It is strange to be in a land where it does not snow and the temperatures are so warm in January ( not complaining, mind you!!!). Life continues forward after Christmas season and we are continuously traveling and looking for ways to serve the people and to assist those with whom we work. We have received an E-Mail from the Senior Couple who will replace us in the end of July .... the Robinsons from Spokane Washington. This renews our desires to make sure that we are keeping good records so that they will be able to 'just pick up' from where we leave off. The dear Saints here are so trusting and so kind to us .... we love serving with them.
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| 1 day old piglets at the Tarlac Member Welfare Project. A project that is now self-sustaining .... blessing the lives of Members of the Church. |
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| Grown piglets ... getting ready for market. "This little piggy went to market .... this little piggy stayed home." It is great to see the Project bless the lives of the members and assist them towards self-reliance. |
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| Goats can flourish here, and are a good source of protein, and milk. This allows the family to provide their own needs. |
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| Elder Bell is assisting the members here who are involved in the Member Welfare Projects in building 'Hen Setters' that he has designed. Helps more eggs hatch and therefore the ability to produce more chicks. |
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| We stopped by the Nacpil family and shared presents with their children and of course the neighbors had to also 'share in the booty'! We love being with the Filipino children. |
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| This was an interesting story. Ended up with Branch President Omar Moises and his wife, Luz, AND 3 women in our apartment for an 'overnighter'. President Moises had traveled to bring the ill member to the Baguio Hospital for treatment. 2 of the woman's sisters also came along. They ended up arriving at our apartment at 11:00pm, with no place to stay. We fed them (had not eaten since 11am, and then spread them out on couches and beds, and fed them. Got them up the next a.m.for breakfast and for a Doctor exam, and they were in Baguio all day again. We took them meals, and finally fixed them sandwiches to take back on the bus at 10pm that evening. |
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| This is inside the "Lighthouse Sanctuary" ... safe house and rehabilitation center for the abused and exploited little girls. Julie and Junell are members of the Church and have traveled back into the Philippines to bless the lives of those unfortunate girls caught up in these horrible activities of exploitation and pornographic filth on the internet. These are special people willing to serve, to teach, to share, to help heal .... to follow the example and admonition of the Savior. |
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| We stayed at Ford Ilocandia while in Laoag, Ilocos Norte. A nice hotel and beautiful gardens. |
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| Love these delicate little blossoms. |
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| I love the fragrant and beautiful flowers. |
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| This is Julie and Junell's family ... at the Lighthouse Sanctuary. They have 2 girls and 2 boys of their own. Junell was a teenage actor here in the Philippines, served a mission, came to BYU Idaho, and met Julie, a returned Missionary. She fell in love with this Filipino returned missionary who loved to swing dance. Together, they are striving to change the lives of those who have known sadness, travesty, exploitation, and who needs emotional & spiritual healing. |
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| Tharon working with me as we categorize and clean out a warehouse that the Area Welfare Department has been using for 7 years in one of the first Church buildings built in Manila area. 7 years of storing wheelchairs, emergency bags, parts for wheelchairs, microfiche readers, microfilm readers, ....yes, about everything the Church has been putting somewhere in storage. The Church has recently sold the building ... and it needed to be organized and cleared out. We don't mind working. We found more spiders, geikos, other strange lizards, and old junk .... more than we care to think about. 3 filthy, hot, sweaty days. So good to complete this task. |
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| Me, working in the old Aurora Chapel warehouse ... organizing all of the old wheelchair parts and repair supplies, as well as wheelchairs that have been used during training. This entire collection of 'stuff' was donated to one of our Wheelchair partners (BATAAN Provincial Government DSWDO) who is working with LDS Charities to set up a 'Wheelchair Repair Shop' and livelihood center for handicapped people to be employed in. All of these items amounted to a few $1000 worth of supplies to get them off to a great start. |
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| Loading the truck with the wheelchairs and the extra parts and repair parts for wheelchairs in the truck sent from the DSWDO office of Bataan Province. They had to come back a second day because they could not fit it all in on the one load. What a 'windfall' for them as they prepare to begin a Wheelchair Repair Shop. |
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| This is a few of the members in the Lubao, Pampanga Branch. We delivered to them a Freezer that was left in the Aurora warehouse - unclaimed by any other department .... and still working. They were thrilled to recieve it. We also kicked off the first day of their Member Welfare Project by going to the hardware store and ordering supplies to begin the work of construction of pig stalls on the individual families' own properties. |
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| We assisted Mabuhay Deseret with a vision screening in the Purple Center's School in the Tondo area in Manila. |
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| This was the Purple Center staff, Mabuhay Deseret Staff, and those of us from LDS Charities who assisted with the vision screening. 22 pairs of glasses will be prepared with the proper lenses for the children and 3 of the teachers. 2 2nd graders will be scheduled for free eye surgery. Mabuhay Deseret and LDS Church provides vision equipment and supports Medical Missions for Trained Doctors to come into the area and provide the surgical and medical needs at no cost to the families. |
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| These are 2 of the boys who had their eyes checked and were able to pick out a frame from those donated back in the United States. They became my buddies. |
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| This is Sister Van Wermenskerkin from the Netherlands. She and her husband are serving a Mission here in Manila. He is a Medical Doctor and works in the M.T.C. as well as travels to all the Missions to work with and advise the Mission Presidents and their wives with medical concerns and procedures. She is an amazing woman ..... very driven. She has served as the Church's Public Relations representative for the Netherlands for many years. She has became a very cherished friend. |
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| He is a good companion and enjoys spending time out with the members as much as we can be out with them and being a part of their lives. This evening we were at the Tarlac Member Welfare Project, talking about the Philippine Cobra that slithered across the pathway the last time we visited the Farm site. President Nacpil and his family have became very dear to our hearts. |
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| The construction of the large "Chicken Coop" at the San Manuel MWP is progressing nicely. We stopped and purchased materials to complete the framing and get them prepared for the GI Sheeting that goes on the roof. They will be raising 'Broiler Chickens' to provide for the members in need in this Branch, and to give them an ability to earn funds to purchase their own basic food needs. |
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| 6 goats purchased for the San Manuel MWP. This is the native goat of the philippines ... already almost fully grown. They will raise more goats to give to individual families which provides a way to have their own goats and provides meat as time progresses. |
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| And more piglets at the Pozorrubio Project. We had a 'graduation celebration' here in Pozorrubio as the members of the Project have become Self-sustaining, and the piggery continues to grow and give more opportunities for other members to have piglets to raise and to learn the skills of taking care of pigs. |
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| This day there was a total of 36 piglets that they were taking care of, with a sow giving birth in another area. The members have learned great skills in raising the pigs, effectively keeping sows alive and healthy, preparing pigs for market. This has been a good project ...many successful stories coming from the members involved. This is all due to a concerned and 'in-tune' Bishop who was willing to "Provide for the Poor and Needy in the Lord's Way". We love working with these amazing and dedicated Saints. |
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| This is Bishop Viernes as he answers my questions about the history of the Pozorrubio Project and the success stories that have touched the lives of his members. |
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| We are off to San Juan, La Union Province, where they have begun their construction of a pig stall area for their San Juan Wards 1 & 2 Member Welfare Project. They are preparing to pour the concrete. |
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| Foundation footings prepared for the cement to be poured in. Their plans are to house Sows and raise piglets to assist their 'poorest' members. |
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| This is captured on the road to Quirino, Ilocos Sur. Elder Bell and I took the District President, the Branch President, and the newly called Branch President for the newly organized Quirino Branch up in the tops of the Cordillera Mountains. Our Mission President (President Bangal, of Baguio Mission) requested us to travel the 5 hours to meet with this unit as they prepare to become a Branch, and to assist them in the preparations to put together a Member Welfare Project that can assist these poor, poor members living in this area. |
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| Elder Bell caught me walking with some of the primary aged children as we walked to the river bank for the baptisms of 3 people. We are walking through the area that was flooded during the Typhon Lawin back in 2016. |
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| These are the 3 baptism candidates. 2 Primary aged children whose parents have joined the Church over the past year, and a 21 year old young woman whose mother and sister have been members for 6 months. It was a great time to be with them, and a touching scene to be witness of as they walked into the river and entered into a covenant with Heavenly Father to Keep His commandments and in becoming a Member of the Church. |
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| I have always wondered about the green shells that I so often find as I look for shells along beaches. What kind of 'something' lives inside them. Well, they are like oysters. In Quirino, they fixed them for us for our lunch, along with chicken soup, rice, and talapia fish. I like the shells better than I like them as food. ..... not a fan. |
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| Another Chicken that is in an area where Elder Bell is working with them to build the 'Hen Setters'. This little built construction will keep a hen sitting on her eggs and hatch out more. The Filipinos are loving the idea and excited to build them. |
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| This is Sister Zorn, who is serving with her husband as Welfare Specialists for the Visayans. They live on Cebu, and have worked with Elder Kevin Bell (& Sister Kathy Bell) in regards to a Member Welfare Project in Sagbayan, the Branch that Elder Bell was Branch President over. The Zorns are from Austria, and speak German. I have adopted her as my sister. They are such kind, generous, and spiritual people. Wish we could spend more time being with them and working together. They will be the Project Managers for the Alubijid Ward Member Welfare Project down on Mindanao Island, for us. In some ways, it is hard to work and develop a project and grow to love these wonderful saints .... and then not continue to work with them and see how their work comes to fruition .... but most important is that the work moves forward and we continue to search out those who will benefit from the miraculous blessings of the Member Welfare Project Program. |
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| I continue to love the flowers .... the beauty that they grace the landscape with and the smile that it brings to my heart. I love the tropical flowers and flora. Truly a paradise that we have been able to call home for a time. |
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| Some of the papaya fruit are covered to keep the fruit free from bird pecks and insects eating away at them. It is wonderful to have so many varieties of fruits and so yummy! Papaya is not our favorite. I think we watch for the pineapples, the fresh watermelons (yellow is current favorites), and will be very happy when the mangos are back in season. We will both miss the fresh mango shakes when we leave this paradise. Always a variety of Banana available. Tharon lives on Bananas .... he always has. |
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| And this is part of the great joy that we are able to witness and to rejoice with. A father baptizing his son. A second Generation and continuance of building up the Kingdom here in this region, up in the mountains of Luzon. We love this amazing and wonderful work. Being a Senior Missionary is a challenge in many ways, but oh, the blessings and Tender Mercies of the Lord continue to be poured out upon us.
We pray that you are all well, and are making the most of every day. We only have one chance at mortality .... lets make it count!
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