Training in the Paradise of the Manila Mission - The Island of Palawan

We arrived in Palawan with Jomel and Franco after about an hour flight on Friday, Feb. 28th.  We took a van to our hotel and got an early check-in.  We saw tourists everywhere. We saw more Americans and Europeans here than we ever see in Manila. It looked like we were the only people who weren't tourists on the plane. There was a tourist kiosk in the outdoor hotel lobby which was run by a company owned by President Mosquera who is the District President for the Puerto Princesa District. We met several members of the Church who work for his agency. We were offered a discount on a tour but we did not have time to really go anywhere outside of the city. We were of course invited to come back for another visit. Palawan was very nice with clear air, blue water and mountains. We know they also have nice beaches but we did not see any. It was nice to breathe clear air for a while and to be able to see the mountains without looking through smog.

 

Anna at the Baywalk in Puerto Princesa 



 

We had a training session planned for 5:30 pm in the District Center. I had been worried because I had a hard time getting any response back from President Mosquera so I wasn't really sure if anyone was coming. When we arrived there were only a few people there which was not surprising, this is the Philippines after all. Pres Mosquera told me that we would probably start around 6:30 pm to give people time to arrive. He sent out a bunch of text messages and people started coming. We ended up with almost 40 people which is more than we usually get from a Stake. The training went well and everyone seemed happy about it.

Dale, Jomel, Franco, & Pres. Angoy at Baker's Hill

 

We left Saturday morning around 7:30 am for the long trip to Narra. Like most trips here it is not the distance but the time that counts. The road is famous for being a very bad road but has been improved a lot in recent years and there are only a few bad places today. Most of the road is now paved with only short distances of dirt and rock. The road is windy as it runs near the coast and very bumpy but passable.   There was not much traffic and we saw a lot of carabao. In some place people were riding on the carabao and in other places they were pulling carts loaded with goods just like we see in the souvenir stores. It was a very pretty drive through the jungle along the ocean in many places. We drove through a canopy of trees where the branches touched above our heads and past a crocodile park. It took about 2 hours to get to Narra.

 

 

Here is how most people travel on the island.

 

When we arrived at Narra we starting setting up for the training in one room, but the District President, President Betita, decided that we should have everyone who was at the building attend our training. So we waited for another meeting to finish and then had everyone attend the meeting in the chapel. Again, Jomel and Franco did the presentation. Dale and I got up and bore our testimonies about PEF/Self Reliance.  There were about 45 people in attendance. The meeting took from 10:30 until 1:30. We were impressed with the spirit of the humble people attending the meeting. Many of them had come from far away to be here. Some told us that they had to leave their homes at 5:30 am to attend the training and that it would take nearly 4 hours to get back home. We were impressed with their dedication. 

We got back from Narra about 10 minutes before our ride was coming to get us for a fireside in Puerto Princesa.  Elder and Sister Newson gave us a ride to the fireside.  At the fireside we had a group of about 40 people again. Dale and I did our presentation and answered questions about the PEF loan.

Puerto Princesa Bay

 

On Sunday we had another busy day.  We attended church at Santa Monica Branch and met with several PEF participants there.  We then did another PEF presentation for the whole branch during the last hour of church.  We hadn't planned to have such a large group, but the Branch President wanted to have everyone hear our message.  There were about 100 people there.

On Monday,we then walked through town looking like tourists when a man with a tricycle approached us and told us about the WW II museum and offered to take us there and give us a ride anywhere we wanted to go that day. When we asked how much it would cost and he said that we could just pay whatever we thought it was worth. We decided to get in and he took us to the museum which was further than we had guessed, so we were glad to be riding.  The driver waited for us and then took us to a souvenir store where we bought a few things including some pearls for Anna. They had all kinds of pearls there in all different colors. The Philippines and especially Palawan is famous for having pearls.

Anna at Kalui Restaurant (The Tiki  Room)



We then had the driver take us to a place for lunch. We had been talking to him about the Church.   He knew someone who was a member and knew where the church was located. While we ate lunch he went home and took his daughter to school. He said he was concerned about her and wanted her to be safe. I thought, he should be a member of the Church. Lunch was very good, probably the best food that we have had in the Philippines. The restaurant was built of bamboo with a thatched roof and reminded us of the Tiki Room in Disney world. After lunch we had him take us to the mall next door to the hotel and leave us there. He gave us his card and invited us back and invited us to meet his family the next time we are in Puerto Princesa. We talked to him some more about the church and told him that we would pay him 500 pesos for the rides but we wanted him to meet with the missionaries. He agreed and said he would be happy to meet with the missionaries. We told him he had to meet with them at least once and than after that it was up to him. (We are missionaries, after all)