Week Sixteen

 

We started out this week by going to Baguio on Sunday afternoon and coming back Monday morning.  We spent several days hunting for  apartments.  We had some successes and some failures.  Anyway,  these are some scenes from this past week.

 

 

On the way to Baguio. . .

View from our hotel in Baguio.  They offered horseback rides nearby.

One of the beautiful spots near the hotel.

 

We found a beautiful apartment for the sisters.  We were so excited because it was clean and beautiful.

Gorgeous living room. . .

Two bedrooms with built-in beds that will have to be removed.  They're small and they will have to use bunk-beds, but it can serve four sisters.

One of 2 nice bathrooms-- for the Philippines!

A great view outside the living room window.  The water comes to the house, but it's built high enough that flood water won't come inside.

These stairs might be tricky getting a bunk bed up them.  Oh well, we'll figure it out.

The Sisters were excited for such a nice apartment.

The Zone Leaders were just excited.

 

 Zone Leaders putting a spell on barking dogs.  The dogs totally stopped their loud, annoying barking and just looked at Elder Shaw with a quizical expression, like "What in the heck is he doing?"

 

 

We'll have to always take him with us for animal control duty.

 

Elder waiting patiently for a landlady to open an apartment for us to check out.  The apartment was good, but the lot in front was the neighborhood garbage dump, so we told the ZL to keep looking.

 

One area where we're looking for apartments is really wet, and many houses are built on stilts right in the water.  A couple of boys were swimming here in front of their house.  Notice the boy on the roof.  Not sure if he was ready to jump in, or what.

 

 

Our branch had a Valentine's Dance on Friday, but I didn't get the message that it was formal attire, so I wasn't dressed for the occasion.  I made scones for the dinner, and everyone said they were, "Masarap!" 

Dola and Pope

Elder and Sister

Maribel and President

Brother and Sister Conception.  She is the one that was at Virgin's Well when the rich lady came and accused her of stealing rice.  They could really dance up a storm!  She wouldn't take her baseball jacket off because she had come in a low-cut dress.  She was so cute!

This couple won the best dressed award.  Her dress was amazing!

These are the men goofing off.  I don't know why, but I didn't get a picture of the ladies.  I'll try to get one from some of the others who had cameras there that night.

 

This is Iris, and it was her baptism Saturday night.  That was probably the highlight of my week--hearing her testimony.  She was his college teacher, although she is only 21, and he is a member. Actually, he's the branch president in another area.   She took the lessons and decided to join the church.  They are planning to get married after a year when they can be married in the temple.  She bore a powerful testimony of her joy in finding the gospel.  It touched my heart.  I am impressed with their desire to follow the Savior's way and be married in the temple. 

Another girl was also baptized when Iris was.

 

These are the Sister Missionaries who are serving in Manaoag now.  Sister Lagrimes (center) is the only one of the four sisters who were here when we came, and she was transferred today.  What a sweet sister she is!  We will miss her.  The sister on the right is Sister Edwards from New Zealand and is new.  Sister Montoja will be a great teacher for her, as she is a great missionary.  The district gave me a card and thanked me for baking them cookies and being their mom.  They know how to get to my heart!  A little flattery works every time.

 

Well,, this was our week in pictures.  We are enjoying the opportunity to serve these people, and we love them so much.  We pray for all of you back home and hope you are doing well.  Have a great week! 

 

 

 

 

Highlights From Our Fifteenth Week

Here are some pictures from this week.  They're kind of in a random order--sorry about that!  Hope you can figure them out.

While we were following a path to a less active family, we ran across washing on the fences and these tubs of water.

Wash day with automatic washing machines--you automatically do it by hand!

Hanging out for the automatic dryer!  (bad pun?!)

A great family we visited.  We heard the 10 year old girl sing at the Christmas program, and she has an amazing voice--like an angel!

This is where Mom cooks the family's food outdoors on rocks where a little fire from sticks is kept smoldering.

This isn't camping--this is every day over a wood fire for every meal.

I've heard of basket weaving as a class in college.  But really--basket making for 20 cents an hour?  That is one of the ways this family makes money.  Any way to earn money, they'll do it!

Along the path from our family's home with more clothes drying in the sun.  You have to be careful when you take them off the barb wire, I'm sure!

Our friend Dola and her husband Pope took us to visit some non-members and less actives.

  This mother is not yet a member, but her son is on a mission.

Her house was a very nice bamboo house in a mango grove.

She helped us find her friend who used to live nearby, but had moved to a different spot.  The friend has been a member for just over a year.  She told us she avoided us at church because she was embarrassed she couldn't speak English.  We told her it was us who should be embarrassed because we couldn't speak Tagalog, and it was her country!  We hope that now she's our friend, she won't try to avoid us.

This was the friend and the outside of her bamboo hut with beautiful flowers in the front.  She wouldn't smile because her teeth were gone in the front.  They don't go to the dentist to get teeth worked on, only to pull them.  Many people here are toothless.

One of the crops here is tobacco.  It is drying on racks in the hot sun.

Tobacco grows tall in the fields. 

To market, to market, to buy a fat pig. . .

Four Elders stuffed in our back seat to go with us to look at apartments.  We treated them to lunch at McDonald's, and they said they had run out of money that day (last day of the month), so had decided they would fast that day.  I figured we were an answer to their prayers!

Have baskets, will travel.  Not sure where the driver fits, but he must be somewhere in there!

This is the apartment we're having remodeled for the Elders.  Hopefully, it will look better soon!

To say the least, it needs a lot of remodeling!  We would have just looked for a different apartment, but there were none in the area, and this is close to the church.

We hope there is potential for this apartment.  If not, we've wasted a lot of the Church's money.  We'll show you after pictures and let you decide.

These fishermen were near the apartment with the rats in it.  They'd just caught their catch that morning--fish, not rats!

Some big fish. . .

Some not so big.

Some just plain disgusting!  Well, I guess the picture is disgusting, not the fish (or the Elder!)  This is a milk fish and is very popular here.

Have rice sack and bamboo, will create swinging cradles for twins.

If baby isn't using the cradle, why not make it a swing for sister?  Both sister and big brother ended up crawling on top of the sleeping baby, who awakened and here is Mom with all four children.

Can you believe she's still smiling?!

This was an 80 year old less active sister.  I'm showing you my new haircut--Filipino style!

Four future missionaries.

The Elders and young people from the branch who are teaching the prospective missionaries. 

 Filipino missionaries need a dental and medical exam and 2400 pesos ($60) for their mission.  The young man in the blue shirt is saving his money so he can go soon. 

Some old people who are also teaching with the missionaries, or just going along for the ride!  Actually, they go along with us for the ride!  We have the car.  They're always excited for us to go with them, and they usually have us go to people who live far away so they can save the trike fare.  But we enjoy any time we can spend with our fantastic Army of Helaman, as we call them.

Hope you enjoyed seeing our week through our pictures.  If someone can tell me how to enlarge pictures, I'd do it.  Sometimes a scale comes up and I can click on it, but usually it doesn't appear.  How do I get it there always?  How, too, do I turn the pictures that are sideways?  I'm so savvy on computers, you know.  Anyway, have a great week!