February Happenings

Well, here it is well into March and I am still in February. We had a busy month and a month without a lot of power. A generator blew out and there was not a replacement so we spent a couple of weeks with very limited power. The power company did a share thing and where we live our share time was between 8 p.m.- 8 a.m. The hours varied some but bottom line was we were without. It is so nice to have lights. It is just one of those things that we take for granted. We spent some time explaining to President Bliesner the new focus of the Stake Employment Committees. It goes hand in hand with the missionary focus in the Philippines. There are so many inactive member here that the missionaries are now focusing on finding and helping to reactivate families and baptize those who have not been baptized. The focus is to continue with the family until they are ready to go to the temple. Employment committees will be helping to improve or help find employment. The next night we had dinner at the mission home to welcome Elder and Sister Miskin to the Naga Mission. They are from Rigby, Idaho and will be regular missionaries.

After a quick dinner for us, we were off to the CES building for an English class.The next day was Friday and we were off to Legazpi to the ERC office and an English class in the afternoon after a few days like that we are ready for a rest. But not for Larry he had to speak that Sunday in Sacrament meeting.
We were asked if Valentines Day is celebrated here and yes it is. The stores are all decorated and candy and flowers are everywhere. We stopped at the Red Platter and had a nice dinner. That is probably the first time we have gone out for Valentines.
Feb 16 was graduation time for the English class. We have enjoyed getting to know each one that was in the class. We could see improvement  in the way they pronounced the words.

 Kathleene, Julius,Rachele, ?, Paula, Kim Donna, Sis. DeGrange, Jane, Elder and Megan. Kathleen is a returned missionary and the other are all preparing to go on missions.
One of the first days we did not have power we had scheduled to have the Elders in our ward for dinner. When the power did not come on for several hours, we texted them and said " Meet us at Shakeys for pizza." We had a great time with them and is was an easy meal. It was the first time "out for pizza" for them.

Elder Lavaka a Somoan from Utah and Elder Ruizan from Manila 

Feb. 18, found us back in Iriga for the 2nd half of the Career Workshop. We arrived shortly before 8 a.m. and the church gates were still locked. A neighbor whose husband is in branch presidency saw us waiting and opened the gates and the church.The class finally started at 9:30.We know that activities do not start on time but we have a hard time not being on time. The class was good and as usual we had a great time working with the members of the Iriga District.

Ryan, Mitch, RT, Jean, Pres. Sordilla, Joy, Michele, Shirley, Sis. and Elder DeGrange ? ( he didn.sign his name)

It is time again for the missionary Career Workshop. There were supposed to be 4 American Elders but the travel arrangement got messed up and they were not able to be in the class. So we had 5 wonderful sister missionaries. Our first time with just sisters and what a lot of fun.

Sis. Vaillgas, Us, Sis. John from India, Jumawid, Navarro and Jose

The sisters and the elders that were heading home.

Elder Vincente, Reed, Wadsworth and McKendrick with Pres and Sis. Bliesner

Wednesday we picked up  Carlo in Legazpi and drove south to Sorsogon. It is at the bottom of the mission and a beautiful place right on the ocean. We were teaching the Lewis College Business majors a three hour Career Workshop. Again we started an hour late. There were over 30 in the class. It was a little hard to get them to participate but by the end they were talking and having fun.

Here are a few pictures of the Philippine Sea in Sorsogon

We only had 2 attend the last English Class in Daraga. DR did not miss one class. April is finally scheduled for her visa interview so she can leave for her Temple Square Mission

Here are some pictures of people in our neighborhood and some of the very pretty flowers One of the neighbors gave us some organic bananas from their tree.

 This little girls comes out to bless us each time we walk. They take your hand and place it on their forehead.

 This lola is always working in the garden or holding one of the many babies.

Another lola (grandma) working in a garden

That takes care of February and I will continue to try and add what's happening in out life in a more timely manner.  We are in a beautiful area of God's creations working with wonderful people who have strong testimonies of the gospel of Jesus Christ.