Monday is usually P-day…preparation day. I did laundry first thing and later Valerie and I went to Pili, the capitol city of the Camarines Sur province but not as big or as far as Naga. We spent $7500 pesos, $200 for food and still don’t have anything to eat! I am trying to avoid rice for every meal as Valerie isn't a big rice fan. We spent Tuesday helping a new mission couple, the Hoopes from Utah, connect with the local branch president to get a driver’s license but it didn't work out for them. We then planned some strategies for our family history presentation and left for Iriga at noon. After some business and getting some copy work done, I should have bought a printer/scanner/copier instead of a cheap printer, we met the elders at Nabua and spent the rest of the day with them. Each home became more and more humble until we were at a cinder-block building with no roof, just a partial roof frame left where a young couple with a beautiful little 3 year old girl lives. There are two young teenage boys that are cousins who live there too. They are on the edge of a rice paddy and the grandfather was seeding rice. He was too busy to stop but we watched his skill and speed at the task. It was amazing. One of the elders from the Philippines asked if we seeded our crops this way in Canada. When I told him we use tractors with hundreds of horsepower and seeders that are up to 60 feet wide and more, he couldn't understand how that is done.
You know how your mom used to tell you to eat all your food because there were people in the world who didn't have anything to eat.
We are living with them right now and they are all around us.
(Yesterday (Feb 3, 2015) we crossed over this bridge and went with the Elders to a fellow named Fermin Lamud, who has been a member since 2000. His Book of Mormon was well worn, he reads every day even if he has only a few min..He loves the Lord and has a strong testimony. Fermin does not go to church and the Elders are working with him and his wife who is an investigator. We found this man out in his field sitting down pulling weed to clear his land so he can replant his crop again. This fellow is only 65 but has had a hard life and has only one leg and one eye but is still farming. After talking to him a few min I ask Elder Watson if we could do a service project to help him clear his field so he could plant. We asked the missionary and we all decided we would meet at 7 am the next morning to work on his field. - Sister Watson)
We met a single woman yesterday, Cerita, who was neglected by her family because she joined the church 20 years ago. When she builds a business they take it from her. The Elders told us that just last month her family took her store away and she had no income and nothing to eat for three days but still walked 6 km to church on Sunday because she had no money for a tricee ride. They found out she had no money and bought her rice which she refused because she had water to drink but they asked her to prepare it so they could all eat together so they could see she ate something. She now has a small outdoor shop selling homemade candles. She is always happy and positive. When we found out about her circumstances Valerie bought half her stock to bring home. Until the church rented a space above a Honda shop in Nabua she would start walking at 5:00 AM from her home to be in Baao for 9:00 AM church. It is about 20 km. There is no one in Baao who owns any transportation to take her home but she is happy to walk back to an empty home with no food, only water. Last night I threw together an unappetizing meal for us because we were so late getting home we didn't have energy to cook. Instead of complaining about the plain taste I wept as I looked at what would keep Cerita alive for a week and I wanted to scrape it off my plate. We are being so humbled! We have so many lessons yet to learn.
Thursday we tried to get Family Search to cooperate with some plans we have for the members but the system isn't set up to accept anyone who doesn't have an email or a mobile phone. They haven’t seen this lifestyle but we can make it happen somehow. We worked with the Baao Elders, Savancia and Robles until 8:30. The first was an older crippled man who joined the church a few months ago. He is very intelligent and reads in both English and Tagalog. We left him a Liahona magazine in Tagalog. His daughter is married to an RM and living in Manila but the mom is not a member so the missionaries taught them both. Valerie is so good with the women here. That mothering, fellow shipping gift really shows. She connected with this lady and bought some whisk brooms from her that she makes for a living. She tied them together with a pink cord and said, “This means I love you.” We then met with a young man named Paul who has lots of questions but is very humble. He is the oldest of 9 kids and soon to be 10. We met his mom and half the family. I love their yard because they have an outdoor cooking pot on a wood fire. We sit on a plank nailed to two pieces of bamboo. The neighborhood kids, dogs, and chickens run through the small space as we teach. I love it. It was dark by then and we visited two members who need motivation. One sister is a retired teacher with a nice home for this district. Her husband died two years ago. Two of her daughters are living with her with their kids and she didn't have electricity because she couldn't pay the bill last month. Finally we did some call backs and found one family with three generations living in the same house next to the rice fields. A neighbor boy who could not speak, only sign, helped us take our shoes off and enter the home. The young mother of 3 lost her husband a year ago and her feels were still very tenders when we talked about eternal families. She lives with her parents so luckily she has family support. The Elders did an amazing job of teaching her a comforting lesson on the first visit. At one time she had her 3 year old daughter on her lap and holding a towel to her face as she cried. Valerie got up and had to step over the grandfather who was sitting on the floor to get to Rebecca to hug her and tell her, “It alright, it’s alright.” Elder Savencia said he wished she could be at every appointment because she know how to fellowship. The Elders left her a pamphlet and are going back on Saturday, but we will be in Iriga.
We worked with the Baao Sisters yesterday. We walked around rice paddy's and taught in many different settings. They are amazing missionaries. We can’t get enough of them. It gets dark about 6:00 PM so we walk with them in the dark and they don’t seem to notice. There is a danger of snakes when you are walking down a path that is only big enough for a bicycle between rice paddies. We can only walk two by two but they are used to it. Often we walk with them past groups of young boys partying and they handle things with ease.
Today is Saturday and we are back from the baptism and family history meeting in Iriga. The guy being baptized was a young father with a beautiful girlfriend and daughter about 3 years old. The girlfriend is a member and has waited for her boyfriend to gain a testimony. He did last month and they went to Manila last week to get married so he could be baptized. His wife spoke in Tagalog at the service. We know enough words to follow a general outline of a talk. She spoke of how he was worth waiting for and how proud she was that they can work toward a celestial family goal. After the baptism he bore his testimony. It was the classiest thing ever!!
We did some business in town then came home to fix supper before fast Sunday. I was trying to light the oven with a lighter. It has never been used before. Suddenly Valerie screamed and I was sure I had blown the house up. She had opened the kitchen garbage container and a gecko had jumped onto her arm and spring-boarded itself onto the floor. His name is Larry and we have seen him around the house but it naturally startled her. We herded him under the food container and I am sure he is still shaking there from his experience with a white woman!! We like geckos around the house because they eat insects which are much more scary, dirty and poisonous. You can’t make this stuff up!!
Had an excellent day at Nabua branch where we met the members and were asked to bear our testimony. I tried a few Tagalog words but the language is not coming very quickly. We then raced back to Baao for the end of the meetings and had branch council meeting. President Botor is a great leader who tries to motivate his people but the branch is less than a yea old so they lack experience. The new mission couple, the Hoopes from Preston Utah stayed for dinner and Valerie did branding beans and they were impressed because without rice, there isn't much else to eat here. Another great week in the Philippines. - Elder Watson
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