Uniquely Philippino

I think they meant Taxi:


This man is standing on the awning of the first floor and painting the second story using the longest roller stick I have ever seen. Then he painted the top by leaning over the top of the roof:

This building in Naga looks like a matchstick house. It is entirely surrounded by bamboo scaffolding:

We were parked at the bank and there wasn't any more parking spots so this guy just pulled up onto the sidewalk, parked, and walked inside the bank:

Even the bugs in the Phillipines are beautiful:

Phillippino Food (you know you want some)

Picture of the Month - July

Elder and Sister Cooley on a Phillipino Carabao.

Giddy-up!

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 Everyone is going to work hard on the rescue of the members that are no longer active.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