The Senior Couples in the Philippines Angeles Mission

 Funerals here are a little different than in the US.  The body is kept in the home for about a week while family and friends call at the house.  If the home is too small, it is at the Mortuary.  The deceased family is also suppose to feed those who visit.  Also the people who visit contribute a little money to the family.  One way they do this is they set up tables where people play cards for money and the family receives the winnings.  There is a cemetery at the end of the street we live on.  Saturday there were two funeral processions that went past our house.  The pictures below are of the processions.  One of the even had a band playing.  Usually there is just music coming from a loud speaker.

The umbrellas are because it is hot and they are used to keep the sun off.  It was not raining on Saturday.  Umbrellas are used both in sunshine and in rain.  A very valuable item to own.  Thanks to Mark and Kaylene, we have two of them.

These are the beautiful, hard working Sisters who live next door to us.  Far left, Sister Caoile, Sister Roisum, Sister Batican and Sister Anderson.  Can you guess which are the natives and which are the foreigners?

One day we were driving through town and when we came to the school that is in the middle of town we saw about 100 children loaded into each dump truck.  One had the girls in it the other had the boys.  One of the YSA's we work with said this is a very common thing.  When they go on a field trip, the go in dump trucks.  I couldn't believe what I was seeing.  No one had a seat belt - no one even had a seat.  They were packed in really tight though.

These are coconuts growing a tree in Bamban.  

This is a mother duck with her ducklings in a little stream in BamBan, a proselyting area in our Zone that was shut down at the last transfer because we didn't have enough missionaries.  We are in the process of trying to fix up the house where the missionaries live while we have a few weeks until the area will be opened up again.

The rice is beginning to ripen in the fields.  I am anxious to see how they harvest it.

More rice fields.

This is one of the roosters that live in our yard.  I heard him crowing the other day and went to look and he was perched up on this tree stump just crowing away while the hens paid him no attention at all.  I was thinking it might be interesting to research all of the references we have in our English language that refer to something about chickens and roosters.

This a turkey.  I was beginning if we could find turkey for Thanksgiving.  Maybe we can.  However, Thanksgiving is not celebrated in the Philippines.

We attended the baptism the other evening of this Grandmother and her two Grandchildren.  These children look too young to be baptized, but the smallest is 10 and the oldest is 13.  It is almost impossible for me to guess how old the children are here.  They all look soooo young to me.

This is a Caraboa (sp).  I think I have posted pictures of them before.  This one was laying down in a small pond on a very hot day.  I feel like I'd like to join him in the pond at times.  It gets really hot here.

Picture of rice fields being flooded in the foreground and the sun shinning through the clouds.  We have very pretty scenery here.

Another scenery picture.