Week 6--August 2-8 2015
One last picture form our apartment. This is the unit in our shower that heats the water. The shower is the only place in our apartment where we can get hot water. We heat the water to do dishes in an electric teapot.
Some days going or coming from the mission office we take the "short cut" which really is not a shorter distance it just has less traffic. We see these shops along the way. They 10 by 10 feet in size. This one is selling clothes.
A row of the shops.
The pots are sitting out with food cooked ready to serve breakfast.
Shoppers milling among the shops ready to make their purchase. One of the shops sells fresh eggs that a person will pick up and examine to see which ones they want to purchase. They are sold individually and they aren't refrigerated.
The local hardware store.
Many of the people will wear a towel on their head to protect them from the sun.
A typical afternoon rain storm. The rain is falling in sheets.
We didn't know we would be running a shot clinic when we arrived. All of the missionaries received flu vaccines on Thursday and Friday as part of our Mission Tour with Elder Ardern, the Area President, and his wife. We were in charge of getting the paper work filled out and directing the missionaries to an area to receive their shot. We had the able help of several other senior couples.
There were 94 shots administered on Thursday and 101 on Friday. The 11 office staff all received their shots on Sunday, August 2. There was a total of 206 shots given.
Some of the missionaries took the shot in stride.
However others were terrified.
This tricycle with a load of balloons for a graduation was in front of us on the road on Saturday afternoon.
Tom shared his testimony on Sunday, August 2, and started off with a few sentences of Tagalog. He said, "Magandang Umaga, mga kapatid. Ako Si Elder Harrington," which means, "Good morning, brother and sisters. I am Elder Harrington." Garnalee was asked by the bishop to help out in Primary for the first hour and then go to Relief Society the second hour. Tom volunteered to give the Priesthood lesson next week.
Each Sunday evening we have a planning meeting with the mission president and his wife, the Assistants to the President, the Financial Secretary, the Mission Secretary, and the two Senior Couples. Tom read the minutes from the last meeting. The mission president requested that future action items be color coded according to the person responsible.
Tom has ordered a Filipino Nativity scene That will be hand craved. What is unique about a Filipino Nativity is there is a palm tree.
On Monday Tom worked with Elder Biggs on the seekly Key Indicator report that he will take over when Elder Biggs goes home in September. Numbers gathered from the Zone leaders are entered to create a statistical report. Garnalee copied several talks for the departing batch of August missionaries and did the funds envelopes for them.
Garnalee and Tom walked to SM Mall for her to get a haircut. Tom went to the grocery store to buy rice. Before leaving Tom asked, "What kind?" Garnalee answered, "White!" Sounded easy enough but when Tom got to the grocery store he found at least 20 different varieties of white rice. Tom asked the salesperson which was the best kind. He answered, "California is the most popular seller." As the salesperson was weighing out the five kilos of rice, Tom was standing by the brown rice and decided to get five kilos of that, too.. Five kilos was the least amount that could be purchased of each kind. So Tom ended up with 10 kilos of rice which in Idaho is 22 pounds. That is a lot for an old guy to carry! Upon arrival home, Garnalee cooked up a cup of the white rice. It was very good with the Chicken Salsa we put on it. We are wagering whether we will be able to eat all of the rice before we go home.
For Family Home Evening we read the lesson that Tom will teach in Priesthood meeting titled "The Sacred Callings of Fathers and Mothers."
Tuesday, August 4, Tom found the mission history that the previous missionary had started for 2015 so he can begin catching it up. Garnalee prepared the packets for the departing missionaries. She puts all of the paperwork from their individual folders in the packet along with contact cards for the previous mission president. She also learned how to do travel requests for the November departing missionaries. She also e-mailed her first batch of letters for leadership position changes to missionaries that will happen next week at transfer time. A very busy day.
On Wednesday, August 5, Garnalee spent the day creating folders for arriving missionaries and saving letters to folders of exiting missionaries. She also did more position letters as the letters need to go out to the missionaries and also their parents are notified of the change. Tom spent the whole day working on the La Mesa Ward membership map.
We have found a new favorite in Mango shakes. They cost P20 which is $0.44.
Thursday, August 6, we helped with the mission flu shots. We were invited to the mission home to have dinner with Elder and Sister Ardern, the other senior couples, and the mission president and his wife. Elder Ardern shared that the Church is growing more rapidly in the Philippines than any where else in the world. After only 53 years here the 100th stake will be organized soon. By comparison, after 150 years in New Zealand there are only 26 stakes. Elder Ardern thanked the senior couples repeatedly for coming to serve.
Friday, August 7, we were ready for the our day of the Mission Tour at 8:30 am it began at 9 am. Elder and Sister Ardern spoke and trained all morning. Sister Bertin mentioned how she appreciated having senior couples in the mission. She told the young missionaries that they don't get to check off "I have Done My Mission." They need to prepare to serve a mission with their spouse as a senior couple. We helped with the flu shots again.
Saturday, August 8, we went to S&R (a Costco type store) with the Ences. We both left the store with a cart full of merchandise. We wondered if we would be able to get all of the stuff in our car. The trunk was packed tight. Tom was driving and each of the passengers had something on his or her lap with a bag between the passengers in the back. The rest of the day was spent doing laundry and putting the purchases away. The Ences came up to play Five Crowns about 8 pm. We laughed and enjoyed their company. Tom won which he thinks is rare.
The local hardware store.
Tom shared his testimony on Sunday, August 2, and started off with a few sentences of Tagalog. He said, "Magandang Umaga, mga kapatid. Ako Si Elder Harrington," which means, "Good morning, brother and sisters. I am Elder Harrington." Garnalee was asked by the bishop to help out in Primary for the first hour and then go to Relief Society the second hour. Tom volunteered to give the Priesthood lesson next week.
Each Sunday evening we have a planning meeting with the mission president and his wife, the Assistants to the President, the Financial Secretary, the Mission Secretary, and the two Senior Couples. Tom read the minutes from the last meeting. The mission president requested that future action items be color coded according to the person responsible.
Tom has ordered a Filipino Nativity scene That will be hand craved. What is unique about a Filipino Nativity is there is a palm tree.
On Monday Tom worked with Elder Biggs on the seekly Key Indicator report that he will take over when Elder Biggs goes home in September. Numbers gathered from the Zone leaders are entered to create a statistical report. Garnalee copied several talks for the departing batch of August missionaries and did the funds envelopes for them.
Garnalee and Tom walked to SM Mall for her to get a haircut. Tom went to the grocery store to buy rice. Before leaving Tom asked, "What kind?" Garnalee answered, "White!" Sounded easy enough but when Tom got to the grocery store he found at least 20 different varieties of white rice. Tom asked the salesperson which was the best kind. He answered, "California is the most popular seller." As the salesperson was weighing out the five kilos of rice, Tom was standing by the brown rice and decided to get five kilos of that, too.. Five kilos was the least amount that could be purchased of each kind. So Tom ended up with 10 kilos of rice which in Idaho is 22 pounds. That is a lot for an old guy to carry! Upon arrival home, Garnalee cooked up a cup of the white rice. It was very good with the Chicken Salsa we put on it. We are wagering whether we will be able to eat all of the rice before we go home.
For Family Home Evening we read the lesson that Tom will teach in Priesthood meeting titled "The Sacred Callings of Fathers and Mothers."
Tuesday, August 4, Tom found the mission history that the previous missionary had started for 2015 so he can begin catching it up. Garnalee prepared the packets for the departing missionaries. She puts all of the paperwork from their individual folders in the packet along with contact cards for the previous mission president. She also learned how to do travel requests for the November departing missionaries. She also e-mailed her first batch of letters for leadership position changes to missionaries that will happen next week at transfer time. A very busy day.
On Wednesday, August 5, Garnalee spent the day creating folders for arriving missionaries and saving letters to folders of exiting missionaries. She also did more position letters as the letters need to go out to the missionaries and also their parents are notified of the change. Tom spent the whole day working on the La Mesa Ward membership map.
We have found a new favorite in Mango shakes. They cost P20 which is $0.44.
Thursday, August 6, we helped with the mission flu shots. We were invited to the mission home to have dinner with Elder and Sister Ardern, the other senior couples, and the mission president and his wife. Elder Ardern shared that the Church is growing more rapidly in the Philippines than any where else in the world. After only 53 years here the 100th stake will be organized soon. By comparison, after 150 years in New Zealand there are only 26 stakes. Elder Ardern thanked the senior couples repeatedly for coming to serve.
Friday, August 7, we were ready for the our day of the Mission Tour at 8:30 am it began at 9 am. Elder and Sister Ardern spoke and trained all morning. Sister Bertin mentioned how she appreciated having senior couples in the mission. She told the young missionaries that they don't get to check off "I have Done My Mission." They need to prepare to serve a mission with their spouse as a senior couple. We helped with the flu shots again.
Saturday, August 8, we went to S&R (a Costco type store) with the Ences. We both left the store with a cart full of merchandise. We wondered if we would be able to get all of the stuff in our car. The trunk was packed tight. Tom was driving and each of the passengers had something on his or her lap with a bag between the passengers in the back. The rest of the day was spent doing laundry and putting the purchases away. The Ences came up to play Five Crowns about 8 pm. We laughed and enjoyed their company. Tom won which he thinks is rare.
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