Pagsanjan Falls and Nayong Pilipino

In August we had a visit from our son, Bruce.  He was on a business trip to Bangkok, Thailand and stopped in Manila on his way back to the U.S.  We went on a boat out to Corregidor, which we had done previously with Derek when he came.  Then we traveled down south of Manila to Laguna Province and went on another boat to Pagsanjan Falls.  This boat was a lot, lot smaller, more like a canoe and we had two locals to paddle and drag us up stream.  Here we are on the boat:

 

 

There was not a lot of water at some of the rocky areas, so the two paddlers got out and pulled us up the rocks.  It was quite a workout for them with 3 Americans sitting in the boat.

Notice the bare feet running over the rocks...
We made it up to the falls and then rode on a bamboo raft right under the falls.  This explains why we had plastic helmets to wear.  The water was pounding on us, but we survived.

It was great having Bruce visit.  We never thought we would get more than one son to come, but to have two come was great.  We definitely are blessed. 

 

 

Dale and I went up North of Manila one Saturday in late August and visited the area where Clark Air Force Base used to be.  It is still there, but not operating as a U.S. Air Base.  Close to the base is a special cultural park that has cultural exhibits from all over the Philippines.  There was a greenhouse with some rare orchids, such as the ones above.

 



 

 There were also replicas of houses representing different areas of the Philippines.  They use a lot of bamboo to weave siding for the houses and they also use the bamboo for flooring.  There were even bamboo trees planted in the park.  See Dale hiding in the bamboo. . .

 

 

There was also another use for the bamboo.  We saw a cultural show presented at the park and the dancers did a bamboo pole dance.  Two people hold the bamboo poles at opposite ends and tap them on the floor and then bring them together and tap.  While they are doing that, the dancers step between the bamboo going in and out.  They can do this amazingly fast.  Here's a picture with blurry dancers because they are moving so fast.

 

 

After visiting the cultural park we went to a Mexican restaurant near the base.  We had heard from the other senior missionaries in our mission that it was decent Mexican food and actually looks like a restaurant you could find in America.  It was pretty good food for being in the Philippines.  There are very few Mexican food places here.

 

 

I will add one other picture from our apartment.  We had some of the young missionaries over on preparation day and showed them a mission approved movie, "Wreck It Ralph."  I think they are only allowed to watch Disney movies.  It was fun to have them over.

 

There are five Filipinos and one New Zealander.





 



Our English Class

We have been teaching an English class every Thursday night for the last several months.  We use a program that was written by a former Senior Missionary couple who served in the Philippines.  It is called SELA, Speak English Like Americans.  It is a ten week course.  Here is a picture of the lesson manuals.

We really enjoy meeting with our English class.  It is a great way to meet some wonderful Filipinos and hopefully help them with their English.  The students are a variety of ages and have differing English language skills.  We completed our first course and are still working on finishing the second course.  Some of our students have attended both courses.  We have had two non-members attend our class.  One of them recently was baptized and we were fortunate enough to go to her baptism.  While Eden was coming to our class, I called on her several times to say a prayer in English.  The first time I called on her she wasn't ready, but said she would be willing to do it after preparing.  The next time I called on her to pray, she had her prayer written down so she could say it.  On the last session of the class, Eden was not able to attend and one of our other students told us she wasn't a member of the church.  This really surprised us.  One Sunday we attended church in the area where Eden lived and saw her at church.  That was when we found out she was going to be baptized the next Saturday and she invited us to attend.   Below are pictures of Eden preparing to be baptized and another picture with her family:

 

One student that we got to know pretty well from our first class came back and visited one week during our second class.  She told us that she was getting married the next week and wanted to invite us to attend her wedding.  We were very happy to go to her temple wedding.  Her name is Danica and her husband's name is Joenice.  After the temple marriage ceremony, the officiator told Danica and Joenice that they could kiss. They started to move away from the altar, but the officiator said, "No, you can kiss over the altar." Danica and Joenice are both short Filipinos, so they had to stand on the kneeling cushions to be able to kiss over the altar. It was a humorous moment.  Here are two pictures of the happy couple:

 

 

We have made some really nice wonderful friends in our English class.  It is one of the blessings we enjoy as missionaries in the Philippines.

 

 

Pasay Stake Relief Society Anniversary Celebration

We live in the Pasay Stake of the church here in Manila.  On May 10th they had a Relief Society (the church's women's organization) roadshow presentation with each Ward in the Stake participating.  It was a wonderful event.  They had special lighting and sound set up in the cultural hall of the Stake Center.  We arrived at 4:30 pm for the 5:00 start time.  But, as usual here in the Philippines, things didn't get started on time.  The people here are very laid back and don't worry about punctuality.  So, the event finally started around 6:30 pm.  There was standing room only in the building.



Women from 1900 - 1910
(Pasay 2nd Ward)

Each Ward presented a different Era of time and depicted the life of previous General Presidents of the Relief Society.  Notice the long dresses in this Era of the early 1900's and the women's suffrage movement.  I liked the picture frames they used as part of their roadshow.

 



Louis Armstrong singing "It's a Wonderful World"

 

From the 1920's to 1930's
Frank Sinatra singing "The Way You Look Tonight"
(Pasay 1st Ward)

I think this group had their time periods mixed up because I think Frank Sinatra sang mostly during the 40's and 50's.  I guess they just like the song and their Bishop makes a very handsome Frank.





Women from the 1940's and 50's
"Let's dance."







Dancing to "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy"
(Pasay 3rd Ward)

 

Here are the 60's and 70's
(Pasay 4th Ward)







                                                     

                                                     The 80's and 90's
                                                                 (Manila 2nd Ward)

 

The year 2000 to the present
(Manila 1st Ward, the one we attend)

There was a lot of singing and dancing going on.  Each group had a 15 minute presentation.  There were some who presented a dramatization from the life of the Relief Society president from their Era.  They worked on this for 3 months, practicing and making costumes.  It was a big undertaking and very entertaining.

 

 

At the end

At the end the whole group came together and sang "As Sisters in Zion."

Aliwan Fiesta Parade

 

In the late afternoon on April 26th we walked over to Roxas Boulevard (about three blocks from our apartment and along the bay) to watch a parade for the Aliwan Fiesta. The parade was supposed to start at 4:00, but didn't really get going until 5:00 pm. That is so typical for the Philippines. We went to Jollibee's and bought a coke float to cool us down in the 95 degree heat. While we were waiting for the parade to start we sat down and an older Filipino gentleman came over and started talking to us. We must have conversed with him for a half and hour. We talked a lot about the conditions in the Philippines. All Filipinos think their government is corrupt and should do more to help the people. We were able to get the gentleman's name and phone number as a referral for the missionaries.  He was interested in doing genealogy work at one of the Family History Centers.

 

 



 We were not sure what to expect from the parade, but we were pleasantly surprised to see people dancing and wearing very colorful costumes.  There was going to be a performance at the end of the parade where the different groups would compete for a grand prize.

 

 

There were lots of drums and other percussion instruments being played during the parade.  There were also marching bands.

 

 

The Tuna Festival Float
(Looked like a big tuna fish.)



The Rice Festival Float

 

There were several floats in the parade.  Each float and dance group represented a festival that is held in provinces in the Philippines.  The Rice Festival Float even had running water to show how they flood the rice fields.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 



Above are two more of the dance groups in their colorful and elaborate costumes.

 

We left to walk home from the parade about 6:00 pm.  It was almost time for the sun to set and we had been out in the heat for several hours.  The participants in the parade were suffering from the heat.  One group had a large flatbed truck for their participants to climb up on when they became too hot and tired to go on.  Looked like a good plan to us. 

40 Years and beyond . . . .

We celebrated our 40th Anniversary on April 19th by going out to dinner at The Spiral Restaurant in the Hotel Sofitel on Manila Bay.  We were able to witness another beautiful sunset on the bay.

Someone graciously asked if we would like them to take our picture.  So here we are.

The Spiral Restaurant in the Hotel Sofitel is supposed to be pretty nice and is not far from our apartment. We had a little trouble finding a restaurant that was open because of the Easter holidays. Almost all of them were closed on Thursday and Friday and some were still closed on Saturday.

Anna and the Easter Bunny

We had not planned to celebrate our 40th anniversary in the Philippines but here we are. This week we will also pass the half way point on our Mission. In some ways it has gone by fast and in some ways very slowly.  It has not been what we expected but I guess that it never is. We have had some great spiritual experiences and we have had some struggles. We love the Filipino people and being with the young Missionaries.

We told the restaurant that it was our 40th anniversary when we made the reservation, but we weren't expecting this nice memento.  In fact, we had asked for the bill and kept waiting and waiting for them to bring it.  Then they surprised us with this chocolate mousse dessert with the words "Happy 40th Anniversary" written in chocolate syrup.  So nice!

Alfredo and His Bread Store

We have a Facebook account that we use to help communicate with many of the Perpetual Education Fund participants here in the Philippines.  We help answer questions or send reminders to the participants.  Sometimes we get responses from participants who are so thankful for the opportunity to further their education.  We received a nice message from one of our participants, Alfredo, back in November.

 Alfredo making his bread

He said:

"I received my National Certificate II on Bread and Pastry Production on September 13, 2013.  I am very grateful for the PEF program for giving me a chance to pursue a short course that helped me develop and enhance my skills.  I am now planning to open our bakery.  For the meantime I use my small living room as my working area and our front porch as our store.  That gives me a daily income.  Being unemployed for many years didn't stop me from being active in the church because I know the blessings will come for being obedient.  Being self-reliant gives me confidence to serve better.  I plan to construct our better looking bakery in our front yard in the near future.  I am looking forward to meeting you soon."

Bread fresh from the oven

 

 

When we received this nice response from Alfredo, we forwarded it on to the PEF Headquarters in Salt Lake City.  Just recently the we were asked to see if we could get a picture of Alfredo to go with the story that will be included in the PEF Monthly Newsletter.  We contacted Alfredo and he sent the pictures you are viewing in the blog.  This was his response to us:

 

 

"Hi, Sister.  These are pictures of my bakery and working place.  Thanks to PEF for my education.  I hope this will serve as an inspiration to all.  I would like to study again to learn to become a pastry chef."

 

Here he is in his store





 



We met Alfredo this month.  He wants to take another course so he can improve his skills.  It is very gratifying to see the Perpetual Education Fund help this good brother.  There are many stories like Alfredo's because of  the Perpetual Education Fund.  It's great to see it work.

 



A Job Supermarket and a visit to the U.S. Embassy

Dale talking to Sister Whittaker and a volunteer.

We left home around 8:00 this morning, Saturday, April 5th and drove to the Aurora church building in Quezon City to go to a Job Supermarket presented by the Self Reliance Center in that building. A Job Supermarket is an opportunity to bring together job seekers and employment agencies. We wanted to get an idea of how it was organized so we could prepare to do one in Makati later this year. There were about 20 booths set up with manpower agencies and other job search businesses.

People applying for jobs at the Supermarket.

We walked around and talked to the different agencies and asked them if they would be interested in doing a job fair in Makati. Most of them said they would like to. So now we have some more businesses to invite to our job fair.  There was someone there from McDonalds who told us that they have a goal of having 1000 stores in the Philippines and they were always hiring. Their office is in Makati.  We took pictures of the room set up and then went downstairs to find out what they were doing in the Self Reliance Center. There were people there taking pictures of job applicants and making copies to put on resumes. There were some volunteers working with applicants on their resumes as well.  It was nice to see all of this before we get ready to do one.

 

 

Pasay North Zone on April 7, 2014

 

On Monday afternoon, April 7th, we went with our Zone to tour the American Embassy. We had arranged the tour with Brother Bremner who is one of the Church members that work in the Embassy. All of the missionaries were excited about going. This is probably more of a reflection on how little there is to do on p-day here other than wash clothes. The tour was nice. Brother Bremner did a good job with it and the building was historic and fairly ornate with quite a few picture of the WW II era. On the way to the Embassy we walked along the boardwalk and the missionaries were all impressed by the view of Manila Bay and how nice it was. They took quite a few pictures. I think that there were about 16 missionaries. One pair had to go for a medical check up and could not go.

 

Elder Jenson at Manila Bay with the U.S. Embassy behind him.

 

On the way we noticed that while all of the young men were busy talking to each other the Sister Missionary Trainers (the two tall sisters in the picture above) were talking to people they met about the Church. They talked to someone with a Wendy's shirt on and gave him a pamphlet and then later talked to someone in McDonalds. Talking to people about the Church is what missionaries are supposed to do. It was a great example for the whole group.  Dale brought this up the next day during the Zone Meeting.

 

Anna on the elevated crosswalk near the embassy.

 

We walked down to the Embassy and gave them our IDs so we could be processed in and be given visitor passes. Brother Bremner met us outside and talked with us before we went in. We each had to go through the metal detector and be gently searched. After going through security we were taken through a door and went out into a different world. There was a very nice garden area with some beautiful shade trees. Brother Bremner told us a little of the history of the embassy. It had originally been the home for the American governor who served here. It was later made into the embassy. Parts of it were destroyed during WW II, but because Manila was declared an open city by the Americans and the Japanese some of the building survived the war. The Japanese actually used the embassy during the war. It has a beautiful ballroom and there are pictures on the walls of the authorities who have served there.  Brother Bremner told us about how the flagpole is still standing and in use even though it was struck by bullets during the war. When the embassy was being evacuated as the Japanese came into Manila, the Americans took the flag down and burned it so the Japanese could not desecrate it. After the war there was a military tribunal held in the ballroom for the commander of the Japanese forces in the Philippines.  He was found guilty.  Now there are three buildings in the embassy compound where 1200 people work, 500 of them are Americans.

We always love being with the young missionaries.  They are great!

Training up north in Olongapo

 Beach along Subic Bay

 

We drove up to Olongapo on Friday, March 14th. It took us just over three hours to get there. We had a very good road for most of the way. It was nice to drive through some open country and it was nice to drive on a 4 lane road for most of the way. There are not a lot of 4 lane roads in the Philippines. The Olongapo-Subic area is where the U.S. navy base was once located and the area looks more modern than most of the country. There are nicer homes there and fewer slum areas than we see anywhere else. We stayed in a fairly nice hotel just off of the highway in Subic Bay. We got there a little after noon because we wanted to look around some. We drove along the shore and got out and took some pictures. It is a pretty nice area although it is on a large bay so you do not see any waves coming into shore.

 

The beach close to our hotel

 

We found the nicest hotel listed on the internet and decided to go there to see it and have lunch. It was called the Lighthouse Inn. We decided to walk around the property first and look at the beach area. We walked out to their dock before a security guard came out and told us we would have to leave and that we could only enter through the main doors. He said that it was private property and that the hotel only wanted guests in there and they wanted to keep others out. He showed us the neighboring beach area that wasn't so nice and explained something about not wanting the people from over there to get on the nice property. This is the Philippines and there is a very big difference between those who have and the rest. We went into the hotel and it was very nice even by American standards. We sat down for lunch and the people next to us started asking us questions. It turned out that they worked for the Hotel. One was in the Marketing Department and one was the manager of the restaurant. We told them where we were from and what we were doing there. They were very nice and talked to us for quite a while. They were interested in the PEF program and shared some opinions about the Filipinos and what they needed. They suggested something for lunch and we ordered. The manager came back and talked to us some more during lunch and then when we asked for the check we found that he had given us a 10% discount.

 

Carabao pulling a cart

 

We left at about 6:30 am to drive up to Iba. We were not sure exactly how long it would take and we needed to be there for a 9:00 am meeting. The weather was very nice and we could see very well during the morning hours. We saw mountains, rivers, the ocean and lots of Mango trees on our way. The traffic was light so Dale was actually able to look around some. We saw a lot of carabao along the road and several of them pulling carts down the road. We finally got a picture of a carabao pulling one of the carts. We also saw mango trees everywhere and signs advertising a mango festival that had just been held. When we got to the Iba chapel a sister told us that they have the best sweetest mangos in the Philippines there.
 

Green mangos



We had a little trouble finding the chapel in Iba, but when we did the gate was still locked although we only had to wait for a few minutes to get in. We had plenty of time as we had arrived about 45 minutes early. The District President was there and helped us set up for our meeting. We received a text from Sister Abanggan who was in charge of the training telling us that she would be late and to start without her. We were not sure exactly what to do, so we pulled up a small presentation on Self Reliance Services and started with that. The plan had been that she would take the first 30 minutes and then we would divide into two groups and we would train one group on how to teach the Planning For Success Workshop and Sister Abanggan would train the Self Reliance Committee. When she arrived Dale asked her if she wanted some time and she told him to just go ahead and keep everyone together for our Training. Things never go as planned here but we were not too worried. We presented all of our training and they seemed very interested. We had about 30-40 members there and they have a lot of young single adults and others who could benefit from this. We finished and starting wrapping up. The District President had left a little early and went to the nearby Jollibees to purchase lunch for everyone, including us. We were surprised and pleased by this because we did not have much time to spare before we needed to leave to make the next meeting in Olongapo.

Chapel in Iba
 

 On our way back to Olongapo we saw rice being dried right on the side of the highway.  We have seen this happening in many places.  It must be the best place they have to dry it.
 

 

We stopped at the Olongapo Mission Office and visited with the office couple for a few minutes on our way back to Olongapo.  The office, Mission Home, and church building were all together in one fenced in area.

 

Olongapo Mission Office

Olongapo Mission Home

We drove back down to Olongapo, arriving at the chapel around 1:15. The training was to start at 2:00. We met with the ERC service missionaries and they helped us set up for the meeting. They already had the chairs and a table set up in the cultural hall. We met the district president who was just recently called. He was very helpful and explained how he was hoping to reactivate people using the new PEF loan program. He was very positive and excited about everything. We did the training for about 50 people there. Some of them were young people who wanted to know more about the PEF loan program. We handed out materials to those who would be teaching the Planning for Success workshop and also gave materials to the Branch Presidents as well. The district president helped with answering questions in Tagalog at the end of the training. The people here are very excited about the new program and we think we will see many more applicants from this area.

 



Dale training





Anna training

 

The drive back to Manila wasn't bad and we got back to our apartment at about 7:30 pm. We had stopped for 20 minutes at a Service Center so the total drive was only about 2 1/2 hours but we were glad to be back.

 



A statue in a roundabout in Olongapo