Week 14--September 27-October 3, 2015
An updated photo of Tom's cucumbers. They are really growing. Amazing to Tom is that a garden can be planted anytime of the year.
A missionary that had served in the Quezon City North Mission sent a box of items to be distributed. In the box were some handmade tops that had been made by a member of her home Ward. The children loved the tops.
We have discovered this week how busy we are going to be with our responsibilities. We went to the office for a couple of hours on Sunday after Church to try to get caught up. Elder Campbell, the former financial secretary, came to help Tom with some financial tasks that needed to be completed namely MSF which is Missionary Support Fund which has to be every done two weeks. To thank Elder Campbell for all of his hard work we had him and his companion, Elder Lorenzo, over for dinner.
Monday was a long day. It is our code day so we didn't arrive at the office until 10:30 AM but we didn't get away until 8:30 PM. We had to do mail run for three zones. Mail run includes sorting the mail that has come and filling orders for proselyting pamphlets, boxes of Book of Mormon, reporting sheets, name tags, fans, rice cookers, DVD players, stoves, etc. Garnalee also worked on letters that needed to be sent to bishops and stake presidents about missionaries coming home.
Tom went to the Philippines Area Office for training with the financial director on Tuesday. The distance is about 25 miles, and it took him an hour and 40 minutes to get there and an hour and 35 minutes to get back. Garnalee stayed at the office and worked on inputting baptism records until she had to give up that computer to the young missionary who comes in on Tuesday afternoons to work on maps and graphs for the Mission Leadership Council. She then went to her other computer and sent out welcome letters to the new missionaries coming in a few months. tom dropped Garnalee off at the office at 7:30 AM, and we didn't leave until 6 PM.
On Wednesday, Garnalee started working on the rest of the baptism records that needed to entered. She has entered 65 baptisms in the last two days. She sent out letters to the stake presidents about missionaries going home and printed the release certificates. Due to unreliable the mail systems, we send the release certificates home with the missionaries in a sealed envelope. Tom went with Elder and Sister Broadhead to one the apartments that houses sister missionaries. The sister missionaries were moving to a new apartment. Tom had to meet with the landlord to give him an additional 6000 PHP because the new apartment is more expensive.
It was a busy day but not as productive. MLC was held today so there were missionaries around wanting things. We had to pick up the lunch for the MLC which cuts into our work time. However, Garnalee is glad that we only have to pick up the lunch. Sister Bertin shared that a friend of theirs serving as the office couple in Canada has to prepare the lunch for MLC. Garnalee did get the cover sheets and folder labels created for the new missionaries that are coming. Tom spent a lot of time on the phone trying to get things working correctly on the computer. Tom had to go to the bank to get money for a landlord and cell phone load so we left at 3:15 PM.
We start off our Friday with the office weekly planning meeting. Tom got the cell phone load ordered and completed some IMOS tasks. Garnalee finished the last of the tasks that were on her to do list for the week. So to celebrate we went out to dinner.
Saturday was a trip to the San Ildefonso Branch to the north. We are helping with a Family History activity with their Branch. As we arrived in Bustos, we got stuck behind a funeral procession. The deceased is in a white Rolls Royce hearse that is decorated with white flowers on top and white and purple balloons. The mourners walk behind the hearse to the cemetery. Cars are not allowed to pass and even if we could pass there was another funeral procession coming from the opposite direction. We followed the procession for about 3 kilometres that took about 30 minutes when they turned off into the cemetery. Consequently we were about fifteen minutes late to meet with the Jones' landlady to pay her the rent which made her late for work.
We have discovered this week how busy we are going to be with our responsibilities. We went to the office for a couple of hours on Sunday after Church to try to get caught up. Elder Campbell, the former financial secretary, came to help Tom with some financial tasks that needed to be completed namely MSF which is Missionary Support Fund which has to be every done two weeks. To thank Elder Campbell for all of his hard work we had him and his companion, Elder Lorenzo, over for dinner.
Monday was a long day. It is our code day so we didn't arrive at the office until 10:30 AM but we didn't get away until 8:30 PM. We had to do mail run for three zones. Mail run includes sorting the mail that has come and filling orders for proselyting pamphlets, boxes of Book of Mormon, reporting sheets, name tags, fans, rice cookers, DVD players, stoves, etc. Garnalee also worked on letters that needed to be sent to bishops and stake presidents about missionaries coming home.
Tom went to the Philippines Area Office for training with the financial director on Tuesday. The distance is about 25 miles, and it took him an hour and 40 minutes to get there and an hour and 35 minutes to get back. Garnalee stayed at the office and worked on inputting baptism records until she had to give up that computer to the young missionary who comes in on Tuesday afternoons to work on maps and graphs for the Mission Leadership Council. She then went to her other computer and sent out welcome letters to the new missionaries coming in a few months. tom dropped Garnalee off at the office at 7:30 AM, and we didn't leave until 6 PM.
On Wednesday, Garnalee started working on the rest of the baptism records that needed to entered. She has entered 65 baptisms in the last two days. She sent out letters to the stake presidents about missionaries going home and printed the release certificates. Due to unreliable the mail systems, we send the release certificates home with the missionaries in a sealed envelope. Tom went with Elder and Sister Broadhead to one the apartments that houses sister missionaries. The sister missionaries were moving to a new apartment. Tom had to meet with the landlord to give him an additional 6000 PHP because the new apartment is more expensive.
It was a busy day but not as productive. MLC was held today so there were missionaries around wanting things. We had to pick up the lunch for the MLC which cuts into our work time. However, Garnalee is glad that we only have to pick up the lunch. Sister Bertin shared that a friend of theirs serving as the office couple in Canada has to prepare the lunch for MLC. Garnalee did get the cover sheets and folder labels created for the new missionaries that are coming. Tom spent a lot of time on the phone trying to get things working correctly on the computer. Tom had to go to the bank to get money for a landlord and cell phone load so we left at 3:15 PM.
We start off our Friday with the office weekly planning meeting. Tom got the cell phone load ordered and completed some IMOS tasks. Garnalee finished the last of the tasks that were on her to do list for the week. So to celebrate we went out to dinner.
Saturday was a trip to the San Ildefonso Branch to the north. We are helping with a Family History activity with their Branch. As we arrived in Bustos, we got stuck behind a funeral procession. The deceased is in a white Rolls Royce hearse that is decorated with white flowers on top and white and purple balloons. The mourners walk behind the hearse to the cemetery. Cars are not allowed to pass and even if we could pass there was another funeral procession coming from the opposite direction. We followed the procession for about 3 kilometres that took about 30 minutes when they turned off into the cemetery. Consequently we were about fifteen minutes late to meet with the Jones' landlady to pay her the rent which made her late for work.
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