Tuesday, April 26, 2016

Baptisms and Hike

Another baptism....

 Brother Dungo and his wife were baptized by Elders Arcayos and Bautista.  Here's a pictures of them with all their family.  They brought a lot of family to watch: six children, two cousins, his Mom, a friend, etc.  It was a special occasion.  They are going to be a great family in the church.  On Sunday they were confirmed and Brother Dungo asked Elder Swift to do the confirmation.


 Here are the missionaries with five of the Dungo children.  The cute little girls really like Sister Swift.  When they come to church they follow her around.  They are planning to be baptized next month too.


 We were invited to a birthday celebration for Sister Calderon, seated in the middle with her husband and two daughters and a son.  We brought a birthday cake to help celebrate.  It was nice of them to invite us and the young missionaries over.


 On Monday we went on a hike up Mt. Manalamon.  We went very early because it's very hot this time of year.  We went with the Jones and Rogers, two other Senior Missionary Couples.  They live in the same city as us in Baliwag, but are assigned to different Branches.


The hike started out through this small cave.  We went in the front and out the back.


 A view of some of the majestic scenery we saw on the hike.  It was very hot though, good thing we left early and brought lots of water.


 A pineapple plant alongside the trail.
 We made it to the top.  The view was spectacular.  After we got back down we had a picnic by the riverside.  It was a fun trip.


On the drive home we saw the entrance to the Philippine First Scout Ranger Regiment, which is their special operation forces.  Good to know they're close by in case we need them.  The Chinese have been building some islands on the reefs in the South China Seas nearby and installing missile batteries and there are diplomatic tensions right now.  The Philippine people aren't really worried.  They tell us America will protect them.