Raj Amulek Birthday and other random

We went to a 1 year old's birthday, Raj Amulek. They are a great family and had invited family, ward friends, investigators and missionaries. They told us it would just be a simple birthday. But they must have changed their minds. However they didn't have musicians or karaoke. Lots of good food, hot dogs on a marshmallow stick, spaghetti with hot dogs in it, chop suey, salad, fried chicken, a pork dish, a chicken dish, fried lumpia which is like won tons and lots of rice and friends.

They asked Dad and I to prepare a Family Home Evening message. So we quickly put one together that morning. I made a cone with a picture of Christ at the top and wrote the words family members around the base of the cone. We talked about how as our families come closer together we move towards Christ. I had found pictures of families  and we discussed what families can do together to strengthen their families and become closer to Christ. 

Fancy cake. They love to have fancy cakes and hire them made.
They were not sure what to say when I told them we made our own cakes, much simpler cakes.
 They served Ube Ice cream with it. They love Ube which makes everything purple.

A tarpaulin is a must for a party.
For special occasions Filipinos have tarpaulins made.

Our great Sister missionaries.

Beautiful children

Grandpa greeting the birthday boy

Roasting a peg on the street. He must have planned to roast two because

 there was another one tied up just past the boy in the yellow shirt.

Love this bend in the road where all of a sudden you see these great houses up on the hill, its really kind of a cliff. On the other side of the road is the Sea and so they have a great view.

More fiesta signs. Coming back from Bogo on Sunday we were stopped on the highway for over an hour as Danao was having their fiesta parade. It was huge with people carrying big placards with designs that were bright and colorful, doing formations and dancing with them. We could only see the tops of the them as they twirled them above their heads and bent  and turned with them. Dad suggested I get out and go take a picture but the crowds were huge and traffic was horrific and I was worried that if traffic moved before I got back I would never find him. Lots of booming music. They like their music really loud. When traffic finally moved after the parade turned the corner we drove by the music speakers they were huge speakers and it felt like the truck was bouncing with the vibrations from them. I wish I had taken a picture of the parade, I can not do it justice by my explaining, even if it was just from what we could see in the truck.

Cock being toted about by his owner. 

Bayahhihan, Snakes, Children and Transfers

Last time I posted a photo of a picture that hung in a families home of bayahhihan. The mission president's wife took this photo just outside the mission home. Someone is actually bayahhihan (moving house). There is a lot of new home construction going on in our area. It always surprises me to look beyond the trees and shrubs and see something new going up.

I borrowed some of the Mission President's pictures for this week. She saw this big snake in a field down the road where we live. I think it belongs to the guy in the red shirt and shorts. A couple of days after she told me about the snake and showed me her pictures I saw the snake wrapped around some guys neck and he was out walking along the road. An albino python maybe.

Pictures of school children riding a tricycle. Before and after school this is a very common sight that we see to and from the office. Jeepneys are for the highway. Then tricycles and habal habal's  (motorcycles) are used on the secondary roads. Some roads only allow c-cabs which are bicycles with side carts with seats.

Most children just play with sticks and stones. The children who live around the office come over and like to play in the parking lot of the church. They play with their flip flops. I can not remember the word for their shoes. Tossing them around. Yesterday they were playing a game where everyone's flip flops were spread out in an area then they would take one of their flip flops and try to bounce the others outside of the designated area by flinging the one in their hand at the pile. They also come and play with a ball of paper that has been wadded up and their flip flop by using their shoes like a bat to hit the paper wad. Some children are lucky enough to have sticks with a wheel on the end and they push it around. This child has a fun scooter someone made for him.

We had 23 missionaries arrive this month. It takes a lot of food to feed everyone during transfers. We went over to the mission home to help bring breakfast to the new missionaries. We were so rushed it took 3 people to scrap the scrambled eggs into a container. 

For lunch we had left over pizzas and scones to feed the crowd but no way to heat them up at the church except for solar heat. It took a couple of vehicles to heat all the food. It worked pretty good even on the frozen food that hadn't gotten taken out of the freezer. But then missionaries will eat almost anything that is provided for them. They are a hungry bunch on transfer day. We usually have about half the missionaries or about 100 come in for the transfer to meet up with their new companions.

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Along the way

On the way to the office we had to wait for a parade of school children. It is the School's Athletic Day. Basketball, volleyball, and badminton teams were all parading.  

Fish vendors. They don't enforce many laws and people basically ignore posted signs.
 From parking to stopping to traffic. All accept one way roads. Dad has gotten stopped
several times because of not noticing one way signs.

Hanging sausages.
They put a lot of red dye in their sausages and meats.
We stay away from anything that has red dye added/

The woven cone shaped hat the worker is wearing is very traditional.
Even the traffic enforcers wear them, especially in Consolacion.
Dad wanted one but they were all too small for his head.

Mid September

 Sunday was a busy day. We drove the 2 hours up to Bogo for their District Conference. It was well attended. They were told by the area seventy that they only need about 200 more members to become a Stake, of course there are other requirements but number wise that is what they needed.

Tarpaulins are used for everything. Every event seems to have a Tarpaulin.
This one is at the entrance to the church
telling the schedule of conference in Bogo 

More floral arrangements. This is Stephanie

When you start taking pictures. Everyone joins in.
This started out as 4 sisters then there was 5 and then there were 7.
The more the merrier when it comes to pictures.

Such a dear friend. Her husband passed away  a while back. 

  My hair is sure flat in these pictures. Probably time to get a hair cut.

Jenny Rose

Delores and her children. Her husband is Canadian and just went back to get a job.
They hope to join him soon.

After church we returned to Consolacion to visit the Luego family. We have enjoyed working with them. Their marriage was struggling and she wanted to leave. But they have since been able to work it out and are back together. He has heart problems. We visited him last week in the hospital and wanted to visit them now that he is home. They are going to have to build a home down along the road he can no longer climb the 42 steps up to his home.

Dad walking along the narrow walkway. The road is usually very muddy.
The trouble with the walk is it is so narrow and drops off into a wash that is about
6-8 feet deep. I am getting better at walking it. But when we first walked it.  it was
at night and  my balance was off. It is a much easier walk in the day time.

As we walked along the walkway some kids started shouting that we were coming.
Then low and behold some of our Sister missionaries stuck their heads out of a door way.
They were also visiting in the area and were at the home where the children lived.

This is the first section of the 42 stairs we climb to get to the Luego family home.
If it has rained there are huge snails in the grass and as I walk I hear them
crunch under my feet as it is dark and I can not see them in the grass

At the top of he climb we arrive at the Luego home.

This is Juliet the daughter in law and a good friend. She is rocking her baby to sleep in the sheet.
This is the kitchen area. He turns one in a week and we are invited to the birthday party.

The view from the Luego home. On the other side of the walkway where we were walking
 there is a high school. They were practicing their drum and bugle corp. It was very noisy
 and they were play the same music over and over. The Luego's told us they are
 getting  ready for a competition for the Consolacion Fiesta and practice every night until 8:00pm, 

This picture hangs in their living room. When you pick up your house
and move it, it is called bayahihan.

September is going so fast

The guy on the back is called the "conductor" His job is to help people on and off
and to collect their money. He also beckons for people to ride their jeepney.
He uses a coin to tap on the jeepney to signal the driver to stop and go,

This is the mall we shop at. If you see something you would like to buy its best to
stock up because it probably won't be there the next time you shop.

Friends we have meet. They are from South Carolina. They stopped in at the office to find out
how missionaries learned the language so she could learn it. Her husband is Filipino but grew up in the states.
Went out to lunch with them and have another activity planned with them.
He came to build sail boats for the tourists at the resorts. They live in his mothers home which is very beautiful.

Jenny Rose, love this young woman. She is leaving for a mission next month to Urandenta, PH

Banana's for sale

It has been fairly cool this week with all the rain. That also means that it takes longer for our laundry to dry and the showers are cooler. The temperature doesn't really change much. It is always about the same its the humidity that changes. From 91% to 78%. When the sun is shining but the humidity is high it can be pretty miserable even though it isn't any hotter than the day before. Standing in the sun versus standing in the shade makes a huge difference in how hot it feels. So grateful for aircon.

Banana leaves are very useful in rain storms if you don't have an umbrella
 just pick one off the nearest banana tree

Everyone get off and help push. We have seen this also where a tricycle with people can
not make it up the hill and everyone gets out and helps push.

Also banana leaves are good bike fenders especially after a storm riding through puddles

It was Stake Conference. Many great talks on missionary work.  Understood most of the talks as they were mostly in English. Many of our friends sang in the choir. They are kind of formal about their flowers and choirs. With choir members wearing matching scarves, 

ties and even sometimes hair accessories

Ruth cleans our office and is always so happy

Ruby is very funny and likes to joke a lot. She lived in the states for many years
but then got sent back to the Philippines because she forgot to renew her Visa 

This building is in front of the church in Consolation and usually has loud music blaring

 The church building in Consolation is unique in that the chapel is on the 3rd floor. 

I usually take the elevator up. Classrooms are on the second floor and parking is on the ground level. 

The parking area is usually full of motorcycles that park in the back of the garage area, 

Missionaries greeting Dad

More festivals. No school yesterday so I asked some kids, "No school?" and they replied "no school." "A holiday?" "Yes a holiday" they said. "What holiday is it?" They just looked at me blankly. So I said, "Christmas?" And they laughed and laughed.