Santiago Stake is Split!

What a wonderful experience, to witness the division of Santiago Stake. Elder Nielson and Elder Ardern came to attend the conference. We were fortunate to be asked to pick them up from Tuguegarao and drive them to Cauayan where they spent the night before the conference started on Saturday. With a few extra hours on Friday afternoon, they graciously accepted President Carlos' invitation to meet with some of our missionaries. Those who were serving in areas nearby were invited to come spend a couple hours. It was the most uplifting and enlightening meeting.

Elder Ardern with the New Santiago North Stake Presidency, next is the Santiago Stake Presidency and Elder Nielson

In the mission home

The Conference was held on Saturday and Sunday and it was awesome! There is now a Santiago North Stake and a Santiago Stake. After the Sunday session the Stake Relief Society President prepared a wonderful meal before there was a special meeting with the youth. Later that night we drove the elders back to Cauayan and they had dinner at the Mission Home with our senior couples. It was a wonderful evening full of great lessons and laughter!

On Monday morning we invited the Assistants to come to breakfast and enjoy spending at little time with the brethren before we drove them to the airport. This was truly a wonderful weekend. It's so thrilling to see the church grow in this part of the Philippines.

Elder Nielson with our assistants Elder Hale and Elder Katoa and Elder Ardern

Specialized Training for our District Leaders

Elder Dahlin, Kelson, Arabia, Cajumban and Castillo work on their project.

Elder Valdez, Shackelford, Quinto, Escalona and Bangal meet in the office lounge for their planning session.

Elder Rausa back row with Elder Miole and Elder Tangi get ready for the first presentation.

After our successful Zone Leader Council it was decided that we should repeat much of the activity for our district leaders. They are on the front lines, working closely with 6 to 8 missionaries and we felt they too could learn a lot using a similar approach to what we did with our zone leaders. It ended up being a fantastic training session. They were energized and full of great and useful ideas. I was so proud of all of them.

Elder Bangal and Tangi challenge Elder Miole and Elder Castillo

Now I know where the missing ball went!

Elder Arabia is a very talented musician.

Zone Leader Council Discovering the Silver Bullets of Missionary Work

We held an overnight zone leader council. The zone leaders gathered from all corners of the mission on Wednesday late afternoon. President Carlos welcomed them and they discussed a few important things about their jobs as zone leaders. Then Sister Carlos talked shared a little about Silver Bullets and how they apply to missionary work. In essence they are best solution to a problem. But the term was made famous back in the Wild West Days in the U.S.  Then the zone leaders were split into groups depending on the color of bandana they were given. They had an hour to discuss various topics that they had earlier identified as important to our work. After the hour President served grilled hamburgers and hotdogs. It was quite an undertaking to get US burgers and hot dogs here. We also served French fries, baked beans and chips. After dinner two groups reported. Wow, their job was to define the concern and get a discussion going on ways to overcome the concern. Then they were to define the Silver Bullet for that concern. The discussion was robust and insightful.

Elder Thomas, Valdez, Hardman, Jackson, Ward and Lucernas listen intently to President Carlos' opening remarks.

Elder Magsanoc, Crowley, Hardman, Lucernas and Poloai strategize at the kitchen table.

Elder Ward, Velez, Vinas and Thomas are deciding the direction they will use for their group presentation.

Chef President Carlos, grilling up the chow

Later that evening there was time for a little basketball, football and pingpong before enjoying Root Beer Floats and hitting the sack. In the morning, the mission home was quiet as a mouse as each missionary did his own personal study before breakfast. Afterwards the APs did a great demonstration on powerful companionship study and the final group had time for their topic. President Carlos wrapped it all up and our zone leaders headed back to work! It was a great zone leader council!

Elder Jackson gives the American BBQ a thumb's up. Elder Crowley and Elder Farley enjoy it as well. We were happy that the filipino elders also enjoyed it!

The Silver Bullet.

Rootbeer floats sure tasted good after a football game. If you look close you will see Elder Hardman was clawed under his eye. I guess every ftball game ends up with at least one injury--good thing it wasn't more serious!

Our great Assistants Elder Hale and Elder Katoa cooled off with a Rootbeer Float.

Santiago District Meetings with Elder Kelson and Elder Quinto



Elder Kelson leads the Villasis District

Both district leaders had activities where the missionaries were blindfolded. We'll never forget how much Sister DeCastro screamed throughout the activity.

Elder Quinto leads the Diffun District

Both of the district leaders in Santiago zone are new and so on their first district meeting we went to visit. Luckily they both meet in the Santiago Stake Center and so we were able to visit both meetings. We were so proud of both of these great new leaders. Here are a few random shots of their meetings.

Sister Eveland's Folks Arrive

Hug from Mom!

Hug from Dad--By now I was crying!!!

Sister Eveland's parents were able to fly into Cauayan to pick her up. They toured the area, went to Cebu for a couple days and had a little time in Manila before they left. It was really a treat for us to be able to have lunch with them and get to know her parents. She was a dear sister who spent much of her mission right here in the Cauayan area. The last few cycles she served as one of our sister trainers. We already miss this awesome sister missionary.

Only in the Philippines...

Sister Shaner was teaching a woman recently whose husband is a rice farmer. Sister Shaner mentioned something about the carabao and this lady said, "You mean you don't have carabao's in the U.S.?" She was so shocked to hear that Sister Shaner had never seen a carabao. She asked "Well, how do you get any work done?" Sister Shaner explained that we use John Deere--a tractor.

Here is a typical site in our mission. A carabao pulling a cart made of bamboo. When these animals aren't in the fields plowing they are hauling stuff to market or people to town. They truly are the work horse of this part of the world.

Another typical site are trycies with all kinds of sayings embroidered onto their roof covers. I often see things like "God's Gift." One of the popular sayings we have in the church is Choose the Right or CTR. This trycie obviously belonged to one of the members of the church.

Dining at Hotel Andrea with Imelda and her Friends

Imelda, the Mission Home's housekeeper, celebrated her birthday in late September. We hosted a birthday luncheon for her and some of her closest friends at the one really nice restaurant in town. Two of the friends were friends from her childhood. All of the guests were really thrilled to be at a fancy restaurant and I could tell it was a first for most of them. They giggled when I told them that they could order anything off the menu. Some were shy to pick and so we helped them decide.
I think Imelda had a grand time. She works so hard for us and keeps our clothes, and the home spic and span at all times. Sometimes our communication problems get us into trouble, but for the most part I wouldn't trade her in for anyone else.

 Imelda order beef and bitter root. The dish is called beef ampalaya. She loved it!