Week Fifty-four

We are excited to share some pictures from week Fifty-four.  Here they are!

                              Cute Sister Missionaries at District Meeting on Tuesday.

Sisters enjoy peanut butter blossoms.  Sis. Mortel said that every time she wishes for a certain treat, I end up bringing her that treat.  I told her that shows that Heavenly Father really loves her, and sometimes He inspires me to make the treat.  It's cool to be His hands--occasionally, at least!

The landlady of some of our missionaries harvesting coconuts from her tree in her yard.

                                  She saws it off with a blade at the end of a long bamboo pole.

                                     Her grandson (apo) helping with a coconut.

The missionaries in her yard.  It is so beautiful with all the gorgeous flowers.  They grow most of their flowers in pots.

                                 Rice harvesters with their machettes cutting the rice by hand.

We got to visit with this sweet sister and her three daughters, and each of us told why we are on a mission.  Two of the daughters are going soon, and the mom went several years ago.  It was a very special afternoon with these sweet, humble people.

We did apartment checks in Agoo and got to stop by the market in Rosario.  This is a cool market because it is just down the mountain from Baguio, and has fresh Baguio produce to sell.  Elder Dinkel likes it because it is easy for him to find parking (unlike Baguio).

This was the cemetery on All Souls Eve, then again on All Saints Day Oct. 31 and Nov. 1.  We were told people spend the night in the cemetery, remembering their dead, and partying.

Elder was so excited because he had heard about green oranges and wanted to try some.  The lady in the market said these were oranges, so he bought them and we sampled.  Turns out they are grapefruit.  Oh well.  They were good.

This is freshly ground coconut I bought at the market.  It is so good!  They have a grinding machine that grinds it up for you right there.

Iris and Chris came to visit on All Saints Day.  It was good to see them, and we went to lunch at the restaurant on the beach.

                                                             Beautiful beach.

We made scones, tortillas, and no-bake cookies in Damortis on Saturday.  We had a really good time, and got full!

                                              Bread for scones. . .

                                                                         Cookies. . .

                                                                Frying. . .

                                                                     Sampling. . .

                                                 Getting in line to cook. . .

                                          Showing off our finished products.  Yum. . .

These are three of the neighbor children playing near our house.  The boy in back would stand up and push his brother who is holding their little sister on the skateboard.  So cute, and such sweet children.  When we come out of the house, all of the children in the neighborhood wave and say, "Hi Lola, Hi Lolo"  (Grandmother and grandfather.)  They are darling kids.

We stopped by the rice field, and it had been cut and harvested.  Sorry I didn't get a picture of the cutting, but. . .

It looks pretty barren right now.  Within a few days, though, they will flood it and plant it again.

                                                This is the rice drying on the road.

                      This was on the beach at Santa Maria.  Volcanic rock was here.

                                              But sandy beaches were there.

                              These children had a good time playing in a little pool formed by the rocks.

                                         We enjoyed the beach also.

Sugar cane was growing in one area.  It is really tall, and I tried to get it in comparison to a telephone pole.

                               Drying clothes on the roadside.

Looking back at the LaPaz bridge.  It is supposed to be the second largest bridge in the Philippines.

A man riding his carabou beside the road.  Notice his shoes--more flip-flops worn here than anything!

This man is thrashing his rice by hand using a board and throwing it over his head and onto the boards.  His wife kept bringing him more rice to thrash.

This was their little nipa hut along side their rice field.  Very humble living, and a hard life, I think.  We have it pretty easy!

Not everyone lives humbly.  This is in a beautiful little valley on our way to Bangued, and you can see several very nice homes down there.

                                                      The old church in Santa Maria.

We rode a calesa in Vigan, the old Spanish town.  Calesa is a horse drawn carriage.  When I was a girl, they were quite common here.  But now you seldom see them, except in a tourist place like this.

                                                                Poor horse!

                                            This was looking down the street in Vigan.

                                              Driver and his horse.

                                 Church and bell tower in Vigan.  The church was built in 1600's.

                      The inside was beautiful, but they have it draped right now.

                              The gentlemen enjoying carrying our bags while we shopped!

                                          Or maybe they shopped!

          The driver and the horse both were sleeping in the hot afternoon sun.  I don't blame them!!!

They had a cool Christmas tree in Vigan.  It's a Unesco world site.

There are steps up to this shrine in the Sea, and you can only visit this at low tide.  The rocky path is covered during high tide.

We stopped at a honey place and saw where they extract honey and bottle it.
Well, this is our week in pictures.  Hope things are going well for you.  We are looking forward to having another couple in our mission in mid December.  Don't know if they're going to replace the Fullmers, or what, but it will be their third mission to the Philippines.  Exciting times!
Take care, and God bless!