The Shaners Have Arrived

Elder and Sister Shaner arrive in Cauayan City!

We're so happy they are here safe and sound!



A little Clover Moment! (Back in Omaha we had a gang of empty nesters and all three couples were part of that gang. Now if we could only get the Salkelds and the Wrights to join us!!!!


The

After lunch we ran up and took a tour of their new home. This is a shot from the rooftop patio. That was when Sister Shaner realized that a bunch of roosters lived next door.

We ran to the bakery in a trycie. Everyone needs a trycie ride their first day in the Philippines.

We received a tender mercy from the Lord today! It came in the form of two very eager wonderful new missionaries--Elder and Sister Shaner. These fine folks have been our dear friends from Omaha for that past 8 years or so. The minute they moved to Omaha, we clicked and have had nothing but wonderful, fun times since. When they applied to become missionaries they requested our mission, but we all know that's up to our Heavenly Father where they will actually get assigned. So last March when they opened up their missionary packet and saw that they would be assigned to the Philippines Cauayan Mission--we all rejoiced. We look forward to 23 busy, wonderful months serving alongside such dear friends.

Baptisms in Alicia

It was another great baptizing Saturday here in the mission. We went to Alicia where there was a wonderful couple baptized. I'm not sure what happened to the photo I took then. But I did take one of the missionaries who attended and provided a missionary choir. It was beautiful. We love attending baptisms!

Orchids at the Mission Home

The Larsons love plants and flowers and in the past few months have brought lots of lovely pots into Mission office and yard. This week two of the beautiful purple orchids were in full bloom. I love orchids because they bloom and last for a long time before they wither and die. The Larsons are currently in Manila on special assignment helping at the Missionary Recovery Center (for those missionaries with health concerns). Hopefully they can enjoy their orchids through this photograph!

District Meetings in Tuguegarao

 This week we drove 2.5 hours north to visit the three district meetings held at the Tuguegarao Stake Center. I went to Elder Tangi's meeting while President attended a little bit of all three meetings (Elder Tangi, Elder Crowley and Elder Rausa) and the Assistants went to Elder Rausa's meeting. All three are new district leaders and we came away feeling so excited about their abilities to teach and lead. Unfortunately I only took one picture at the meetings.

Elder Tangi was explaining a game to us. He had hidden temple puzzle pieces all around the room and we had to find them and then put it together. It was the culmination of his message that we need to work together to accomplish our goals!

After the meeting we did some shopping in Tuguegarao and ate at Max's Chicken Restaurant. It was the first time Elder Hale's chicken was warm. The two times he eaten there before his chicken was cold. Our food was hot and yummy.



Elder Hale and Elder Katoa eating their delicious lunch. Max's is the House that Chicken Built! It's been around since the 40's and has really great "fried" chicken. To us it tastes more like broasted chicken.



A Party for Josh Gabriel De Los Reyes

Well after ten years our friends Ed and Winnie finally got their baby. He is just the most handsome, adorable and mellow little guy you could possibly meet. His parents are doing very good for first-timers despite their lack of sleep. Josh is a month old and still has his days and nights turned around. So he's up wanting to eat and play at night.
He was blessed this Sunday and we were happy to host a little party in his honor!

Josh with his proud parents. Look at the hair!



Josh was so popular it was hard to get a minute with him but President managed to sneak a few hugs!



This is a group shot but actually this was about group 4, the Open House was from 4 to 6 and there was a steady stream the entire time. We lost count after 60 people. See how many people love baby Josh!

The Ugliest Dog in the Philippines

There are a lot of dogs in the Philippines and many of those dogs are very ugly. I've been taking pictures of ugly dogs this past year waiting until I found the ugliest dog. Well, this week we stopped to see some of our missionaries in Tumauini and low and behold right outside our car I spotted him. I would bet that this is truly the ugliest dog in the entire country. I'll keep watching and let you know if I see anything uglier!

A Surprise Visit!

Last October Elder Phipps returned home to Alabama after serving his two-year mission here. In March Sister Concepcion returned home and has been working in Manila. Since that time the two have been emailing each other. They decided to meet again here in the Cauayan Mission. So they came for dinner at the Mission Home. We loved both these amazing missionaries and are glad that they have continued their friendship. It was fun to catch up with them during dinner. Afterwards we played a rousing game of Mexican Train. Elder Katoa and Elder Hale joined us and Elder Katoa won the game. I lost!

August ZLC

I love to make homemade glazed doughnuts, but they are a labor of love. I always have a little breakfast treat ready for our zone leaders when they arrive before our council starts. This time I decided to make doughnuts. Sister Breese agreed to help me in the wee hours of the morning. So we ran to the palenke at 6am to do our veggie and fruit shopping and then we started mixing, cutting, frying and glazing the doughnuts. One of my favorite recipes is from Sister Nelson (Russell M. Nelson's first wife). They are spudnuts, made from mashed potatoes. Her recipe makes over 60 giant doughnuts. I wondered if our 14 zone leaders along with our 2 assistants could eat all those doughnuts and guess what? They did! Every last one was gone.

We have a lot of new zone leaders and three that are about to gone home. It was great to council with this new group and to watch the interplay between the experienced zoned leaders and the new ones. We love and honor these valiant young men, who work so hard to do their own missionary work while they lift and sustain those that they lead.

Elder Hale led a discussion on effective exchanges.

Elder Katoa finishes up the discussion.   

Three great new zone leaders: Elder Magsonoc, Poloai and Bangal (who just finished up his service as an assistant here in the office).

Another Day at Work

President Carlos starts his day between 4 and 5 am. He runs to the office (good thing it's next door). He puts in three or four hours before anyone else arrives in the office. Then he's often out the door around 8 or 9 to work with missionaries, conduct training, visit members, conduct meetings, etc. and then he runs most of the rest of the day. On rare occassions he can get a little shut eye in the afternoon. We've had a very busy past few weeks and I was happy to see him get this little nap!