Week 43--April 17-23, 2016

 This is what 150 cases of the Book of Mormon looks like. We were running low and so Garnalee decided to do a big order. Part of them are stacked in the storage room and the rest are against a wall in the office.

Sister De Leon and Sister Muller joined us for dinner on Sunday, April 17. They have been serving in the La Mesa with us for several months. Sister Muller was transferred  to the Valenzuela Zone and made a Sister Training Leader which means she will go on exchanges with other sister missionaries and work with them to become better missionaries. Sister De Leon was made a Trainer of a new missionary that will arrive on Wednesday.

Tuesday was Exit Day for 18 missionaries. We have really gotten to know this batch, and we will miss them.  Pictured are Elder Haeane, Elder Ang, Elder Rodriguez and Elder Aue. In the background is Elder Perkins who is the new Assistant to the President.

Garnalee and Sister Bertin loading their plates with Sister Cherry's Pancit and rice with gravy.  YUM, YUM!!

 Elder Pedroza, Elder Baylosis, Elder Semana, and Elder Blancaver from various areas in the Philippines.

Missionaries gather for the testimony meeting. In the front row are Elder Rosales, Elder Ramada, Elder Alejandro, Elder Valdazo, Elder Rodriguez. In the back row are Elder Harrington, Sister Broadhead, Elder Broadhead, Elder Heaton, and Elder Goodwin.

 Sister Bagay, Sister Mendoza, and Sister Gementiza smile big for the camera.

A quick picture with Elder Blancaver before he gets in the shuttle to the hotel.

 One last picture with Sister Talalima before she leaves. She was special to us as she served in the La Mesa Ward with us. She is from Tonga.

One last quick picture before they all depart.

All 18 missionaries gather for a final picture before departing for home. Front row: Elder Semana, Elder Ramada, Elder Blancaver, Elder Baylosis, Elder Pedroza. Second row: Sister Bachiller, Sister Mendoza, Sister Talalima, Sister Bagay, Sister Gementiza. Third row: Elder Rodriguez, Elder Rosales, Elder Haeane, Elder Ang, Elder Mabala, Elder Aue, Elder Valdoza, Elder Alejandro. Fourth row: Sister Bertin and President Bertin.

The new arrivals: front row (l to r): Elder Dingal, Elder Pelimiano, Elder Buque, Elder Agustin, and Elder Serrano. Second row: Sister Panzo, Sister Miñosa, Sister Cambe, Sister Sanchez, and Sister Mepania. Back row: Sister Bertin, President Bertin, Elder Rosero, Elder Pepito, Elder Burgos, Elder Peterson, and Elder Vukomanovic.





Along with the exit and arrival of missionaries it is also transfer day for missionaries. This makes for an extra busy week.

We were shocked when we received our electric bill this week. It had increased by 50% from the previous month.

We went to dinner on Friday with Elder and Sister Broadhead to celebrate her birthday. We went to Tri-Mo where we had been a couple of times previously. We had the beef sharwarma (warp) which is our favorite with a 2 liter bottle of orange soda. The bill was PHP280 which is $6. After dinner we went across the street to the local bakery for sugar donuts. They also had banana bread for $1.74 a loaf. We bought one and it was good as Garnalee's and we didn't have to heat up the apartment making our own.

Saturday was spent going to the Distribution Center by the Temple to buy mini scripture sets that are wanted by missionaries and then on to S&R for shopping where we spent $425. We went with the intention of purchasing enough vitamins, calcium, and fish oil, and Vitamin C to last us until the end of our mission.

Week 42--April 10-16, 2016

Each day as we enter the subdivision where the mission office is located we pass this little shop that sells rice and eggs. We have always noticed the brightly colored violet eggs and thought they were regular eggs laid by an exotic breed of chicken. Come to find out they are salted duck eggs and are painted violet so that they can be distinguished from regular eggs. They are made by dipping a raw egg in a cake batter-like mixture of clay, salt, and water. They are then packed in a wooden crate to cure for 12-14 days, the salt equilibrating in the batch by osmosis. After the two-week curing time the eggs are cleaned and boiled. The curing allows for a long shelf life but they are stocked and replenished biweekly. Tom ate one at restaurant we went to several months ago not knowing how they were made until today. He did say they were salty.

Family, notice the Pepsi bottle. Who does it remind you of? Soda still comes in glass bottles in the Philippines although you can but soda in cans. A can of soda costs 40-45 pesos which is about $1 US dollar. Tom bought a bottle of Royal Orange in a glass bottle on Saturday for 8 pesos which is 20 cents US.

On Sunday, April 10, we spent the day watching General Conference at the Stake Center. The trip which usually takes an hour only took 22 minutes so we got to enjoy the music of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir for an hour and read over some of the talks from Saturday. President Monson's two talks were very short but inspiring. In the Priesthood session he said, "This precious gift of priesthood power brings with it not only solemn responsibilities but also special blessings for ourselves and for others. May we, in whatever place we may find ourselves, always be worthy to call upon its power, for we never know when our need and our opportunity to do may come." The second talk, "May We Ever Choose the Harder Right Instead of the Easier Wrong," President Monson warned us about choices. Unlike Alice in Louis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland when she asked the Cheshire cat which path she should follow, the cat answers, "That depends on where you want to go. If you do not know where you want to go, if doesn't matter which path you take." We know where we want to go and it does matter which way we go, for the path we follow in this life leads to our destination in the next life.

The rest of the talks on Sunday were inspiring and uplifting just as they were on Saturday.

Each week we are assigned to attend a district meeting on Tuesday. This week we were assigned to go to Novaliches where Elder Godinez gave an excellent workshop on "10 Ways to Be a Better Missionary" with emphasis on getting along with your companion.

Tom had the opportunity to give a Spanish lesson this week to Elder Salazar who is VISA waiter going to the California Long Beach Mission. Elder Salazar will definitely use Spanish in his mission.

Elder Ebite and Elder Jangao, who are cousins, have had their VISAs approved to go Johannesburg South Africa Mission. They fly out on Sunday.

For our meal on Saturday, Garnalee made hamburgers, and we ate some of the pork n' beans and Vienna sausages from our 72 hour emergency kits. Every six months, at General Conference time, we are to check the dates on the food, and if it is close to expiring we are to eat the food and purchase new to replace it.

We have noticed an increase in the temperature this week. It is HOT and going to get HOTTER!!

Week 41--April 3-9, 2016

Batman vs Superman has arrived in the Philippines. The media hype to promote the movie included life size models of Batman, Superman, Wonderwoman, and the Batmobile.

 Bigger Better Burger Triple X is the best burger Tom has had in years. The sign says it is three 1/3 pound patties made of 100% premium ground beef, but along with home-style fries and cucumber lemonade the scales say he gained 1.8 pounds. "I,m losing the battle of the bulge." He has decided he won't have another Triple X while we are here but would go for the Double Dare.

Enjoying lunch between the sessions of General Conference on Sunday, April 10.  We felt like the pioneers when they would pack a lunch to church and have a picnic lunch between the meetings or the sessions of conference.






On Sunday, April 3, the traffic on Quirino Highway was crazy. It took us 25 minutes to get to church that normally takes about 10 minutes. On the four lane highway there were four lanes coming from the opposite direction leaving us with one narrow lane to travel on.

President Bertin and his family, who were here visiting for a few days, attended our Ward. He suggested we take the back way home where we would come out at Fairview Terraces which is right next to our apartment complex. We took his advice, and with the help of Sister Google we were able to find our way. It still took us 25 minutes but it was a lot less stressful.

Sister Seuifalamua injured her knee in a Zone activity a week ago so she is on limited activity. President Bertin asked if I could keep her and her companion, Sister Hulme, busy for a couple days in the office. I gave them bottles of vitamins to count out into batches of 60, place in plastic bags and an envelope, and label for distribution to the missionaries. The Area Office used to supply Centrum to the mission, but now we have to purchase our own. Sister Bertin goes to S&R, the Costco of the Philippines, and purchases large bottles of Kirkland Vitamins that we use. I then had them cut apart and laminate inspired question cards. The inspired question cards have five questions that the missionaries memorize to use in OYMing and street contacting. Tom had them update the missionary apartment list with all the information he needs on each apartment.

Tom has designated Garnalee as the driver when we go to Casa Milan. We need a sticker on our windshield which we haven't been able to get because our registration isn't current. Tom has decided they won't turn her away because she is better looking. We are waiting on the PAO to supply the registration but they don't seem to be any big hurry, Welcome to the Philippines!!

We spent Saturday listening to six hours of General Conference. The older we get the more we gain from conference. We are grateful for the inspired messages that were delivered that help us strive to do better each day.

Week 40--March 27-April 2, 2016

The senior couples from the northern province of Baliwag were in town for Zone Conference. It gives us the opportunity to socialize together. We had a wonderful dinner at TGI Fridays then topped it off with ice cream from Cold Stone Creamery.

 After filling our ice cream orders the employees turned up the music and entertained us with their dancing. This doesn't happen at other Cold Stone Creamery we have been to.

We have noticed some communities have traditions that are peculiar to their communities. In Montalban jeepneys are artistically air brushed. Here in Navotas the trikes are garishly  decorated with colors, lights and mirrors. They line up to take their turn as customers arrive.

Wood carving is one of the many businesses here in the Philippines. Some the wood carvers focus on items of interest to members of the Church such as Liahonas, heroes from the Book of Mormon, and temple plaques.  We especially liked the temple plaque and ordered one. It will a special keepsake from our mission.












We spoke in Sacrament meeting on Sunday, March 27. We were notified of our assignment by text message which we found kind of strange. I guess we could have declined but we didn't. Tom was asked to speak on the Atonement and Garnalee on obedience. At the end of the meeting, we were asked by several members if we were going home because we both spoke. We told them no we were here through the rest of the year.

Tom went with Elder Broadhead to San Miguel which is the very northern part of the mission om Monday, March 28. It took them three hours to drive the 40 miles. They were going to rent an apartment for the elders who are assigned to proselyte in that area.

Tom and Elder Broadhead were on the road again on Wednesday only this this to Navotas which is in the southern part of the mission. Another three hour ride to get there.

When Tom distributed the rent vouchers and BIRs to the Zone Leaders at Mission Leadership Council  a month ago he promised Oreos to all of the zones that had returned them by the next MLC on March 31. The Oreos worked like gold as almost all of the vouchers and BIRs were returned. It was worth every penny we spent.

We went to see Superman vs Batman on Friday evening, April 1. It was so convoluted that Tom had a hard time following the story line and probably won't recommend it anybody. However by the end of the story Garnalee had figured it out and it turned out to be an okay movie.

After shopping and paying of bills on Saturday we ended the day by watching the Women's session of General Conference. It was inspiring. The Church is blessed with many qualified sisters in leadership positions in Relief Society, Young Women, and Primary. The women of the Church have always been encouraged to reach out and help others in need. With the many refugees worldwide in need of assistance we were again encouraged to find areas of service.