We Can Explain...

Not-so-subtle messages have filled our inbox

 regarding our posts.

Or lack of same.

We can explain.

Simply put – we’ve been overwhelmed.  Our calling in the Perpetual Education Fund involves getting young people financially set and ready to attend college.  Well, we got hit with a double whammy here in the last several weeks. 

The school year in the Philippines is from June until March.  So, just as all the kids in the States were getting out of school, kids in the Philippines were heading back.  So, for those needing a loan to attend school, that's when we jumped into action.  Which has been the case for all the years before we got here.  But two things complicated the procedure this year.

First of all, the Priesthood training that has been going on for the last couple of years has suddenly borne fruit.  The number of new loans processed more than tripled.

There were stacks of applications like this all over the office

The second factor is that Salt Lake City thought it would be a good time to implement a new process.  So the two old people from California who had never been through any of this before, got to figure out how to do the old way and the new way all at the same time.  Everything we did up until June 1, was the old process, everything after that was the new. 

Our heads were on swivels!

A typical day started in the office before 7am and we were lucky to get home before 9:30 each night.  Younger people could have done it in half the time.  We’re on the “mature learning curve.” 

Working through lunch!!

 Franco reported to Elder Teh ( Philippines Area President and member of the First Quorum of Seventy) that we were working until 9:00 many nights. 

Elder Teh - "When did they change the hours!??!  It used to be 10!"

And add one more wrinkle.  That priesthood training I mentioned – we got to do some of that too. 

Three weekends in a row.
And one 2-day mid-week trip.

Right in the middle of all this.

And some of it involved driving 3-6 hours away … and back again.

That’s our story and we’re sticking to it.

Now, lest it sound like we're complaining - this has been so much fun!  We are talking to young people all day long - many of whom are just starting their first year in college.  They're excited, they're nervous, they're cautious, and they are delightful to interact with.  Many are renewing the loan they got for the first time last year or the year before.  It doesn't matter if they are old hands or brand new, they all still get the standard spiel we've been developing since we got here.  It's been a work in progress.  As we learn more about the program, more about schooling in the Philippines, more about Filipino youth, we have tweaked our "canned speech".  

There's alot to take in when you suddenly find yourself responsible for a big loan that, no matter what happens, you will have to repay one day.  So we counsel, encourage, instruct, and say things that no student anywhere in the world will ever hear unless they are receiving a PEF loan.  They hear such counsel as - "be faithful in keeping your commitment to the Lord", and "attendance at Institute is required", and "your bishop and stake president will be getting a priesthood report on your progress every month."  Really.  These kids make payments on their loans every month for all the years they are in school.  Every single month - beginning before we ever issue a check to them.  Where else would you ever see something like that?   The reason - part of the Lord's plan to teach self-reliance.  These loans have very little to do with money and everything to do with preparing these young people to be the future leaders of the church here in the Philippines.  Elder Teh has said that the Philippines (the only Christian nation in Asia) will take the Gospel to all of Asia.  These kids are going to find themselves in the middle of all that.  How exciting to be a part of it!  And look how they're being prepared. 

So, no, the work has not slowed down yet.  We are still in the thick of it. 

This is actually a false-advertising Public Affairs picture that was used to try to entice Church Departments to recruit Church Service Missionaries.

We're not Church Service Missionaries.  But we thought it would let you see where we spent a good part of our lives here in the Philippines.

 Kids start school all year round.  Some of them are going to vocational schools, some are on a trimester calendar, some won't be starting school until second semester and so they're doing the paperwork now.  We were fortunate to arrive here in the slow period, so we had time to adjust and learn, but now we'll be seeing more activity year round.  We think. 

So, no more crossword puzzles or solitaire on the office computers.  

That's Franco, that you hear so much about.

This is proof that we still have a good time even though we have no time for Solitaire.