January Week 51-55

Week 51 -  December 31, New Years Eve

Monday - Day 400.  The Rain has returned and has been with us for the past couple of day.  We met the Grimshaw's and their family members that are visiting from Indiana at Denny’s for breakfast.  It was cool enough that we could eat outside, that is pretty rare. It was a quiet afternoon in our apartment and then at 5:00 we headed to Mega Mall with the Gunnell’s to empty the money from the Giving Machines and eat at Chili’s for the last time.  We really enjoyed being able to be a part of the “Light The World” project, it was fun to drive to Mega Mall and get to know the mall and many people who work there. We arrived back at Eastwood around 7:30.  We had heard all year that the traffic in Manila is very lite the week after Christmas.  It was so heavenly to drive with no traffic, the streets looked and felt completely different.  We went to the Gunnell’s apartment at 9:00 for our New Years Eve gathering.  There were 12 of us to play games and have some snacks while  waiting to greet the New Year in.  The fireworks in Eastwood were spectacular. We were on the 35th floor and could see them as they were being shot off.  There were wall to wall people down in Eastwood.  We left the Gunnell’s at 12:15 and even at that it was a bit of a challenge to navigate the elevators back home.  We could hear the music from Eastwood blaring in our apartment but it didn’t last long and we were able to tune the rest out and find sleep.

Playing games waiting for midnight

A view of Eastwood from Gunnell's apartment

Tuesday -  New Years Day - It was quiet in Eastwood for my morning walk and the aftermath of New Year’s was evident everywhere.  Steve and I drove to S&R and Landers to get some shopping in but they were both closed.  Interesting that everything is open on Christmas but not New Year’s Day.  It was not a problem because there was no traffic.  We stopped by the office and changed our pictures in our office to a skiing wall.  We met the  Singleton’s and Deb at Friday’s for dinner.

Our office, A girl can dream!!

Wednesday - It was Holiday so we had yet another day off.  I took advantage of a run/walk in Eastwood and visited with Kimberlee and Lauren.  We went to the temple around 11:00 but could not get in until 3:00 so we opted to do initiatory instead.  When we were done with that we went to Mega Mall to make the last deposit from New Year’s Eve for the Giving Machines.  I made our families favorite tomato soup and cheese sandwiches and we had the Gunnell’s over for dinner. It’s a bit challenging to have friends over because we have such a small kitchen table but it worked out alright.  We then met the Grimshaw’s at HoBing for an evening treat.

Thursday - We had our first day back to work in two weeks so we started with a 9:00 meeting to get things caught up.  Steve and I have been responsible for the Senior Outings since we have been here and it’s time to repeat most of the ones we have already done so we transferred our responsibility to the Gunnell’s.  We sat down with them and made a plan for the year and wish them luck.  We really did enjoy this responsibility, it helped us get to know the Philippines and other missionaries but it is time to pass the baton.

Friday - Started the day visiting with Lauren and Nancy.  We went with the Gunnell’s to go to the temple. We had our weekly dinner at Outback with a few other missionaries.

Saturday - At 6:00 in the morning we left with the Gunnell’s for Mindoro to explore this part of the Philippines. We drove south for 2.5 hours to Batangas and then put our car on the ferry and rode for another 3 hours before we landed in the northern part of Mindoro. We then drove another 4 hours south to San Jose. Steve Browne drove and Steve Gunnell took the pictures. I’ll let the pictures do the talking.

On our way to Mindoro we were on a luxury liner
For 50 pesos ($1.00 we got to sit in an air conditioned room)

The trip over to Mindoro

We saw all kinds of things on the drive south

Not something you see everyday.

Mindoro is so beautiful
We loved the four hour drive to San Jose

Sunset

Sunday - We got up and headed back down to the ferry dock.  We wanted to make sure we got there early enough so we would have a spot on the ferry. Good thing because it took almost 5 hours. The choice is the 4 hour drive that we took on Saturday or the 5 hour drive where you can stop half way at a Jollibee's, and use the bathroom.  We opted for that to see some different scenery and who doesn't love a peach/mango pie from Jollibee's?  It was a beautiful trip back to Batangas. By the time we docked and started driving the 2 hours back to Eastwood we were pretty tired but it was all worth it and we were so glad to be able to take this trip. We stopped in Lipa for a pizza at Shakey's.

Week 52 - January 7

Monday - I got up early and made peanut butter cookies.  We had an 8:00 committee meeting that took a couple hours.  We snuck back to our apartment for an afternoon rest and then went back to the office around 3:30.  Steve and I went to Steveston’s in Corinthian Gardens to pick up some pizza for Book Club.  There were 11 people that showed up for book club. We ate pizza and everyone shared two books they had read that were among their favorites. It was so fun to learn of  the different books that interest people.  We complied a list and choose our February and March books. It  was a very worthwhile evening.

Sharing our favorite books

Tuesday - 9:00 Devotional on service.  We went and bought a cake for Nick our custodian.  We all love Nick and he was so happy to be remembered and have some cake to share with us.  I started walking in the evenings again.  Now that Christmas is over and the lights and decorations are down it’s much better easier to get around.

Our friend Nick!

The Welfare Department celebrating Nicks birthday
He was so happy!

Wednesday - At 6:00 in the morning we left with the Gunnell’s and drove north for 2.5 hours to Balanga City to meet with the mayor and his staff. We were then driven to 4 different “Learning Hubs” in the city. These Learning Hubs are the brainchild of Mayor Garcia, he got this idea while attending Penn State many years ago. The idea of the Learning Hubs are to give school children from high school down through pre-school a building to go to so they can learn to use a computer. This program is well run and organized. We are partnering with them to donate 50 used computers from our office and a number of new computers to help these students. This is a project we are very excited about and so happy to be a part of.  Maybe our favorite one so far. When we got home I made some Chili and went for a walk.

Balanga City Hall

Meeting with City Officials before we tour the Learning Hubs

Our van, our driver, and our guides

Inside one of the Hubs

The man in the white t-shirt made and served us our morning
 snack (meryanda). He was so proud.

The children who benefit from these learning hubs

Lunch at Fridays afterward to discuss the proposal for computers
Steve is really good at this

A brownie treat

They presented us with polo shirts from Balanga

Thursday -  It was one year ago today (January 10) that we arrived in the Philippines.  We started the day in a meeting with Mary Ann and the Gunnell’s to firm up our upcoming traveling plans. We then met with Mary Ann to tell her what our plans are to finish up our projects and be ready to turn them over to the Gunnell’s and Robert’s in 3.5 months.  We had the vegan chili l made for lunch and it was really good. The meat is pretty scary here so I had to make it meatless.

Friday - Office work until 1:00.  We went to the temple at 1:00, Elder and Sister Wakolo were in our session. We had dinner at Outback for our Friday night ritual.

Saturday.  It’s winter in the Philippines so that means a bit of a breeze for a more pleasant morning run.  All the hype of the holidays are over so Eastwood is fairly bare of people, except of course all the Filipinos who come out to take selfies, it’s amazing how much of that you see. People think they are so beautiful and pose to show it, I just roll my eyeballs. I on the other hand look sweaty and tired, but I do try. We had a nice relaxing day in our apartment reading and working on our projects. We went for an afternoon matinee to see “Mary Poppins. We loved it! We went to dinner at Friday’s with the gang.

Sunday - We got up early and headed to church at the Aurora building.  Elder Jeffrey R. Holland was speaking in that chapel for an historic country wide Stake Conference.  We knew he would be in the Philippines all week and we were invited to attend several Devotionals where he would be speaking but because of our travel plans we knew we would not be able to attend.  We got front row seats at 7:30 and waited for conference to start at 10:00.  Elder Holland spoke for 45 minutes and as always it was so wonderful to hear his message in person.  There was a speaker Sister Dulalia  who is a R.S. President in Quezon City.  She is a doctor in the mental health field and gave a wonderful talk on the mental health concerns in this country.  She even recognized "The Browne's" as missionaries who are helping in this area.  Mary Ann received 7 calls from Stake Presidents after this meeting with requests for help. Consequently our calendar for the next couple months is filling up. We had a quiet Sunday afternoon in our apartment.

I got this picture off LDS Newsroom
That is us in the congregation front and center

Fine dining on a Sunday afternoon in our apartment

What could be more normal than multicolored chicks on
a Sunday stroll around Eastwood?

Week 53 - January 14

Monday - We started the day with Yoga and a walk in Eastwood and then headed for the Airport at 10:00. We met Mary Ann there but unfortunately our 1:30 flight did not leave for Iloilo until 4:00. When we arrived in Iloilo we checked into the Diversion 21 and had a nice dinner at the hotel and rested the rest of the evening.

Some pictures captured from the devotionals we missed

He is a pulpit pounder!!

Tuesday - We were picked up by one of our Service Missionaries and then he drove us to Miagao for a graduation of 25 PWUD’s. When we first got to the Philippines we called those we were helping “Surrenderies” but that has changed to People Who Use Drugs (PWUD),  Filipinos love their acronyms.  We attended the graduation of Batch 1 in Miagao, and then drove back to Iloilo.  Just as we were leaving the pavilion where the graduation was held someone came for us to show us a tree full on fruit bats.  We saw some fruits bats up near Subic in November and we were told it was the only place in the Philippines where you could see fruit bats, I guess not. We spent time in the afternoon in Jaro training our Service Missionaries who do such an amazing job.  When the meeting ended, they said there goodbye's to us  by bringing in a beautiful cake.  We think that was our last trip to Iloilo.  We have traveled there 9 times in the past year.  On the way back to the airport the Sollesta’s treated us to a seafood dinner at Tatoy’s.  We had a nice feast but the grilled blue marlin was super good.  Iloilo is known for it’s fresh blue marlin.  It was quite a treat!!  We arrived at the airport at 7pm for our 8pm flight which did not leave until 1am,  5 hours delayed.  We did not get home until after 3:00, it was a long day.

The Sollesta's who have done so much work for the People Who Use Drugs (PWUD)
 in their community. They are a force.

Mary Ann
I wish we could share her with everyone
She is so good at what she does and so animated.

The Mayor of Miagao

This police officer was there representing the Chief of Police
Everyone knows I do love a man in uniform

They are always so happy with a meal

The Group Leaders from Iloilo

Steve had the closing remarks

 The fruit bats
It's an amazing site, hundreds of them

Our going away cake

Our dinner at Tatoy's
Oysters and cheese

Shrimp of course, nice and spicy

Grilled Blue Marlin, a specialty of Iloilo
One of the best things I have ever eaten in my life
A once in a lifetime experience

Wednesday - Mary Ann told us not to come into the office because of our late night, plus the fact our car was coded so we worked from home and got caught up on laundry, groceries, and ironing. We did meet Grimshaw’s for dinner at Friday’s.

Thursday - We got up at 2:30 a.m. in order to be at the airport at 4:30.  We met Kenneth and Jairus there and caught a 6:00 a.m. flight to Davao.  Kenneth and Jairus have both lived in Davao and they love it so they were so anxious to show us around.  At 10:00 we met at Southern Philippine Medical Center (SPMC).  It was a huge hospital and everywhere we went there were literally hundreds of people waiting to see doctors. We had an equipment turnover ceremony with some of the doctors. Steve works so hard on our vision care projects. We took down equipment that he has tried to get ordered and delivered since March of 2018. Steve did a fabulous job of talking to the doctors and sharing with them the vision of “LDS Charities” and tried to solicit other ideas of ways we could help them.  After the ceremony we had a meryanda of chocolate cake and mangos.   After that one of the doctors and some of the staff gave us a tour of the hospital.  It was really something to see.  What these doctors do to serve so many people while trying to expand and improve is amazing.  When we were done at the hospital Jairus and Kenneth took us for a true Chinese/Filipino lunch at a place called Mandarin. We sort of have a reputation of not being very adventuresome with our food choices so we tried to redeem ourselves. We had a really good lunch and tried a few new things. After that we walked to the church for a MOA signing for one of Kenneth’s eyeglasses project. I promised Mary Ann and Kenneth that if they would take me to Davao I would eat Durian.  It was time to honor my promise. Kenneth sent someone to go buy durian and bring it back to the church. I could not understand all that he was instructing her but I kept hearing him say “beginner, beginner”. She returned with the durian and we got brave and tried it.  Look at the pictures to get an idea of our experience.  We then went back to the airport to catch a 6:00 flight home.  We were home by 10:00pm.

Davao is know for Durian

I have been wanting to come to Davao ever since we landed in the Philippines

We traveled to Davao to turn over some eye equipment.
Steve has been working on this since March

The Medical Team of PMC
They were so happy with our supplies
These doctors have the heart to help many who can't afford treatment

Chocolate Cake, what a nice surprise for a Meryanda
Something recognizable

We then went on a tour of the hospital
Floor after floor with hundreds of people waiting to see a doctor

The courtyard

They took us on a tour of the Children's Cancer Institute

This doctor was explaining the vision they have for improving the hospital

In this room we found three volunteers from the U.S.
playing with some of the cancer patients

This artwork is donated by a famous Filipino artist
He donated many paintings to this hospital for the
benefit of the children suffering from cancer

Some of the cancer patients and their families

A MOA signing at the church for Kenneth's eyeglasses project

Another meryanda with recognizable food

Our durian experience
Look at Steve's face, I actually didn't think is was that bad

Friday - Day at the office.  We went to lunch with the Singleton’s at Burger King, some days you just need the taste and feel of home.  We went to the temple to help Sister Elliott with some family names.  We had our Friday night dinner at Outback and came home to pack for our third flight of the week.

Saturday - We were up at 4:30 and met the Gunnell’s in our lobby by 6:00 and headed to the airport for our 8:00 a.m. flight to Cebu.  As usual Mary Ann bought us each a chocolate croissant and hot chocolate, she takes such good care of us.  We boarded the plane and thought we were going to leave on time but we ended up on the runway for an hour waiting for our turn to leave.  When we got to Cebu we were picked up by our driver and we went to Lapu-Lapu to check out the guitar and ukulele factories so Robin Gunnell could buy a nice ukulele. We spent a couple hours while she tried out different instruments but we had a great time.  As the workers could see there we a couple Americans in their store they started to file in and pick up different instruments, ukuleles, guitars, mandolins, and bass and started playing all kinds of music.  Of course it was all 70’s songs so it was so fun for me.  I asked them if I could take them home so they could play at a pool party in my backyard, that would be really fun.  Robin ended up with two ukuleles. We then went to lunch at a nice restaurant.  We met at the church near the Cebu temple to meet with the Humanitarian Missionaries who serve in that area to brain storm ways of improving our work. We then checked into the Marco Polo and crashed quite early.

Arriving in Cebu, Mary Ann's home town

Steve getting his grove on

The workers playing some songs for us

Making Guitars

Mary Ann and I singing
"I'm on the Top of the World with the employees"

Meeting with the Whitmores who serve in Cebu
Discussing Welfare Projects

Hotel Lobby at Marco Polo, Cebu City

Sunday - We were treated to an awesome Sunday morning brunch at the hotel and then a bit of a show from some dancers.  It was the weekend of the Sinulog.  The Sinulog-Santo Nino Festival is an annual cultural and religious festival held on the third Sunday of January in Cebu City. After some time touring the city Mary Ann took us to an authentic Filipino seafood lunch.  I have to say we really branched out in our food this week.  We ended up in Mandaue City at the Pajo Chapel around 3:00 for the Mental Health Forum that we hosted from 4:00 to 6:00.  It was well attended and the participation was good like it usually is. Hopefully they will get an ARP class started down there soon.  At 6:00 we were picked up by our driver Renan and together with the Gunnell’s we headed for a 4 hour drive down south to Oslob.  We hit the jackpot with Renan he was such a good driver (of course it doesn’t hurt that the traffic in Cebu is not near as crazy as it is in Manila). Renan made arrangements for us to stay at the Brumilim Resort right by the ocean.  It was late and dark so we couldn’t appreciate most of it.

Dancers posing with the Sister Gunnell and Browne's
Elder Gunnell is taking the picture

Steve bought McKenna a ukulele for her to play when she gets here.

Mary Ann said just dig in with your
fingers and we did. She's the boss.

The shrimp was good but a lot of work and messy

The squid was squishy

The church in Mandaue

OIP (only in the Philippines)

Steve preforming his magic egg act
It's a great object lesson

What did I tell you
Mary Ann is animated!

So is Jairus

Week 54 - January 21

Monday - We were up by 5:30 and treated to a beautiful sunrise.  At 6:00 the shuttle took us down to the beach where the swimming with the Whale Sharks takes place.  There were a lot of people there but since we had Renan who hooked us up with the Bruimilim Resort we had a guide who jumped into line and got our tickets.  You get 30 minutes in the ocean to swim with the Whale Sharks and it was a very cool thing to get to do. We all loved it.  We then headed back for Cebu and Renan took us to the heart of Cebu City where there were some remnants of the festival, we got to see some of the decorations and visit a Catholic Church. We went back to Marco Polo for a poolside lunch and then Renan took us back to the airport.  We arrived at 4:00 for our 8:00 flight (which was delayed until 9:00) and flew back to Manila.  We were home just before midnight.  Crazy busy week but we loved it all and feel so lucky to get to see all these wonderful places and interact with the wonderful people of the Philippines.

Sunrise in Oslob

Taking people to swim with the whale sharks

Waiting our turn

The added bonus of seeing a turtle swim by

This is it!!

Steve with the shark

Me with the shark

Our underwater shot

The Streets of the Sinulong Festival

The Vendors

Burning Candles

The Food

Inside the cathedral

A monument in Lapulapu

While sitting at a stop light we saw this little boy
walk up to a Sari Sari store to purchase 2 suckers

He has big shoes to fill. What could be better
 than two suckers and a cigarette lighter?

Tuesday - Back in the office.  9:00 Devotional  with Reggie from Family History.  We tried Army/Navy for dinner and it was ok, I really miss tacos. Evening walk.

Wednesday - I went to Mabuhay for the first time since October, I’m not free on Wednesdays much anymore. Quiet evening.

Thursday - Last week was full of excitement.  This week not so much.  I did sit in on a meeting with Mary Ann to train some new Group Leaders from the Fairview Ward.  I met E/S Panglinan.  They attended our Mental Health Forum in Aurora in September and wanted to come help with ARP.  I was quite impressed with them. They will be champions in their stake to help so many who are struggling.

Friday - We were up and out the door at 7:30 to drive to Las Pinos for a Mabuhay Eye Screening.  We had difficulty finding The Barangay Hall but once we did we were greeted like we were royalty.  The members of this community trying to get help for around 40 people with eye issues were amazing.  It’s always a good day when you see the efforts of these doctors and Mabuhay Deseret employees to find people who need help and change their lives. We love Jimwell who always is so kind to us. We came home and Steve worked on our projects while I read.

Mabuhay Eye Screening In Las Pinos

Jimwell assessing this young boy

The Barangay leaders and doctors who provide this service

Saturday - The cooler weather in January in the Philippines is so wonderful (even through the locals are freezing and walking around with jackets at 80 degrees).   We enjoyed our monthly wonderful mani-pedi at Nailtropics.

Sunday - We left our apartment at 7:30 in the morning with the Owen's and drove to Cavite for the Soleta's daughters homecoming talk in church.  Their daughter Ara just returned from her mission serving in the Quezon City North Mission.  It was our first time back to Cavite since our near death experience in July when during a down pour of rain we could not outrun the rain and had to wait the night at the Soletta's home until the water receded.  Evelyn promised me there would be no rain and there was not.  It was so nice to spend time with them, what an incredible young woman Ara is.  She spoke for a short period of time and she spoke in her native tongue so we didn't understand much but she had a beautiful countenance and we enjoyed her very much.  We went over to their home afterwards for dinner and got back to our apartment mid afternoon.  Quiet evening at home getting ready for the week.

Our dinner after church

A Filipino Home, it was once featured in a magazine

The Soletta's, their two daughters, the Owen's and us

Danny and Evelyn outside their home

Week 55 - January 28
Monday - Planning meeting with the Welfare Department from 8:30-10:30. Regular day at the office.We met with Mary Ann to discuss our upcoming CCM (Church Service Missionary) training. We attended Family Home Evening, the Singleton's presented.

Gingerbread Cookies, Kimberlee sent me the mix for Christmas

Tuesday - 9:00 Area Office Devotional,  Noel Abraham was our speaker on receiving personal revelation  We had the first office lunch we've had in two months.  Refried beans, spanish rice, lettuce, chips and salsa.  I love it when our office smells like Cafe Rio, so much more pleasant than the usual smell of fish.  S. Gunnell and I drove with Mary Ann to meet with the directors of the Philippine Autism Society.  They have a humble but wonderful operation.  The two women who are a huge part of this organization are volunteer mother's who both have sons with autism.  They do amazing work, it was such a good experience to meet with them.  Hopefully we can find a way to partner with them and contribute to this organization.

They sell these T-shirts for a fund raiser
A little more kindess and little less judgement
Autism is not a processing disorder
it is a different operating system

Mary Ann with a member of the Philippine Autism Society
These are special women who take on this work

These individual who live with autism are able to provide
for themselves through the work at this chocolate factory.

Wednesday - We left our apartment at 7:30 to go pick up Mary Ann and her son Jarl and head northeast to a place called Baler.  It was an 8 hour drive through a very windy mountainous rode but when we got there it was beautiful.  Baler is known for surfing and we stayed at the Playa Azul which was about 20 steps to the ocean.  We enjoyed watching the surfers, walking along the beach, feeling the breeze and listening to the ocean. Not a whole lot of choices for food, thankfully the hotel restaurant food was pretty good.

View of the ocean from the hotel restaurant
It was a bit chilly, we could have used a hoodie 

Having a moment with the ocean

Me, Jarl, and Mary Ann

Thursday - Steve and I got up early to watch the sun rise over the ocean.  Too bad it was cloudy and rainy but it was fun to people watch.  One good thing about an oceanfront hotel in the Philippines is that there are not too many people.  We did enjoy watching people run and walk and set up their food stands for the day.  We met with the Barangay Officials in the town hall with the local Stake President to introduce our Addiction Recovery Program.  This meeting was mostly in Tagalog (which is pretty unusual) so we didn't feel like we contributed much but the locals did seem interested.  The Stake President then took us to PWD (persons with disabilities) office because they wanted to talk about our wheelchair program.  We headed for the 8 hour drive back home around 11:00.  Thank heaven for Steve's amazing driving, I think it was our only contribution.  We did love the beach though!!

An ocean sunrise with cloud cover

Mary Ann telling about our resources

Friday - Back to work in the office.  Steve, S. Grimshaw and I cleaned out our storage room to make room for some of our supplies.  We went to lunch at Burger King with Singleton's and S. Grimshaw.  We all met at Outback for our weekly evening dining.

Saturday - Ground Hogs Day!!  The real Ground Hogs Day, we get in our elevator almost every morning and on our ride down to the parking basement we look at each other and say "It's Ground Hog's Day Today".  A mission is somewhat like that, what can I say.  Spent the morning talking to several people at home.  At 1:00 we drove up to the Area Office and met Rob Sturgill our Financial Advisor from home who travels to the Philippines often for his humanitarian projects.  He took us to lunch at Basil for some Thai dining.  Our custodian Nick that we love and Rob were mission companions years ago in Bacolod.  It was nice to dine with someone from home.

Enjoying some Thai food at Basil with our financial planner
from Edward Jones, Rob Sturgill

We watched him pop the fish eyeball into his mouth and eat it
Apparently the cheek meat is the best, I'll take their word for it

Sunday - We went to church at the Aurora building because we like 8:30 church and it's so close.  Not all of it is spoken in English but a good deal is and it's kind of fun to listen when they go back and forth from English to Tagalog to see how much you can understand.  We spent the afternoon in our apartment and then headed back to the Aurora building for a 5:00 meeting with the Stake Leaders to talk about Mental Health solutions.  We are very hopeful they will get a program and some group meeting going for their members.

Training the leaders about resources for those struggling
with mental health issues