Hurt Foot, Fruit and Landscape

Sometimes we go out visiting members of the Branch to encourage them to come to church and sometimes just to visit.

 A little girl in our branch got her foot caught in the spokes of a motorcycle.  She has to have her foot up like this for 4 weeks.  No crutches, no walking cast.  It has been 2 weeks now and she has the big bandages and cast-like thing off now, but she still can not walk on it and gets it cleaned at the clinic every third day or something like that.  If they find a wheel chair she can go back to school next week.  This family is not active, but we have gone to visit her about 4 times since the accident.

 At one of the members homes they gave us some of this fruit from off the trees in their yard.  It's called an atis or sugar apple.

This is what it looks like on the inside.  The white fleshy part is the fruit and it's delicious.  I really like it.  The seeds are black and you have to suck the fruit off them and then spit the seeds out.  It says on the internet that the small atis trees grow in any type of soil.  Maybe we'll bring some home and try to grow one.

Here are some pictures of the landscape around the city where we are assigned.  This area is just a few blocks off the main road.  It is so different looking than the city area where most of the people live just a couple of blocks away.

 

This is the same area, but a different angle. Now you can see a volcanic mountain in the background.

Jeepney Trip

Most of the things we do you can't take pictures of, like at church or visiting people, but we do get to take pictures of activities.

 The YW planned a birthday party for two of their members, Monica and Camile.  Sister Swift helped out.  They cooked and decorated and then had a party at the church building with food and games.  They had a lot fun.

 Every Tuesday morning we go to meetings with the missionaries.  There is usually some type of training that the missionaries do themselves.  This is Elder Uele from New Zealand teaching a workshop.

 On Sunday after church we went on a jeepney ride to a church building in the Quezon City Mission.  It was along ride but we finally made it.  This is the branch president and some of the members going into the building.

 There were lots of members there.  We thought it was going to be about Self Reliance but it turned out to be about the Pathways Education Program, which is not even being offerred in our Mission yet.

This is the jeepney that we rode up in.  There were 19 of us in addition to the driver all in this little jeepney.  Inside are two long bench seats facing inward.  This is what the drivers usually do while waiting for their passengers to come back.  Sleep.

New Family baptized

This is the Juan family. They were just baptized into the Branch last Saturday. 

 Sister Joy and four cute daughters.  She also has two sons in the photo that were too young to be baptized.  It's great when a whole family joins the church.  They were very happy.

On the phone the other day with my dad and brother I mentioned the street sweeper was outside the house.  In the Philippines street sweepers aren't large trucks with rolling brushes.  This is a Philippine street sweeper pushing a cart for the leaves and brush they sweep up.

 Here you can see the type of brooms they use, made of long stiff bristles.  They're out in the heat of the day and wear dark colors with long sleeves and usually have their heads covered from the sun and sometimes even their faces.

 We were over at the Sister Gemma's home one day.  She is the Relief Society President.  She has a small business on her front porch cooking some fried Filipino foods that people from the neighborhood stop by and buy.  She also makes some ice and jello deserts like halo-halo.

 The District had a 70's & 80's Flashback Gold and Green Ball for the adults and youth.  There was lots of dancing.  This one guy in the picture had a great 80's outfit.  Our Branch did a dance routine also, that they had been practicing for two weeks.  We like going to all the activities in our Branch and District.

Another Week in the Philippines

 We are fortunate to be able to spend our time here in the Philippines and to be serving the Lord and helping to build his Church in the city of San Ildefonso in the Bulacan Province.  The picture below is a daytime picture.  It is hard to see, but the colors in the sky above this dark cloud were beautiful.

 I could see every color of the rainbow vividly.  It is very hard to see in the picture, but there were blues, greens, reds, yellows, oranges, and purples.

  The young elders and sisters have so much enthusiasm and are such hard workers.  They are bringing the gospel of Christ to as many people as will listen.

 This is Sister Daquioag.  She is waiting for her VISA and then will be flying to America.  She has been called to serve a mission to Mesa, Arizona.  Who knows, maybe she will run across my Dad when she gets down there.  Her English is really good.

We found this strange little frog in our driveway one afternoon after a big thunderstorm.  He is quite different from the other type of frogs we see all the time.  We have been having lots of rain and thunderstorms lately and are in the middle of the rainy season.

 We went with the Branch to see Jared off on his mission.  He is the Branch President's son and is going to the Cauayan Mission on Luzon Island in the Philippines (that is the same island we are on only further north).

 We also went with Sister Romulo to get her temple endowments.  This is a picture in the waiting area with some of the other sisters in the Branch.  She is third from the right with her grand-daughter Rene Rose seated next to her.

 Saw this little leaf on top of the air conditioner unit outside out house.

On closer inspection discovered it was a strange little insect.

Construction of a house

About 9 months ago we saw some holes dug on an empty lot.  It was the beginning of a new house.  After a month or two we decided to start taking pictures.  We thought that the house would take about 4 months, but it took about 9 months to complete. The main structure is made with hallow block (like cinder block) and re-bar.

 The next picture shows that neatness is not a requirement in putting the blocks together.

 Even the pole out in front of the house (I think for utilities to connect to) is made of cement.

 The next three pictures show that cement is used throughout the home.

 Cement stairs.

 Cement kitchen counter.

 Cement ceiling beam.

 Workers on site.  I believe some of them were living in the house as they were building it.

 Notice that the roof is one of the last parts of the process.

The roof is added along with railings on the balconies.

 Just the final things left, like windows.

 Here is the completed house.  Looks very nice all painted and fenced and with landscaping.  You can not even notice the sloppiness of the hallow block structure that is underneath.

During this past week we attended an 18th birthday celebration and a baptism and went to the temple.

 Sister Vanessa joined the church Saturday.  She is a school teacher at San Ildefonso National High School.  She is a really nice person and we are happy to have her join the Branch.  She was taught by Elders Arcayos and Dizon.

 The 18th birthday is a special occasion in the Philippines.  This is Raiza.  Her family recently joined the church earlier this year and she is taking the missionary lessons.  They had a nice celebration party for her.  She had no idea and it was a big surprise party.  They had cake and games and dinner and a good time.  They gave 18 of the men a rose to give her as they danced with her.  And then candles to 18 of the women to give her as they shared a wish for her.  There was a big crowd from the Branch so it was good.

Zone Conference and Branch Activity

At zone conference, a new emphasis on baptism was implemented for our mission.

As you can see by the banner behind us the new mission goals are: exact obedience, being a Preach My Gospel Scholar, and Weekly Baptisms.  The weekly baptisms part is new. A different mission in the Philippines has been doing this and they have a much higher baptism rate than the other Philippine missions.  This goal is for each companionship.  The work is hastening in the Philippines.  This will have a huge impact on all of the Branches and Wards out here.  We are excited to be helping and to be a part of the Mission.

We usually show unusual animal pictures but this time we are posting some insects.  This is a very colorful little bee we saw one day.

Crazy looking insect that was about 3 inches long.  I'll see if I can look up what type it is and add the name later.

Also on Saturday I went on an Father and Son activity. (They also invited me)  Here I am with some of the participants.  It was a lot of fun except for one unfortunate incident where one of the younger boys got in over his head and almost drowned and one of the teenagers had to pull him out.

 Jethro and Andrew going down one of the water slides.  There were five pools at the resort and picnic tables.  We had stuffed fish that was really good.  We also had a videoke machine.

Some of the young men of the Branch:  Jeroh, Jared, Harvee, and Gilbert.

Happy Birthday Sister Swift

We had a busy week with a temple trip, a trip to the Mission Home, a visit to a Chinese Cemetery, Father's Day, and a birthday party for Sister Swift.

 On the temple trip we had two members getting their endowments for the first time.  The first was for Jared who is about ready to leave on a mission. The second was for a sister in her 80s, but she forgot her recommend so she couldn't do it that day.  Otherwise it was a good trip.  Twenty-one members came, including some youths who came along just for the ride and to see the temple.

 One day we went to the Mission Home for a farewell dinner with the Jones.  One the way we stopped at a Chinese cemetery in Manila.  The Chinese mausoleums were ornate, better than a lot of the homes people live in.  This one looks like a small house with fancy dragon trim on the roof.

 This is the inside of a mausoleum.  Besides the coffin, you have pictures, table, chairs, benches and a small bathroom.  All for family members who come to visit.

 The is another mausoleum.  We did see smaller ones too.  These people had to be very well off.

This one had a garden outside area.

At the Mission home we had a farewell for the Jones, but they actually don't leave until July 5th.  They were the first ones out here in Baliwag and helped us a lot when we arrived.  We've become good friends and will miss them.  They are from Idaho.

 We had a big turn out at the Birthday Party, for Sister Swift, Sister Gemma, and Sister Aisa.  Sister Gemma made a noodle dish.  Sister Swift made the brownies, which you can see in the picture here, and also we ordered ice cream to put on the brownies.  We had it made at a nearby ice cream business and delivered to the church.

 We also had a game time.  This is team one on reverse charades.

 Team 2 on reverse charades.

Here are the three birthday girls:  Sister Gemma, Sister Aisa, and Sister Swift.

At church they had a Sunday School program for to celebrate fathers.  They had some short talks,  a song by the primary,  a video presentation , and gave cookies to all the fathers. There were about 17 fathers present.  Sister Swift made the cookies. We always have more women and children then men at church..