Week 17 - April 30
Monday - We had a department meeting from 9:00-11:00. After that we had a Farewell luncheon for Carl who is moving to Self Reliance Services. 3rd Floor Catering is so good. Jairus will be our new Area Welfare Manager so we will get a new boss to take Jairus’ place. We like him a lot so we will miss him but he will still be close by and we look forward to getting a new boss.
Tuesday - Labor Day in the Philippines. We went to breakfast at Denny’s with the Stroud’s, McIver’s, Bell’s, and Kaneen’s. We still drove into Manila for our ARP meeting even though it was a holiday. Aris was the only one who showed up. We were on Step 9 which is Making Amends. Aris really opened up and shared with our service missionary's the Soleta’s and Sister Bowsing. We couldn’t tell what was being said but it was so good for him to be able to express his feelings about his family and how difficult life is for him. All we could do was offer some cookies, an apple, and a few pesos to get him home. It’s so sad to see how hard life is for some. The Temple opened for the first time since we have been here. It has be under renovation since January.
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| The Manila Temple is similar to the Boise Temple |
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| Both built in 1984 |
Wednesday - I had my first English speaking session with Judith from Pathways. Each of our 21 students are asked to have a native English speaking partner. Most of them use BYU students but it can be a bit difficult with the time difference. It is so nice getting to know her on a more personal basis. We went to Mabuhay and played Bingo, the parents just love it. I got put in charge of removing all the certificates in the office (the one’s our partner’s give us when a project is completed) from their frames and putting them in a notebook. There were probably 40-50. The office looks so much better, Jairus is wanting to clean things up. Hopefully we will have a budget to get a few things to make the office look nice. We had dinner at Mama Lou’s with VW’s, Stroud’s, Tucker’s, Kaneen’s, and McIver’s. It is a great Italian Restaurant with good prices.
Thursday - We went to lunch at the UCC with McIver’s, Stroud’s, and Grimshaws’s. Then we went to Taytay to shop. It was my first time to shop there, the prices are amazing. It was super hot but worth it. Steve and Gary McIver took care of Pathways Lesson 2.
Friday - We had a Birthday Party at the Stroud's for MaryAnne Whitehead. She turned 19 years old. We had a Mexican feast which was really nice because there is almost zero Mexican food here. Steve finally found me some pinto beans so I could make some re-fried beans. We played heads up and it was hilarious. Most people chose to act things out. Steve took a video of people acting things out and it was super funny. I don’t think MaryAnne will ever forget her 19 birthday with all these Senior Missionaries.
Saturday - We drove back up to Bataan for the second time in two weeks. Steve was so kind and drive me to the Dinaluphian Plaza so I could enjoy a 1 1/2 hour facial complete with a Diamond Peel. It was heavenly and only 950 pesos ($18.00). We then went to Luboa to train the Stake President and other stake leaders on ARP. It was the best meeting we have had so far. They were so receptive and interested. We will see if we can get a program going in that area soon. If so, I see another facial in my future.
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| ARP training in Luboa |
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| Toll Booth - A typical scene on the NLEX |
Sunday - It was Stake Conference with Elder Alan Haynie. He has been reassigned to the US after 3 years in the Philippines. We will miss him a lot, he and his wife are so great. We had a quiet Sunday afternoon and evening. A chance to get caught up on our blog.
Week 18 - May 7
Monday - We had a farewell luncheon for the Stroud’s. Another great lunch from 3rd Floor Catering. Kristin loves Chicken Inasal so that is what Mae Anne ordered. We spent time afterward visiting with the Soleta’s and Sister Bowsing. Danny Soleta put together a nice slide presentation of all the Stroud’s projects and Evelyn Soleta wrote them a poem that was really nice. We will miss the Stroud’s a lot but I am so happy for them to be back with their family.
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| Evelyn Soleta reading the poem she wrote to the Stroud's |
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| Kristin Stroud |
Tuesday - Sister Grimshaw and I started early in the morning cleaning out the storage room. We then went to Devotional. I like Devotional best when the choir sings. Filipinos are fun to watch, they have such beautiful smiles. We took Sister Grimshaw with us to ARP in Manila. It was a good meeting and we were able to talk to the Social Worker’s to see if we could recruit two of our participants to help us as Facilitators. They seemed really happy to have a chance to help lead the class.
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| They call the storage room the cage. |
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| You can actually walk in it now. |
Wednesday - I was going to go to Mabuhay but MaeAnne and Willy(our wonderful office help) wanted us to go with S&R with them. MaeAnne loves French fries so we love any chance to get some for her. It was an hour and a half drive to get there and 15 minutes home. You just never know what the traffic will be. The Owen’s who are replacing the Stroud’s arrived and joined us for their first Committee Meeting. I felt bad for them because I remember how that felt for us 4 months ago. The Browne's, Stroud’s, VW’s, and Tucker’s went with the Owen’s to Mama Lou’s and they loved it. Nothing like a good first meal in this new country.
Thursday- I went to Taytay again with the ladies. It is always nice to get out of the office and spend time with the ladies. We went to the Beehive Factory for Pathways Lesson 3. For part of the lesson they had to write a love letter to an object and then we helped them make sure the punctuation was correct. They were so funny talking about their love for cell phones, TV’s, and the bag machine that opens the envelope the garments come in. We are developing great relationships with these wonderful people, you can’t believe how great they all are and how wonderful they treat us. We love them all.
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| Our Pathways Students |
Friday - As we were approaching the one year anniversary of Kyle’s death, my mind was preoccupied with his passing. Kimberlee called to tell me that Beckie Powell passed away. Kyle and Beckie shared a lot of history and time together as they battled similar problems. I am so sad for Julie and the whole Powell Family. I have a lot of really sweet memories of babysitting Beckie when she was in pre-school and kindergarten. She used to tell Kimberlee all the time “We are sisters... in God’s way”. She was a very talented hair stylist. She will be sorely missed, especially by her daughter Olivia. I went with the Stroud’s and Owen’s to Helping Hands and Mabuhay to orient the Owen’s to these wonderful facilities and show them the good work that is done there. We had lunch at Banapple and then came home from the office early. Angie posted a beautiful picture of Beckie on FB and as I was staring at it, I couldn’t help but feel sad that I won’t be able to spend time with the Powell’s next week
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| Camping at Redfish with the Powells summer of 1985 |
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| Christmas Eve Gathering with the Powells |
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| Nathalie, she is super spunky. She is waiting for some surgery for her eye. |
Saturday - We were invited to help the McIver’s with a Wheelchair Provisioning activity at PGH (Philippine General Hospital) in Manila. It was nice to see the good work that is done through LDS Charities and all the wheelchairs they provide for those in need. There are 5 different types of wheelchairs and the McIVer’s and their team work very hard to access, measure, and fit the proper wheelchair for the patients. We spent the evening in Marikina to introduce and orient Stake Leaders on ARP. There were about 30 who showed up. I liked Marikina, it is a bit less congested then the area we live in and it is close by.
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| This is a special wheelchair called a tricycle designed so that the individual can sell his goods right out of it and be self-reliant,they have to have good upper body strength and be able to transfer in and out by themselves. They have to have a secure shelter to lock the tricycle in and keep out of the rain. |
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| Me with Teri and Gary McIver |
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| The all-terrain wheelchair designed by LDSC to go over rugged terrain |
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| Checking things out the make sure everything is ok |
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| Our evening in Marikina orienting the Stake Leaders to ARP |
Sunday - It was Mother’s Day which is a Holiday that is celebrated in the Philippines. When you are stopped in traffic there are vendors walking up and down these busy streets selling flowers. I would never want that for a job. At church all the women received beautiful pearl necklaces for Mother’s Day. The Young Women and their leaders had the foresight to make a special hand scrub to pass out to all the Senior Missionaries. They recognized that we were all away from our loved ones and made an effort to help fill the void. My favorite was the guard in our lobby. As we were leaving for dinner, he said “Happy Mother’s Day” to me, I thought it was so sweet. We had dinner at the Tucker’s with Stroud’s, McIver’s, and the new couple, the Owen’s. The women ate at the dinner table and the men in the living room. Whenever we get together as couples we always divide into men and women, that way we get to visit freely about what we want to talk about.
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| The view from our apartment |
Week 18 -May 14
Monday - It was Election Day here in the Philippines and that means the day off, it can be volatile around some of the polling places. It is a day they choose Baranguay Captains, those are the leaders in small communities. We ate at Denny’s for breakfast with the crew. We all spent time on the phone for Mother’s Day calls. We went into the office for FHE. I got brave and drove in since I knew traffic would be lite. The Stroud’s and the Stewart’s were our presenters as they will be going home. It was so good and inspiring to see all the work they have done. As Humanitarian Missionaries the Stroud’s are referred to as the Santa Claus of the Mission because they get to give away so many great things through LDS Charities. The Stewarts are part of the Dental Clinic, the only one of it’s kind in the church. They provide such a good service to so many missionaries at the MTC.
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| My brave attempt at driving, it was successful! |
Tuesday - I went for the second time to the Women’s Bazaar. They sell a lot of really good things there but shopping is not my favorite thing in the world and spending money makes me crazy sometimes. Most of the women go every month, every once in a while is good for me. We went into Manila for our ARP class to present Step 11. Danny Soleta and the Public Relations Service Missionary in Manila made arrangements for Dr. Joey Baranda to come observe our class to determine if he would recommend it to the Mayor of Manila. The Mayor is Estrada and he used to be the President of the Philippines, he is very busy so we have not been able to get a MOA signed. When the meeting was over we spoke for a while and Dr. Branda had a glowing report of our program and endorsed it. He said when he takes his report back to the Mayor we will need all of Utah to teach the amount of patients they will send our way. We hope that happens but we will see. Things move very slowly around here.
Thursday - At 9:15 I went with Sister VW to Sister Bowen’s to sew. Jesse from fleet was our driver. When we got to her apartment building we were escorted to the Bowen’s private floor by the doorman. Lynette is such a lovely woman, when she opened the door it was so refreshing to see a nice apartment, it was like home. We spent the day sewing hygiene bags for the children at Mabuhay. We were able to get 100 finished. It was so nice to spend the day sewing and visiting.
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One hundred bags to fill with soap, shampoo,
and tooth brushes for Mabuhay Deseret |
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| Sewing the bags with Lynette Bowen |
Friday - We were invited to an Orientation Meeting (to the Philippines). We of course are not new anymore but they have changed the meeting and wanted to share the new information with us. We were allowed to take a brief break and remote in with our kids. They were having a picnic at Kyle’s tree in Julia Davis Park to remember the one year anniversary of his passing. Lauren had ordered flowers to place at the tree, they were beautiful Gerber Daisies. It was so thoughtful of all of them. They did a good job remembering. After the meeting we went home early. The Stroud’s left for home which was a bit of a bummer for us. I felt sad they didn’t say goodbye to us. It was a boring evening and left me wondering how different life will be with the Stroud’s gone. We will figure it out. We consoled ourselves by having dinner at Outback and then walked to Jollibee’s for peach mango pie.
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| Family picnic in Julia Davis Park by Kyle's tree |
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| Heather took Brooklyn to Twin Falls to spend time at the cemetery |
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Kimberlee's family visited the Twin Falls Cemetery on their way home from Utah
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Saturday - It was a slow morning, we went to the APO to do a little bit of work. We ran into Elder Haynie and were able to met with him to see if we could find a way to help some hospitals in the area with infant kits. He was very helpful so I think we may have a new project on the way. We spent the evening watching the Royal Wedding of Harry and Meghan.
Sunday - We had a Linger Longer after church. I made peanut blossoms (the cookies with the Hershey Kisses on them). They were a huge hit but we didn’t stick around long. Social anxiety starts to take over and I’d rather go home. We had dinner at the Kaneen’s with the Owen’s. Meatloaf for the first time since we left home, it was cooked just right with with really good mashed potatoes.
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| Shayne Bowen, Allen Haynie, Evan Schmootz all General Authorities |
Week 19 -May 21
Monday - We started the day in the conference room with Kenneth and Tan learning how to order product we may need for projects. Dr. Sandra Rogers from BYU came in for the week and I got to meet her. We had a special FHE with Elder Shayne Bowen's presentation on 'The House of Israel'.
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| Dr. Sandra Rogers from BYU |
Tuesday - After Devotional we took off for a meeting we had with Philippine Mental Health for our Street Children Project. We had the wrong address and after driving around for an hour we thought we’d just give up and re-schedule. Sally, the Director called us and said “Oh please come just turn on East Avenue and we are by the Jollibee’s”. Are you kidding me!!! Anyway Steve being the brilliant navigator that he is somehow found it, we were one hour late. That is Philippine standard time. Sally, Jonathon, and Karen showed us around the facility. Immediately the Street Children ran up to meet us, and of course they were adorable. Street Children can range in age from 12-18, it is easier for them to live in the streets and work and keep the money they earn rather than go home and give it to their parents. They stake out their territory and lay claim to help park cars for Chow King (fast food) customers. They can earn 20 pesos a day (40 cents). They are invited into Philippine Mental Health to get Hygiene product, lunch, and skills training but they have to do it in shifts so they don’t loose their territory. We hope to provide food, hygiene kits, and some equipment for the facility such as basketballs and other equipment. The directors have a really good plan to help not only these kids but their parents as well. We then drove to Manila for Step 12 of ARP. There is road construction in that area so on the way home Waze took us a crazy route out of the area. Before long we were headed down a street that a car can’t really fit down and eventually after twisting and turning we were at a dead end. There were many people curious about what in the world we were doing and all came out of their homes to see the crazy Americans. I was surprisingly calm and we just kind of looked at each other and laughed. Soon a gentleman came up to help us back out. They direct you by banging on your trunk (which means keep going). He’s talking to Steve in Tagalog and we reply back in English (a lot of sign language going on here). Finally we got turned around and when you are finished being directed they slam their hand on your trunk one time. It feels like you just hit something but it’s all good. It’s soooo crazy, I was just giggling. Then this woman came up and said “Where are you going?” I replied “Quezon City”. She was so proud “Oh you just drive this way and then go that way and pass two bakeries and you will be on your way”. All we needed was to get on a road where cars can actually pass and then Waze will take over. Oh the adventures.
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| Adorable Street Children |
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| These boys loved Steve. |
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| Planting Flowers at Philippine Mental Health Center |
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| The girls |
Wednesday - Went to Mabuhay, Sister VW gave the lesson on Noah’s Ark and the kids made elephants. We have discovered the parents love us coming in. They are entertained every bit as much as the kids.
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| Sister Beckstead, me and Janine |
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| Janine |
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| Dr. Sandra Rogers with Sandra Grimshaw |
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| Dr. Rogers and Aisa |
Thursday - Teri McIver and Sister Grimshaw and I cleaned out the bookcase in the office. There were papers and notebooks there from 2000. It is looking so good and clean in our office now. We had Third Floor Catering in honor of Sister Rogers visit and then a staff meeting. Sister Rogers taught us from a Power Point of the Church’s vision for distributing funds for LDS Charities. We then left for Pathways in a rain storm. We got pulled for while going through a tricky intersection. We tried like crazy to reason with the officer but weren’t having any luck. Eventually we were able to reason with him (money talks) and be on our way. We do our best but navigating traffic is so difficult and getting pulled over is a way of life here.
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| Cleaning out book cases in the Area Office |
Friday - I went to Quirino hospital for the first time. It is a hospital which takes those who can’t afford to go anywhere else. We make hats for the babies and sing to the mother’s as we walk down the hall. The rooms have maybe 20 beds with sometimes two women per bed and the babies in the beds with them. We are hoping to put together a project and help with some of their needs. We met with Melody and Franco from Mabuhay Desert to discuss some of our vision projects. We had dinner at the Tucker’s for Teri McIver’s Birthday with VW’s, and Whiteheads. Hawaiian Haystacks with a game of Heads Up.
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