Light Show

We don't see lightning like this in California.

Elder Bell says it was like this in Thailand when he was there.

The sounds you hear are - a little rain, thunder, traffic on EDSA,

and guys working on the building next door.  

That goes on 24/7 around the clock.  It doesn't even affect our sleep anymore.  We never hear it.  Sleep like babies!

And the Race is On!

I (Sister B) am by nature, a competitive person. 

There's not a whole lot out here in the mission field to compete in though, so we've made our own little category.  We want to see if we can hold the record for the number of accidents by a missionary couple in a two year period.  Not only that, but I'd also like to see if I can have more and/or bigger accidents than Elder B.  So far, he's

hit a pole,

a family on a motorcycle

and had the mirror torn off by a crazy in a truck passing by. 

I entered the fray today.

(and I might add that it was my first attempt at driving in the Philippines)

I was nearly at the end of my adventure, and I was congratulating myself on how well I had done, when I was rear-ended ...

by a BUS. 

 

So I figure I'm ahead. 

Between the two of us, I can't imagine any other missionaries coming close.  And we've only been here 3 months!!  Imagine what we can accomplish in the coming months. 

Yes, I'm fine. 

No, the car isn't. 

Our reputation is shot. 

And for the young officer who was assigned to ride with me to the Pulis Headquarters to fill out the necessary paperwork - he was privileged to participate in a discussion on Agency, Prophets, the importance of Family, the Apostasy and the Restoration,  and the fact that I think Mitt Romney would make a good President. 

Yes, I know, we aren't supposed to talk politics. 

Not supposed to crash Church property either. 

Mormon Helping Hands

Mormon Helping Hands started in Brazil and can be found around the globe now.  It's a day designated to go out and give service in your area.  Here, in the Philippines, it's called the National Day of Service (but they still use the yellow MHH vests).  We got to be a part of it on Saturday in the Malaya Branch of the Morong District, which is the district that our Branch, Tanay, is part of.   
We started at the crack of dawn because it's summer here and gets so hot and muggy later in the day.  We cleaned the grounds of two different schools in Malaya.
   

The first thing we had to do, because we came unprepared, was purchase the proper kind of brooms.  They're bamboo, tied together at one end.  Ours are green.  I'm not sure if that means they're inferior, but they just said, "don't worry, next year when we do this again, your broom will be brown".   OK. 

They looked fine to me when we bought them, but no, they had to be trimmed.  We could have stood upright when we used them before the trim job. 

 Not so much after. 

We hadn't been at work more than a few minutes, when I heard laughter and someone say, "Elder has been tempted!"  I turned to discover Elder B taking a fruit-break.  I don't know if he found it on the ground or plucked it from a tree, but there he was eating forbidden fruit.  With a silly grin on his face. 

 

We all worked pretty hard out there in that heat.  Most of the time.  Our two Tanay Elders, Gulla and his companion and one of the Malaya Elders - Bishop, and a returned missionary from our branch were pretty entertaining most of the day.  They knew that a flower over one ear meant they were available.  They just couldn't decide which ear that was. 

Our branch had workers of all ages.  And there was a snack-break midway through the morning.  Then the whole group posed for pictures at the end of the day after the school administration had thanked them for their efforts. 

We've talked about this before -- we gathered all our leaves in big bags and we looked around for where to put them to be hauled away.  No hauling.  They just burned them right there.  We had several fires going at the same time all around the area.  It doesn't seem to matter where a fire is built - it only burns what you want it to burn.  Is that because it's so humid here??

As we were finishing up, the Branch President said, "Let's show the Bells Daranak Falls!" and everyone heartily agreed.  So off we went on another adventure.  We piled into a Jeepney - which is something we've wanted to do since we got here - and headed down a crazy old dirt road towards the "Pride of Tanay", according to the signs. 

Along the way, we stopped at some caves the elders were kind of fond of.  I guess it's a favorite P-Day destination.   Wish I had a picture of the irate little lady who came chasing after us after we came out of the caves.  Apparently, we should have paid her to go in.  Elder B to the rescue - 100 pesos pacified her and we continued on our way. 



DOWN ...DOWN ... DOWN

Don't know what we were expecting when we got to the Falls, but there sure were alot of people there!  Lots of inner tubes and crazies jumping from the rocks.  I know some Bell kids who would have been up there with them.  And their dad was pretty unhappy that I stood between him and craziness. 

 

I never quite understood the rocks with the letters H-A-N-E.  It's a favorite term of the people of Tanay, according to our "tour guides", but no one could ever make me understand what the word meant.  It's pronounced Hon-ae.  I said, "use it in a sentence." 

 The president came up with this:  "Hane, I'm home!" 

Don't think so. 

JUBILEE!!!

The Church has been in the Philippines for 50 years!

And what a celebration they had last weekend!

Saturday night was a cultural event along the lines of the events that they put on all the time now when a new temple is dedicated.  And Sunday was an Area Conference with satellite participation by Quentin L. Cook, Julie B. Beck, and President Boyd K. Packer.  Such a powerful weekend. 



There were wonderful presentations telling about the history of the Church in the Philippines.  Three of the four original missionaries sent in on June 5, 1961 were present.  One of them was Ray Goodson, who eventually came back as a mission president in later years.  We had a visitor from Salt Lake City PEF with us, Nick Ward, and he also served as a missionary here in the Philippines.  We thought it appropriate that he should have his picture taken with one of those who made it possible for him to serve here.

There were also dances representing the different areas of the Philippines as well as the different eras of history.  There were dances showing the influence of the Spanish and dances showing the Muslim influence in the southern provinces.  Everything was so beautifully done.  The young men and women, the young adults, and even the Primary kids have been practicing for this for two years!  Amazing commitment. 



I don't know how many people were in the choir, but it was gigantic and powerful!

They sang on Saturday and then again on Sunday morning for the Area Conference. One of our Senior Missionaries was in the choir, as well as our buddy, Jib, and his friend, Butch. 

The Second Counselor in the Area Presidency, soon to become Area President, Elder Michael Teh gave an address at the Conference where he proclaimed, along with President Packer, that the work in the Philippines has only just begun.  He said the Lord will hasten his work in this land and he encouraged the people to "try the virtue of  the Word of God". 



It was an amazing, uplifting, wonderful weekend.