I am so embarrassed about not writing the past two
weeks. We have been busy doing very
little for some reason. It seems like
we just run from one project to the next.
We have had very poor internet service and had quite a problem with our
provider, Globe. Everytime we go in to
the office with a problem they want more money. We are targets because we are white but this time we had to get
assertive until we got service back. It
took two days of negotiating but we finally got servie without trowing more
money at them. We have learned to get a
signed receipt with the agent’s name and the agreement made at the time to take
back for verification of what we paid for.
The last two months we have paid double the monthly rental for
service. That is taken care of
hopefully. Learning how to be treated
fairly is a hard lesson to learn here guess.
The Baao Elders stopped in last Wednesday, July 1 so we
could meet the new Elder. When I walked
them to the gate we noticed a huge star in the sky. We had no internet to investigate but I did get a picture of it.
We had a few appointment fall through last week. I thought of Raymond on July 1st
and all the gang that would be there. I
heard about Allen Heggie’s passing and sent a note to the family. Ron Larsen has an email group called the
Sons of Raymond Good Old Boys Club.
Most of the guys are 10 years older than me but I get my Raymond news
from him. I got so homesick for the
Raymond July 1st I started a Raymond Class Of ’69 Facebook group. I am trying to gather face book info on the
group but the internet is not cooperative.
I am helping a girl named Karen with her English
for a test she wants to pass to get a permit to apply for work in Canada. She is a nurse here and her husband is in
Saudi working. They have a son, Kirt in
grade 6 who is doing family history work with Valerie while I am working with
Karen. She brought a special desert to
our house last week as a token of her appreciation. It was like custard that Valerie likes. It was good! This is
Karen with a friend named Julius who walk together on the same mountain route
as us. That is where we met her.
On Saturday the 4th (High Five all the Americans)
we went to a baptism in Iriga for two kids from two different part member
families. We blew the sidewall out of a
tire in Iriga in a back street you have to take to get on to the main
street. I had more help changing the
tire than I needed. It was raining and
I got wet and dirty but made the baptism in time. Sunday the 5th was the dedication of the Buhi
chapel. We went and heard the area 70
talk and give the dedicatory prayer in both English and Tagalog. The mission and district president both
spoke.
We had to go to Naga for tires on Monday and did business,
bought food and used the dryer at the mission office to dry our clothes. It has rained everyday for two weeks. It pours then stops. When the sun come out the humidity is so
high you sweat standing still. Our
clothes were on the line for three days so we rewashed them and took them to
the dryer. It was a special blessing to
put on dry underwear this morning!
We had two brethren from Iriga come to the house today to
cut the grass. They are amazing
workers. I wish I could post all the
pictures of them working and the difficult way they did it but our internet
won’t send such a big file. They weed
whipped the whole yard, swept the clippings into pile because they don’t have
rakes, put the piles on a small tarp and drug the tarp around the yard until it
was full. They bundled the tarp and
carried it to the compost pile in the back yard. There is no way to do things easily here, but labor is so cheap
they don’t look for easy or ways to do it with machines or even convenience
tools like rakes for a lawn.
This is Brother Marlin Rellores dragging the tarp from grass pile to pile
then carrying the tarp full of grass to the back yard.
After
they finished the yard care they gave us a lesson in harvesting the fruit in
the back yard. This is the banana
harvest. We have eaten some of the
bananas and they are very good. The
whole tree comes down and the banana bunch gets cut off. It is amazing to me the tree grows back to a
40 foot length in one year. This is the
tree coming down.
This is the bananas being cut off the bunch. President Chua (Chew a) is the one in the
blue shirt. He has been a branch
president, a district president’s councilor twice, a high councilman, he is a
RM and lost his wife to cancer in April.
He has a 16 year old daughter in college but still at home. He is a remarkable man in every way and it
was my privilege to meet him finally.
I
am very embarrassed…I just realized I haven’t sent this to Tab for posting yet
so here it goes…two weeks late. Thanks
again Tablet for making us look so good.
We love you all!
ay and it
was my privilege to meet him finally.
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