Mission Possible

For months our senior sister missionaries have been meeting behind closed doors in secret meetings to put together a specialized training session for all of our missionaries. Topics to cover: budgeting, cooking nutrious meals, exercising and emergency preparedness.

Our goal: Make it informational, make it fun, make it stick!
We enlisted the help of some of our missionaries and worked with them for a several weeks. They taught the four mini-classes at the beginning of the session. They were anything but boring. Our Super Missionary (Elder Breese) periodically came on the giant screen with a special hint or message. After the classes the challenge began. Each companionship was on a team with four other missionaries. They had to complete one activity in each category, including doing 15 minutes of exercises and recreating the recipe they saw demonstrated during the cooking mini-class. We had teams running all over the place. Along the way the could earn Super Clue cards. At the end we had a mock emergency and timed to see which zone could actually complete their phone tree first. When the president's phone rang--members from the winning zone were given a final super clue card. Teams put together their clues to decipher our ending message which was, "But if you are prepared, ye shall not fear." Our point is that as we learn to budget (saving some emergency money), eat better, exercise and understand what to do in emergencies we won't need to worry about those things and we'll be super missionaries. One half of the mission came to our Day 1 session in Ilagan and the other half met us on Day 2 in Santiago.

Day 1 Champions

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No! It's Super Missionary!

Our Three Exercising Amigos. They showed up on a sweltering day wearing sweats! And were ready to GO!

The budget bandit, always trying to get missionaries to waste their money!

These three sisters came as President's Angels complete with their matching t-shirts

The Three Amigos demonstrate various exercise moves. No that isn't the sun shining on Elder Goobie's legs. He actually shaved them in stripes! You should have seem Sister Webre's horrified expression when she realized what they had done!

One team during the cooking challenge.

Our Super Missionary told them to listen very carefully during the various mini classes.

Day 2's winning team. They solved the puzzle and won a banaue bag!

These cute sisters were cooking up a storm.






ZLC and Leadership Training

Our zone leaders!

Leadership training. Looks like the Polynesians are getting together. What's Elder Nielsen doing with this bunch?

Elder Blanclaver with Roxas Zone Leaders: Elder Munoz and Elder Katoa

President with his assistants: Elder Hale (Orem, UT) and Elder Bangal

Our Sister Trainers: Sister Eveland and Sister Abad. These two are super sister missionaries!

They may look tough, but don't let that fool you. These elders are some of our best!

Every other month we wake up bright and early on a Wednesday and greet our zone leaders for their zone leader council. Then we greet our district leaders and sister trainers and we spend time together training on various aspects of our missionary work. We enjoy mingling with our leaders and helping them to take back to their districts valuable training tips.

President Palay's Birthday

Lumpia (egg rolls) tillapia, pancit (noodles) grilled chicken, macaroni salad and the food list goes on and on!

The Palays

President Carlos has two wonderful councilors in the Mission Presidency. One just moved away and so a new one will be in place in a few weeks. The other one is President Palay from Paddad. He is a wonderful young man with a fabulous family. Recently he invited us to his birthday party. The food was absolutely amazing! His wife, sisters and friends cooked all day for the event.

Sister Martine'z Birthday

When missionaries who happen to be serving near the Mission Home have a birthday we try to do a little something special for them. We were excited to surprise Sister Martine'z on her birthday. She is an amazing missionary. We are so proud of her tagalog and her love for the people. We got a tiny blueberry cheesecake from Sweet Nothings (the amazingly delicious little bakeshop down the street) for her and one for her companion, Sister Eveland as birthday treat. BTW we call every missionary on their birthday and sing happy birthday and then honor them at our next Zone Conference. We have a birthday box with all kinds of little gifts and they get to choose two gifts.

These sisters have so many people that they are teaching they seem to be running from morning until night. We're so glad they found a few minutes to stop by so we could wish her a happy birthday!

Elder Mulliner Heads Back to the Field

This transfer brought a change in Elder Mulliner's schedule. He is now training Elder Huffstutler and opening up an area that has been closed for six months. Since he's been part of our office team since a few weeks after we arrived we have mourned his departure. He served as our financial secretary for a time and then President's Assistant. But he was ready to get back on the front lines at least for a few cycles before he heads home in July.

Elder Mulliner has become like a member of our family. He's a wonderful, responsible young man and we already miss him so much. Before he left we took him and some of his favorite members from here in cauayan to the Andrea Hotel Restuarant. (It's the nicest restaurant in town.) A couple of weeks later we had Elder Mulliner and his companion, Elder Huffstutler back to the mission home where we prepared one of Elder Mulliners mom's specialities--Chicken Parmesiana with Penne Pasta and Broccoli. (Oh I need spell check. Sorry I know the chicken dish is spelled wrong!) I'm sure it wasn't as good as Sister Mulliner makes but it seemed to taste really good to Elder M. we invited the other couple missionaries and played the game "Witts and Wagers." (If you haven't played that game you need to try it. It's a really fun board game! Thanks to the Larsons who shared the game.) I can't believe I didn't take any photos of that night.

Dinner at Hotel Andrea

We wish Elder Mulliner all good things as he labors on the front lines again!

It's time to Train the New Missionaries and Their Trainers

In May we were very fortunate. We lost six amazing missionaries and gained 14 new ones. Two weeks after they arrived we called them back for a day of training. It's always fun to spend the day with our newbies and to check in with their trainers. Alll of our staff gets involved in the training and everyone came away saying, "Wow! This is a sharp batch of new missionaries!"

Sister Pence leads the opening hymn. She is one of our great new trainers as she trains Sister Certicio.

Sister Sajol with her newbie Sister Dhikao and Sister Webre is a new trainer with Sister Villamor. Here they are working on a companionship challenge--building a tower that can carry a bottle of water.

Elder Balaich is Elder Horlucas' trainer. The two are coming up with a strategy before getting to work.

Sister Pulu (new from SLC) is working with her trainer Sister Avencena.

I see Elder Daquioag and Elder Oliver, Elder Hamblin and his trainer Elder Bates and Elder Obiacoro with his trainer Elder Estanislao. You'd be amazed at how high and strong they made their towers!

Lunch was delicious Sweet and Sour Pork, prepared by Sister Larson

Only in the Philippines...

Only in the Philippines do you see gardeners "mowing" the grass with grass shearers. This gentleman works for a company that takes care of our church building grounds. I always laugh when I see them out there on their hands and knees keeping every blade of grass in perfect order.

Only in the Philippines to people build little huts up the sides of mountains and carve stairs into the mud. We see these little homes all over the place. They really are quite lovely. The railing was made out of bamboo poles.

 We live in the agricultural region of the Philippines and in every direction we see rice and corn fields with scrawny cows everywhere. This is the only breed I've ever seen. This photo was taken on a hot day and this cow found a patch of shade to rest in. Most look quite aneorexic. We bought local beef one time and it was the toughest T-Bone steak we ever tried to eat. Now we purchase only Australian beef, which is really good.

 And there is the carabao--the workhorse of the nation. They are said to be really mean if you get in their way. When I walked up to take this guy's photo he looked right at me and snorted! People ride these animals all over the place, to town or to the fields. We have purchased beautiful belts made out of the horns of the carabaos. They are polished and shiny and look like some exotic rock or wood.

 People carry the most random things on their shoulders. This guy was going door to door trying to sell this entertainment center!

Beautiful Bride and Groom

Aren't they the cutest couple?

The Russells serving in San Mateo and were invited to attend as were the Assistants to the President

Sister Russell and I got up during the special dance and pinned a little money to the bride and groom. This is an Ilicano wedding tradition.

The Abarabars are a wonderful family here in the Cauayan District. The father was recently released as the District President and his son is serving as the branch president of San Mateo branch. Recently their youngest daughter was married in the Manila Temple. We were lucky enough to be invited to her amazing reception. It was held in a large center. There was karaoke, dancing and tons of delicious food.

Last Day for Our Departing Batch


I wrote about our May batch's departure but didn't have any photos of them handy. I had changed cards in my camera and needed to find the old card. So we've heard from many of our departed missionaries. Most are home now and trying to make the transition from fulltime missionary to regular human being. It's not always easy especially when they have a hard time finding work. We miss them and pray that all good things will come their way.

We have six graduates from the church's Career Development Course! Now they're on their way to finding jobs and returning to school.



Oh how we loved this batch of missionaries. There's Sister Stewart, Sister Dalisay, Elder Murillo, Elder Laudenorio, Elder Bayles and Elder Viernes. We never had one ounce of trouble from any of these missionaries, just pure joy as we watched them each serve with all their might.

Sister Pence was saying goodbye to her friend and companion Sister Dalisay.

Here we were waiting for the bus. It was such a busy night that we had to wait close to an hour. A few former companions and members came to see them off. Oh my, that's always such a hard part of this day.

Another Former Missionary Is Engaged

We have had one missionary return from the US and marry a girl he met here. He was our first temple marriage. (Elder Phipps)

Last Sunday we had a surprise visit from Elder Acha who went home earlier this year. He came back to court a wonderful returned missionary from Tabuk. They will be married in the Manila Philippines Temple next week. We are so proud of them.

Only in the Philippines...

President and I were driving home from visiting a ward last Sunday and he commented on all the homes that were started but left unfinished. There are hundreds of these in every direction. We wonder if the owners lost interest, ran out of money, moved away, passed away or what would make them lose their vision and cease the work.

Despite people's poverty you see a pride of ownership. This little community painted all the rocks bright colors and then lined the section of highway with them. They added little pots and plants along the way. I thought it was really charming.

 Even though I've been here almost a year I still can't believe how many people and objects they move in a trycie. This was taken on a very hot day and the trycie riders had out their umbrellas. To shield the inside of the trycie they had an umbrella held sideways!

More Jubilee Photos

We were asked to be the devotional speakers at the Solano District Youth Conference. Here are a few of the 18 youth from Lagawe branch. They were so excited to see Elder Hale, who is now servin as one of the assistants to the president. Elder Hale served there last year and left many devoted fans. The lady in the flowered top loves our missionares and watches over them. She told me that she really missed Elder Hale.

Since the Cauayan Youth Conference was just next door, I visited a few times during the week. They had so much fun!

Most of the districts started their local Jubilee celebration with a motorcade parade. Our missionaries rode in the mission's truck bed with Elder Hale in the driver's seat. They had bags of candy to share with people along the parade route.

It was truly one of the hottest days we've had this past year and still the Larsons were eager to ride in a jeepney with the Naguilian branch members where they serve.

Many of my photos of the dances were too dark to print. But this shows some of the lovely costumes. This was sort of a filipino ballroom dance. It was so elegant and graceful!

The Church's Jubilee Celebration

I've been way behind on my blog updates because of our very busy schedule which is in part due to the Jubilee Celebration. In May 1961 Elder Gordon B. Hinckley opened the Philippines to our missionaries. Since that time it has been the fastest growing country in the history of the church.

In just 50 years the Philippines now has Nearly 700,000 members
4th largest in the world (U.S., Mexico, Brazil)
80 Stakes
80 Districts
17 Missions
2 Temples (1 new announced)

The celebration begin with a satelite broadcast from Manila of a cultural extravaganza. This 2 hour show was put on by the 19 stakes in the Manila/Quezon City. It consisted of folk dances, ballroom dances and choir numbers. Wow! It was absolutely fantastic! The costumes were awesome. Many of these groups have been practicing for 3 years. Our thoughts went to Elder Ko who has been reassigned but was in charge of organizing this event.

On Sunday May 1 all members throughout the Philippines headed to their stake centers and district centers to watch a satelite broadcast from Manila and Salt Lake City. Elder Boyd K. Packer, Elder Cook and Sister Julie Beck (general Relief Society President) spoke to us as did Elder Teh, First Quorom of Seventy and a member of our area presidency. Elder Teh said, “ We have seen nothing yet. The BEST is yet to come” “In the next few years, the work of the Lord will burst forth. He will hasten His work in this land.”
I hope you can imagine how that felt to be sitting there listening to that and serving as a missionary in this land at this time. What a privilege it is to be here and help with this work. The field is truly ready to harvest and we have a lot of work to do in helping this propehcy roll forth!

All of the youth and young single adults throughout the Philippines had area conferences during the week of May 9. We were busy giving devotional addresses and workshops. Thanks to all our other senior couples who each participated throughout the week, we were able to cover many of these assignments.

The celebration culminated with our own regional cultural events. Throughout our mission eight events were held on Saturday May 14. Again, we couldn't attend all of them and so the couple missionaries split up and we covered as many as were possible. The programs consisted of musical numbers and dance routines complete with great props and costumes. We were thrilled with the quality of everything. These wonderful people have put so much love and work into this event.

This Jubilee celebration was very significant for President Carlos who joined the church in Manila in 1967. At that time there were just a handful of missionaries and one branch. He soon left the country and studied in Hawaii (Church College of Hawaii) was called on a mission to Hawaii. Met and married me and we raised our dear sons in Oregon. Coming back has been a joy for him, to see for himself the growth of the church here. It's come a long way since 1967!

Local stakes and districts rented large halls to house the celebration performances.

Each area had a Jubilee Choir. This is a group shot of some of the dancers and singers.

The native dances and costumes were amazing!



The pot dance was amazing. Young ladies could dance and move with these terra cotta pots on their heads. After the show the let our sister missionaries try them. Sister Monsalud, Sister Conje and Sister Banks were naturals.



Who says senior sisters can't dance?

The show stopper was the president, who did all kinds of fancy moves without breaking the pot!