Another Stop in Manila . . .

After we went to the temple, we made a quick stop by the World War II Memorial in the heart of Manila before heading back to Angeles.

This cemetery site is the largest administered by the American Battle Monuments Commission in the number of graves and of those Missing whose manes are recorded on the walls of the memorial. What a wonderful tribute to those who have fought for our freedom!!!

Wade relaxing in the Visitors Building . . .You can see the city buildings close by . . . Such a peaceful and beautiful setting . . .

The rows of marble crosses . . .

One of 25 maps - 10-foot high mosaic maps of varying widths are displayed inside four rooms bordering the hemicycle walls. The maps portray important campaigns during World War II in the Pacific.As you walk around the two hemicycle with the names of the 36,286 Missing in Action, the have seals of each state engraved in the floor. Here is the seal of Utah We had a wonderful day in Manila!
And, thank you to our friend, Edward, who took us to Manila!

Manila Temple Trip . . .

We were invited to attend the Manila Temple on Saturday September 24th, 2011. We got permission to leave the mission to attend a session at the temple. We were excited to be able to attend the temple again. It was a wonderful session and the spirit was so strong.

I am grateful for this opportunity . . . we sometimes take the temple for granted because at home there are 4 temples within a 20 mile radius of our home. We left at 5:30am to drive to Manila, about 60 miles away. It took about one and a half to two hours to drive to the temple. This is due to the traffic in Manila!

Traffic in Manila

At the Manila Temple

We were also able to to to the distribution center, the Area office (which was closed on Saturday) and the Manila MTC. They are just across the street from the temple.

What a great way to spend our Saturday!!

Friday Evening Baptisms . . .

A few weeks ago, the missionaries introduced us to Marissa and her family ~ her brother Marvin and the two girls that are her house help, Sarah and Leni, as well as her 7 year old daughter. They were baptized on Friday evening along with another young man and two young boys. They were all so excited to be taking this step in their lives. Each had a beautiful countenance about them. It was a wonderful baptism. Marissa looked beautiful and her smile reflected her sweet spirit.

Me and MarissaMarissa and her brother MarvinMarissa, her brother and the two girls that work for herWith the two Elder who taught and baptized them along with Elder & Sister JewkesAll that were at the baptism to support these 7 individuals

Zone Conference and Rain . . .

We had zone conference again this past week. It is always fun to get together with the missionaries and be taught by our mission president and his wife!

During lunch, I asked one of the missionaries to take a couple of pictures of Elder Jewkes and my self. We needed a picture to send to our home ward for a missionary plaque. It started to rain about that same time . . . now I have said before it doesn't just rain here, it dumps. So here are some pictures from that day . . .

Those are rain drops not hail!

This is like a courtyard garden at the church

You can see there is so much rain it is filling
the draining system around the garden . . .

My camera has a scratch on the lens . . .
thus the cloudy area on the picture.

The lighting was much better for this picture . . .

My new camera will be here this week! Yeah!!!
We are enjoying our mission!!!

The 'Ber" Months . . .

On Monday September 12th, I walked into the mission office and found this on the desk . . .

In the Philippines, they celebrate Christmas from September through the end of December ~ the 'ber' months. We had noticed Christmas decorations in the stores starting the first week of September. I know we see that back home in some stores, but this is full blown! We had been told that Jose decorated the mission home starting September 1 and would keep adding through the each week through December . . .

Jose came in the office to see if I liked the little tree. Elder Jewkes made some remark about it being too early for Christmas. So Jose started to giggle like a little kid and proceeded to bring the big Christmas tree and the decoration from the back room. He giggled as he decorated the tree. It was really fun to watch him.

Getting the tree just right in the stand . . .
Getting the tree just right . . . Decorating the tree . . . can you see his smile?
Un-tangling the lights . . . Adding the paper star . . .The finished tree . . . He said he would get the lights up before our girls arrive in November.
Thank you Jose for helping us to feel the spirit of Christmas . . .
even if it is only September . . .

Farewell Elder Alcibor . . . .

I made a request to my ward a few months ago to write letters to one of our elders - Elder Alcibor. He hadn't received letters from home his entire mission. He is a great young man and a great missionary!

He was one of the APs when we first got here and I consider him one of our 'trainers'
Elder & Sister Jewkes with Elder Alcibor

He left September 6th with
four other Filipino elders and 1 sister.

I was able to attend the closing testimony meeting for these 6 young missionaries. It was one of the most spiritual testimony meetings I have attended. Each bore testimony of our Savior Jesus Christ. They each mentioned that they were so grateful to have been able to serve a mission.

Elder Alcibor bore testimony of families - through tears of gratitude for his experience. He is the only member in his family and the youngest of 12 children. We talked once time about his family and he said that he hoped that his experience as a missionary would bless his family to someday accept the gospel.

The spirit was so strong as each bore testimony. Through tears each expressed there love for Jesus Christ, for his atoning sacrifice for each one of us. I came away a better person with a deeper love for my Savior and each of these wonderful faithful missionaries!

Sights of the Philippines . . . . . . .

Today I wanted to share some more sights of the Philippines. Whenever we get in the car, I grab my camera. There is always something new to see. Most of these pictures were taken out of the car window. They are in no particular order. Hope you enjoy the sights we see . . . .

The leader of the pack . . . .
outside the fence at the church on Sunday morning . . .
The rest of the herd ~ all napping during church . . .
How many people can you get in a truck???
How about this one . . . . Or this one? You would get a ticket back home for this . . .
A child waiting for his dad in the . . . notice it is a peddle bike . . .
Just hanging out on the street corner . . .
Another peddle bike cart . . .
trying to cross the street with the motorized vehicles . . .
Remember the bottles of gasoline sold on the side of the road??
Well, this was a gas station we stopped at to get a fill up.
Their pumps weren't working and
all they had were the liter bottles, so . . . .
We settled for 1 liter of gas . . . Wade wanted a picture of this . . . .They were having an 'oldies' car show at the mall . . . Here is one of the 'oldies' . . . . ????
This was the oldest looking car that we actually saw . . . .Maybe Wade could qualify as an oldie her as well . . .
There was a group of bikers going down the
main road leading from the base . . .
they took up all 3 lanes . . . Along with the cars that were with them . . .
glad we weren't late for church that day . . .
One of the flood roads we went through on our
way to a mall in Balibago . . .
about a foot of water on the road . . .
Like I have said before . . . when it rains, it pours . . .
Funny thing is that we drove past this same place about
30 minutes later and the water was gone!
And when it rains they don't always wear shoes
when riding on a motorcycle . . .the guy on the
back is shoeless! (and carrying the helmet!)
Doing laundry at the river . . . notice the board in the tub that
she uses to rub the clothes on to get them clean . . .
I love this lady's hat!
She also has a board in her tub to scrub the clothes . . .
This lady is using a club to pound
her clothes against the rocks . . . Drying the clothes on the river rocks . . .
Slow down for the school zone . . .
they pull these across the road about 25 feet apart . . .
you just drive around them at a slower speed . . . And you just have to wait for your turn to go . . .
Kids swimming in a muddy water hole - buck naked . . .
when he saw me he jumped in the water . . .
Taking pigs to the market . . . .
A trike in the church parking lot . . .
what is this guy advertising??