It's a Miracle . . .

The church has been celebrating 50 years of missionary work in the Philippines. The first weekend of May, a large Jubilee Celebration took place in Manila and was broadcast to all of the Philippines. We also had an Area Conference that weekend. Last weekend (May 14th) each stake put on their own Jubilee Celebration. We attended the one put on by the youth of the Angeles Stake.

Jubilee CelebrationIt was held on the parking lot/basketball court at the stake center. The youth preformed songs and dances from their region of the Philippines showing the culture of the people in that area. Angeles is in the state of Pampanga.
Here are a few of the pictures from the big event.

The Youth Choir

The Masters of CeremonyThe Costumes were beautiful

The boys 'stick' dance

The mud pot dance. All of the girls carry various sizes of pots on their heads

Then another dancer helps to stack them and lift them onto her head.

More beautiful costumes

Notice the dancers feet

This dance represented the planting and harvest.

This dance was fun to watch.

As some of the dancers moved the poles on the ground a couple would dance
between the poles. It got faster as they went.

The final number

I hope you noticed the sky in these pictures.

Here is the miracle I am writing about. Wade & I had gone to San Fernando, about 30 minutes from the Stake Center to go to a Burger King (that's right there is one here). As we were driving to the stake center, we could see that a big storm was coming up - the wind was blowing and we were getting just a little rain as we drove. We got to the stake center and the wind was blowing pretty hard. In the opening prayer, the Lord was asked for good weather so that this presentation could be preformed. (We found out later that the Stake President as well as many others had offered personal prayers as well). The program was preformed as the weather calmed down.

As we drove home, we drove down a road that looked like a pipe had burst - water was running down the road like a river. This was only about a half mile from the church. As we drove further down the road, we could tell that it had been raining - hard! When we got onto Clark, we saw a couple of trees that had been uprooted from the wind. Heavenly Father spared the chapel from being rained on. A lot of work had been put into the Jubilee Celebration!

We experienced a miracle Saturday evening!!!

Not feeling well in the Philippines . . .

The Tuesday after Mother's Day, I woke up with a sick tummy. I didn't think it was all that bad, but after going into the office for a few minutes, I went home and laid down thinking I would feel better, especially after drinking some Coke (it always settles a tummy down, right?). Well about 10:30a the lady who cleans for the President came down with my purchases from the market. (She picks up meat for me since she goes early in the morning and she knows who to buy from.) When she could see that I wasn't doing so well, she put everything away for me . . . she is so sweet! Anyway, I laid back down and finally woke up around 5 when Wade came home. It really wiped me out! I hate being sick and I never take time to rest to get over anything! So Wade knew that I wasn't feeling well. Wade went to McDonald's and brought home some dinner - I didn't eat but a couple of bites of chicken nuggets. I still wasn't feeling great on Wednesday, but I went back into the office. After work we drove down to the mall.

This is what we saw as we drove home.

The sunsets are beautiful here! The clouds are beautiful at this time of evening as well.

The sun is down by 6-6:30p every night - no daylight savings here!!

I was finally starting to feel somewhat normal by Friday . . . boy I don't want to feel that way anymore! Not sure if I had a flu bug or if I ate something I should not have . . . Welcome to life in the Philippines . . .

Coca Cola in a Bag

We drove home in a different direction to see a little more of the countryside. We turned down a street and this is what was ahead of us. An old Cathedral. It was beautiful. I'm not sure how old it is, but I'm sure it is over 100 years old.

It is the St Nicholas Cathedral in Magalang.

The side of the cathedralA closer look at the bell tower

Because it was so hot in church, Wade decided to stop and get a cold coke on our way home.

This is the little bakery he went into while I took pictures of the cathedral.

He had been talking to the clerks for a while and finally called me over. He had bought a coke, but it was in a bottle. The girls in the shop wouldn't let him buy the bottle and told him that he could could drink it there or they could put it into a bag to take with him. I wish I had taken a picture of them pouring the bottle of Coca Cola into a plastic bag. The clerks were getting a kick out of Wade's reaction. He was just being him. It was pretty funny! He said that in all of the traveling around the world he has done in his life, he has never has a coke in a bag!

Coca Cola in a plastic bag with a straw Wade drinking and driving . . . Just another day in the Philippines!

Humble Saints

Today we attended church in the Sta Lucia Branch. This is a branch of about 20-25 members located in the Sta Lucia Barangay. (A Barangay is like a subdivision or community.) It is about 35 - 40 minutes from where we live. It is in the country. This Barangay is a resettlement that the Filipino government built after Mount Pinatubo erupted and destroyed the homes of these people. There are several re-settlements like this located close by. The homes are made of cinder blocks and many have dirt floors. Some have cement floors. (The cinder blocks are made from the ash from the volcano.) The church is renting this small building to hold their meetings but they are hoping that this branch will turn into a ward soon and then a nicer building will be found.

The building is right next to the road - just like the homes. Their are motor bikes and tricycles that roar by, some with their music blaring, during the meetings, making it very hard to hear. They don't use a sound system. The windows have bars on them, no glass. They use brown plastic chairs to sit on (these are used in the chapels as well instead of folding chairs), no piano or organ for the music. The chorister sings the first line to give a pitch and then invites everyone to sing . . . they can carry a tune too. Most of the meeting is spoken in Tagalog or Panpamdan. We try to pick up what the talks are about since they do use some English, but very little. During the Administration of the Sacrament, it was pretty quiet outside so you could really feel the spirit that was there.

The people are so humble and happy, yet they have so little. They are being obedient by being in their meetings today. It was really hot and this meeting was from 9a - noon. They only have standing fans - two in the room we were meeting in. There was a sweet sister sitting behind Elder Jewkes and myself and she was fanning us to keep us cool. The lesson in Relief Society was on Charity . . . this woman was showing charity to us.

We love the people here. As I have said in so many post, the people will all come to shake our hands. They treat us like we are royalty and yet their spirits are so sweet and humble. If we can become like them, we will have gained much from them. We are so blessed back home and I think most of us take what we have for granted in our meeting houses. But most of us have never experienced anything different. I am so grateful for this experience to teach me to appreciate all that I have!

Happy Mother's day to all!

26 New Missionaries!

On Wednesday May 4th we welcomed 8 new 'foreign' missionaries from the Provo MTC. Foreign missionaries are those that are not from the Philippines. They were tired after their long flight and layovers. They got a good nights rest and the on Thursday we met up with 18 more missionaries from the Manila MTC. These are the 'local' missionaries. 26 new missionaries total! Since the mission home isn't that big, we all met at the Balibago chapel in Angeles. We had 26 trainers - missionaries who have been here in the mission for at least 12 weeks - meet us there as well. There was training for the new missionaries and training for the trainers. Then they each got to meet their new companion. The President told them that their trainer can make or break their mission. If the trainer teaches obedience and to follow the mission rules the new missionary will carry that throughout his/her mission. All of the missionaries are fed a wonderful lunch, more training and then they are sent out to the various zones in the mission to go to work.

Our May Batch - 26 New Missionaries

Luggage for the new missionaries

Some of the trainers waiting for their training . . .

Most of the missionaries go back to their areas by bus.

Here is the bus depot where they catch their bus.When got to the church that morning, the gate was locked to get into the parking lot. We waited for about 30 minutes for someone to arrive with a key (by bicycle).

This is a house right across from the church.They had these beautiful roosters strutting their stuff.
I especially thought this roster was beautiful. Notice the young chick as well.
This is a baby Papaya tree. It is about 3 feet tall.

We were all tired but so grateful for the wonderful missionaries that are here to "Invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end." (Preach My Gospel)

The Lord's work moves forward. We are now beginning the 51st year of the Church being established in the Philippines.

Sunshine and rain

I guess that the beautiful day we had today was so that the 11 missionaries going home would have beautiful memories of their mission here in the Philippines.

It is so fun to watch these missionaries as they prepare to go home.

They are so excited, but always want to stay just a little longer.

In fact today, they left in the green van and I got a call.

The two elders from the US had left their suit jackets at the mission office. When the Elders come from outside of the Philippines, they have to wear their suits. But it is so hot here, that when they arrive, we take their jackets and hang them up until their 2 years have passed and they are going back home. We had given both of these Elders their coats yesterday when they got to the mission office, but they had hung them back up because they didn't want to wear them yesterday. Luckily, they hadn't even got off the base before they realized they had left them and they came back for them.

After we finished at the office today, we decided to drive down to the Mall (just to get out). The sky almost looked dusty or smokey and had some white clouds. After grabbing a Krispy Kreme at the mall, we came home and decided to sit back and find a movie on TV to watch. (Yes, as senior couples we can watch TV.) All of a sudden we could hear the rain outside pounding on the house. Most of the buildings here have metal roofs, so the rain can be really loud. Especially when the drops are huge like tonight! (The last time I saw it rain this hard, with the big raindrops, was several years ago in Georgia when the street looked like a river for about 5 minutes. Then it stopped!) It has rained a couple of times here, but it usually stops after a couple of minutes. Tonight it rained steady and constant for about 20-30 minutes. Here are some pictures of the water running down the road - it was dark.

These two pictures are taken next to the office side of the building. You can see how much water is running off to the driveway and on down the street.

The light in the background is the house across the street.
The water is running down the driveway into the street.

This is next to our carport. We are told that during the rainy season that the water will come up over this cement and under out car.

So today, We had sunshine and rain . . . . I guess it makes up for all the snow we are missing back home . . .

Area Conference

Today we had area conference. The conference was held in conjunction with the 50th anniversary of the church being organized in the Philippines by Elder Gordon B Hinckley who was an Assistant to the Twelve Apostles at the time. Last night they had a Jubilee broadcast celebrating the cultures of the Filipino people. (We missed it because Wade wasn't feeling well.)

Elder Teh of the Seventy and also the Area Presidency conducted and spoke at the meeting. He spoke about preparing ourselves spiritually. He talked about reading the scriptures and having a daily study time. The doctrine can be found in the scriptures and through the living apostles. He gave us 3 questions to ponder:

1) Do I take time to study the scriptures daily?
2) If not, what excuse do I have?
3) Will my excuse be acceptable to the Lord?

Wow! Do I have some work to do. I am not one to read my scriptures on a daily basis. My oldest daughter sent me an email letting me know that I should be taking advantage of this time to spend studying the scriptures. She said that is what you should be doing on a mission. Because we are in the office, we are serving in a different way than the young missionaries (she was a missionary). We don't go out and give lessons and teach the people. Wade had just challenged me to read the book of Mormon again before the end o the year . . . that should give me plenty of time. So when the 3 questions above were presented today, I decided I better get with the program! I don't want to have to give the Lord an excuse for not doing what he has asked us all to do . . . Study the Scriptures!

I am grateful for my children who have given me an example by serving missions. Now I am grateful to be on a mission with my eternal companion. He is a good companion and sweetheart. He had been giving me some of his ideas yesterday on being simple again. Sister Julie Beck, General Relief Society President, spoke in conference this morning on how the gospel is very simple. She also said that strong families are not by accident. We need to build those strong families by loving one another, living basic gospel principles, reading our scriptures, praying together and having Family Home Evening together. She told how as a child they would have family night every night by just getting together as a family . She related how her father would sit in his chair and read books to the family as they did their chores (wash dishes, fold clothes . . .) but they were together as a family in a simple way.

So now if Wade wants to be simple by eating rice and beans each week while we are on our mission, I can just add some spices to them and eat them . . to be simple. (I actually made them again the other night, added a little taco seasoning to the beans and chicken bullion to the rice and they were good! We will be eating them once a week - they are healthy!)

So what did I learn today . . . Be simple in our lives and study my scriptures . . . . .