Malachi 3:8-11

Blog 9 - Feb 23-28th

The Watson household has upgraded to a 4G portable router.  The problem is, where we need it to accommodate people using it to do family history, we are out of range of 4G.  We are working around it. 

We were invited to the Bato Central School’s Senior’s night.  The Bato branch president is a teacher and was in charge of the evening events.  He did an amazing job.  The theme was the Greek mythological goddesses.  At home, we have no idea of what pageantry and costuming is!!  Valerie has some pictures and videos to show how impressive this was.  The class of over 100 did a floor dance that was choreographed incredibly.  Valerie stated how impressed her mom would have been with these kids and their dancing skills.  The final formal dance had the student’s select teachers and local officials to dance with them.  Because we were the only white people there and were at the head table with the staff, a girl asked me to dance and it was photographed for the local media.  Finally, I am a star at something worthwhile!!  They asked us to be photographed with the staff, students and grad class but we declined.  When the public was invited to dance the staff started with some Cha-cha-cha steps.  Allen and Sandy would have fit right in!  Then they got fancy and they can dance!  The youth did some western line dancing to a heavy fast rock beat.  President Tino called it square dancing.

Our plan for bringing family history to these rural areas is evolving slowly although the work is very demanding.  We are busy!  The church web programs are not accessible in these areas.  To register on familysearch.org or ldsaccounts.lds.org requires smart phone service or an email and many here do not have access to either.  We cannot use our recovery information because they are used for our own accounts and cannot be duplicated.  That is my rant for the week.  We are working around it as much as possible and have rewritten most of the church’s paper forms so they can be used and transferred to computer with the technology we have here.

Tuesday was busy with Angelica at the Nabua church doing family history in the morning.  She was to be baptized in two weeks but got a job in Oman and has to leave her family and 2 year old daughter to go make enough money to survive.  She thought she was engaged to the father of her child who works “up north” in the Philippines only to find this week that he is married with a family there.  Her parents blame her for the mess.  So she lost her relationship, her family ties, her future and her financial support in a week.  She had to make the decision to go to work in a few days and has to leave her daughter with family.  Angelica is 25 and has never left the farm.  She is scared and alone and left on a bus for a 10 hour drive to Manila last night.  The elders and I gave her an administration yesterday and Valerie and I are texting her often so she doesn’t feel totally alone.  She is a great kid and we love her dearly.

While we were working I looked over the church balcony at the stack of open coconuts and a family of rats was running around in them.  The picture doesn’t show very well but there is a rat looking at me from a coconut shell.

We raced back to Baao to work with the Azure family.  Sister Gloria is in the blue top is helping the couple.  The sister in the green is the relief society president.

We are getting a good system going.  Our mobile office is our two laptops, our printer/scanner, our files, our home made booklets to get people started on genealogy, our router and other paraphernalia to make it all happen.  It fits into a plastic container that fits into our car trunk.   If the place we are going does not have Wifi, like a church building, we take our own router.

It is a big thing to hit 21 years old here so a boy who is in the branch presidency in Bato is turning 21 on the 6^th.  While we were working with him on Thursday he had a group of friends show up to practice a dance they are going to perform at his party.  We are invited but have classes that night.

While we were working with Sister Cyntia a parade went by.  They have a fiesta for any reason and they do it big!  This is a school who had a parade past the church building in Baao.  It was the King and Queen of March parade and fiesta.  School is out for summer break in two weeks so it is party time here.  Check out the effort and decorations for a school fiesta.

The Sisters stopped by so we could meet the new sister who replaced Sister Alatini.  She is from Eastern Washington, about 6’1” and very white.  I told her she would blend in very well here!!

Missing picture

We are so proud of the Baao branch.  We started with them and asked that they do a great job so we can use them for the other branches in the district.  On Satruday they had over 130 names ready for the temple. 

They play the goofiest games here.  They love to laugh and have fun together.  The Bato branch had a post Valentines party on Friday night for the youth and young adults.  They played a game like pin the tail on the donkey but it was boys who had to get closest to the lips on the wall with the vocal direction of his female companion.  They laughed so hard it was ear splitting and cheered each participant.  I love partying with them!

We have been experiencing a lot of brown outs lately.  It is a little scary with the weather warming up.  It would be difficult without the fans and the ac at night.  I asked our grounds keeper, Daniel why and he thought some wires may have come down or shorted out.  Ya think?!? 

We are still loving it here and are learning lessons about humility, sacrifice and good intent everyday.

The economy in North America is in a tail spin.  Alberta is being hit first because the oil and gas taps are off.  Life styles must change and other sources if income must be investigated.  The most important thing with finance is to pay a full and honest tithe!!  Malachi 3:8-11  If you pay your tithing there will always be something you can do to have an income.  Verse 11 has been translated to mean that we will always have some way to have an income, rather than what it specifically states to the people of the time who were farmers.  It refers to them always having a harvest if they paid their tithes and offerings.  This is a fact not my opinion and you know I have countless stories of how it works.  I am so grateful for the principle of tithing and the assurances it promises. 

Thanks again to Mike and Becky for all the help with house, farm, and finance will all else they have to do.  Thanks again to Tabitha who does such a professional job of this blog.  We love you all!!