July

It's July 31^st and so today concludes another month here in Paradise. Not only is this another month gone, but we hit our year mark on the 20^th of the month. It has been a real eye opener to realize just how fast time is going. We do keep busy so these past 12 months have flown by. Now we only have less than 6 months to finish the work that our Heavenly Father called us here to do. I only pray that we will have time to finish what has been started here in Bicol. We have more or less been told that there will be no replacement here to take our place which we are sad about. But there just aren't enough couples serving at this time. Our friends in the north said that they also will not be replaced so there will be some big changes here in the next few months. Anyone want to volunteer? I promise that you will love it!

July 1 started a new chapter in the Naga Mission history with a new Mission President, President and Sister Bliesner from Logan Utah. We had a Naga Southern zone conference, about 80 missionaries, to meet and listen to Pres. And Sister Bliesner. I enjoyed all the talks and information that they brought to us. We found that the missionaries are going to have a little different role. Everyone is going to work hard on the rescue of the members that are no longer active. The missionaries are still waiting for the major training from President Edwards, area President. He will visit here in October, but next week the mission president will come and start some of the training with the zone. It will be a little challenging for the missionaries who have been out a long time to switch gears and do the missionary work different from what has been done here in the past.

We have with the Bliesner's four times now and have enjoyed getting to know them. We actually found out that their daughter and son-in-law lived in our ward several years ago. Do any of you Granite Bayer's remember Ryan and Heidi Partridge? Heidi is their daughter, small world!

Our mission has taken a little bit of a turn in that we are doing fewer workshops and doing more one on one help with members doing some career coaching and resumes. I think by the time we get home we could probably start a business. Anyone need resume coaching?

July did start out with a workshop which was about a two hour drive south-that is two hours if you take the right turn or two and a half if you pass the turn and head to the ocean. So we were late, but a half hour late here in the Philippines means that we were right on time! They all joke about how late they arrive to all the meetings, they say, "you know Filipino time?" The drive to Bulan is so breath taking and picturesque-yes I took a lot of pictures. Picture taking is how I keep awake on these long drives and believe me I need to stay awake or we wouldn't be still be alive.

Here's a house painted like wood on the way to Bulan:

As always the members were so excited with the workshop and were grateful for the information they received.

On July 4^th while all of you were celebrating our country's Independence, we had an experience of a lifetime. One of the sweet families I visit teach, yes I mean families, I visit because when we go visit teaching everyone comes in and visits and even stays for the lesson. They had lived in Guinobatan (about 30 minutes from Legazpi), in 2006 when Typhoon Reming hit the Bicol region. They haven't had the money to take a Jeepney ride to see the home they left behind. Lojaro's were a family of 10 living in a small unique home at the edge of the area leading to Mount Mayon. Grace told us how Francisco was away at work when the Reming hit. She said that the rain and wind was terrible, all she could think of was keeping her 8 children safe. She said when she went outside there was water running down both sides of their little home, but the water had not come inside the home yet. She said they were so blessed to be able to pack food and clothing and instructing the children to all hold on to each other, and with a prayer on her lips, she and the children were able to walk along a dike road and make it 6 km to the Guinobatan chapel down the hill. Once they were safe and secure, she put the oldest children in charge of the young ones and she made the trek back up the hill to rescue all she could from the house. Here the people have so little that they can't just let nature rob them of the few possessions that they do have. Grace was very brave and determined to make the rescue and she did it without any problems finding the home still safe so far. She could have lost her life as many did that day, neighbors that were not as blessed as the Lojaro's. Here's a neighbor's house that is still being repaired:Lives lost, homes washed away and farm land covered with huge boulders and volcanic sand washed down from the volcano.

This is the road, we couldn't take the car any further:

This shows what was left of a neighbor's house:

The Lojaro's were relocated to Legazpi in a small relocation community the government had set up. They are now safe from typhoons and the threat of Mayon's eruptions since they are on the hills behind Legapzi City.

We taught two more workshops, one at the ERC, and the other one at the Mission Home for the Missionaries leaving their mission to return home. We are always humbled when we teach these servants of God. We feel their strength and the spirit is so strong you can feel it everywhere. We were blessed with an email from Sister Alipoyo expressing her gratitude for the workshop and telling us she did what we taught her, and within five days of getting home she had a job. This generation will make a great impact on the future of the church in the Philippines.

On July 13^th (last day of the workshop) in Naga, we were awakened by a terrible storm, which continued throughout the day. President Bliesner invited to stay another night, but we had an appointment on the way home that we couldn't miss. We found out that the storm was our first typhoon, Conson. It rained in sheets of water. Our windshield wipers couldn't even clear the windshield so we could see out, but with the Lords help we made it to our meeting with South East Star Bottlers in Ligao. We offered to help them find people to fill their job openings. Hopefully they will provide a lot of jobs for the members on the church in the Ligao.

The next day we had a tropical storm come through and also a 16 hour brown-out. This means no electricity of any kind. There were some problems with this: no electricity, no pump to get the water into the house, so no shower water only our bottle of water and a ladle. No electricity no hair dryer and no curling iron also no water getting to the toilet and no water to sinks. No cold refrigerator so we had we get ice to pack in the freezer and also a cooler to put some of the food to keep it cold. Doesn't this sound like an exciting adventure? It was and we have things like this happen all the time. We have had several brown outs this month, but the worst part of it is that we have NO AIRCON.

July 20^th marked our one year anniversary for us here in the Philippines. Time has gone by so fast and I am sure the next 6 months will fly by also.

Tuesday and Thursday we spend helping the people who come to the ERC to do resumes and talk to them about interviewing. We had 17 placements here in Legazpi this month and 37 for the whole Bicol region, we are so thrilled!!! Working with the people we get to know them and also hear some amazing stories of their lives and some of the trials they have been through. It is truly amazing the strength and faith that these people have.

One of my favorite young men is not of our faith, who at 16, left on a mission for the Catholic Church-his name is Angelo De Lumen.

This is his home:

While on his mission, he saw two of our missionaries and noticed the name of our church carried the name of our Savior. He liked that and after observing some of the recently returned missionaries, he sent the missionaries to his family. His mother and 4 of the nine brothers (the rest are under 8) were baptized and now he is taking the lessons. He quit his job because they wouldn't let him have Sunday off. He already has the strength and courage to be a great missionary for our church one day. He is 18 going on 30, he will be a great blessing to the church one day. I hope that he decides to get baptized while we are still here. I know now how it feels when the missionaries teach people, look forward to the baptism and then get transferred. Lee has made the trek up the mountain a few times with the Elders to teach the DeLumen family and some day, just for Angelo, I guess I will have to make the climb.

We had two interesting meetings with the young adults this month. At one we were asked by AMA, the largest IT University in Asia, to come and teach some of their 4^th year students how to write a resume and also how to interview for a job. We met with about 75 students and gave a 2 hour seminar. We always show a couple of funny videos just to peak their interest then we present the material and they seem to absorb all the information and want more. A few of the students asked about our workshop so we will have to invite them to the next one in Legazpi.

Our last Young Adult meeting was with the Institute Students in Naga. We were asked to come and put on a devotional about Careers and Saving for the Future. They presented us with a wonderful program of music and inspiration from the Stake President. We had also 2 hours here to talk and convey our material to still another wonderful group of saints. We loved this group and hope we can see them again before we leave. They expressed interest in having us come back to present more material to them on some of our other subjects.

The Lord is raising a blessed generation here in the Philippines. I just love these youth and wished I could adopt them all and bring them home with us even for just a short time.

Amy, our landlord and her family invited us to her Aunt, ELY's 94th Birthday. She is a special woman and still likes a good party. She had to blow the candles out three times, she was so fast they couldn't get a picture. To get the picture they finally had to use a video camera, we all had a good laugh over that.

Ely in her prime:

The family has adopted us. They invite us to all the family big events and they really know how to celebrate. We love talking to them and learning about the family and the early days here in Legazpi. Hermie, owns the house we live in, he is retired US Navy and is so nice to us. They always make sure the yard is taken care of and anything else that needs repair. It is so easy to love them and share in their happiness.

As you will notice in the pictures they know how to celebrate with food. This is just a taste of what our July was like here in Legazpi.

We didn't get to celebrate the 4^th but here we celebrate every day with happiness, joy and the love of the Pilipino people.

Love to all the family and our dear friends that are reading our BLOG.

Elder and Sister Cooley

June Picture of the Month

This is a Jeepney, the most desired mode of transportation.

June

June is a marvelous month here in the Philippines; it marks the end of summer and the beginning of the rainy season. We have had an El Nino this year. You can't imagine how dry and hot it has been here in the land of rain. I think the church has the only sprinkler system in the country and they try not to use it. The Banana trees are dying and the coconut trees all have the lower frowns dead. We have noticed even the hills are showing brown where only green has been before. We are happy that we have had some rain just recently, but it was not much for the first month of rain. The grass along the road has greened up so the land of green might possibly be coming back.

This has been a very busy month. We have been slowing down on the large group workshops and now we are working more on the second round of training for the Stake and District Employment Committees. We have had some changes in the committees so we have to retrain and also have done some second round of training. The new training is a lot about the new reporting that we are being required to use, also teaching them about writing and using a resume when they go out to look for a job. We give them ideas about contacting schools and businesses to let them know that we can help them find good employees. Then the business will provide us with their job openings so our applicants will get an early look at the jobs that are available.

Kevin was hired at McDonald's. He is trying to save his money so he can go on a mission in December.

Lorna is looking for a job as a bookkeeper.

Lorna and her family were just baptized two weeks ago.

Joel has many talents but he has not had much schooling, so he will have a hard time getting the placement that he is capable of. Joel did get a job, but we are looking for a new one for him.

We have also been spending a few hours a week on helping people do their resumes and getting the papers together that are required by the employers here. Through our efforts, the last couple of months we have placed about 32 people in jobs. Some of these people are now working and helping their family to be self reliant. We have three young men who are working and making money for their missions. We hope to see some of them leave before we go home. We also have a woman who has spent the last 7 years overseas making and sending money home. The problem is her husband has enjoyed spending it as it came in so now they both need jobs so she can stay home. Their whole family was just baptized last Saturday, which was very exciting. They are both wonderful people have darling children and will make very good employees.

Elder Cooley went with the Volunteer Center Manager to another Island (Masbate) here in our area, but I opted to stay home because you have to take a ferry to get there and I have had my fill of ferry's and the unexpected adventures they may cause. They went to Masbate which is in the Naga Mission and is South East of us. The Mission President told me how he has gone half way over to Masbate and had to turn and come back because the ocean was too rough. I am better off here on our own Island. They however had a good experience training the DEC and doing both a Career and Self Employment Workshop.

One of the thrilling days in June was on 13^th when our new Cebu Temple was dedicated by President Monson. We are happy that we have another temple closer to some of the other Islands. It is such a sacrifice for the saints here to save money and take the time to travel 14 hours by bus to go to the Manila Temple. We can only pray that the saints here in the Bicol region could be obedient enough to have a Temple here someday soon. What a blessing it is to have the two temples that they now have.

The Culture Celebration and the Dedication were both very inspiring for all the people even though very few of them will ever have the opportunity to visit the Cebu Temple. We were happy for them that the Prophet was well enough to come and do the dedication. We had a special fast to ask the Lord to allow President Monson to come here to the Philippines and their prayers were answered. The thousands of stories of how people were introduced to the gospel are heartwarming. Some of them were converted and had to hide the fact from friends and family because of the abuse and ridicule that they faced. Some people were disowned by their family and others were left by husbands or wives. Many just rejoiced in silence until the truth was spread throughout the land and people became more tolerant of us and our beliefs. Just look what has happened in just 49 years, the church members total 620,000 + and Missionaries that are serving in 16 missions in the Philippines are in the thousands. I might add that the women are just as much a part of the missionary force as the young men. They both desire to serve the Lord. We rejoice with them in their new Cebu Temple!

Our next testimony building event was that of the last Zone conference held by President Smith here in Legazpi. It seemed like this day was so far away but now it has come and gone. The Smith's have started a month of LAST'S. Their last Zone Conferences, last workshops, last meetings, interviews with the missionaries, visits to members that have been touched by them, last drive through this beautiful area, last time to hear Missionaries testify of the truth and knowledge of the gospel they have received through their obedience to the mission rules and the Lord.

The President and Sister Smith have been an inspiration and were such qualified leaders for the Lord here in the Bicol. They have changed lives and made this Missionary force stronger and more obedient than they found it. They will be remembered here by people for the rest of their lives. They are LOVED by all old and young, male and female, strong and the weak, their time here in Bicol was truly years spent making the Lord's vineyard a better place to live and the people a stronger, more faithful people. I am glad we had the opportunity to serve with them in the Bicol for 10 months. I only wish we could continue to serve with them, but I know that the Lord has provided another strong faithful steward to take his place.

We had the opportunity to go attend a farewell dinner in honor of Pres. & Sister Smith hosted by their dear friends and employees. We had a delicious dinner where everyone brought a dish and there were some very nice Filipino dishes. After dinner, Sandy Lopez and Willie had everyone stand and talk about how the Smith's had touched their lives. This was a very poignant time for everyone. Of course Sandy and Willie helped us out by cracking jokes and making us laugh.

One thing that the President brought up was about Willie, who is the sweetest man you could ever hope to meet. He has a very unusual accent however and sometimes you have to think about what he is saying. The Smith's had just recently had a flood on the third floor of the Mission Home. When they came home they had water comes down the stairs from the third floor and it turned the corner and went down the second flight of stairs to reach the ground floor. What a mess! It went through their bedroom ceiling etc. So the thought of another flood was not a happy thought. President said," We walked into the house and Willie came rushing in and said," he had been cleaning up the flood. "Where is the flood?", President Smith inquired . "No, I am cleaning up the flood Willie exclaimed!" President Smith said "I know where it is?" "It is on the floor and on his head," Willie exclaimed. "On his head and on the floor", he thought, and then it came to President that Willie was saying BLOOD not FLOOD. President was a little relieved not having to go through the flood horror again, but asked what had happened to the worker and if he was alright. He found that the worker had held a circular saw, (with no blade guard of course), up above his head to cut something and when it kicked back, it cut his head open. Only in the Philippines! You know how head wounds bleed!

The Smith's have really had their share of unexpected emergencies since they started to work on getting the Mission Home ready for the Bliesner's our new Mission President and wife.

Our sweet Shirley now has a job, at Nenette Pangang's Canteen where she helps brother Jojit with making and serving of ice cream treats to the students that come to eat there. Shirley is making 75 pesos a day (plus a free lunch), working from 9am to 6pm. That is equivalent to about $1.60 a day, and you think your wages are low! I hope Shirley does well in her new adventure! Believe it or not this is a lot of money for her. We hope if she does will she will get a raise to 100 pesos a day.

On June 28^th we had another dinner at the Mission Home. This dinner was a thank you to the mission office staff and also a farewell for the Lambson's who will also be leaving us in 6 days. We were honored that they would invite us to share this precious time with their faithful staff and dear friends. We have felt like they have been part of our Philippine family, and they will be missed. Because there are so few couples available now, they will be replaced with two elders.

Well, it comes down to just us and the Bliesner's as far as the American couples go here on missions in the Bicol region. We could use so many couples here to work for the Lord. They have now had to take 6 fine missionaries out of the field to care for the office, supplies and financial matters of the mission. Unless we get another couple, the missionaries will have to stay working in the office instead of out in the field working with the people. We wished we could do more, but we also have responsibilities to our calling in the Welfare department.

We have had so many heart-warming experiences this month, but time is precious and so I end our June Connection wishing all of you health and happiness. We love our work and those precious people we work with. We pray through our example, that even those not of our faith will feel the spirit and know that they are loved by both our Father in Heaven and by us. We feel of our Father's love and guidance in our life daily leading us to those whom we must serve.

We love and miss all of you, both family and friends,

Elder and Sister Cooley

Picture of the Month

We saw this diesel parked on the side of the road. The men had taken out everything from under the hood. I asked them if they were going to be able to put all the pieces back in and they said they would but it would take them about a week. If you notice they are not even all the way off the road so it requires some vehicles to pass and let the other traffic pass. This will be for a week. The men has their pots and pans out so they could cook their meals and they will sleep in the truck. AAA road service would be welcome here if they could only afford it.

This is the danger sign that they put up so that traffic would know that they have problems. The danger sign is usually just a tree branch thrown in the road behind the vehicle, so these men were really creative.

May

The end of another month is here already, where oh, where does the time go? I have heard before that when you are on your mission, time goes fast, but this is just unbelievable. I know it was just yesterday that I was writing about April and here it is the end of May. Time passes, things continue to change, the work moves forward, but still the one true thing that we can count on is the gospel of Jesus Christ. We see how our Heavenly Father has a hand in our daily affairs and everyone else's to. We see miracles here in our mission and hear of even more when we listen to some of the stories that are told by the Missionaries and also the members. My May wish is that all of you could have this experience at least once in your life. Try it you will love it!

May-what can I tell you about this busy month? My journal has an extraordinary amount of entries for May so the highlights are all that I will write about. We will begin on May 2 which was a great Sunday. We were happy to be able to go to our ward since so many Sundays we have to travel to other wards for firesides or out of Legazpi for the day. We were just sitting there in church when Lee abruptly got up and headed for the door. My first impression was that he was ill or had forgotten something very important and gone home to retrieve it, but before I could finish my thought here comes Lee with our friend Jed. Lee had seen him in the hall and went out to find him and bring him in to sit with us. He is such a nice young man and one that we had been hoping would come and visit church with us and here he was. We have told you about Jed, we met him walking on the Bicol University track. He is training for the Iron Man competition and is going to compete in August. He has been so good to go with us and help with workshops, especially the computer workshop. So here he arrives at the church unannounced and stays the full three hours and seems to enjoy all the classes. He also comes to the house and visits for a while. Our hope is that we will see in church again soon.

May 5^th. Today is our long anticipated trip to Mindoro. Mindoro is an island that is southwest of Manila. We had to fly into Manila and then on to Mindoro. After we landed in Manila we checked onto our next flight to Mindoro. I thought it was a little funny when we had to go to another counter and get weighted with our carryon luggage. That was my first indication that we were not on a nice commercial jet. Second indication was that we had to be taken by bus to our airplane; of course it was a propeller air plane out in the hinterland. I hate props, they scare me-give me a 737 or 747 any day but not a prop, they don't have real engines. After takeoff I felt better, but at the landing I knew that this must have been our pilot's first flight. The Tokarin's (our hosts) were there to greet us and whisked us off to their apartment where we all took part in preparing a Sushi dinner for the four of us and also the Ho Ching's, the Mission President for the Quezon Mission which Mindoro is a part of.

Elder Tokarin is Japanese and used to have a restaurant so we were in very capable hands. That made us excited to taste the food. They also served a cold rice noodle salad with a delicious vinegar dressing. I will have to try this one at home. While the men finished the Sushi, Sister Tokarin and I went to pick up the Ho Ching's. We had a wonderful night and the food was delicious. Elder and Sister Tokarin can cook for us anytime.

We had a room at the Hotel Pauline Resort-very tropical looking. We had a nice room that we never got to stay in because just as we were settling in they came and told us that the room had no water. So they moved us down to one of the cottages which of course was not as nice. Elder Cooley killed four giant cockroaches in minutes. Who could sleep after that experience? Morning was a welcome sight and I showered first. Just as I was ending there was only a trickle of water. Lee asked about the water and found that it wouldn't be available for a few hours. We called the Tokairin's and moved to another resort called the White House. We immediately fell in love with it and moved into the Ho Ching's room since they were leaving later that afternoon.

The day started off with a zone conference which we attended. The missionaries are the same spiritual giants no matter where we go. They only allow Elder's on Mindoro because of the hospital (more like a civil war field hospital). Elder Tokairin called it the 50-50 Hospital; you have a 50 percent chance of coming out of it alive or without a worse disease than you went in with. The Tokairin's are on Mindoro as a support to the missionaries and also as a leadership couple. He serves as a councilor in the District Presidency. They were so great to help us stage the 4 Prosperity Firesides, 2 workshops (Elder Tokairin and I did the Career Workshop while Elder Cooley and Sister Tokairin the Self Employment) we also did a training of the District Employment Committee. It was a busy few days!

A special note, on Sunday we had the confirmation of two children who had been baptized on Saturday night in the ocean. We were sitting there and when the Elder said the little boy's name I almost fell off the bench-"Mormon Jack"-can you believe that?!?!?! I wonder if they know what a Jack Mormon is?

On the way home we were detained for a few days in Manila, so we took advantage of it and went to the temple one day for a session. Saturday was exciting-the 499^th batch of missionaries came in to the MTC. Elder Cooley and I were able to stand at the door and welcome the new Missionaries. It was so overwhelming to see the young adults come into this new world of being a full time representative of the Lord. We were amazed to see 21 Elders and Sisters from Mongolia, 6 from Pakistan and the remaining 54 were from the Philippines. We loved seeing the families and the sad yet happy farewell hugs and kisses. Mothers and Fathers alike were crying and also excited to see their young adults go into the mission field. At this MTC no one except the missionary gets to come into the building. Once the goodbyes were said at the door, and the missionary started up the ramp everyone was all smiles and so proud of their child. The missionaries never looked back they came in and went into the receiving room and a new chapter of their life began.

The church is in the middle of constructing a new and much larger MTC in Manila. This is the Asian MTC and serves 14 countries. They are getting ready for the opening of China. When this happens, the Philippines will be the major contributor for the missionary population in China since it is the largest population of LDS people in Asia.

On May 20, (Brian's birthday) we traveled an hour and a half to a small Barangay by the name of Sugod. Lt. Eric Estevillo had called and scheduled this workshop through the San Pablo Volunteer Center. He is a member of the church (RM) and stationed here with a whole Platoon under his command. I wasn't sure when we started driving on the lonely roads to nowhere if we should be going because we are counseled to stay on the main roads because of the NPA (New People's Army faction). This renegade army is a nuisance in the Philippines. We saw very little traffic and someone could have easily have stopped us, but the Lord was watching out for us because we were on His errand. The long and lonely road seemed to go on forever especially since we had no idea where Sugod was.

Then suddenly there we were surprised at the tiny community where we arrived and wondered where all the soldiers were who were going to take the Career Workshop. The soldiers showed us the run down little school where we were to teach. We had asked for some place with air-con and good seating, etc. I guess you could call a fan and no windows air conditioning, but we had a different vision of this. Then the influx of youth started, mostly young adults (not of our faith), to take the workshop and only 3 soldiers. We were totally surprised but loved the class. They had such a great spirit and enthusiasm and loved the workshop. We didn't expect this setting and was so hot, but the sweet young adults made us overlook everything else. Lt. Eric was a returned missionary had taken the workshop and wanted the youth he knew there to have the opportunity-what a caring soldier he is.

I just want to add another adventure we had with the office couple and President and Sister Smith. We actually took a p-day and all the couples (3) took a trip about an hour from the mission home to venture down to a waterfall. We had to go down about 200 steps and of course we also had to come back up. Sister Lambson didn't feel good so the women went back to the car. Then in about 25 minutes she wanted to try to make the trek. We made it to the falls crossing rocks and what was supposed to be a raging river, but wasn't much and we made it to the falls. But only a trickle of water was coming over the tall cliff. The area was beautiful and the climb into the tree house was worth the trip. Lee and I will have to try to go there when the rains come-if they ever do! Even without the waterfall we had a great time knowing the days are numbered when we will lose the chance to be with these great couples again. We will miss them!

Amid the adventures and the workshops we had a special experience attending a baptism of the De Lumens family. This is a family that Elder Cooley has had the chance to visit a couple of times with the Elders. They live way up on the top of a little mountain in the neighboring city of Daraga. The family has 9 boys with the oldest 14 and the youngest is 4 months. The mother, Sonya and the four boys old enough to be baptized 14, 12, 10, 8, were all baptized on the 22^nd of May. They looked like they were definitely in training as part of God's missionary force as they all came back into the room with their white shirts and black pants on. This had to be a highlight in Elder Dewey and Elder Esplin's missionary journal for this month. I am happy to say that the father is close to baptism, but didn't want to hold the other members up since they were ready now.

Parents who have had missionaries, you have some idea how much love and dedication these special men and women put into their callings as MISSIONARIES. We have seen it in person and it is inspiring!

This month with all its workshops and meetings was still full of adventure and opportunity to touch many more lives with the help of our Father in Heaven.

We think of you often and know that our Heavenly Father is watching over you while we are here in the Philippines. We love visiting with you on Monday's and gives us such great comfort to see how happy and busy you all are.

We love and miss all of you-that includes our precious friends who are reading our blog

Elder and Sister Cooley

A Day In The Life - May 2, 2010

Fast Sunday and Exchanges with the Elders

Today was a big day for us. We fasted that our investigators and less active members would come to church today. As it turned out most of them came and we got a few extras that we hadn't counted on seeing. Our friend Jed came to church completely unannounced and stayed for the whole block meeting. We were able to help them get jobs at the Misibis Resort and Venezia Hotel. It was good to see him after a few weeks. The Sister missionaries had dropped by to see him earlier in the week so that may have prompted him to come to church.

I had gone out earlier in the week with Elder Schmitt and Nacionales and we had some awesome visits. One woman in a family we visited had told us about a dream she had. Two men dressed in white came to see them at her home and later three men came dressed in white. After she had the dream, Elder Schmitt and Nacionales tracted into her family and taught them the discussions. Sometime later in the week I joined the two elders and visited her again quite unaware of her dream. When I joined the Elders for the lesson, during the lesson I felt prompted to ask her: "Sister Mapa, will you follow the example of Jesus Christ and be Baptized?" She responded "yes" subject to her husband's approval. I then invited her to church and asked if her husband could take off an hour on Sunday to attend church with the family. The next time the Elders went by to visit her she told them about her dream experience. I was quite excited to see if they would be coming to church so I arranged to attend our Sacrament meeting then leave to go to Daraga to see if she showed up. I was ecstatic to see she was there with her sister and three children. Within a short time her husband joined them. It was awesome. We also saw a couple who were less active that we visited earlier in the week who came with their daughter.

Meantime I went back to Legazpi to see our investigators and less actives. One was Brother Murilla whom we brought to church with us. He stayed for the whole meeting and it was inspiring to see him come two weeks in a row now.

After Fast and Testimony meetings in both wards, I was able to go out with the Zone Leaders in Daraga (we have two sets in Daraga) to visit some families they have been working with. It was the hottest day of the year so far and the Mission President told those of us who were fasting to make sure we take water if we went out tracting that afternoon because several had been getting sick from not enough water.

The ZL's decided to take me to the "mountain" where there was an entire family they had been teaching and they were "golden". This couple lives about as far in the back country as any they had visited, but since it was a referral and they were so receptive they have been teaching them. On our long hike though the jungle and coconut groves they told me that she carried their 5 month old son while she and her other 8 sons walked down the mountain at 5:00 Am in the morning to they could be at Sacrament meeting at 6:00 AM. They all made then made the whole trek back after meetings. I had to meet this woman, she was amazing.

We kept hiking and hiking passing a very small compound of beautifully maintained Nippa huts along the way, then we turned almost straight uphill for the last leg of the climb. Elder Esplen and Dewey assured me we were almost there. I think they were surprised I could climb with them, but once we reached the top of the mountain there was the family bamboo hut. We were drenched in sweat but there was a nice cool breeze at the top so the perspiration acted as a coolant with the air blowing on us. The woman (need to get her name again) was there watching us as we approached and was happy to see us. The large hut had been damaged somehow and was very much off kilter. I thought I was seeing things. She made a funny comment about her crooked house (her husband as taking the afternoon siesta). When we got settled we met all nine boys (the youngest is just 5 months old). The Elders asked if they had read their reading assignment and to my surprise they all had done it. They sat quite reverently as we taught them the lesson. I was so impressed with how well behaved and respectful these little boys 2-15 years old were.

After the lesson, she offered us some "buco", and even though we were still fasting we decided that we shouldn't turn this lady down who had so little but was willing to share. First we got the coconut milk. She showed us that she had washed all the glasses and poured hot water on them to rinse them off ("so you won't get sick"). Then she cut the top off the green coconuts and took a small knife or something to scrape the slimy meat off the inside of the shell leaving it inside. It looked like white noodles when she was done. She added condensed milk to it and served it to us with a spoon. I was not really excited to eat it, but after the first bite I realized this was a real delicacy and ended up loving it.

We thanked her for her generosity and said good-bye to she and the boys and we headed up hill to a point where we could see the entire area around the mountain. It was a truly beautiful site. We saw ocean on one side, coconut trees as far as you could see on one mountain after another, then to the front was majestic Mt. Mayon. I did not have my camera since Elder Dewey said he had his. But he was out of battery so the next visit I will bring my own camera and try to catch the beauty of that wonderful setting.

Our next visit was to a very young lady whose older sister was a member of the church. She is interested in being baptized and were able to teach her mother who joined us in process. Her mother has now joined the daughter to be investigators.

The next visit was with a young woman maybe 18 years old who was living with her less active sister. She seemed to be receptive to the message about the restoration we shared. Her sister was extremely happy we came by to share the message.

We then visited a young couple with a small child that have not been active for awhile. They had a really nice house and he works for the government. Our visit was brief due to the next appointment we had but we were able to share our testimony about the temple and challenge them to think about preparing to go to the temple to be sealed together with their child.

Our last visit was with an active sister in the Daraga Ward who had the nicest home of all we have visited. She has a small canteen and catering business. She lost her husband to a motorcycle accident just 8 months ago. She is raising her family of 4 children who range from elementary school to first year college (16 here in the Philippines). Her two sisters were there and stay with her most of the time. We taught them a lesson about repentance and the importance of following the Spirit if it has directed one to be baptized even if it may not be popular with the family. They both seem to be committed to baptism after shedding a few tears at the prospect of family members being disappointed in their decision.

We got home just after dark and Sister Cooley had prepared a big spaghetti dinner and invited the elders to join us. We didn't have to ask twice since it was fast Sunday and we had a big day, all of us starting at around 5:00 AM. Dinner was wonderful and we relished the experience of working together and having such great meetings.

Love,

Dad

Cebu Temple

Want to know more about the Cebu Temple? See here.