May 11th - June 14, 2011

I always think I am going to blog oftener and then here I am again apologizing. It has been an interesting and fun past month.

Sister Clark and I flew to Bacolod to do mapping and after the mapping was done we went back to the hotel to have some dinner. The only table empty was by the piano. We had been to that hotel before, ate there several times and never saw anyone play the piano. We had almost completed our dinner when a man from a table across from us got up and began playing the piano, he played by ear. A couple of ladies from the table got up and began singing, they wanted us to join them but we were a little reluctant. The one lady said it was her 68th birthday and she was there with her friends to celebrate. I have said before how much the filipinos love a party. Sister Clark started singing with them, the songs were old songs like "Singin in the Rain", Blue Moon, etc. I began to rack my brain to remember names of some songs I could ask him to play. I always recognize the tune but can't remember the name, however I did manage to name four songs he knew and played. We sang with them for about half an hour and really enjoyed it. There was a total of ten of us, no drinking, just good refreshing fun.

I have a new companion coming, since Sister Clark will be going home July 18th, the mapping will all be done by then. Her name is Cherie Fahrner and that is all I know, don't know when she will be here, where she is coming from or what we will be doing. I am just concentrating on things at hand and waiting for more information from my mission president. To keep me busier I was called to be the Senior Missionary Birthday Dinner co-ordinator. Once a month we have a party celebrating everyone who has a birthday in that month. They have been mostly going to restaurants, but being from a restaurant family background it drives me crazy to go out to eat here. For instance: last month there wwas 22 missionaries and the waiter handed out 5 menus (we asked for more but didn't get them), the final meal was delivered after the rest of us finished our meal. So don't think I will planning going out to eat parties, how about potluck at the mission home?

They have an American cemetery here that is beautifully kept with each grave marked with a marble white cross. The day before memorial day they depend on volunteers to go and post a small American and Philippine flag on each grave. Sister Clark and I were volunteers. It was an awe inspiring morning to see so many people putting the flags on graves, a lot of military families. There was a reverence there that increased my appreciation for the sacrifice of the soldier and the sacrifice of their families for freedom.

We went to do mapping at Tacloban Mission, we had been there before but the meetings were all canceled because of flooding in the area. We stayed again in the hotel whose basement had flooded. Fortunately everything had dried out, the sun was out and we had successful mapping meetings. We were invited to the Tacloban Mission home for lunch with the brethern. It was a wonderful experience, the mission president and his wife are filipino. The meal was very simple and I was surprised how flavored/spicey it was. Later on the way to the airport, our driver told us the meat at the meal was goat meat and that was why it was spiced to cover the taste. At first all I could see was the two little goats we had in Meridian, Idaho, but I put that out of my mind and realized I did enjoy the meal and when you are invited into someones home for dinner, you don't ask what kind of meat they'll be serving, so I may eat it again.

Who would ever think that watermelon seeds are eatable? Yesterday one of the guys here in the office brought in a sack of watermelon seeds he had bought. They take the seeds, soak them (they become about 3 times the original size), salt them, dry them and you eat them like a sunflower seed, throw away the shell and eat the seed inside. It is just amazing to me what they use for food here, nothing is wasted.

We went to San Pablo Mission and I was hoping to see family Scott baptized, but they were going to be in Manila while we were there, so hopefully we can hook up another time. Two of the senior sister that Sister Clark was with in the MTC are serving in the San Pablo mission. They were excited to see each other. It was one of the sister missionary's birthday, she is Samoan from Hawaii, she invited us to her party. Most people here in the Philippines do not tell what day their birthday is because if someone knows it's your birthday, they show up at your house expecting to be fed and celebrate with you. That is what happened with this sister, but we all went with the flow, the food was plentiful, the cake beautiful and we had a great time visiting with everyone.

I was asked to sub in the gospel doctrine class in our branch, the other missionaries were so glad because they would be able to hear the whole lesson in english. It was on Matthew 25, I love those three parables. They have one english speaking branch here in the Philippines, so we went to it last Sunday. The people that attend this branch are church employees from english speaking countries, filipinos that have spent a lot of time in American and will be going back to America. It was good to be able to understand everything in all three meetings, but I missed the sweetness of our La Mesa branch and of course "little Enos."

The temple president has asked that the missionaries not use the temple grounds for their walking exercise. It seems the grounds were starting to become everyone's exercising ground wearing exercise clothes. So I have been trying new areas to walk, still looking. I loved walking around the temple every afternoon (not in exericse clothes) altho I did wear walking shoes.

Adam Jacobs, Rebecca/Rob's son will enter the MTC on June 22nd to go to the Las Vegas Mission. I can not explain the joy I feel having a grandson on a mission, let alone at the same time I am serving. I have been told that my family will be of great comfort and satisfaction to me, it must mean generation after generation. Can you tell that I love each of them and miss them so much, seven more months!

May 1st - May 10, 2011

The Jubilee was wonderful! Saturday night we went to the Arneta Center and watch the program. The kids danced their hearts out and did a marvelous job. The had a choir of 800 adults to sing and a choir of primary age kids to sing. Those little primary kids were so cute, just like in America. The camerman showed one little boy about 4 yrs old, with glasses hanging down on his nose, singing his heart out. One little girl was singing until she saw the camera on her and then she turned her head and cried, and of course there are always those who keep waving their hands hoping they get on camera. There will be a DVD coming out in a month or so, I will get a copy to take home.

The next day, Sunday, we went back to the Arneta Center for an area conference. I really felt like I had been spiritually fed for two days in a row.

On Friday Sister Clark, Ralphie Perez and I flew to Legaspi to do five mappings. It was raining when we arrived but one of the brethern of that area picked us up at the airport and took us to our hotel. Sister Clark did a mapping at 5:00 pm, we spent the night and then the brother took us to Ligao which is about 1 hour away for 2 mappings at 9:00 am.

Ligao was the first area Scott served in while here on his mission. We did not get to visit Ligao while he was here, because it is to far away, so Maricel who was Scott and his companions interpeter met me at the Ligao stake center at 9:00 am. Maricel's mother and sister still live in Ligao. Ralphie who was sick with sore throat and body aches insisted he was fine and took my mapping responsiblity so I could go with Maricel to see if we could find a family Scott had baptized.

Of course, it was raining in Ligao also, so we traveled by tricycle, we kept fairly dry and after four rides I was getting pretty good and getting in and out of them. We went out to the rode by the chapel and hailed down our first tricycle. Maricel gave him the name of the family we were looking for, he said he was a member of the church and could take us to a family who was related to the one we were looking for.

He dropped us off at the family. Maricel had not seen them for years and the mother of the family and her used to be good friends, so they were so happy to see each other. The house was very small with a family of 7 children, 13 yrs to 1 yr. Anyway her husband was a relative of the family we were looking for, so we got another tricycle and she (can't remember their names) got on their motorcycle and lead the way.

When we reached the location of the family Scott baptized, the father was out by the road doing some repair to the path leading back to their home. He was very receptive after we told him why we were there and took us back to his house where we met his wife, a daughter and grandson. We had been told the family was not active and were anxious to find out why. Maricel visisted with the father and I tried to visit with the mother, she didn't know much english and of course my Talolog isn't good, but we did manage. I gave her a picture of Scott and his family, her face soften as she smiled and stared at the picture. I pointed to Scott and ask her if she remembered him, she looked at me, smiled again and shook her head yes. I was amazed at how self efficent they were. They were sourrounded by their rice fields, had a caribou and cow, 2 adult pigs and 3 piglets, chickens roaming around, a garden with tomatoes, corn, egg plant, swiss chard, and a pineapple plant growing, their own well and their home was neat and tidy. The father went out in the field and brought in the caribou so I could get a clearer picture, I was amazed how he treated the caribou like a family pet and the caribou acted like one, in fact I was really close to it, thank heavens there was a small ditch between us, or I might have panicked, that was a big caribou.

Scott taught and baptized the father, mother and two children in 1982, they were active and involved. They had a policy in their ward that if a member did not show up two Sundays in a row, someone in the ward would go to their home and check on them. Well, the father got sick, even went to the hospital for a few days and no one checked on them, so they went inactive. Maricel talked with him about the church being true inspite of the actions of members, she got their address, so if Scott can write to them hopefully they can rekindle those feelings that prompted them to be baptized and return to the gospel.

They did not have shoes on but followed us clear out to the highway to tell us goodbye, I just had to hug both of them and they let me.

We caught another tricycle while Maricel's friend went back to her family, we went to try and find the apartment where Scott lived. Maricel had not been back there for many years and she said everything looked so much different, not as many rice fields, more houses and the roads were paved, I couldn't believe it she actually found the complex where the apartment was still standing. The man who owned it was just driving in and getting out of his car when we got out of the tricycle. Maricel explained to him why we were they and he told us to go ahead and look around and even go inside if we wanted too. As we walked around and stood on the veranda, Maricel said a flood of memories kept coming to her. The owners wife came over and said her daughter and her family live in the house and we visiting in Manila, she didn't seem to want us to go inside so we just looked in the windows and took lots of pictures. It was a humbling time for me to know Scott had lived here, walked the streets, attended church, baptized and made an important difference to some of the people in this town or province as they are called here. It was so wonderful of Maricel to leave her little family in Manila, ride the bus for ten hours and take the time from her family to show me around and introduce me to people who knew Scott. The filipino people are so kind, helpful and caring, never seeing anything as a sacrifice.

We had to be back in Legaspi for two mappings at 2:00 pm. It had really began to rain and the wind was blowing pretty hard. While we were at the church we were told it was a typoon named "Bebeng". I though typhoons come in off the coast, rained hard, wind blew and destroyed things and it was over, but I found that typoons can go on for days, this one lasted 6 days.

The next morning the FM (facility manager) for the church in that area took us out to the airport. We waited, waited and then was told our plane was circling the airport waiting for an opportunity to land, well it never could land and headed back to Manila. The airports in the provinces are so small that there are usually only one or two flights out a day, this one had one flight and it was headed back to Manila.

Ralphie called the FM and he came back to get us, we went straight to the bus depot, of coursea lot of the people at the airport did the same thing. We were fortunate to get on a bus leaving immediately. It was a small bus, completely full and most had their suitcases, etc as we did, so we were fit in pretty tight. I thought if we got hurt or killed it would be because of the luggage. We got on the bus at 9:00 am and got off in Manila at 11:00 pm. What an adventure, it was a Mother's Day that will be remembered forever. Scott said my bus ride through the typhoon topped anything he had done in the Philippines.

Let me tell you about it: The rain was comming down in sheets and the wind was blowing, the bus rocked and rowed all the way. We were only on our way for about 15 minutes when we stopped. There was a tree down in the road, fortunately with the help of a trycycle driver who stopped and guided the bus driver he was able to manuver around the tree and keep going. About half an hour later we were stopped on the road, we saw the fire truck go by, military vehicle and police vehicle, when we were able to move we saw a hugh tree down over the road and the men using hand saws to cut it up. The water was over the road in a lot of places, in fact we came to a bridge and the bus driver stopped, not knowing if the bridge was still there but a car come whipping across from the other side, so the bus driver drove on. We stopped four times to eat and to use the comfort room. Everytime we got out we got very wet, of course, but we got back in and were pretty much dried off by the time we stopped again. The bus rocked so much that I did get car sick, but even managed that without making a scene, the rain and wind sure felt good when I got off the bus that time. Whenever we went through provinces a lot of the people were standing beside the road, I asked Ralphie if they thought we were a parade, he said that when they have typoons the elctricity goes out and their homes are dark so they come outside looking for entertainment and we provided that for them. They all smiled and waved. Filipino people don't let a typhoon stop them from having fun, we saw some guys in water up to their knees and above, in a field, using a knotted up shirt as a ball. They were having a great time. There were a lot of little children getting their mother nature baths. When the typhoon is done, they slavage what they can and redo. Such resilent people and always having a good time.

I thought typhoons were like tornadoes, they blew in and out in a short amount of time, but typhoons can hang around for 4-5 days, raining, wind blowing and flooding.

We had a worthy priesthood holder with us and I felt safe and everyone on the bus was calm, just another day on the bus.

April 15-April 30, 2011

I took a week off and had fun with Scott, Taylor and Mark and then had to run to make up for the time spend playing. I miss those guys but what a parcel of great memories they left me.

Again, we traveled last week, Thursday through Sunday. It was a busy time, exhausting and yet as we saw some beautiful sights we were revived. We flew to Bacolod Mission and did four mappings. Thursday we were at the seashore, beautiful, reminded me of seeing the beach in Hawaii, so blue/green water, however we just saw it from the car. Most of our time was spent traveling by car to four different chapels to do the mappings.

On Friday Sister Clark had a mapping so I had some free time, there was a massage class being taught at the chapel, so I peeked my head in and the next thing I knew I was sitting in a chair with 2 people massaging my feet/legs, 2 more people massaging each hand/arm and one person giving me a head massage. Actually when they were done, I felt very relaxed. A little girl about 6 yrs old came over and massaged my right hand, I was amazed how good she was, so I gave her 5 peso, she was thrilled, her first paying job.

I walked outside of the hotel we were staying at in time to see what we call a parade and filipinos call procession. This last week was holy week and Thursday and Friday most businesses shut down and the people had celebrations. I didn't have my camera to take pictures of the procession but there were more people in the procession with the floats then there were people on the sidelines watching. The filipino people really like to party, but the procession was very solemn.

On Saturday we went up to San Carlos District, 7000 ft up in the mountains. It was beautiful but really strange to see pine trees and palm trees standing next to each other. Everyone kept telling us how chilly it was but we did not feel a chill in fact we were comfortable. The brethern are so accomodating when we go to the mappings, if we are there around meal time, they always have a meal for us, we set down, visit with them and eat. Sometimes the food is from a local eatery other times a member prepares something, like in San Carlos, a member made hamburgers for us, not exactly McDonalds taste, but good none the less.
I had two mappings on Saturday, we spent 2 hours driving up in the mountains to get there at 12 noon, 2 hours doing the mapping, 2 1/2 hours driving dowm the mountain to Bago District for meeting at 5:00 pm and a little over 2 hours mapping, so we got back to the hotel about 7:30 pm. We attended church on Sunday at a chapel in Bacolod and caught the plane at 3:30 pm back to Manila.

The Philippines Jubilee celebrations is this weekend. The jubilee celebrates 50 years of the gospel being in the Phillipines. We have seen jubilee practices in chapels as we have travel and I am looking forward to seeing it all put together.

We have worked hard and will have the mapping completed by July 1st. My companion is going home on July 18th, so will be some changes for me. My mission president said we will wait for the Lord to tell him where and what I will be doing for the rest of my mission.

March 15th - April 14th

I can't believe as of tomorrow the first 8 months of my mission are over, the months are starting to fall off the calendar. We are really moving on the mapping of the Philippines, we have 76% done, 60% sent to Salt Lake and are sending completed maps approximately 2-3 per week. I have always felt a need to have all the mapping completed by the time Sister Clark goes home in July. Our last mapping appointment is June 11th, I think we will make it.

I have talked with my mission president about what I will do when Sister Clark goes home and the mapping is completed, no decision at this time, just waiting for the Lord to make his plan for me known.

My son, Scott, grandson Taylor and Mark Willden, missionary buddy of Scott's, were here all last week and what a week! They arrived at the Manila airport at 11:00 pm on Saturday, April 2nd.

One of the PAO (Philippines Area Office), employees, Annie Espin, that is in the department where I am, offered to get someone to guide them through the airport arrival procedure, if they don't have anyone it can take as long as 1-2 hours. Annie also made arrangements for a van, and driver to take me to the airport to meet them and drive them to my apartment. Of course, Annie and her husband came along, which was great, they were a lot of help while we waited at the airport for the arrival.

I saw Scott first and what a wonderful sight, my first thought was, I can actually touch him and Taylor, well hug & kiss is what we did. We arrived at my apartment about 1:00 am. I had two blown up mattresses and a old worn out futon for them to sleep on, I knew they wouldn't be comfortable so I had made arrangements for them to stay at the McAllister's home starting Monday night, as the McAllisters were out of town until Sunday night. Brother McAllister is the church attorney here in the Philippines and has the sweetest wife, Janice. They were so wonderful to the guys, they felt like they were staying in a 5 star hotel.

The first thing Scott gave me when we got to the apartment was all the letters and pictures the grandkids had sent me, I am going to hang them up on my wall, but I am not done touching, rereading and looking at them yet.

Just let me say before I launch into our week, I did all the driving except for Friday evening and Saturday, no accidents, not even close, getting stopped by the police, well I'll let you know about those times.

Sunday:

We were up and out of the apartment by 8:00 am on our way to La Mesa Branch, about an hour drive, where we attended church. I really wanted Taylor to experience our chapel, plastic chairs to sit on, nine fans in the chapel, all the windows open, roosters crowing, dogs barking, birds singing, etc. He thought is was great as I do.

Since it was fast Sunday, Scott, Taylor, Mark and I bore our testimonies, that will be a wonderful memory as I sit in church each Sunday. We left immediately after sacrament meeting to go to Buendia Chapel in Makati.

Scott wanted to visit the Buendia Chapel, which is the first chapel built in the Philippines and one he served in for 6 months. His memories were of baptisms, talks he gave, etc. We weren't able to attend a meeting there but did walk the halls and take pictures in the chapel and of the baptismal font, nothing had changed in 26 years.

I had invited Maricel and Ed Argana and their family to dinner. Maricel was a young teenage girl who was an interpeter for Scott while he served in the Ligao area. You might remember, I was mapping and she came up to me and said she knew an Elder Burwell, it was Scott, and then found that her husband works in the department I serve in at the PAO. We have become fast friends and their children call me "Lola", grandma in Tagalog. They brought another family with them that I know, so we had an apartment full of people, it was great, we ate, visited, laughed a lot and made plans to meet again later in the week.

Monday:

I wanted to show them where I grocery shopped and especially wanted Taylor to experience a grocery store here, as it turned out, it was an experience for Scott and Mark too, they hadn't been in a grocery store much when they were on their missions here. They had a houseboy who did all the shopping, cooking, cleaning and laundry, how would that be? Frankly, I don't know if I will ever get real comfortable grocery shopping here, I always experience some anxiety when I enter the store.

You all probably know the singer Justin Beiber, I didn't, but as we were in the mall and shopping everyone was calling Taylor, Justin Beiber. The whole week, every place we went it was the same thing, girls flocked around and even boys called him Justin. At first it was fun for Taylor, then it got boring and ended up being rather annoying.

I drove them to the PAO to meet everyone and have lunch at the cafeteria. Everyone had heard so much about them that they were excited to meet my family. When I took them to one office, as we walked in one of the employees said, "Here comes Sister Burwell's geneology".

Taylor wasn't sure about the food, but he did fine some things he liked, some he could tolerate and a lot he didn't like or wouldn't try, at any rate he didn't starve.

Here in the Philippines they have what they call "no drive days", I think I have explained before how it works. My no drive day is Mondays, so we could only be on the rode, before 7:00am, from 10:00am - 3:00pm and after 7:00 pm. Well we stayed to long at the PAO and didn't leave until about 4:00pm, I have riden with others when they didn't obey the times and no problems, but no luck for me, I got pulled over. The first thing they want is your drivers license and we have been told many times "do not give your drivers license to the police here", so I refused, they insisted, I refused, they insisted...so I told them I would call my attorney, I called Sister McAllister, she suggested I ask for their supervisors name and tell them I was going to talk to him. Let me just say,the traffic police here really have no authority, that could be because traffic laws are only "suggestions". I was very lucky the traffic cop said I could go, looked at my name tag and said, "Please pray for me".

Mark and Taylor were the city map guys directing me as we went places. I was told the map I bought was the best available here but Mark decided he was going to buy me a GPS, the map, well let's just say the map left a lot to be desired in finding where we needed to go. So Mark bought a GSP, got it all set up.

Scott wanted to walk around Guadalaupe, an area he served in, so we got a taxi to take us there. One of the things Taylor wanted to do while he was here was play basketball with some filipinos. Scott saw some filipino teenagers playing in an alley as were going around a corner so he yelled STOP! The taxi driver stopped, we paid him and all bailed out right there, I had no clue what was happening, but knew I better keep up. We crossed the street to where the basketball game was going on, Scott asked if he and Mark could play, but the kids refused to let them, but were willing for Taylor to play with them. He play for about an hour and held his own with them, I don't know how he did it, because even though it was evening it was still hot and Taylor wasn't used to the heat, but you couldn't tell, if he wasn't so tall and blonde you'd have thought he lived there, of course they called him Justin.

Tuesday:

We had tickets to go Corrigador Island so I was out the door of my apartment by 6:15 am, caught a taxi and went to McAllister to pickup the guys, I had the taxi wait. Sister McAllister had fixed breakfast, pancakes and bacon, it was yummy. We took a taxi because it was easier and cheaper then buying gas and paying for parking.

We had to be at the dock by 7:00 am and board the ferry by 8:00 am. The ferry ride was close to 1 1/2 hours. We saw great World War II historical sites, our fee included a very nice buffet lunch at the best hotel on the island, in fact it is the only one. It was very nice, food good and a beautiful view. Then we saw more historical sites, it was my second visit but still enjoyable, Scott and Mark had been there 26 years ago, they rode in bankas (paddle boats) back then and there were several improvements and additions in the things to see.

We got back to the dock about 3:00 pm and finally found a taxi to take us back to the apartment. I know we did something else, I just can't remember what.

Wednesday:

This was to be our temple morning. Mark set the GPS up in the car for me, so I could find my way to McAllister to pick them up and go to the temple, Taylor was going to do baptism for the dead and Scott and Mark were hoping to be witnesses or even do some baptizing.

I was on my way when Scott called and said they could catch a ride with McAllister's driver and I could go straight to the temple. Let me just say, I am electronically challenged and I tried to follow the GPS, dropped it several times because I couldn't get it to stick to the dashboard, of course it is suppose to stick to the windshield, who would guess? I became lost, two hours later I was still lost. The guys had no way to contact me, I hadn't borrowed a phone for Scott yet. I was running out of gas, so I decided to call the PAO office and ask one of our drivers, Ralphie, to give me directions. As I was talking on the phone to Ralphie and driving, I got pulled over by a traffic policeman, could the day get any worse! Ralphie said to let him talk to the policeman, when they were done talking the policeman told me he would get his motorcycle and lead me to where I wanted to go. I carefully followed him for quite a ways then he pulled over and said that was as far as his jurisdiction went and proceeded to give me directions to another street, he told me he was a christian and he would not give me a ticket. I am amazed at what wearing a missionary badge does for good.

To make a long story shorter, I was lost for another hour but I did finally find the temple. In my mind Scott, Taylor and Mark were in the temple doing baptisms and I was touring Metro Manila with my new GPS which I finally just turned off. The first thing Scott said to me when he saw me was, we are taking that GPS back to the store, but after I explained about dropping it, etc it was decided if I treated it right it would be a help to me.

While I was lost, the guys went in the foyer of the temple and then visited outside with several missionaries from the MTC. We went back in to see about doing baptisms and was told it would just be a couple of minutes, but that can be 20 minutes, 2 hours, etc here, so decided that just being in the foyer and visiting with the missionaries was a good experience.

We dropped by the Quezon City Mission home, my mission so I could introduce Scott, Taylor and Mark to my mission president, President DeLaMare, so proud of all of them. Scott knows someone who worked with President DeLaMare in Salt Lake and had sent via Scott a gift to give the DeLaMares.

We made it a short visit, we were to meet Maricel/ Ed and their family, Earl 16, Adam 12, Erika 10 and Abish 6 and go to the Taal volcano. It is a dead volcano that has a lake inside it with two other volcano, one dead and one live. It was beautiful and amazing to know we were standing in a volcano. It was pretty windy and they had kites for sell, so Mark, Scott and Taylor each bought a kite and helped the kids fly them, it was fun. Maricel had made a picnic lunch for us. It was kind of chilly, so we just made sandwiches, etc., out of the back of their van, it worked great.

The live volcano began erupting inside a couple of days ago, so they have evacuated the people living by it and the park where we were. I drove home in the dark, my first time here, because I am not good at night driving, but we made it safe and sound.

Thursday:

Finally after Mark being so patient, we went to Las Pinas an area he served in. Mark had been in contact with one of his baptisms family member and she offered to meet ride with us and show us around Las Pinas to find some other people Mark knew. Her name was Miles. I can't remember all the details but at some point Mark realized that Miles was not the sister he thought she was, he showed Miles some pictures he had brought with him and found that the sister he knew had died but we were already committed to taking her with us. It was a interesting day. Miles had her own agenda, we went to her cousins home under the pretense that the apartment Mark lived in was right near by, it wasn't and then we went to her sisters home under the pretense that the apartment was right across the street, it wasn't. Of course landmarks, etc have changed so much Mark had a hard time recognizing much. Miles had a good heart, she took us to lunch at Jolly Bees, like our McDonalds, bought us mangos and bananas and some pandasol bread. She just about talked our ears off .

After we dropped Miles off, we went to the Manila Mission Office, it is the same one Scott and Mark served in, they were like a couple of young boys in a candy store, it was fun for me to watch and listen. The office senior couple gave us free reign to look around and go in all the rooms, etc. Scott and Mark said he was just the same, same paneling, same counter they ate at in the kitchen, etc. What a moment for them!

We invited Eva and Jovan Adriano and their family to the apartment for dinner. Scott taught Eva the discussions when she was 16, but her parents would not let her be baptized, when she was 18 she was baptized, married in the temple and has four children, Garen 21, Valerie 18, Kevin 16 and Sharleen 6. It was a tender moment for both of them and we had a great visit, Scott learned about her life, she is a counselor in the stake primary presidency.

Her husband thought Scott had a goatee, he does in the picture on facebook, so Jovan had grown one so Scott would feel comfortable. Jovan is a great guy and has taken on the task of keeping me safe. Jovan and Eva call me Mom and Jovan says he is my favorite son, I didn't tell him that for most of Douglas' life he has believed he is my favorite.

Friday:

We met Eva/Jovan at Calamba and they took us to Pagsanjan Falls. Mark and Scott visited there as missionaries and wanted to relive some of the fun with Taylor.

The boats are those long skinny ones that only hold two people and two guides one on each end of the boat. I told Scott I was going to sit in the car and take a nap but he insisted I go, so go I did, it was a good ONE time experience for me.

Mark and Taylor in one boat and Scott and me in another boat. We floated up the river, over rapids, the walls of the river were like being in a Indiana Jones movie, lots of jungle, echoes, etc. The guides really work hard rowing and getting the boat up and over swallow spots in the rapids, they were amazing and interesting to watch as they did their jobs. When it came time to go under the falls, we switched to a sitting on a raft with helmets on our heads. Mark didn't wear a helmut and was told if he went under the falls without a helmut, he would come out balded. he decided to take a chance and was happy to still feel hair on his head when we came out from under the falls. Scott and Taylor were the very first ones sitting on the front of the raft, when we stopped under the falls them and Mark jumped off the raft into the water to fool around, I justed wanted everyone to get back on the raft and get out from under the falls. Of course we were soaked to the skin, shoes and all, at the end we were provided an opportunity to change clothes and given a towel and had a shower available.

I loved the floating down up and down the river, but I for sure was ready for a nap when we were done. Eva/Jovan took us to Jovan's brother house and fixed lunch for us, it was the first time I had been in a filipino's home, it was small, nice and homey. Eva insisted I take a nap and I didn't argue, so she took me to an open air nipa hut that was about 20 feet off the ground. There was a CR (comfort room, ie bathroom) as we entered and then up some narrow bamboo steps to the bedroom with a veranda. They gave me some pillows and the mattress was comfortable. Just as I was falling asleep Sharleen came up, she laid down beside me for a couple of minutes, then danced for me, asked if I talked Talalgo, when I said no, she run off to find something else to do and I slept for about an hour. Scott, Taylor and Mark went with Jovan to look around and shop.

We traveled to Siniloan where I had a mapping appointment. It was fun for me to have Scott, Taylor and Mark see the biggest part of what I do here on my mission. The mapping usually takes up to 2 hours to complete, this one took about 1 1/2 hours.

Then we went to San Pablo and spent the night in a hotel called "City Inn". We wouldn't recommend you stay there. First we were the only customers, which was our first sign that all might not be well, second we had to climb a spiral staircase to the second floor, they opened all four doors to let us choose which rooms we wanted to stay in. The guys were mannerly and let me decide first, after looking at all of four of them, I choose what I thought was the coziest and stepped in to check out the bathroom to see one of those gekos trying to climb the wall. Mark said I jumped out of the bathroom with the agility of a 16 year old, I chose another room.

The place really offered just the bare minimum, there were showers but no hot water. No one got much rest, Taylor said scratched all night. Most of the hotels Sister Clark and I stay in when we travel are at least a step above this one, they do have glasses available in the bathroom. We always take bottled water to drink and brush our teeth. There was a pretty nice TV in the room Mark was in, so guess he and Scott watched it for a bit during the night.

Saturday:

We went to Cecilia Bermundo's home, Scott tracked her and family out while serving in the Ligao area, Mother, Father and two daughters. Cecilia got a job as an English professor at a college in San Pablo, so they all moved to San Pablo. Cecilia married in the temple and has three children, VJ 12 (she was at a competition so didn't meet her), CJ, a son 11 and Valerie 10. Cecilia's mother was there, what a sweet lady, only 64 but very frail looking. Her husband died two years ago and her other daughter, Christine died last October of Luekemia. It was such a tender, sweet greeting for Scott, Cecilia and her Mother and very emotional.

Filipino people are so grateful to the missionaries who bring them the gospel, everyone you talk to wants to reconnect with the missionaries who taught them, just to say thank you. We visited for about an hour and then had to leave, but fortunate for me I will be seeing Cecilia and her family as often as possible, they come to the temple frequently and my office is just across the street.

Scott drove back to Manila and we went looking for a chapel in Marikina where Mark served. We followed the GPS and went through some very poor parts of Manila, finally finding the chapel. I was so glad for Mark but the only person there was a bishop getting ready to leave the parking lot, however visiting with him, Mark found his father was the bishop when Mark was serving at that chapel. He was able to walk around inside the church building, there had been some severe damage to the building during a typhoon, it is near the river, so there were some changes, but Mark said it looked pretty as he remembered it.

We visited the American cemetery, it was an awesome sight, so well kept and just a feeling of reverence. The young missionaries are always taken to the cemetery, the mission president speaks to them and then they have a testimony meeting, I'm told it is a special time and a good beginning to get the feel of the Philippines for the young missionaries.

I have been fortunate to visit several World War II historical sites here: Corrigador Island, Bay where MacArthur returned in Leyte, Bataan death camp, American cemetery in Manila.

On our way back to the apartment, Scott was driving, he did not see the no left turn sign and turned left, the policeman was right there. Of course he asked for Scott's drivers license, I'm in the back seat repeatingly telling Scott not to give it to him, after some exchanges it was settled that a 300 peso bribe would work, however the smallest peso we had was 500 and of course the policeman did not offer to make change. We were very glad to arrive at the apartment and the guys caught a taxi to the McAllister who served them pizza.

The week was extremely busy, at one point on Saturday one of the guys said they didn't want to hurt my feelings but they were ready to go home, I told them I was ready for them to leave, they had worn me to a frazzle.

Sunday:

Brother McAllister took the guys to the PAO to meet Eva/Jovan who took them to the airport. Jovan works at the airport. I drove over to the PAO for a last short visit and to say goodbye.

I asked Taylor how he felt about his visit and he said it was good but he really had wanted to drive in the Philippines, so I handed him the car keys and said let's go, He drove and I rode with him down the end of the street, he turned around come back and parked, now he can say he drove in the Philippines.

It was hard to say goodbye, couldn't stop hugging, but they finally got into the car and headed down the street. I started to follow them for a ways and go back to my apartment, but the thought crossed by mind, "there goes my family, I need to be with family, not alone in my apartment," so I turned around and went to the mission home and watched conference and had lunch with the other senior missionaries.

It was just the right thing to do and I felt the love of the missionaries and the understanding of having family leave, we have all been through it. Conference was especially touching to me, my heart and mind were open and receptive to the counsel given. The Lord always knows the exact setting that uplifts us and helps us.

February 22 - March 15, 2011

Finally enough time to blog. We have and still are traveling a lot to get the mapping done before Sister Clark, my companion, goes home the end of July 2011. We had 165 stakes/districts to map when I arrived and have mapped 75% of those and sent 50% of those to Salt Lake. The 25% not sent to Salt Lake have some boundary disputes that we are getting resolved before they can be sent as we can only send a map one time to Salt Lake.

We travel both by plane and car, I really prefer the car travel, I never tire of looking at the countryside (rice fields, sugar cane fields, tobacco fields, people working and playing, their homes - tarps stretch overhead and shacks, up to mansions; mountains, everything is so green), this time of the year is their spring, so there a lots of flowers, the kind that we call exotic, grow everywhere outside here.

We had the opportunity to travel to Baguio Mission that is at the top of a mountain. For the first time since I arrived in the Philippines, I felt cold, it doesn't snow there but does get chilly. The air was so clean. We stayed at an old ex-military r&r lodge which was quaint and very comfortable. I can't begin to tell you how great it was to go to bed and snuggle up with a comforter and hear the crickets outside and to smell the pine trees, when I closed my eyes I felt like I had been transported home for a few minutes. The whole city is built on the sides of mountains. They call that area "the salad bowl of the Philippines", because of the weather they are able to grow most fruits and vegtables, we visited a strawberry field and ate fresh picked strawberries. Some of their oranges were as big as grapefruit, seedless, sweet and juicy.

We visited a ward that weekend, it was fast Sunday, when the bishop saw us he immediately come up and asked us to sit on the stand and bear our testimonies. We didn't set on the stand but were happy to bear out testimonies.

I mentioned the ex military lodge we stayed at, we have some interesting experiences at the hotels we stay in. Sometimes we walk into the room and say "We're in the military tonight", some are very nice but most are somewhere below a Motel 6. We don't spend much time in the rooms so if the bed is comfortable and the room is clean, and they are, we are good to go.

One of the sisters that works in the office asked me if I knew how to make popcorn balls, she said when she was a child, lots of Americans lived in her area and the sisters made popcorn balls for the Primary all the time. She wanted her daughter to taste a popcorn ball. I went on line and found a recipe, gave it to her and told her to invite anyone she wanted and come to our apartment and I would show her how to make popcorn balls. It was so great, I served them a sandwich, chip, salsa supper and we got started. I was amazed that everything went so smoothly, it had been years since I made popcorn balls but they turned out perfect and no hands got burned. Now everyone here in our department want some, I'll work on that.

We get asked parenting questions a lot here, must have something to do with the grey hair and the badge we wear. Children are so important to this culture, very loved and wanted. All the little girls always have their hair done up with barretts and bows. Because of the heat here and the easiness to launder, you often see children in light weight pajams and nightgowns, good things they have so many cute ones for the girls and "manly" ones for the boys. I have found that the children love it when I give them one of my business cards and to think I didn't know what I was going to do with 100 of the cards. The children always want to shake your hand but sometimes are very shy. I shook the hand of a mother holding a 1 year old and the baby stuck out here hand so I took it and the baby immediately raised my hand to touch her forehead, that is a sign of respect given to older people here. I just wanted to wrap my arms around both the mother and baby and hug them tight.

It is interesting flying on the airplanes here, the stewardess asked, "coffee, tea or water", no juices or soda pop. There are two airports, at one we wait at the terminal for our turn, then ride a bus to the airplane and board, the other is pretty much like ours. At each airport, by the time we board the plane we have passed through two security check areas and paid a boarding pass fee of 200 pecos. At first it was very confusing to me and I just followed Sister Clark but I've have the hang of it now, altho I still just follow Sister Clark.

I am so excited that my son Scott and grandson Taylor are coming to visit me. Of course they have two motives for coming, Scott served here in the Philippines and came home April, 1984 so he is excited to revisit some areas and see people he knew back then and show Taylor another country and some of what it is like to serve a mission. Mark Welden who served a mission here, the same time as Scott is coming with them. One of the highlights for me will be having them sit in the car as I drive them on Philippine streets, well, okay, don't know as that will happen often but will have to do it at least once.

We have family home evening every two weeks with the other senior missionaries. The lesson is given by a different couple each time or as in my case, a single sister. I signed up back in November, 2010 to give the lesson on March 14, 2011, it seemed like a long time away, boy did that time fly. I gave the lesson last night and want to publicly thank Rebecca for the lesson. She is a counselor in here relief society and gave the lesson on fast Sunday in her ward. When she told me about it, I asked her to send it to me and it was so well done and touched my heart many times as I read it that I tweeked it a little bit and gave it for my lesson. Rebecca had obviously put a lot of thought and work into preparing the lesson and I appreciate it.

My family are such a great support to me here: Douglas gathers my mail on a regular basis and forwards mail that Allyson might need as she is my fininacial person while I am here. It is a great feeling to feel totally comfortable that all is well at home. Andrew keeps me well informed about him and his family, I look forward to his at least twice a week emails. Jeffrey skypes me regularly, I even get to hear Marquis play some pieces on his saxaphone and Malia sent me a picture she drew that hangs on my wall. Scott's family talks to me on Skype every week and McKenna has sung a song for me and I usually always talk to at least the twins. Allyson's family is so cute when she uses skype, they sings songs, tell stories, and even Zoey sings and talks to me, altho I'm pretty sure she has forgotten who Gram is. Rebecca and her family has written me letters, which I love because I can put them by my bed and read them over and over again and I love the family sounds as I visit with them on Skype. Brayden and Kassi keep me posted on their activities by email as does Brett. I have even talked with Adam at college a couple of times. Thank you, Thank you! Can you tell I am a little homesick, haven't felt that feeling since I was a kid at my grandmothers for a week stay in the summer.

My mission is not getting easier, I am just handling everything better and I do enjoy being here, we travel so much that when I get home and say "I miss the Philippines", I will really be missing the Phillipines. The people are so great, I'm learning so much from them: kindness, giving service, they have strong testimonies are are "much grateful" to have the gospel in their lives as I am.

February 1 - February 21, 2011

I was waiting to blog until I had some exciting news, then realized everything I do here is exciting!

Scott and Taylor are coming to the Philippines the first week of April, I try not to think of it yet, because my heart gets to beating so fast. Having Scott come was so great, like a big hunk of carrot cake and with Taylor coming, I now have the cream frosting on the cake. Everyone I tell they care coming get excited, the filipino people love to have visitors, they are very proud of their country.

Okay, I am now a licensed driver in the Philippines. After, I got my license, my driver had me drive back to the office, when we arrived, he clapped for me and said I was a good driver. The next day, Sister Clark asked me to take her to the American Embassy so she could get some personal papers notorized. Of course, I was glad to help, after all I had a license and was told I was a good driver. We didn't know exactly how to get their but we have experience mapping the Philippines, finding the embassy would be no big deal. However, I did not know that that area of Metro Manila is one of the busiest traffic areas, no place for a novice Philippine driver. You guessed it, a van whipped in front of me and tore my bumper loose, Sister Clark and I were not hurt, I was barely going 5 miles an hour. I got out of the car, and the driver of the van immediately began saying it was my fault, I wan't taking the blame for his bad driving, a policeman happened to showed up, we decided to let the insurance companies handle it, no one got a ticket. All the information I got was the van driver's name, phone number and license plate number. When I brought the car to the fleet manager and told him my sad story, his face didn't even change expressions, he just took the key said to come back later in the afternoon and when I did, they had another car ready for me. I bought a steering wheel cover and some sunglasses, now I feel more prepared. The real test everyday is driving in and out of the parking garage. We park underground the 5th level (very bottom), with all the twist and turns, it takes at least 5 minutes to get in and out.

Sister Clark and I have been asked to speak at Sacrament meeting next Sunday in the branch we attend. I will be speaking on the atonement, prayers my way will help, fortunately keeping the information simply is the best way here, but how does one keep the topic of the atonement simple?

We flew to Cebu Mission the weekend of the 11th and 12th. All my mapping appointments were on Friday. Elder and Sister Aguilar are now at the mission home in Cebu, you may remember we were in the MTC together and they were here in the Quezon Mission for about 3 months filling in before going to Cebu. Elder Aquilar had meetings to attend on Saturday, so Sister Aguilar and I visited for awhile, went shopping, had lunch and a yummy treat, all in all we spent about 5 hours together, it was great, I just love being in the presence of the Aguilars.

Last Sunday I had a mapping appointment at a district about 2 hours away, Sister Clark made arrangements for Elder and Sister Sorensen, (he is the executive secretary to the area presidency and is over the mapping, they arrived here just before Christmas), to take us and so Elder Sorensen could observe my mapping, of course the appointment was made before I knew anything about it. When I first heard he was going to observe, I felt anxious, but I remembered I do this mapping all the time and with mighty prayer I could even do it better, Elder Sorensen learned how the mapping is done and was impressed. I don't know if he was impressed with how the mapping is done or with my abilities, both I hope.

Again, I am so grateful for my family and their support. I love them so much and have learned to more appreciated their love, kindness and sweetness to me, a mission is hard but made easier with the love and support of family and friends. Thank you all!

December 30, 2010 - January 31, 2011

I cannot believe I have not blogged for a month, will try to be more timely from now on.

Let me start with New Years Eve, I was warned that the Filipino people love new years and celebrate with lots of fireworks. They can buy most any kind of fireworks and they do. I was standing in the apartment at midnight looking out windows that faces north and one that faces east at the same, the noise was deafening, I would have felt like I was in a war zone if it had not been so beautiful. They really do not follow any precautions and one of the guys here in the office neighbor's house burned down from firework fall out.

I really am becoming adjusted to the Philippines, all I used to see when I went out was all the garbage, they really do not have a system for collecting residents garbage, so you see it everywhere, even in plastic bags hanging from tree, fences, piled on the sidewalk or scattered everywhere. They do have street sweepers (men/women with broom and dustpan), so some areas are kept fairly clean. Anyway, I realized the other day that the garbage is still there but I don't notice it as much, to me that is adjustment to my surroundings.

I have been trying more of the Filipino food, still find most of it pretty bland and not great, however some is pretty good, however when we go out to eat I never know what to order because I do not understand what the names of the food are, so usually stick with American food if available. I do not eat rice and that is a wonder to everyone here, I am asked quite often what do you eat for carbohydrates? Bread is my answer, their bread here is very good, however kind of sweet tasting so I don't eat to much of it. I did make a meatloaf in the crock pot, it turned out okay but I put hamburger and pork together which I had never done before, and I really thought the pork taste was to strong, but Sister Clark really liked it.

I got a bite on the inner corner of my eyelid and woke up with mu eye almost sullen shut, but by evening it was better, I could see the bite but no idea what it was, possibly and ant, no side effects.

The children here are very respectful to older people. I have had a teenage boy at one of the chapels we were at, who didn't know, come over to me, take my hand and raised it to touch his forehead. This is a sign of giving respect, it was very touching, also young young girl, about 6 yrs old did the same thing. I love it!

I have not met a Filipino that doesn't have a good singing voice and as I have said before they love to sing. Most of the chapels only have pianos in the chapel, so all other meetings the music is sung without a piano. Who ever is asked to lead the music gets up and sings a few bars of the hymn, then says 1, 2, 3 sing and we all start singing while they conduct. It is marvelous to be part of their singing.

We have been doing a lot of traveling by car and by plane. I never tire of seeing the Philippines country side and the small Providences outside Manila. The hotels/motels we stay in are pretty basic, but clean and the beds are generally comfortable. The one we stayed in last weekend in Naga was beautiful, we took a tour of the town well actually the tour guide only wanted to show us to the catholic churches in Naga, he did ask if we were like nuns because our name tags said Sister, I really wasn't into seeing all the catholic churches there, so after seeing two of them, we had the driver drop us off at the mall, more my kind of tour.

We were in Angeles Mission weekend before last and after the mapping sessions we talked with a sister who was at the chapel. She has been a member for 2 1/2 yrs and joined while she was in Hong Kong working. She said their ward did not have anyone who could play the piano and she was trying to teach herself, Sister Clark told her about the program the church has for learning to play the piano, so I told her I would buy the materials at the distribution center and send it to her. That was a fun thing to do, I sent it by the church courier, hope it helps her and maybe she will be able to help others learn too.

I'm back to taking Tagalog classes again, it is much easier this time especially since I have decided, I just want to learn so I can understand Tagalog enough to know what is being said in Sacrament meeting, Sunday school class and Relief Society class. Everyone talks to us in English, sometimes with a deep accent but I am even getting better at knowing what is being said. Quite often when we are in meetings and the language turns to Tagalog, one of the Filipino people will speak up and say, English, speak English and the Tagalog quickly turns to English. The people are so accommodating and kind here, I just feel like hugging everyone of them.