Week 4--July 19-25, 2015

On Sunday, July 19, we attended the San Jose del Monte Ward. Everything seems really loud because there isn't any carpeting, it is all tile floors. We had our first weekly office planning meeting at the mission home. President Bertin foresees the senior missionary couples taking over more of the office duties thus freeing up the young missionaries to be out proselyting. Tom will be responsible for mission fiances which includes negotiating contracts and signing leases. Tagolog will be useful so he will study it more diligently.

At the office meeting we discovered we attended the wrong ward. President Bertin wants us to attend the La Mesa Ward. We will do so next Sunday. 

Tom and Garnalee both contracted horrible colds. We are slowly getting better but it seems really slow.

Monday morning arrived with an early morning drive to Manila to the Fingerprinting Bureau to be fingerprinted for our missionary visa which will last two years. The drive of 25 kilometers (17 miles) took two hours. The road was often a parking lot. It took us five minutes to be fingerprinted, and then another hour and 40 minutes back home. 

One of the mods of transportation is a trike. It is a motorcycle with a side car. Sometimes we have seen one with a bicycle attached to the side car.

 Of course, we see motorcycles everywhere. They weave in and out of the traffic completing ignoring traffic rules. However no one seems to obey traffic rules. A two lane road can become four lanes. At an intersection, you have to creep out into the traffic waiting for cars to stop so you can proceed to the other side.




We have a propane stove in our apartment and we have to call and order a delivery when it runs out. Garnalee was fixing dinner on Sunday when the tank ran out. Fortunately she was just putting the finishing touches on dinner.

Zone Conference was held for three more zones on Tuesday, July 21. Sister Cherry, who works at the mission home, prepares the meals for the Zone Conferences.  We have had some wonderful Filipano dishes that she has prepared. Tom worked with Elder Biggs on missionary location map so that as referrals are received they can then  be assigned to the closest missionary companionship. Garnalee worked with Sister Ence in learning the Imos program and putting letters there for easy distribution to the missionaries.

Wednesday, July 22, Tom and Elder Ence reconciled the maintenance budget which is 50,000 PHP per month or about $1100 USD. They spent the rest of the day exchanging non-working refrigerators for working ones.  We visited the local Supermarket to purchase some fruit and vegetables. The vegetables are not the quality they are in the US. A head of cauliflower is the size of a softball.

Thursday was the last of the Zone Conferences. Things have been slow in the office as we are between transfers and departing and arriving missionaries. We discovered a taste of home, Chilis, is in the mall next our apartment complex. Plus there is also a Cold Stone Creamery and TGI Fridays. We had dinner at Chilis with all of the other senior missionaries in our mission. Two of the other couples had come from Baliwag for Zone Conference. After they got on the road to Quezon City they realized it was their code day. They couldn't head back home until 7 pm so a great opportunity to get to know them and have a dinner out. One of the couples, the Jones, are from Idaho Falls. He taught at Eagle Rock Junior High and Skyline High School.

We have a monthly office planning meeting at the mission home. This month it was held on Friday, July 24, Pioneer Day. After the meeting we all indulge in wonderful lunch that has been prepared by Sister Cherry which included lemon poppy seed bundt cake. Poppy seeds can't be purchased in the Philippines because they are illegal. The poppy seeds for the cake were hand delivered by the Bertin's daughter last year.

We had to trade cars with the office elders as both of their cars were coding on Monday. We now code on Monday instead of Friday which will be good for our weekly phone calls.

There is usually sunshine in the morning and then the afternoons cloud up and we get heavy rain. The thunderstorms here are really intense.

We had a fun evening of playing Five Crowns with the Ences on Friday. We have become very close to them in just the two short weeks we have been together.

Saturday is our P-Day so it laundry and cleaning day.

Tom drying dishes in our kitchen.

 Our living room and dining area.

Our bedroom which is larger than our bedroom in Hong Kong. We can easily get around our bed.

The extra bedroom which has a double bed. The closest is the rack.

The apartment building surrounds an atrium that is covered with a roof.

Located on the roof of our complex is two rows of covered cages. Each apartment has a cage. Between the cages is an uncovered trench into which the water drains from the washing of clothes. I stretch the drain hose attached to the washer out to the trench. If the clothes are hand washed then the tub is emptied and the water drains to the trench.
Our cage contains our washer and dryer. I feel blessed to have a unit that I can put my clothes in to be washed, and then I can come back later and put the clothes in the dryer.

This is the cage next to ours where the clothes are hanging to dry after being hand washed.

The Filipino will fill tubs like this one with water and then hand scrub the clothes on a flat board with a brush. They sit on the little stool while working. I have seen them work for hours doing their laundry. They will usually have more than one tub filled with water and clothes. 

Week 2-3 July 6 to July 18, 2015

July 6-9 was spent learning the various office programs we would be using. Tom will work with finances, the newsletter, the mission history, and be the secretary to the mission president. Garnalee will do referrals, baptismal records, letters, travel, and general office duties.

We spent Friday, July 10, doing our laundry and repacking the suitcases. We said good-bye to the other missionary couples who were in the training with us.

 Garnalee at the Salt Lake airport.

 Tom as the Salt Lake airport.

Garnalee on arrival at the Manila, Philippines airport. We left Salt Lake City at 12 PM and flew to Portland. We left Portland at 1:26 PM for Tokyo arriving at 4 PM on Sunday having crossed the International Date Line. We left Tokyo at 6 PM and landed in Manila, Philippines at 9:30 PM. We exchanged $430 at the airport and just over 19,000 Philippine pisos. The exchange rate is 45.16 pisos to $1 Us dollar. We cleared immigration and customs and proceeded to Bay 3 outside to meet our driver. He didn't come and a kind street cleaner allowed us to use his cell phone to call the contact number we were given.

 Tom at the Manila, Philippines airport waiting for the driver from the Philippines Area Office to pick us up and take us the hotel. We arrived at our hotel at 11 PM and had to arise the next morning at 5:15 AM to meet the driver at 6:45 AM.  The driver arrived at 7 AM to take us to the Area Office.

 Map showing the Philippines divided into the 21 missions. Our mission, Quezon City North, is on the northern island of Luzon and is shaded yellow.

 Elder Algar and Elder Howell, who are assistants to President Bertin, picked us up at the Area Office. They then took us to get our driver's licenses. Driving in Metro Manila and getting a driver's license here are both great adventures. Part of getting a driver's license is to visit a "medical office" (we use that term loosely) where we were weighed, measured, our eyes checked, and deemed suitable to receive a driver's license. We received a temporary license and have to return to the Driver's License Bureau in two-three months to receive a permanent one.

We were taken on a tour of the MTC in the Philippines by President Trask. There are 200 missionaries there for five to 90 days depending upon their assignment. There are additional buildings under construction which will raise the capacity to 400 missionaries. After that tour we went to KKK Restaurant in SM Mall where we had pork adobo, milk fish soup, fried vegetables, and a mango shake.

We were then taken to the mission home where President and Sister Bertin gave us a tour. They then took us to our apartment where we started to settle in. President Bertin came back to get us at 6 PM for dinner at his house.

 Cleaning items provided by the Bertins were on our table when we arrived at our apartment.

 Also a good variety of food provided by the other senior couples was on the counter to get us started.

We crashed into bed at 8 PM. Tom arose at 5:30 AM, however Garnalee slept until 7:30 AM.
We didn't have to go to the office until 10 AM because we were riding with Ences. Tuesday is their coding day. Coding is an effort to curb the pollution from car exhaust by not allowing vehicles on their assigned day to not drive from 7 AM to 10 AM or from 3 PM to 7 PM. Our coding day will be on Friday. Violators face a hefty fine and the loss of driver's license.

This week is Zone Conferences for the mission. The meetings are held on Tuesday and Thursday with different zones. Our zone had their meeting on Thursday. The farther out zones travel to the mission office in a jeepney.  See picture to the left.

 The inside of the jeepney with the missionaries smiling faces.










We spent Tuesday afternoon going to the mall purchasing sheets, a blow dryer, skirt hangers,  and other necessary items for our apartment. We also tried to sign up for cell phone service but since we didn't have a CRI card we couldn't sign up.

Wednesday morning we went to the Bertins' home to check out internet and cable companies. We finally decided on a plan and will get the service hooked up on Saturday. We then went to S&R (a Costco-type store in the Philippines) where we purchased towels, food, toilet paper, etc. We spent 12,298 pisos or $273 USD. We also went to the Area Office to get the Bertins' passports with their CRI cards so they could sign up for two additional lines for our cell phones. When we arrived back at the mission home we had to transfer our purchases to the Toyota Corolla that will be our car because it was coding day for the Bertins' car. Garnalee drove from the Bertins' to our apartment and then to the mall for phone service. Tom drove from the mall to the Bertins' and then to our apartment. It was a scary first adventure as driving rules in the Philippines are suggestions only and generally not followed. There were no fatalities in our first  driving adventure.

We followed Elder and Sister Ence to the office on Thursday morning. They took us on the short cut which is on windy roads. We had the first rain since arriving. It poured!

Friday is our coding day so Garnalee did some laundry. Our washer and dryer are on the roof in a covered cage. We left the apartment at 10 AM and returned home at 3 PM. After we got to the office we remembered that it was a holiday and coding doesn't apply on holidays. Today was cloudy and rainy off and on which means the humidity was higher.

Our P-Day (Preparation Day) is Saturday. Garnalee finished the last of the laundry. The cable guys showed up at 11:30 AM. As they installed the cable and internet they asked why we were in the Philippines. We were able to share a little bit about our Church with them . One of them agreed to let the missionaries bring him a Book of Mormon. He gave us his name, phone number, and address. We will give his information to the missionaries.

After lunch we followed the Ences to where we will attend church for the next 18 months. Some young men were playing basketball in the parking lot. When we entered the church the Primary children were practicing a song for Ward Conference next Sunday. 

Week 1--June 27-July 4, 2015

Tom and Garnalee Harrington with Karen and Paul Sullivan

Keith Barnes arrived at our home on June 27, Saturday, to take us to Ridleys to catch the shuttle to Salt Lake City. Jennifer and Cody were there to see us off. They blew bubbles at us as we got onto the bus. Chad meet us at the Salt Lake City airport to transport us at the MTC. After check-in we went to building 1M in hopes of running into the Sullivans who will preside over the Ukraine mission.

Tom and Garnalee pointing to Quezon City, Philippines, where they serve for the next 18 months.

 Tom was called to be the District leader of our little district. We are shown with Elder Boyd and Sister Diane Hamilton and Elder Kent and Sister Gayle Brown. The Hamiltons are going to serve in the Micronesia-Guam Mission, and the Browns will serve in the Central Eur-Asia Mission (they will be in Turkey).





While at the MTC we meet the Grays who will be serving in Cebu, Philippines, as Family History missionaries. We may see them if they travel to Manila for training.

Tom and Garnalee are the second couple from the left.

 The 71 senior missionaries who all entered the MTC with us.

Elder and Sister Brown are the fourth from the left and Elder and Sister Hamilton are fourth from the right.






On Sunday, June 28, we went to church in Chad's ward. We then spent the afternoon and evening with Chad, Jennifer, Emma, Grace, and Jennifer's family. We played Catch Phrase and had a wonderful dinner.

Monday, June 29, was our first official day as a missionary. We were oriented to the various areas of the MTC and the schedule we would have for the remainder of the week. We were warmly welcomed by the Presidency of the MTC (Elder and Sister Burgess, Elder and Sister Bertasso ,Elder and Sister Trost). We learned there are 1600 junior missionaries and 71 senior missionaries here this week. Sister Trost shared a personal story about how the prayers on behalf of her granddaughter were answered. We were encouraged to record in our journals daily the tender mercies from the Lord so they can be shared with our descendants. We were also encouraged to hold hands as we walk around the campus so we can be a good example to the young missionaries of how a married couple should be behave. The world seems to have lost its way of how a functional family operates.

At the MTC we spend the days learning to use Preach My Gospel, to be effective missionaries,  and to be prepared to share the message of the restoration with others.

Tuesday evening we had the opportunity to be instructed by Elder Joseph W. Sitati of the Seventy and his wife, Gladys. They are from Kenya.

The food here is very good and very plentiful. We are finding that we eating TOO much!

We practice sharing the gospel in the Teaching Resource Center (TRC) or lovingly referred to as "Torturing Senior Couples".

A good question we have learned to ask is, "What is most important to you?" It opens many doors.

Saturday is our P-Day. We did our laundry and then walked around the perimeter of the campus. There aren't many senior couples left here. Most have left for their missions. We played Five Crowns with the Ellsworths who are going to Samoa.

We had a Patriotic Devotional Saturday evening. It was very emotional to see the March of the Flags as the young missionaries marched in with the flags of all the countries where the gospel is taught throughout the world. Daniel K. Judd, a teacher a BYU, spoke on the independence of America and the restoration of the gospel here in America that was then taken to all the world. There was a fireworks display after the devotional.