow we take the ferry to Bohol to meet
the two district presidents there.
We have heard it is beautiful
there and look forward to that new adventure.
August 12, 2013
What a beautiful couple of days we had in Bohol! We stayed at a very small resort called La
Pernela on Panglao Island which is adjacent to Bohol and has a causeway to
drive over to the little island where Alona Beach is found. We had to drive out into the country over
dirt roads to get to the resort, but it was worth every bump. We could hear the ocean crash from the patio
where we ate some wonderful meals all cooked by the owner and manager
Marivelle. The room was clean and included a hot shower. The pool was right outside of our room and
each afternoon we would just sit in the pool to unwind. We enjoyed visiting with Marivelle and her
staff and they were so hospitable. The
entire few days were tranquil and restful. We met the two district presidents
on Bohol and presented the ideal of having church service missionaries to
assist with PEF.
Sunday was Calape District Conference and Elder Villanueva
from the area Seventy and the Tanners were both there.
Sister Tanner the Mission President's wife was spoke about a
wood cutter who had an apprentice. One
day they left to find some trees to harvest and the young apprentice saw a
beautiful tree up on a hill that was so tall and beautiful. It had many lush branches. The apprentice
pointed out the tree and asked if that would be the perfect tree for lumber. The wood cutter taught him that even though
that tree was indeed beautiful, it was not the right tree for them. After traveling on for a while they came to a
large grove of trees. The wood cutter pointed the grove our and asked what the
apprentice saw. The apprentice said the trees where tall and beautiful. He also noticed the trees were so tall the
branches were only at the tops of the long trunks. They deducted that the grove would be perfect
to cut for the lumber they needed because the trunks were tall and without the
added branches would not have any knots so the lumber would be strong. Then the wood cutter taught the apprentice
another important lesson. He taught that
the roots were intermingled so that the trees supported each other giving them
more strength so that the trees could continue to grow tall and strong. Then Sister Tanner related the grove of trees
to us as members of the church. As we
grow tall and strong and intermingle our branches and our roots we gain
strength from each other and thus strengthen our wards and our families and
thus our individual selves so that we grow tall and strong as individuals and
as a group. This strength is not only
found in our hearts and our minds, but in our actions.
President Tanner talked about the importance of
families. He said that our families
would bring our greatest joys and our deepest sorrows, but were the greatest
gift our Father has given us to make our way through this life. He also counseled
we tell our family daily of our love for them.
What a great message. I am sure
my children and grandchildren know how very much I love them and I have tried
to express that through my words and actions, but I am not sure I have
verbalized that love enough. I have
determined to do better. To tell each of
them I love and appreciate them every time I speak with them.
The Tanners are a wonderful couple and their missionaries
love them greatly. The missionaries told
us that they love the Tanners because President Tanner is humble and strong and
loves his missionaries. They also said
that Sister Tanner was delightful and they knew she would be there no matter
what they required. I have grown to love the Tanners in the short hours we have
been together. We also so the Talbots
from Snowflake, AZ. They are so special
also. I think the we will remain close
to these good people the rest of our lives.
As we were leaving Bohol the weather was overcast and the
waves were large and choppy. We were
concerned that we would struggle during the passage, but as we left port the
waters calmed and we were able to travel on calm seas. I am so thankful that our Heavenly Father
calms the seas for each of our passages and I am able to travel with waters
without becoming sea sick. What a great
blessing this is for me personally.
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