Week 26--December 20-26, 2015

Zone Conferences took place this week. The mission was divided and five zones attended on Wednesday, December 23, and the other five zones came on Thursday, December 24. We were asked to do a Family History presentation as part of the Zone Conferences. We talked about the doctrine behind Family History and how it can be a tool to help strengthen the testimony of the new members. Research has shown that new members who go to the Temple within the first six months of membership are twice as likely to still be active 18 months later. We had our fan charts enlarged to 2 foot by 3 foot and displayed them at the conferences.

The missionaries were spiritually fed in the morning with a message delivered by Sister Bertin about "Who is Jesus?" and President Bertin's message was on "Miracles." the missionaries then watched the video of "Ephraim's Rescue." We were physically fed with a wonderful catered luncheon. Then the afternoon was lighter with a talent show, gift exchange, and the singing of Christmas carols. Each of the groups had fun displaying there talents. There are many talented missionaries in our mission.

One of the fun carols we sang was the Twelve Days of Christmas. We were divided into twelve groups and each group had to act out there day as it was sung. We laughed and had fun.

The island girls doing the hula.

Elder Leishman is a very quiet missionary. He surprised us as sang and hammed it up on stage.

Barbershop Quartet with a fifth added at the end.

 Notice the sunglasses and the bright red sequin jacket.

 Baliwag zone performed a song togther. Elder Goodwin, who is from Blackfoot, is in the second row.

Fairview Zone did a rap with Elder Campbell on the box.

 Elder Heaton, one of the Assistants to the President, grew up on a cattle ranch. He would spend his free time practicing his roping skills. He brought his lassos with him and entertained us all.

 The Novaliches Zone made up a rap and incorporated Family History and Garnalee's fan chart into their song.

The elders from New Zealand and one elder from the Philippines have amazing harmonizing skills.

The palm trees in front of the mission office form a perfect heart for a picture.









Tom used Luke 2 to teach the Sunday School lesson interspersed with Christmas carols on Sunday.

Friday, Christmas Day, was spent at the office straightening Tom's desk and entering items into the cash register. It was a good thing were at the office as LBC, the UPS of the Philippines, came to deliver a big box for a missionary. He ended up having a Merry Christmas as he was close enough to come and get it.

We both finished reading the New Testament this week. Garnalee on Tuesday and Tom on Christmas Day.

Week 25--December 13-19, 2015

On Friday, December 18, we came to this area known as Gen T De Leon to pay rent to a landlord for a missionary apartment. We met the missionaries at a school nearby and they led us down the narrow roads to here to pay the rent. The narrowness of the roads in the communities always amazes us. We needed to go in the other direction so we backed out instead of trying to pass this car. In many cases the roads are only wide enough for one car. So if a car is coming from the opposite direction one must yield.

 The Primary children sang the song "The Nativity" for the Ward Christmas Party on Saturday, December 19.

 As we came out of church on Sunday this chicken was wandering down the sidewalk. We hear roosters crowing all during our meetings each Sunday.

The dog is tied up but he isn't paying any attention to the chicken. It was barking at some children that were walking on the edge of the road. It is common here to see dogs and cats just pass each by on the street and not pay attention to each other. Very different from American dogs and cats.

This was transfer week which makes for a busy week for us. This batch of 12 missionaries departed on Tuesday, December 15. A testimony meeting in the evening is always the highlight of the week for us.

The next day, Wednesday, saw the arrival of the next batch of 18 missionaries. Four came from the United States, 1 from New Zealand, and the rest are Filipino.









We took time out to go see the new Star Wars movie, "The Force Awakens" with the Broadheads on Thursday. It was exciting to see Hans Solo, Princess Leia, and Luke Skywalker 37 years after the first Star Wars.

We drove from Gen T De Leon to S&R Shopping. Sister Google said the trip would take 15 minutes but it took 90. Very typical of driving in the Philippines.

On Friday evening we were invited to attend the returned missionary reunion for the La Mesa Ward. President and sister Amistad, Manila Temple President, spoke at the meeting. He was the mission president to several of the returned missionaries when he served as the mission president of the Davao Mission from 1993-96. We were asked to share our testimonies. It was a wonderful meeting with uplifting counsel given to the returned missionaries. One of the things President Amistad shared was a discussion he had with a mother of a future missionary. She asked, "What can I do to help my son prepare for his mission?" President Amistad said, "Teach him to cook!" After the program we had a nice dinner.

 Because of transfers we were both behind on our responsibilities so we spent Saturday at the office. Garnalee left Tom at the office and drove home to get the laundry done which was a real adventure since it was raining very hard. She had to juggle an umbrella, the laundry basket, and unlock the lock on the cage. Tom had his first jeepney ride home from the office which he said was an adventure.

Saturday, December 19, we had our Ward Christmas party. We played games, told knock-knock jokes, Santa came, and finally at 8:30 PM we ate dinner. The games were very simple but fun. One game we played was "Telephone." We were given a partial verse from the Book of Mormon and it was passed down the line with the last person writing what he heard on his hand. It was then checked against the original message. Garnalee's team won! Another game was "Buried Treasure." Candy was buried in flour and each person had to blow the flour to reveal the candy, and then pick it up with their teeth. Garnalee ended up with a mouth full of flour and flour all over her face when she tried to get her candy.

Week 24--December 6-12, 2015

Our Filipino style nativity set arrived this week. This set has a horse, sheep, and carabo for the animals. The wise men are bearing gifts of rice, bananas, and mangoes.

The Thursday before going  home each batch of departing missionaries attend a career and employment resource training that is taught by Elder and Sister Peck. The December batch is all smiles!

Elder Heaton, President Bertin, Elder Suldan, and Elder Algar get into the Christmas spirit by helping to sort the huge amount of mail and packages that arrived this week. There were 27 packages at the Post Office and three big boxes from Julie Hess that had 11 smaller boxes in each one.

Elder Algar is having a hard time with the idea that he is going home. He put a sticker on his forehead that reads "Property of the LDS Church." He is going to be greatly missed. He can be asked a question about who is where and he knows right off.






This is a "White Christmas" Philippines' style. We had 19 people baptized in our stake--San Jose Del Monte, on Saturday, Dec. 12. After the baptisms we attended our Stake Christmas Devotional that consisted of Church video clips interspersed with musical numbers. It was a wonderful evening.




Garnalee had a very touching experience this week. The week before transfers happen she is given a list of new positions for the mission. The positions are for zone leaders, district leaders, sister training leaders, trainers, and a new assistant to the President. She sends letters to each of the missionaries confirming their calling, and then letters to the parents are sent to let them know about the opportunity that has come to their missionary. Elder Suldan is the President's selection to replace Elder Algar as an assistant to the President (AP).  As she was preparing the letters to the parents, Elder Suldan wandered by and noticed a parent letter she was working on. He said, "You send letters to the parents?" Garnalee answered, "Yes."  She then went on to explain that a letter is sent to parents by email. If the parents don't have email, which is the case with some of the parents in the Philippines, then she prints the letter and mails it through pouch mail. She also told him that a the parent letter is placed in the electronic file that is kept on each missionary, and when the missionary goes home he/she is provided a copy of that electronic file on a DVD that he/she would be able to share with his/her parents. Elder Suldan was very excited that his mother would receive a letter letting her know of the opportunity that he has been given to serve as an Assistant to the President. Later that afternoon, Garnalee learned that Elder Suldan has been a member for four years, is the youngest of nine children, and is the only one in his family who is active. His father passed away while he was making preparations to come on his mission. His mother lives on a farm with pigs, chickens, dogs, and raises rice to support herself. Now Garnalee understood why Elder Suldan was so excited to know that his mother would receive a letter about the opportunity that he has been given.

Another long but inspiring week!

Week 23--November 29-December 5, 2015

In Montalban, Tom is out apartment shopping. This the view from the apartment we are going to rent for elders. There is no room between the buildings. This neighborhood is bursting with possibilities for missionary work.

This is a statue of Jesus Christ at the entrance of  Montalban Memorial Park.

We stopped at a roadside stand on Tuesday, December 1, and purchased this beauty for P200 which is about $4. We could not have done that back home in Idaho.

 Tom tore out the cucumber plants and planted some more. The ones on the left were planted 3 weeks ago and the ones on the right two weeks ago.

The little ones on the left were planted three days ago. We are going to be eating lots when they start to produce.

He tried planting lettuce but we haven't seen any plants yet.




Tom is doing a great job teaching the Sunday School Gospel Doctrine class. He was told on Sunday by one of the sisters how much she enjoyed the class. Garnalee was asked to teach Relief Society next week on Recognizing and Understanding the Promptings of the Holy Ghost.

Tom has been working on getting rent checks and tax forms ready to go out to the 65 landlords of the apartments. Garnalee is busy filling mail run orders, entering baptism records, and working with Tom on finance things.

We spent our Family Home Evening this week on modifying our Family History presentation for the Christmas Conference.

Friday, December 4, as promised we delivered a rent check to the Malolos sisters' to give to their landlord who lives next door to them. The best part of the trip was having dinner with the Broadheads at a Chinese restaurant (Hap Chan). Our favorite was the fried rice and sweet and sour pork. It was only $5.39 each for a wonderful dinner.

Saturday we meet the landlord of the Rogers' house to pay her the rent at the mission office. We then worked for the next four hours on rent and apartment issues. Lots of good things were accomplished. One of the tasks that was accomplished was to order new cell phones. It seems that the missionaries loss one or two per week. The missionaries have to purchase a replacement for $18.14.

After working at the office, we went grocery shopping. At the mall you can have your car washed while you shop. Since it had been several weeks since the last wash we decided it was time. When we came out of the mall it was raining on our freshly washed car.

Week 22--November 21-28, 2015

Thanksgiving was celebrated on Friday, November 27.

Sister Swift, Sister Broadhead, Sister Jones, Sister Rogers, and Elder Broadhead enjoy some munchies and visiting while waiting for the turkey to get done cooking.

Elder Broadhead, Sister Swift, and Sister Brady enjoy a visit with each other.

Elder Swift is trying to help Elder Brady and Elder Rogers with some phones issues.

Sister Bertin with the turkey fresh from the oven. Just need to check the thermometer to make sure it is done.

 Our plates are loaded and we are ready to savor the wonderful dishes prepared by all.

 After dinner it was game time for those who wanted to play or just visiting. Sister Rogers, Elder Rogers, Sister Jones, and Elder Brady are intense as they play Racko. Elder Jones and Sister Brady look on. We were playing Five Crowns on the other end of the table.







The day concluded with a group photo. Front row: Elder and Sister Brady, Sister and Elder Rogers,
Row 2: Elder and Sister Broadhead, Sister And Elder Swift, Sister and President Bertin. Back row: Sister and Elder Harrington and Elder and Sister Jones.

 

We have been asked to give a Family History presentation at the Christmas Conference to encourage the missionaries to use family history as a tool for proselyting, reactivating and retaining members.

We have gone through the presentation we used in Hong Kong and will use it with some modifications suggested by President Bertin after viewing it. 

Tom is working on a new task of ordering checks to pay rents on the apartments we lease--a total of 68. This has to be done quarterly. There is a lot of work that goes into each rental. Not only does the check need to be requested, but a tax form has to be filled out and envelopes created to put the paper work and check in that then has to be delivered to the landlord. With some many new apartments it has been extra challenging. There is never a lack of things to do. One project is finished and a new one is ready to be started. 

Week 21--November 15-20, 2015

Some days the sky is clear and you can see for miles. This view is from the fifth floor stairway breeze way of our apartment building. We're not sure if this is a view of Quezon City or Manila.







We have fallen into a routine of going to the office at 8 AM and returning home at 6 or 7 PM. Each day brings new opportunities and challenges. We have often felt the influence of the Holy Ghost as we take care of our responsibilities.

We were happy to hear of the party that was held to celebrate Roy's  90th birthday Garnalee's brother). We would like to have been there but we believe our mission call is also a blessing. As we read about the party we thought of Lehi, from the Book of Mormon, and how he gathered his children and grandchildren to give them advise and a blessing in the later years of his life. We are thankful for family and our knowledge of eternal families.

We want to wish all of our family and friends a Happy Thanksgiving.

Week 20--November 8-14, 2015

One of the views of the headstones at the cemetery.

 On Monday, November 9, all the senior couple missionaries went to the Manila American Cemetery. With a total of 17,206 graves, it has the largest number of graves of any cemetery for U.S. personnel killed during World War II and holds war dead from the Philippines and other allied nations.

The gardeners were busy manicuring the grounds for the Veterans' Day Ceremony that will held on Wednesday.
Tom and Garnalee at the cemetery.

A close up view of the circular design of the cemetery. 

 All the couples gathered for a picture together.
L to R: Elder and Sister Jones, Elder and Sister Rogers, Elder and Sister Brady, Elder and Sister Swift, Elder and Sister Broadhead, and Elder and Sister Harrington.

 Tom standing next one of the many walls listing all of the soldiers who have been identified. As we wandered reading some of the names we found Harringtons , Carringtons, and McBrides listed. But no relatives that we could identify.

One of the most beautiful places we have seen in the Philippines.

As we read the wall plaques giving information about the battles to retake the Philippines and other island nations back from the Japanese we came to one showing the supply routes during World War II.  Garnalee thought about her brother Roy who was in the Navy and told about traveling many of the supply routes in his autobiography.

 Typical of many of the homes in the Philippines. Construction was started and never finished so the people live in the buildings the way they are--no windows or complete walls.

Not much distance between the buildings.

 We had to go into this neighborhood on Saturday, November 14, to get a signature on a form. There was only room for our car on the street. We had to turn around because the road dead ended. That was tricky.




Our senior activity started at the Manila American Women's Bazaar. It took us 4 1/2 hours to go 30 miles. The road was a parking lot in many places. Purchase at the bazaar were hand made wood bowls and Christmas ornaments for the grandchildren. Home was a little faster but not much.

The first "Power Scrub" of the missionaries apartments from 7-11 AM was held on Wednesday, November 11. The missionaries were to do a deep clean of their apartment--washing walls, cleaning the bathroom, kitchen, bedrooms, and mopping the floors. They were to get rid of unused items and old food. Many of the missionaries were living in some pretty dirty apartments. The hope is that with clean apartments the missionaries will be healthier. Now the chore is to have them do cleaning on a regular basis to maintain what they have done.

It has been a busy week for Garnalee, She had to prepare letters to stake presidents informing them of the release of  a missionary from their stake along with release certificates for the December batch of missionaries. The December batch also needed to receive emails with their travel itineraries for travel home along with exit day activities. The bishop of each missionary is also sent a letter along with the travel itinerary of the missionary from his ward. Baptism records needed to entered into the Chruch's Data Entry System. Sort the mail that came in from the zones that had mail run this week. Then there was mail run orders to put together for three zones for next week. Then there was the job of creating and sending out letters to the bishops of the new converts from last Saturday. Ended the week with the weekly office meeting.

Tom's week: with the the influx of 15 additional missionaries Tom has been busy arranging for new apartments.  That is in addition to his already busy financial responsibilities for the mission.  Most of the new arrivals could be housed in residences that could accommodate four missionaries where there were only two.  Elder Broadhead is charged with setting up the new apartments when the lease is signed.  It's pretty hectic.  "My favorite part of the week was going to the Manila War Cemetery.  It is possibly the most beautiful spot in the Philippines."

Week 19--November 2-7, 2015

Tuesday, November 3, was Exit Day for 14 missionaries. They spend the day at the Mission Home doing several activities and have dinner before being taken to the hotel for flights home the next day.

Elders Manangan and Gonzalez are two of the skinniest exiting missionaries. We wonder how they stay so skinny the way they have loaded their plates.

Batch missionaries enjoying a final meal together before they all head to their various home countries of Pakistan, Canada, United States, Australia, Tonga, and various parts of the Philippines.

 They are all smiles.

President Bertin  scoops up the ice cream to go with the peanut butter cookies. The highlight of the day is the testimony meeting that is held after the dinner is completed.

Wednesday, November 4, saw the arrival of 28 new missionaries. The new missionaries are lined up ready to find out who their trainer will be. They are all nervous in anticipation!

With the arrival of these 28, one fourth of our missionaries have been in the field for six weeks or less.

The trainers are ready to take the trainees (new missionaries) under their wings and get them started at being a missionary.

 Sometimes the size difference can be amazing. Elder Sajulga will be well protected by Elder Synder.

 The new missionaries pose one last time as a group before heading into the field to share the Gospel.

The Primary children from the LaMesa Ward. They presented the Primary program on Sunday, November 8. The theme for this year's program was "I Know My Savior Loves Me."








Sunday, November 1, was "All Saints Day" in the Philippines. The missionaries had a 6 pm curfew because this is a big party day.

Our days are full and long. We never lack for something to do and we never leave before 6 PM or 7 PM arriving at 8:30 AM.

Tom was gone all day on Friday, November 6, getting a lease signed and looking at a new apartment. Being away from the office means he can't do any of the financial items that need his attention.

Saturday was the usual P-Day chores. We did take time out to go see the new James Bond movie, "Spectre," and dinner out. While we were attending the movie we paid to have the car washed in the parking lot of the mall. That is a common practice here. The cost was $3.89, and it looked wonderful when we came back.

Tom harvested the first three cucumbers on Saturday morning. They are very good and just the perfect size.