Gotta love OUR Sunsets!
Look what we found!
Pomegranates! The sad part was that we found them after Thanksgiving.
That didn't stop us though. Elder Swann had fallen in love with the stuffing so we made him a farewell lunch. We had Honey baked Ham (well it's like honey baked) stuffing and pomegranate salad. (Dixie Salad) It was the first time any of them had had pomegranate salad. Even the President (from Idaho) had not had Dixie Salad before. In fact the president was surprised that there was a pink pomegranate. Well if you have to know- the pomegranates cost over $4.00 a piece. Yes US dollars! Ouch! but it was worth it.
Our Thanksgiving dinner!
About a month ago they started building this contraption in town at City Hall.
Each week it got better and better.
It is coming right along this week. Let's not rush ourselves.
There is plenty of time before Christmas.
Oh now this is worth waiting for!
Our apartment is not big enough for our tree so put it in the entrance way as well.
We did decorate our lamp shade for our tree! COOL!
More lights went up, out in the yard.
This is Mel and her husband working with Satur to put on the lights.
Now the paint job to make it look new again.
This is Mel's son and I thought this was a cute picture of him.
So Sister Peterson told us of a good place to walk. We took the challenge and left the compound for our daily (well not really daily) exercise.
If this doesn't put a smile on your face you may not want to go on because it doesn't get any better than this...This is where we turn in the road. It is a great land mark.
There are all kinds of homes on this street.
We go past fields and of course the local goats.
Craft Section:
These are made with pop bottles. Wow this is a great idea to reuse old items!
These have got to be Mountain Dew Bottles. They do love their Mountain Dew.
Oh they painted them red and black. Thank goodness for pop bottles and for someone putting them to good use.
Wow this is made from straws. Someone is very creative or they have too much time on their hands!
This is one of our favorite ladies at church. She was the past Primary President who is under going cancer treatment. She told us about their Family Home evening. Her husband will play the piano and they sing together. One of them will give the lesson and the other one prepares a game. This is their second marriage and they are such faithful members. They are the cutest couple.
This is our wonderful visa waiter. He was on his way to Manila to take the test again. We felt sorry for him and fed him before he left. He has not passed his test even though the two girls we have did pass. We wonder why they are giving him such a hard time.
The president emailed the visa place to tell them that we want to keep him and he is glad to stay with us. The president asked them to not keep putting him through this but they are not listening even to our president. He will be going back again to take the test for about the third time. He has GOOD English and he has learned to read and write Korean from You Tube. So you tell me why they are giving him such a hard time. We are hoping it is because he belongs with us.
We went into town today just as they were setting up for a car show.
I find it interesting because the missionary who stopped by a few weeks ago said when he was here on his mission five years ago there were very few cars on the road. Today there are lots of cars and the streets here really can't handle it.
Setting up for the bikes.
Went into town to buy some Load (that's minutes for Sister Snyder's phone). I took my usual seat outside to watch the world go by. As you can see I was not alone.
So my question is...If we are all sitting here who is working today?
This is the Mall. As you can see the exercise class is in the center of the mall. It takes a brave woman to exercise in the middle of a mall. Who said these people are shy? They love to sing, dance and perform.
Mall you ask!? What are WE DOING at the MALL. It seems the President and his wife mentioned that they would love to have pictures of the up coming conference. Say no more because Sister Snyder was off to buy herself a very nice Christmas gift. A very expensive toy (camera).
Sister Snyder also got nuts from home and went to work to make fudge for the conference. So Sorry you can't see but this box had four or so rows of fudge. We got so busy passing it out that we didn't think of a picture until it was about gone.
I apologize to all those at home who said they couldn't go 18 months without Sister Snyder's fudge. I know you didn't want to be reminded.
So before the conference we have a dinner and special meeting with our missionaries going home.
Say good-by to some special Filipino Sisters, some awesome Pollys and our wonderful and Spiritual Giant, Elder Swann.
Elder Swann had extended which landed him in the office and gave us the opportunity to get to know him.
We feel it was truly a gift from above to be a part of these people's lives for a short time.
Our sweet Sister Pinpin saying good-by.
This is our missionaries coming into town for conference tomorrow.
Elder Corpuz shows up and of course I have questions for him.
We're all waiting for tomorrow's conference.
IT"S HERE... CONFERENCE!
Now this is a very big deal for two reasons.
First, you're aloud about two Zone Conferences a year. The president was told that we ALL got together with the typhoon and when Brother Wakolo came and that was our two.
Then for Brother Wakolo the missionaries came in for the day but again we were all spread out.
We needed this conference so we could really spend time together and let our hair down. Oh and the missionaries really let their hair down!
There is a third reason that this conference was a big deal. Some of the missionaries couldn't wait to be able to go to the restroom or shower without a bucket of water to clean themselves. They have adjusted to this life but welcomed the chance to have some of the luxuries that we often take for granted.
This is Elder Ballan and I have introduced him to you before. Well I now want to introduce to you, our New Office Elder who will replace Elder Swann.
(Remember he is the missionary who ALWAYS wears a narrow black tie)
Elder Funk and his companion are just happy to be here!
Still dancing!
President and his wife.
Meeting and eating is done so it is time to go out and load the buses.
(Elder Young again)
At the conference we had one night where the different Zones put on a skit. There were many skits and we didn't get them all videoed. I am very sad about that but what we did get I have cut down so you might get a glimpse of the wonderful evening that we enjoyed together.
We begin with our familiar and loved dance that you have seen before but it's so fun when you know the performers.
The main missionary in the front has extended and we are glad. You will see Elder Swann on the right and Elder Markot (from the past) on the left. If you remember Elder Reyes, he is second row in the middle.
Our past and present Office Elders.
This is Elder McLain. Remember he's the mountain climber who makes a good living at it and is able to pay for his mission from it. He is new. He came six weeks ago with our last batch of missionaries.
In the past six weeks he has had three emergency transfers.
Kawawa (remember pitiful, so sad)!
His first companion was Elder Madison that went home sick.
(Up date on Elder Madsion. They took him to California to see if they can find the problem.)
So Elder McLain's spent time here in Laoag until we got Elder Madison taken care of. He then was sent to the missionary who is the visa waiter. At this, our Zone Conference, he was reassigned. He told us that he literally broke down and cried about this transfer because he had finally settled in and loved the people so.
Heart break!
(Elder Young way in the back again)
Oh Elder Reyes, how did you get in this picture?
This is our Laoag missionaries performing. Elder Swann on the right. Elder Rees is on the second row on the left.
Oh here is Elder Morehu. He is the one that has extended. He is pretty thin. He got dungue fever really bad while he was here and lost a lot of weight. You will see him in one of the performances because he is playing the guitar while the two Pollys dance.
Oh get this bus! I think this is the craziest scene with these missionaries on this questionable looking bus going to our Zone Conference.
Here we are at our long awaited hotel, Fort Ilocadia. It was a casino that a man built for his daughter and it is less than a half hour from home.
When gambling was outlawed the place died out. They are trying to bring it back to life so they want our business.
And the missionaries continue to entertain us.
Time for a group picture.
Oh yea there is Elder Young!
I really like this picture. The story behind it may make you sad but it is a great picture. This is Elder Harris. His mother is so good to send lots and lots of packages for him to share with everyone. She even helped some of our family send us packages (haven't gotten them yet though).
Elder Harris went to the hospital yesterday and found out he has dengue. We don't put our missionaries in the hospital because they just give them lots of liquids, plenty of rest and a big American bill. We can do that for much cheaper and a much cleaner environment. Elder Harris is with us but he is not feeling so good.
(Just wait he gets better with time)
More from the nightly entertainers.
There were activities at the conference and everyone was given a couple hours to relax.
Golf
The best part of this is that this is a big field and at the bottom of the field are a couple of cows who never move even when the balls comes, not too close to them. I think the golfers entertain the cows.
Headed to the beach.
The BEACH where the water feels like bathtub water.
I have never felt warmer water.
Just let us live here.
We almost lost this missionary. He did not want to leave and I didn't either.
The fun goes on....
Volleyball
Relaxing and catching up on old friendships.
Frissbe
The elder in the middle is the one that came into the office on a emergency transfer. We found out that his father was very sick and his family were calling him to come home and say good-bye to his father. He was having a very hard time. The president moved him and put him in a three-some and he was great. It was a very hard and confusing time for him.
Archery
This was one station of the obstacle course.
Oh here are the cows. Can you see them there laughing at our golfers?
This is where the missionaries really let their hair down. They began to paint their faces. The president was not too pleased but he said nothing.
Another game the hotel provided. A relay race where the missionaries competed against Zones.
Don't drop that lime are you will need to start over!
Just waiting our turn.
YES they even have a small zoo. So have you ever wondered what animals they would have over here in their zoo?
Well of course monkeys!
Evening dinner and performances
It is the end of the day and we are full and ready to be entertained. Of course you have been experiencing the entertainment all along.
Sorry I think this is a repeat....
This is our Office Elder, Elder Denkers. For the day and a half that we were at this conference Elder Denkers refused to fix his hair. He wanted to really relax and that didn't include fixing his hair at anytime.
Kawawa! I think he is sorry he taught us that word.
Lots and lots of pictures were taken these past couple of days.
Again our past and present Office Elders.
Our last meeting before loading the bus to go home.
The next day our new missionaries came in (by bus again).
These are a few of the Trainers waiting to pick up their brand new missionary.
Elder Harris is the first person on the right. He looks much better doesn't he? He is making it through that awful dengue. We hope he never gets it again. With dengue fever each time you get it, it gets worse.
Conference is over. New missionaries are here. Paper work goes on for about two days. Then it is back to normal.
Normal:
We go to church and after primary Sister Snyder works on the sick.
One of her latest patient was an elder who had a cockroach bite on his eyelid. Yes cockroaches can bite.
Another up date:
When we were in town we saw Brother Corpuz from Vigan. We were able to visit with him for a few minutes. He said they have really gotten their numbers down, like 400 on the branch role with 150 members coming to church.
(That's better than the 900 members). They are really working to get to be a ward and not just a branch.
There really will be a temple up in this area some day and we are witnessing the push to get here.
Remember the only two things that remains is.....
The gathering of Israel
and
the Second Coming.
We are grateful to be part of the first!
Love the Sister Sisters
