Original Bayombong Branch

We visited Bayombong this past Saturday. It was our "P"day. We decided to just get out of Cauayan and take a drive. We ended up in Bayombong, so we found the Elders assigned there and asked for their help in finding members of their branch who I had baptized 40 years ago. We found Lorna and Alejandre! We also found Helen, but she would not allow us to take a picture. She said another day when she had a chance to make herself more beautiful. We have all become older, but I can still see them in the picture below. Lorna appeared to have suffered from a stroke and had lost the use of her right side and some speech capabilities. Sister Helen remembered me right off. She was funny to talk with.  It was a great reunion. As it turns out, none of them were currently active, but said that they would come back again. I have great hopes for them.....

Answer to prayer

On a Saturday morning about three weeks ago, Elder Koontz and I went out for a morning jog. It was about 6:30am, so not hot yet, but not cool either. As we were heading back, a tricycle with about five boys was driving slowly by us. They were all wearing gym shorts and tee shirts. Elder Koontz, as he is running along beside them at their speed, asked, “Are you going to play basketball?” Basketball is the national favorite sport here. To our surprise, they answered with a resounding, “No. Wrestling!”

These young athletes were part of the 14-member wrestling team. They were training for the CAVRAA, an annual athletic meet of elementary and secondary school students from the local provinces. The week-long meet was scheduled to begin on March 5th, about three weeks from the time we met them. Also, the Cauayan City team members came from five different high schools. Many of the wrenstlers were just in their first year of wrestling. School was still in session, yet the athletes were excused from classes to train for their sport. Their day started at sunrise. They trained and practiced at the school. They also slept there and were fed “home cooked” meals of rice, chicken, and vegetables. (That was on the menu the evening they invited us to join them for dinner.)

The coaches were a husband and wife team, both English teachers. They also had two university students helping them, but their expertise was in the martial arts. Elder Koontz mentioned that he wrestled in high school and was a referee for seven years. He asked if they would mind if we came to their practices. They said, “You’re an answer to our prayers.

We went to practices each day, sometimes twice a day at first. They wrestled Free-style, which has different rules than collegiate style wrestling which Elder Koontz is more familiar with. He taught them some of his favorite moves. Things got busy at the mission office so we went in the evenings. If we skipped a practice, it was never more than a day. One morning we even brought some missionaries, one a high school wrestler himself, and he taught them a different technique. The team members were very respectful and appreciative and always called us 'Sir' and 'Ma’am'.

We drove to Tuguegarao City for their first day of competition. It was sad that we couldn’t attend any more. But, the team came home with two gold and three bronze medals!! They also invited us to their post season retreat that weekend— to a beach resort about three hours away. We declined. It was 1) our p-day, 2) our turn to stay at the office while the painting crew was there, and 3) out of our mission boundaries.

Their loudest fan dressed as a missionary.

Our prayer as missionaries is that we can share the blessings of the gospel of Jesus Christ and minister to those in our area. I think THEY were an answer to OUR prayers.

Sunday is a day of rest...

On Sundays we attend church at two different branches - the Aurora Branch (25 minute drive to the west) from 8-10am, and the Cauayan 3 Branch (which meets at the church building next to the mission office) from 1-3pm. Both have scheduled their branch council meetings on the first Sunday of the month, so we sometimes don’t get home until after 5. Fast Sundays are long days!

Most of the talks and lessons are in Tagalog. I can catch a few words and get the gist of the message. GoogleTranslate is my friend. Some members speak Ilocano, of which I understand nothing! In Relief Society, many of the sisters won’t speak English, so I find it hard to keep up. Then, they ask for my comment (haha).

I’ve helped in Primary much of the time. No surprise to anyone, is it? Each branch has about ten children, ages two to eleven, who attend and are all taught in one class. The children are so well-behaved, even the little ones who should be in Nursery. (Both branches do not have a Nursery class.) I’ve tried to teach them some new Primary songs. Many of the leaders are converts who never attended Primary. insert picture of the Primary class w/ Crissa & Jamaica

The members of the Aurora Branch has a district temple trip scheduled in May. We met with some to help them with their family history. Many don’t have computers or internet at home, but I think we overwhelmed the WiFi at the church. I’m noticing similar family names as in my pedigree chart. Hmmm? Distant cousins? insert pict of RS family history group

Baptism in Aurora Branch January 19, 2019

Office duties

We’ve been in the Philippines for almost six weeks. Life here in the mission is measured in six-week transfer cycles, so, we’ve had quite a few FIRSTs... first Zone Conferences, first Mission Leadership Conference, first batch of departing missionaries, and meeting the first batch of new missionaries straight from the MTC. Oh, and one week we had the mission president’s wife and three younger missionaries all in the hospital at the same time! I think that was a first also. And hopefully the last.

     Our mission call assignment was that we were to be ‘Member and Leadership Support’. Our  president warned us that that may change. Since arriving here, we have been given specific assignments in the Mission Office.

     Elder Koontz handles and distributes mail and packages to/from the approximately 170 missionaries. We drive down to the post office once or twice a week to pick up incoming letters and packages. Mail is sorted at the office, then picked up by the missionaries when they come to Cauayan. Otherwise, the mail is delivered when there is a meeting in the out-lying areas. Some areas of the mission are two to three hours drive away.

     As Supply Manager, he keeps inventory of missionary teaching supplies. He prepares orders of pamphlets, books, dvds, record-keeping materials, etc., and has them ready for pick-up or delivery (same as mail). The missionaries usually text him with their teaching supply needs. He receives 5-10 texts daily.

This is 6’4” Elder Roberts having his picture taken at the License office.
He was told to get lower so that his face would be in the camera.

     The Area Presidency has instructed that all foreign elders with a current driver’s license from their country should obtain a Philippine Driver’s License. The senior couples went about a month ago. It took 4 hours for five of us to get our licenses. (Yes, I even have a license!) We thought that was a short time considering that ‘seniors’ are given a pass to go to the head of the line. (Filipinos are so respectful of the elderly.) I don’t think I will ever drive here. More about that later...

Elder Koontz has made three failed attempts to take groups of our younger missionaries to the license office. Either they just got new computers,  or they were not working, or some other reason. Well, he went there and made sure that all involved knew how the computers worked and told them to expect him the next Monday. He returned with a group of ten elders last week on their p-day and they all came back to the office within TWO hours. Each with a new license. His quick method? ...He prepared and printed their forms, gathered photocopies of licenses and passports, and had them in line before the license office opened at 8am. Some of our elders got up at 4:30am to catch a Jeepney to be at the office by 7:30 that morning. All were tired, but happy!

     He is also our Technology Specialist. Almost daily we can hear someone in the office ask, “Elder Koontz, how do I do (.........)?” All the office computers are going to be replaced next week so I’m sure he’ll be busy.

Our Cauayan Home

The Mission Home/Office is in downtown Cauayan. There is a church building next door where three branches meet. Also next door is the SM Mall. It has, among many small specialty shops, the SM department store, Ace Hardware, restaurants (McDonalds, Burger King, KFC, Buffalo Wings & Things), and a grocery store. We have gone there to grab lunch or purchase groceries because of the convenience.

The mission president and his wife, Pres. & Sis. Hiatt, live in the mission home. The other senior missionary couples, Elder and Sister Allen (Lone Piney, WY) and Elder and Sister Roberts (Mesa, AZ)  live in the two apartments above the office.

Our kitchen/dining area. To the left is the CR (comfort room).

They've found an apartment for us about 2 kilometers from the office. I'm not sure what our address is. There is a big sign when we turn onto our street, "I (heart) Turayong", and people seem to know where that is.

Our living room. (They attached the picture too high.)

Dad wrote on a family chat on Jan. 12, when we arrived in Cauayan: (*Mom added the notes that are italicized.)

"We have an apartment."

Our bedroom.

"It is about the size of our bedroom at home. (*Mom's notes: Our whole apartment AND the carport would fit in our family room at home) When we arrived yesterday, Sister Hiatt kept using phases with the word “cute”.  But, it was rough. It smelled somewhat musty as I walked in. That did not help my impressions, and the "cute" descriptions were not blocking out the smell. However, mom and I had made the commitment that we would go wherever, and do whatever, the Lord asked of us. We got busy. Mom got material for curtains, and sewed them by hand. (*We bought pre-made curtains, then Mom hemmed them by hand) We unpacked together. I put up rods for the shower curtain and windows. A hook for the clock."

"I did sit down on the sofa at one point and closed my eyes for only a second. When I opened them, I was shocked. The whole place had been transformed. It was clean. Everything had a place and neatly in place. The furniture had all been rearranged. The bed was made. All the clothes were organized by type and color in the closet. She put away some things she did not want to use, and brought out other things. The kitchenware was all organized. The place was ready for real estate pictures!"

"I really only had my eyes closed for a second. (*It was actually about 2 hours) Sister Koontz is amazing!!"

This is our home for the next year! When they were looking for an apartment for another senior couple, the requirements were a garage or carport parking, and that there be a gate. It's in a 5-year-old complex of about sixteen apartments. The caretaker keeps the entrance and courtyard  tidy. However, there are about five dogs caged right near the entrance. There are times when they are barking, snarling and making all kinds of noise. The street we live on is very poor. There are dogs out in front of every place. We jog in the mornings and say hi or magandang umaga to everyone we meet. The are all becoming very nice. We are greeted back by all our neighbors. It is not Enumclaw, but it is home for now. We do have to run our air-conditioning most of the time that we are here. It is very hot and humid in the afternoons. 

We cook with a hot plate and a small toaster oven and small microwave oven. If we were to make cookies, it would only be two cookies at a time.

Mom saw her first 'butiki' (gecko) in the apartment - of course she screamed. We have since purchased a threshold sweep for the bottom of the main door.

We made it to Cauayan!

Our day started EARLY !! On Jan. 9, 2019, 3:45am, we left Provo for SLC Airport. (Thanks, Peter, for driving us!)

Plane (Boeing 777) that flew us over the ocean

This was our itinerary:
Wed., Jan 9, 2019 - 6:00am flight, SLC to LA
arrive 7:15am (duration 2hrs, 15min), Delta Airlines.

Wed., Jan 9, 2019 - 12:00pm flight, LA to Tokyo by Japan Airlines, arrive Thurs., Jan 10, 4:45pm (duration 11hrs, 45min)

Thurs., Jan 10, 2019 - 6:10pm flight, Tokyo to Manila, also Japan airlines. Flight was late in leaving; actual arrival time11pm (duration 4 hrs, 45min). We really like Japan airlines. They took good care of us.

In our nearly 29 hours of travel, 

(TWENTY-NINE  HOURS!!)

we only took selfies of ourselves at the airports and on the planes. Sorry about that... but, we won't post any more selfies. You're welcome.

Not being sure whether to sleep or to try to stay awake, we might have slept 3 to 4 hours. What a relief when we finally landed in Manila! We had to go through customs at the airport. One of the workers there was kind of gruff. People around us were changing lines just to try to avoid him, but we answered the questions all correctly and he let us through.

It was about midnight when we finally got our bags and found our ride (provided by the Manila Mission Office). He drove us to the Microtel near the Manila MTC. The Mission Office arranged for us to stay there the two nights we were in Manila. We had a 9am appointment the next morning at the Manila Mission Office to sign VISA papers, then took a tour of the Manila MTC, and spend some time at the bookstore/distribution center. (Note: The prices were great!! and they had garments for the hot, humid conditions in the Philippines. Anyone going to the Manila MTC should wait to purchase much of their garments there.) 

Our 1pm appointment was at the Immigration Office in Manila for fingerprinting, pictures, etc. for our VISA. After that, our time was free until 5pm. We chose to attend an endowment session, and perform sealings in the Manila Temple.

We were scheduled to be picked up at 3:45am the next morning. Clem was our driver to the airport for our flight to Cauayan. He knew exactly how to negotiate the maze of tricycles, motorcycles, 'jeepnies', cars, trucks, and buses. It seemed as thought vehicles would enter/exit traffic at entirely random times, honking to let you know they were in your blindspot and intending to pass. Sister Koontz was terrified most of the ride. Elder Koontz asked Clem if there were any traffic rules and he told us that the first 4 driving rules while in the Philippines were: 

1. Fill in the blanks.
2. First come first serve, unless the car behind you is faster than you, then he would come fill in the blank in front of you.
3. The Bus is always right.
4. If the bus is wrong, go back to rule number 3.

Our 6am flight for Cauayan was full to capacity. Some of the passengers were members of a church group headed to Banaue (famous rice terraces in the Philippines) for a retreat.  Our departure was delayed about two hours. We took advantage of the extra time to nap. As you can see, we entered the plane by a stairway at the end of the plane. It was a more efficient way to load the plane, and obviously we were at the back of the plane. The scenes visible outside the window reminded me of our hometown of Enumclaw.

We made it to Cauayan in less than an hour! Cauayan is in the province of Isabela, on the island of Luzon. Our mission is the largest in area of the 23 missions in the Philippines. It is bordered on the east and the west by mountains, and beyond the eastern mountains lies the Pacific Ocean. The largest cities in our mission are Tuguegarao, Ilagan, Cauayan, and Santiago. The land in the valley is mainly rice fields, and some of corn. Everything looks green and lush! Just like home in the spring and summer.

Week 2:

It's kind of sad that we're past the half-way point of our MTC experience. We have thorougly enjoyed the new friendships we've made with the other 78 missionary couples and sisters.

Each day we learn of our purpose as missionaries and are strengthened in our testimony of the Savior. Today we were asked the question, "What would you do if you knew you could not fail?" Then, ponder the next question, "What would you do if you knew you could not fail with Jesus Christ?"

Mornings (days, no EVERY DAY!!) have been bitter cold but we just have to think that in a week we will be in different circumstances.

These are today's temps in Provo and in Cauayan, Philippines. One more week!!