Birthday wishes granted

Ever since we arrived in the Philippines, Elder Koontz has wanted to go to the ocean.

Our mission borders the Pacific Ocean on the eastern side, but there are no roads that go over the mountains to get to the ocean. Yet, one could drive out of mission boundaries to the north (5hrs), or to the south (3hrs) to walk on the beautiful beaches where ocean waves lap.

Saturday, August 31, 2019, we left Cauayan at 5:30am heading south through the town of Maddela (which is in our mission) and over the Sierra Madre Mountains (which is not). The skies were overcast that day, temperatures in the high 80's.

These kids were playing in the water. One young boy was fishing, using line wrapped around a plastic pop bottle. Others were swimming. I enjoyed watching a two-year-old as he giggled each time he came up from the water and wiped his eyes.

We decided to join them... kind of. The water was nice and warm.

This blue sea snake washed up on shore. It was dead.

 Fun, relaxing day. Happy birthday, Elder Koontz!

Shiny and beautiful

Many of you know I am not an animal lover. And I especially don’t like bugs. My kids missed out on a ‘normal’ childhood because I would not permit pets in the house that could: 1) get out of their cages, 2) slither or crawl, and 3) had fur that I was ‘allergic’ to (in other words, everything else 😅).

We did have a ten-gallon fish tank until someone played with the tank. We came home after church to find the hose hanging out the tank, siphoning water onto the carpet, leaving only two inches of water in the tank. We kept the tank until all the fish died. (Oh, and after I had the dream of the plecostomus [suckermouth catfish] chasing me!)

Well, today I took a few pictures during sacrament meeting. I know I shouldn’t be taking pictures in the chapel, but, I had to show proof that “It’s more fun in the Philippines”!

We’ve become friends with some of the young children. I bring coloring pages and crayons for them to color; otherwise, some of them like to run around the pews, and sometimes up behind the pulpit.

This little three-year-old crawled under the bench from two rows back to show me what he had in his handkerchief.  It was a beautiful iridescent green and blue BEETLE!

Then, his older brother threw HIS beetle over (from two rows back) so there were TWO!

He would lay his handkerchief flat on the bench, place the beetles on the hanky, neatly fold the hanky, then PUSH and SMOOSH it into his pocket! Then he would unwrap it and set the beetles on the bench, sometimes headed in my direction. I did okay. I MAY have scooted closer to Jan... really close.

National Day of Service - Sillawit Elementary School

We had the privilege, with Cauayan Branch 3,  to help clean up the Sillawit Elementary School for the National Day of Service. It is school break until June 1st, so the place was empty and a little over- grown. The children should enjoy a clean school yard for play when they return back to school.

Above are Elders Blazzard, McClellan, and Koontz

 Taking a much needed "merienda break" for the senior sisters.

 The group of "Helping Hands"

Missionaries (Rusch, McClellan, Sister Koontz, Bleak, Koontz & Blazzard)

Family History Night in Cauayan Branch 3

Elder and sister Koontz have had a wonderful time helping members of the 2 branches that they attend in getting their family histories on familysearch.org

Banaue #2

On May 16th we drove back to Banaue again. This time with the missionaries departing on June 19th. We were also joined by a sister who served in this mission a year ago and was vacationing with her parents in the Philippines. 

At the Welcome sign

With President and Sister Hiatt

Group photo of the 10 Elders departing in May and June.

All the Elders in our van bought matching hats to protect them from the sun. Elder Koontz needed more protection with a bigger brim.

Elder Koontz had a copy of a photo taken 40 years ago when he visited Banaue while a young missionary. He wanted to find the same viewpoint and started asking the locals if they knew where that photo may have been taken. One of the shop vendors knew where... from behind her store!

Does this look like it could be the right spot?!

First try for the recreation... needs tweaking.

On the 3-hr drive back, after a long day in the sun.

Ready to get back to work...

Senior Couples' trip to Governor's Rapids

On Saturday, May 11th, all the senior couples took a drive south towards Madella to Governor's Rapids. It was an especially hot day so an activity in the water sounded refreshing and cool. We arrived at the boat rental and donned our life-jackets and sunscreen before boarding the 'banka'. 

Our 14-foot wooden boat had room for the eight of us and three guides/boat operators. With all on board, the water level outside the boat came to within two inches of the rim of the boat. An occasional wiggle would send water flowing into the boat. Water also leaked through the cracks between the planks of wood. Since dad and I were in the back, one of us had the job of scooping water out of the boat for fear that we would sink. 

The Cagayan River flows north and meanders through the Cagayan Valley of northern Luzon. The Philippines Cauayan Mission includes the valley and the mountain ranges to the east and west of the valley. The water is calm and an opaque brown. The hillsides along the river are green and lush with vegetation. We saw banana, coconut and tobacco farms.

As we arrived at the rapids, we all had to get out of the boat and walk over the rocks. The water was not deep enough for our heavy boat. We met the Allens on the other side.

The last stop was at a cave. The Roberts and Pres. Hiatt were the only brave ones to wade through knee-deep water, see a 20' waterfall, and climb down through a slot just wide enough for one person.

I don't know exactly how long we were out on the water, but it was enough time to heat up empanadas on the dash of the car. Yummy lunch after a relaxing day!

Zone Conferences, Ties, and ECCs

Last week was Zone Conference for the missionaries. The mission is divided into three conferences - four zones in the southern end meet in Santiago City, three central zones meet in Cauayan, and the northern zones meet in Ilagan. All the senior couples attend each day. It gives us a chance to see all the elders and sisters of the mission. We’ve got some great young people, all dedicated and enthusiastic.

Elder Koontz tried to get as many as he could signed up to Relative Finder. Many ARE related to each other - some fourth cousins, some fifteenth cousins. I still have not found anyone related to me. Most of the Filipino missionaries have only four generations or less in their family tree.

I spent most of the Conference doing mending for the missionaries: two skirts, one dress, five pants, four shirts, and twenty-two ties! Yes, twenty-two, 22, almost two dozen, eleven twice. Five were repairs, 17 were wide ties narrowed down. I don’t know where they find them, but, they add a little variety to the five or six ties they start their mission with.

Emigration Exit Clearance (ECC) are forms the missionaries need to sign before they can leave the Philippines and go home. The forms were changed from three-pages to five-pages. Four copies of 2x2" photos must also be included. With requirements being changed, three departing groups of missionaries (28 departing in May, June, and July) needed to sign forms and have photos retaken. I gathered the signatures while Elder Koontz took photos with his iPad. Within two days after Zone Conferences, all 140 pages and 112 copies of photos were mailed to Manila to be processed.

Following are just a few photos of the missionaries as they complete the conference and head to their teaching areas.