October 1, 2014

This past week was Family Week in the Philippines.  The two Districts here in Camiling had a Fun Walk which we participated in and they following the Fun Walk they had a "blood letting".  Bet you didn't know that blood letting was still being practiced in the world.  It was really a blood drive.  Anyway we thought it was kind of funny to hear it referred to as a blood letting.  Here are a few pictures from the Fun Walk.

This is President Carino.  He is the Branch President of the Camiling Branch 4, the Branch that our home is in here in Camiling.

The taller gentleman is President Tabelisma.  He is President of the San Clamente Branch.  We had a police escort and they stopped the traffic as we crossed each intersection.  There are no stop lights or stop signs at intersections.  It is just a free for all at each intersection. 

These are members of Camiling Branch 4, our home Branch.

Trying to get lined up to  go.  The Walk was supposed to begin at 6 am.  At 6:10 we woke up and wondered if we could still make it in time to walk.  We decided to get ready and go and see if they were still at the Chapel.  We got there about 30 minutes late and as you can see from the pictures, they had not started yet.  We thought that might be the case judging from other events we have been to.  There are three time elements here.  The announced time, Filipino time which is whenever they get ready to start, and Mission Time which is 10 minutes is on time, on time is late. 

I am not in any of the pictures because I am taking the pictures, but here is Elder Weber with some members and the signs that some of the members had made to carry in the Walk.

The Sister on the left is Lisa, the Branch Presidents wife and also the Sister who does our laundry.  The sister in the pink hat is Tina (don't know her last name).  She sells pork in the palanke (market).  They are both in our Branch 4.  The truck on the right in the background is our truck.

We attended a couple of baptisms on Saturday, October 20, 2014.  These are some pictures from the baptism.

The tall Elder in the back is Elder Horsburg. He is from Australia.  He served in Cabaluyan Branch. He was transferred at the last transfer.  This is a very difficult area.  They do not have a Chapel, just a rented house where they meet.  They really struggle with having active Priesthood holders.  The Sisters are Sister Brady (who was also transferred) and Sister Lamera who serve in the San Clemente Branch. All of these children are over the age of nine so they are considered convert baptisms.  The Elder next to Elder Horsburg is Elder Daplin who kids all the time that he is only 12 years old, and that is really what he looks like.  But he is really a hard working missionary.

This is Elder Kisor and Bro. Puyat (who is a short term missionary).  They were serving in the Birbira Branch. Bro Puyat does not have his call yet so he is Brother and Elder and has since gone home at the last transfer.  The mission often uses short term missionaries who are preparing to go on missions and is a means of giving them some training and an idea of what serving a mission will be like.  These short term missionaries are really an asset because sometimes for one reason or another we do not have enough missionaries to keep all the areas open.  Elder Kisor has a beautiful tenor voice and sings for us frequently.  He is from the Cincinnati area,

This is Sister Anderson who was transferred last week and her companion Sister Batican.  They had been teaching these children for about six months and their baptism was moved up to Tuesday so that Sister Anderson who felt she would be transferred could be here for it. Sister Anderson and Sister Batican live next door to us.  The little girl who was baptized is the cousin of the little girl pictured below.

This is Gwynth.  She is nine years old.  We made friends when we first got here.  She was at the Chapel and is one of the few children who speak English and speaks especially fluently.  We have become quite good friends.  She tells me that her father works in Afghanistan and is only home a few weeks each year.  This is very common here in the Philippines.  It is one of the reasons why enough Priesthood in the Church is such a problem.  Many fathers and husbands work abroad somewhere to earn money and send it home to their families.  One family in Branch 1 has a mother works on another Philippine island a long ways away from here.  There are 10 children in that family, mostly males.  Several have served missions, one just left to serve and another is preparing to serve.  One of their boys served in the Salt Lake City Mission and now he wants to go back to the US but he is need to help support his family and also he doesn't have the money to go.  These families make great sacrifices for each other.  I'm not sure how a marriage works when you are separated so much from your spouse.

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.

The Baptism of Tony Manuel Sindyan on August 9, 2014.

This is Tony with Sister Anderson on the left and Sister Naingue on the Right.  They are the missionaries who taught him the Gospel.

Elder Weber with Tony, Sister Naingue and Sister Anderson

The young women on the left is Sharizza Tabolisma.  She is in the San Clemente Branch.  She is a niece of the District President.  Tony met her at the college where he goes to work out.  I think she is the reason he decided to investigate the Church further.

Some of the Branch who were at the baptism.  I am not in the pictures because I am taking the pictures.

August 6, 2014

Monday was P-day and we had the Camiling Zone to our home for breakfast.  We served scrambled eggs, hash brown potatoes, hot cakes, bacon, juice and of course rice. There were 26 missionaries in all.  They must have been really hungry because I used 7 dozen eggs, 3 lbs of bacon, almost 10 lbs of potatoes, lots of pancake batter, and about 1 1/2 gallons of juice.  It was the Monday after fast Sunday so maybe they were really hungry.  It was such a pleasure to have them at our home.  They are such an inspiration to Elder Weber and me.  Two of the missionaries in our Zone are going home, Sister Davidson and Elder Morgan.  We will really miss them.  They have been excellent, hardworking missionaries. They are returning with honor.  Below are pictures of the breakfast.

Camiling Zone Missionaries.

Elders washing dishes

Playing Sister Anderson's find your companion making animal noises game.

Playing the category game with the squirt bottle