Tuao (Our Farthest Town)

We've been hearing about Tuao ever since we arrived. It's one hour north of Tuguegarao, making it our farthest north part of the mission. It's a little town known for a famous bakery that makes Pan degan. That is a yeast roll that is filled with a red jelly (like raspberry--maybe?). Anyway some elders have actually put on lots of weight there because they visit the bakery when the rolls are hot out of the oven. They only cost 2.5 pesos a piece so for $1.00 U.S. you could get 24 rolls. We've had elders serving there bring them to the mission home on a 4 hour bus ride. They are good but nothing like the fresh ones.

We were able to attend Elder Maxfield and Elder Biatings baptismal service for a darling young lady (12 years old)and visit the bakery! President Carlos was visiting with some of the men from the congregation since they will soon be needing a new branch president--the current one is moving to Canada.



The people there were so sweet and friendly. We loved our visit!

Visiting District Meetings

Each Tuesday morning our district leaders are busy conducting district meetings in every corner of the mission. We always try to head out in a different direction and attend one of them. Right now President is conducting his quarterly interviews and he pulls missionaries out of the meetings. I pick one of the meetings and attend it. Usually the Assistants are with us and they visit a different meeting. (There are usually 2-3 going on in a church building.) I always love watching our great district leaders in action and enjoy taking part in their meetings. I usually try to bring a treat of some sort--a bag of chocolates, doughnuts or something else that is yummy!

Last week we went to Tuguegarao and I attended Elder Embradora's meeting. He has so much charisma and is such a great teacher! I loved being able to watch him lead and guide the missionaries in his district.





Sister Sajol and Sister Corpuz


Sister Stewart and Sister De Castro



Elder Embradora and Elder Cledera


Elder Maxfield and Elder Katoa were waiting for the meetings to begin.

Visits After the Storm

Since many of our missionaries don't have water or power they are heading to the Mission Home to plug in their cell phones to recharge or to email home. It's been a fun week with many impromptu meals created and served.


This group of elders dropped by and so we pulled out peanut butter and jelly and they seemed happy. After lunch Elder Kelson spotted some cold cereal and fresh milk. He ate a big bowl for dessert!

Here Sister Fort and Sister De Fiesta dropped by. They were so reluctant to eat lunch with us but we finally persuaded them to do so. We happened to be having Mexican bean and cheese burritos, chips and salsa. Sister De Fiesta was a good sport to try it and I think she kind of liked them! Sister Fort hasn't been here long enough to really crave Mexican food yet, but she seemed really grateful for the food and visit. These are darling sister missionaries who are working so hard in an area without power! They are so gorgeous, even without their curling irons and lighted make-up mirrors.

This is a Sharp Group of New Missionaries!

On October 7 we met a bus with seven eager new missionaries. We have Elder Jackson (California), Elder Shackelford (North Carolina) Elder Thomas (Kansas City), Elder Bautitsta (Philippines) Sister Fort (Texas) Sister Pence (Iowa) and Sister Acal (Philippines).

After trips to the CR (Comfort Room aka bathroom) we sat down to breakfast which consisted of Breakfast Rice and Cinnamon Rolls. We also had a huge bunch of bananas--fresh from the tree.



Later we conducted a quick orientation while President interviewed each missionary in his office. We will have these missionaries and their trainers back in two weeks for a more extensive training.

By mid-morning all missionaries gathered from all regions of the mission for our transfer meeting. And our new missionaries were off to their new areas. (They had to be super tired because they came right off the plane and then took an overnight bus trip! I'm not sure how much good they could do that first few days but they were eager to get to work.)





We truly believe Heavenly Father has blessed our mission with these new, amazing missionaries!

Only in the Philippines...

Every day I see something and say, "only in the Philippines!"




Only in the Philippines do people have beautiful little bamboo huts in their yards and use them as their dining rooms. They are called bahay kubo or nipa huts. They have built-in benches all the way around with a table in the center. We can so see us sitting in one of these at home sipping lemonade and playing games. They are beautifully made and cost around $300 US. I'm trying to figure out how to get one home! We were invited to Sister's Uy's birthday party and this one is in her yard.



Only in the Philippines do you see Vulcanizing Shops every few miles. Since the major mode of transportation is motorcycles with intertubes in the tires, these shops are very busy. The roads aren't very good and so popped tires are a daily occurence. Every little shop is advertised with a tire like this one.



Only in certain parts of the Philippines (Our northern most areas) do you see competition for trycies. These are horse drawn carts,called kalesas. All of the horses are miniature and many of the carts have wooden wheels. I have said that I want to ride in one and one of the missionaries told me that I probably wouldn't enjoy it because it's a really bumpy, hard ride. But they are so cute. Sometimes you'll see the horses with feathers on their foreheads or ribbons in their tails. You will see families all crammed into one of the carts along with all kinds of purchases such as food and bamboo polls.

More New Companionships

Here are some additional new companionships. Typhoon Juan hit right after the transfers were made so if you can weather a typhoon the size of Juan with your new companion--you can surely become a divine companionship. We have high hopes for this bunch!


Elder Moffat and Elder Haycock (Santiago Zone Leaders)

Elder Lucernas and Elder Magallanes

Elder Joslin and Elder Bautista

Transfers

Transfers are always bitter sweet. We see many companions shed a few tears as they say goodbye to each other. Then there's the anticipation of new companions. But, it's always a sweet time to connect with lots of missionaries and take photos of their new "divine" companionships. Here are a few from this transfer.


Elder Maxfield and Elder Biating are heading to Tuao which means Elder Maxfield finally gets a cell phone!


Elder Talusig and Elder Quinto


Elder Embradora and Elder Cledera


Elder Katoa and Elder Abalate


Sister Pence and her trainer Sister Conje. (Sister Laguitan was with them as a threesome for a few days while her companion was in Manila receiving some medical tests.)

October Zone Leader's Council

We have a number of new zone leaders. Nice looking group!



There's always a little time for visiting and relaxing!



They licked the bowls clean!

Each month we look forward to spending time with our zone leaders. We work hard for half a day focusing on various topics. This month focused on Divine Companionships and the responsibility each missionary has to protect their companions from both spiritual and physical dangers. Our Assistants lead a discussion of the important issues that zone leaders are facing. I spoke about leading and guiding sister missionaries. We discussed some of their unique challenges and situations!

We break for lunch. This month we served lasagna, salad, garlic bread and cherry cheesecake for dessert. As you can tell the North American elders licked the pans clean!

After lunch we continue our training and discussions before each companionship heads back to their areas.

The Aftermath

This area used to be green!

The upstairs of this building was totally demolished.


Huge trees were down every where.

Chow King is no more!
We've had a chance to drive through most of the areas affected by the Typhoon. It's so sad to see the lush vegetation totally stripped and everything is brown. Even sadder was to see thousands of collapsed homes and roofs torn off.

We went past a huge tree that had someone's roof stuck in the top of it. We also saw a large grove of palm trees all down and I had heard that palm trees are rarely affected by typhoons, they are made to bend and sway with the winds. These were broken off at the base.

One of our favorite restaurants in Ilagan is Chow King, it is now a shell--all the windows were broken out and the insides gone.

Still our Tuguegarao, Roxas and Ilagan zones have many missionaries without power. We worry about them but every time we check on them their spirits seem good. They continue working in their areas doing cleanup around their missionary duties. This week are zone meetings and between us and the Assistants we will be visiting every zone. We will be able to get another update after our visits.

WOW! What a TYPHOON

So now we are officially residents of the Philippines Islands. We've gone through our first Typhoon. This one hit at a level 4 in Ilagan and Cauyan areas--the highest level is a 5. Most of our zones south of here just experienced some winds and heavy rains. But here in Cauayan we had winds at 150 mph. I've never seen anything like it and the winds were even stronger in Ilagan. All missionaries are doing well. Some are currently without power. The past two days we've been helping our missionaries move to suitable housing as a number of their apts flooded or the windows/roofs were blown out. All of these elders or sisters are happy and have plenty of food and water. They are busy rendering service to those in need under the direction of their branch leaders. I always felt safe and so it was kind of exciting to watch from our vantage point here at the mission home. But today I went to an area that used to be lush and green and in every direction I looked there was not one leaf remaining on any plant. Just huge trees without leaves. It was quite eerie. I saw home after home completly devestated. Yet, I saw people out trying to saw off broken limbs to use as new support beams and all with smiles on their faces. These people are so amazing. WE've been without power and Internet for 2 days but it all just turned back on! I will try to post some photos and video in the next day or two. THank you for your prayers. We could FEEL them here. We have so much to be thankful for at this time.

All are safely gathered-in

We are officially in the middle of a sever typhoon. There is widespread power outage. We can feel very strong wind as well as rain. With the generator in the compound, we are able to have some power to maintain some basic necessities.

In case any parent is worried, all of our missionaries are safely gathered in. We started moving those who are at risk (low lying lands, mudslide prone area, etc.) on Saturday evening... We have been checking with them regularly throughout the day, and will--untill the storm is over. We have cell phone communications in all the areas where the missionaries are.. For now, nothing to worry about. This storm should pass and then the clean-up will begin.

We will update as soon as regular communications are restored..Otherwise, I can check text, email, etc thru my Blackberry.... presidentcarlos@gmail.com

Your prayers are appreciated for the continued safety of our missionaries as well as the people here. Our mission happen to be in the center of the path of this storm.

Saying Goodbye is Hard to Do

Time has flown and we've been too busy to update this blog. ANyway on October 6 we said goodbye to some very special missionaries. These gatherings are so very hard. We love them, we honor them and we will miss them.

Departing missionaries arrive by 9 am and then attend an all-day Career Workshop. This one was put on by the Santiago Stake Employment Center. The curriculum was developed by the church and it is a very busy day full of great information.




I surprised the missionaries with juice and homemade cinnamon rolls during their morning break. In this photo Elder Dela Pena tried drinking Cranberry Juice for the first time. I don't think he's a fan of it!




Once the workshop is over the missionaries gather in the mission home for their "last supper." President once again made his delicious Rudiyaki Chicken. In this photo they were eating peach cobbler and ice cream for dessert.




After dinner we gather for a very spiritual testimony meetings. We cried together and laughed. It was a very precious time when these elders and sisters shared their tender feelings.



Later we take them to the bus station and they head off to Manila. Here Elder Phipps had some surprise visitors who had ridden a motorcycle through the rain from Ilagan (about 40 minutes from here) to see him off.

We will forever remember Sister Rosales, Elders Almobro (Hawaii), Phipps (Alabama), Amen, Dela Pena and Pandarawan (From various regions of the PHilippines). During that last day each missionary has an exit interview with President Carlos. It is a very special time for him to hear their last accounting of their time serving here in the Cauayan Mission. Sister Rosales presented the President with a homemade piggy bank where she had saved her spare change. It is very heavy (we haven't counted it yet), but her wish is that we can brighten the Christmas holidays for a few missionaries who don't get much support from home. This was very touching especially since her own family was against her going on a mission and she isn't sure what their reaction will be when she returns.

Typhoon Update

The Typhoon is now scheduled to touch down at 8 am this morning (Monday). It is currently 6:45 am and we are experiencing lots of rain. Our mission is currently in it's path but we are still praying for its path to change before it hits.

In the meantime, we have moved many of our missionaries to other missionary apartments. They have all been instructed to stay indoors and wait out the storm. All have food and water on hand. They will report back as soon as possible after the storm hits so that we can get an accounting of how everyone is doing.

We feel a certain peace about this all and believe that Heavenly Father is watching over our precious flock of missionaries. We feel your prayers. Thanks so much!

Super Typhoon

The church has alerted us that a Super Typhoon (now called Megi, but will be renamed Juan once it touches ground) is headed to first touch down in Cagayan Isabella. That is the heart of our mission. We are busy asking that every set of missionaries has sufficient food and water for the next few days. Any of the missionaries in low land or mud slide areas are being moved in with other missionaries in safer apartments. Parents, please be assured that we are doing everything in our power to make sure all of our missionaries are safe. All know that if it hits they are to notify the mission office of their safety at the earliest possible moment.

In the meantime, we are praying that it will bypass Luzon. The estimated arrival is sometime Sunday afternoon or evening. We will update this blog as we receive more information. If we lose power we will update it as soon as it is restored. Please join in our efforts to call down the windows of heaven and help to divert the path of this possibly catastropic typhoon.

The Eighth Wonder of the World

Words and photographs simply cannot explain the amazing sites we saw. Banue Rice Terraces date back to over 2,000 years. They were carved out of the mountain sides and are naturally irrigated from the Rain Forest above. What's amazing is that they are still being used to grow rice today and they still are naturally irrigated. If you were to put the terraces end to end they would stretch halfway around the world. The scenery is spectacular and then when you couple that with man's ingenuity, it is simply magnificent.

The Famous Banaue Rice Terraces

We have the 8th Wonder of the World right here in the Cauayan Mission. Having such an amazing tourist attraction in a mission can cause some concern for mission presidents. In past few years Banaue has been off limits to the missionaries, mainly because it's hard to fully visit it on a P-day and be back to work by 6:00 pm when P-day is over and the work begins.

President Carlos felt is was a shame to have it here and not to enjoy it. So after consulting with the Area President, it is now okay for small groups of missionaries (one district at the most) to go and visit provided they are serving in that region of the mission. So now missionaries serving in Nueva Vizcaya can go on a P-day. It's similar to those serving in Tuguegarao who go the the famous caves up there. There is to be no zone gatherings there as in accordance with the missionary handbook discouraging zone-wide activities.

We decided to go visit and take our office staff. Elder Goobie and Elder Muliner have worked hard the past 12 weeks to run our office and then to train Elder and Sister Breese. They have never had a regular P-day this entire time and so we felt it would be the right thing to do to take them on Monday before they were transferred back into the field.


We pulled into the parking lot and there was a jeepney pulling in. It was full of a district serving in Nueva Viscaya. It was fun to see these missionaries on their P-day activity.

A NEW TEMPLE!

So exciting to hear President Thomas S. Monson announce a new temple to be built in the Philippines. It will be in Urdaneta, a province adjacent to our mission. It will be a wonderful blessing for our saints here who have had to travel 10-12 hours to get to the Manila Temple. Now, it will be as close as an hour from Nueva Vizcaya, the south part of our mission, and about 6 hours from the northern most portion of our mission, Tuguegarao.

Next week, we will have a meeting with Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Twelve, and Bishop Keith McMullin of the Presiding Bishopric. I am sure there will be a lot of excitement at that meeting.

Check out the map:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urdaneta_City

Cauayan District Young Single Adult Family Home Evening

Last weekend we had fun working with the Young Single Adults from Cauayan. We taught the class on dating and preparing for a temple marriage. Then we enjoyed watching them "speed date." They had one minute to talk to the girl across from them and then move when the bell rang. (They were given a piece of paper with some conversation starters.) The entire room was buzzing with conversation. The strange thing was that there were even number of guys and girls. Afterwards we turned off the lights and played "murder" in the dark. It was a lot of fun although Brother Ed, killed me and he wasn't even the murderer!

Imelda's 50th Birthday Party

Imelda has been the housekeeper for the Cauayan Mission Home for the past 4 years. We feel very fortunate to have her as she is the perfect housekeeper for us. She works Mondays to Fridays and arrives each day at 9:00 and stays until her work is done. She is a great housekeeper and also fantastic with laundry. She doesn't like to cook much, which is fine with us since we both love to cook. She is becoming the best sous chef and is getting really good helping me chop vegetables as well as making cinnamon rolls, cookies and cakes. It's really a treat to be able to cook and know that someone else is helping with the prep work and cleaning up your mess.
When we realized it was her birthday we asked if we could host a birthday luncheon for her. She invited her closest friends, her three daughters, and Ronnie (our gardener). We asked her what she would like for us to serve and she didn't hesitate at all saying, "Presidents Rudyaki chicken and Sister Carlos cake and cookies." So we made a chocolate cake and snickerdoodle cookies along with chicken, rice, sauce and corn.
That morning she pulled President aside and said, with tears in her eyes, "I am so happy, this is my first birthday party." A birthday party wouldn't be complete without a few gifts. She had fun opening up her gifts and sharing a lot of laughs with her friends. I had fun serving her and watching her enjoy her special day!