Week 74--November 20-26, 2016

The gigantic tree in the plaza at Fairview Terraces has been decorated with waterfall lights. The fountain went off with its colored lights making for a beautiful picture.

 

This beautiful nativity was set up on the grounds. As beautiful as the lights are this reminded us of the true meaning of Christmas.

The Philippine flag flying in the breeze at the Temple.

The new growth on the bamboo trees outside our chapel is very colorful.

Two boys hard at work carrying their load on their heads.



















A tree has been constructed in the entry area of the Redwoods that is lite up at night. The theme this year was using recycled materials.

The tree is made of bamboo poles and white paper cups. It is amazing to see the ingenuity of the Filipino people.

 A train has also been constructed from wire and colored plastic sheets. Chairs are set inside for the seats on the train.

The wheels on the train are made from fan covers that are a variety colors.

Tuesday was Elder Nielsen's 20th birthday. We didn't celebrate until Friday. sister Bertin had contacted his Mom and gotten the recipe for his favorite cake, Blueberry Crumble Cake. It was delicious. Left to right: Elder Nielsen, Elder Narciso, Sister Bertin, Sister Broadhead, Elder Broadhead, Sister Harrington, and Elder Harrington.





Tuesday we headed for Malolos to do mail run and attend the meeting presenting the Christmas Initiative of "#Light the World." We left home at 6:50 AM and didn't arrive at the church until 9:05. Two hours and 15 minutes to go 40 kilometers (26 miles). A new record for that trip!

President and Sister Bertin were gone to Mission Presidents' Seminar this week so the office was very quiet. On Thursday we took the opportunity to attend the Manila Temple  as we knew it would be our last opportunity before the arrival of our replacement couple and a busy upcoming December. Tom was hesitant to go because he felt he had a lot to do in the office. Garnalee reminded him that if we put the Temple as our first priority then the other things that needed to be done would be accomplished. On Friday we were able to submit claims for three supports of Aetna Insurance claims and get started on a fourth set. The claims we file are for the medications purchased by the missionaries. We put the Temple first and the things that needed to be done were accomplished.

We celebrated Thanksgiving on Saturday with President and Sister Bertin and the other senior couples. We had a wonderful turkey dinner with all of the trimmings. We played Password and we came in second behind the Bertins. It was great fun.
Seated left to right: Sister Bertin, Elder Bremner, Sister Bremner, Sister Harrington, Elder Harrington, Elder Swift, Sister Swift, Sister Broadhead, and Elder Broadhead.




We packed up our items that we have purchased to ship home into a suitcase to give us an idea of how big a box we will need.

Week 73--November 13-19, 2016

Super Moon over Quezon City, Philippines on November 14, 2016. This is the closest the moon has been to the earth since 1948.

 The second half of the November batch on the official  exit day. Left to right: Elder Martel, Elder Banate, Elder Aguhayon, Elder Fernandez, Elder Tagulao, Elder Salo, Elder Saludar, and Elder Vallar.

The elders gather for the testimony meeting. They chose to all sit on the sofa and love seat and share in the special spirit and brotherhood of being elders in Zion. It was a special group of all Filipino missionaries.

Arrival batch of 17 elders and 2 sisters on November 16. Front row left to right: Elder Dela Cruz, Elder Ouabe, Elder Miranda, Elder Custan, Elder Caya-Os, E. Every.
Second Row: President Bertin, Sister Bertin, Elder Tagal, Sister Gonzales, Sister Naag, Elder Brown, Elder Slade.
Third Row: Elder Fe'iloaki, Elder Tobias, Elder Basa, Elder Romeril, Elder Belnap, Elder Nassiri.
Back row: Elder Ewing and Elder Yates.

 Various homes in Casa Milan, the subdivision where the mission home is located, are often used for the filming of TV shows. It is not unusual to see 10-20 vehicles parked along the street in front of a house where the filming is happening that day.

Wake me when it's dinner time! This cat oblivious to passing cars and people. What a life!

This house located in Casa Milan takes up four lots. It is owned by a Filipino movie star.

Front view of the house. We were considering buying this for a summer home but then we realized we would have to clean it and changed our minds. (Only in our dreams.)

 Across the street from the above house is a garden. We were fascinated by the papaya trees. The trees are short and were loaded with fruit.

We thought egg plant grew on plants similar to cucumbers. We discovered in the garden egg plant bushes. There were just a few egg plants on each bush and some had only one like the one pictured.






We had Sister Lata and Sister Aldemita for dinner on Sunday. It was a bitter sweet dinner as Sister Lata is being transferred to Baliwag, and Sister Aldemita is going to be a trainer of a new missionary.

Friday evening we went to see "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them." It was written by J.K. Rowling. If you are a Harry Potter fan as Garnalee is then you will like it.

Week 72--November 6-12, 2016

Tom has added trellis for his cucumbers. They are loaded with blossoms and 6 cucumbers are developing.

Saturday evening was our Couples Ball. It was held outside so we danced under the stars.It was a mild, beautiful evening.

The theme was 80s attire. This is some of the sisters who were in our dance group.

 When we arrived we were asked if we had brought other clothes. We had to respond that no we had to wear missionary attire. Even in the 80s missionary attire for elders was a white shirt and tie and for sisters a dress or skirt.

 They really get into the party here. They are all decked out in their 80s attire.

Who says that a seventy year old can't shake a leg? The song was "Shake Body, Body Dancer" which is difficult to do when your body doesn't work like it used to. It was a delightful evening, We have made lots of new friends because of this activity.

Who is this strange lady who is holding me? Garnalee holding AJ Condie. He was born the end of March 2016.

 He came with a full head of hair, and we have never seen a baby with so much hair. He has had several hair cuts already. Last week his Mom made a top knot on his head with the hair. He looked like a Filipino Pebbles.He has the darkest brown eyes. We would like to put him in our suitcase and bring him home.

We were included in the games and activities for the evening. The Filipinos love to Videoaoke. We had fun trying to follow the dance on the screen. As you can see we are still upright and happy.

An early departure for four of the November batch due to an unusual situation this week. Departure for the November batch of missionaries is next week on November 16. However because of the expiration of Visas these four missionaries had to go home a week early on November 9.
Left to right: Sister Bertin, Elder Goodwin, Elder Hughes, Elder Coombs, Elder Miller, and President Bertin.



As a mission we have been studying about the Atonement. President Bertin invited each of us to fast on Sunday, November 6, in gratitude for the atoning sacrifice of our Savior.

We had our final dance practice on Thursday evening. We danced out on the blacktop under the stars. The problem was the computer was not loud enough for us to hear the music. Problem solved when the computer was hooked to the speakers of a taxi. Ingenuity at work.

We are loving this mission and are going to mission the missionaries and the fun activities we have with the members here.

Week 71--October 31-November 5, 2016

The cucumbers are loaded with blossoms.

Our week started on Monday, October 31, with Power Scrub for the missionaries apartments which is to do a deep clean everything. We visited the apartments of elders. First we visited the apartment of the Sapang Palay elders. Here they are just getting started by taking down the curtains to wash them along with the rest of their laundry.

Need to clean up and put things away before the scrubbing can take place.

They have their week baptism chart appropriately displayed. Next to it was their list of investigators and lesson schedule.

 This apartment is owned by a Catholic family. As I looked at their location to offer prayers to Mary I was struck by the similarity to the Rameumptom from the Book of Mormon. The stand was obviously made for only one person at a time. The site had beautiful flowers and a mote of water across the front.


We left Sapang Palay and went to Tungkong Mangga elders' apartment. They weren't actively cleaning when we arrived so we didn't get pictures at their apartment.









October 31 and November 1 are holidays in the Philippines. October 31 is All Hallows Eve and November 1 is All Souls Day. Both are dedicated to remembering the dead. The Filipinos visit the cemeteries on November 1 the same as we do on Memorial Day in the US.

Both days had a curfew for the missionaries to be in their apartments by 5 PM.

Since both of these days were holidays we didn't have to worry about our car coding. In a lot of the stores we saw costumes and jack-o-lantern buckets for sale but we didn't see any trick or treaters. Here at the Redwoods on the, Saturday before, there was an area designated for children with a spook alley and booths set up for them to enjoy the day. Traffic was extremely light both days.

We had dance practice again on Thursday. We are starting to remember the steps. We are the oldest couple in the group. We have some really good dancers that we keep an eye on and try to follow.

Friday evening was our date night. We went to dinner and then to see "Doctor Strange." It is a Marvel Comics movie with lots of special effects.

Saturday was a really busy day for us. We did our usual P-day things, but we had several events to attend. The first was a Young Men and Young Women Cultural Dance. Each Ward in the Stake was asked to pick a traditional Filipino dance and perform it at the cultural event.  All of the costumes were very colorful and each Ward did a wonderful job of performing the dance. We were really glad we had gone.

 Traditional dance performed with bamboo sticks.

 Sister Broadhead was asked to give the bambll sticks dance a try.

This dance appeared to be a harvest dance as each dancer had two pop bottles covered with a corn husk.

 The La Mesa boys are asking the girls for a dance.

The girls don't appear to be sure they are going to accept the invitation.

 They do accept and the dance is performed. Each dance involved intricate foot work and talking with the hands.

 This group started off with a war dance.

 They concluded with a dance with their chosen partner.

Dancing on one foot with a hat on the other has got to be tricky. It requires a lot of balance. The boys had a bamboo drum on their waist that they played as they danced.

 This dance started off with five sets of bamboo sticks that the dancers danced through.

The bamboo sticks were then put crosswise at 90 degree angles. As the dance progressed the pace increased. It became more and more exciting.








Our day ended at the Ward Home Evening. Just as the meeting began Brother Don asked Tom to give the lesson for Home Evening. Fortunately he had given a wonderful spiritual thought the week before at our weekly planning meeting on the importance of hymns and studying their inspired teachings. He used that message for the lesson and did a wonderful job. He referred to the message in "I Am a Child of God" and "Families Can Be Together For Ever." Since the Christmas season has started in the Philippines he concluded with a Christmas hymn. No Home Evening be complete without a few games. Sister Lata and Sister Aldemita did a great job with the games that were played.