This
is the last week in our Baao home. We
started to pack today after we fed the 12 missionaries a Canadian
breakfast. President Chewa came as
well. We had a great time eating
together and having a spiritual thought.
Many of these missionaries will be transferred in December so it was our
good-bye breakfast for many reasons. We
have a real connection with some of them.
We ran on Tuesday morning
then did two apartment checks for the zone leaders. It is 36 degrees today and we are sweating. We packed everything that would fit into the
car today and plan to take our first trip to Naga tomorrow and scope out the
new apartment in a busy, congested city on a busy street. Oh well, it won’t last forever!
This week got away from me,
as is the case when we get too busy. We
packed Monday and did Baao missionary apartment checks on Tuesday. The missionaries know how to really clean up
when it is apartment check time. We
packed more in the in the afternoon. We
have received word that Jasmin Oliva has been in the hospital in Naga since
Saturday. She is on a five day fast
with only intravenous drip to keep her sustained until they can do more tests
on her stomach. We don’t like the sound
of that. She is in her late teens and
is in college taking business admin.
This will cut into her school schedule.
Her mom is with her and her father and brother, Jared got on a motorbike
for the 2 hour journey at night to see her.
We are planning on seeing her tomorrow.
Wednesday:
We took a loaded car to Naga to start moving to the new apartment. We arrived and found some keys for
access. The apartment is very nice by
these standards but very small. We
unpacked all that we had brought. It is
on the second floor above the mission offices so the heavy boxes were a bit
tough on my knee. We went from there to
the BMC (Bicol Medical Center) which is the hospital for patients that need
financial assistance. We were directed
up several streets and went past blocks of patients waiting to be
admitted. Some were holding rags over
injuries and others were showing signs of illness etc. We finally made it to the correct entrance
but were turned away because it was not visiting hours. We had to get home to repack for
Thursday. While driving to Naga we saw
this semi that had driven across the middle line and ran into a hut. We all speculate that the driver fell
asleep.
We
met the Hoopes and Reeders at the new mission home and had an American
Thanksgiving…turkey, dressing, gravy, corn, mashed potatoes, Valerie brought a
jello that Chelsey sent in our last Care package. It was a hit! For dessert
we had pumpkin or blueberry pie. We had
a great few hours together. This is the
group with President Reeder at the head of the table before the eating
started. It was so wonderful!! I asked for them to pass the rice!
On
the way home in the dark, we got a call from the missionaries in Nabua who
couldn’t find a priesthood leader to help them do a funeral for a less active
member couple who lost their first baby girl.
She was only 6 months old. I
told them we could handle it. I went to
Nabua Friday morning at 6:30 to meet the elders at their apartment and plan the
service. We did a quick planning and
went to the home. The little coffin was
in the front room and family were all around.
We visited and got to know the family.
The mother’s father passed away last year. He was a very active member.
His wife moved to California to be with another daughter when he
passed. Elder Falesii conducted the
meeting for little Risa May Antonio.
This is her coffin in the house.
Her father was Catholic before he joined the
church to marry so we talked about infant baptism before the service. He wanted his baby girl blessed so I told
him we would give her a special blessing at the end of the service. Brother
Antonio gave the opening prayer and struggled through it. I spoke for 5 minutes on where little Risa
was and why she was called home so quickly.
Many of the Catholic aunts and cousins nodded in agreement as I outlined
the plan of salvation. Elder Aquino
gave the closing prayer and asked a special blessing on little Risa. We then went to the cemetery. This is her parents saying their last
good-byes.
I gave the dedication of the grave and she was entombed on top of
her grandfather’s tomb.
I rushed home to find that
Valerie had most of the rest of the house packed ready to load into the
car. We did a rush trip to Naga to
unload and unpack. There are several
workers in our apartment fixing the plumbing and other smaller items left by
the four elders who were there before.
Saturday was a washing day
and clean the house and grounds. At
noon we went to the Baao church to prepare for the branch FH event. Sister Watson and the Elders have made a
whole new plan and are going to implement it today as a trial for the second
event in the same branch. It was much
more interactive and the people, many investigators and less actives had a
great time. It was an amazing
success. Sister Botor cooked for the
who branch! Following the event
President and Sister Botor came to our house to make a graham mango desert that
had to set in the fridge over night. We
ate it Sunday evening after a long day and it was delicious.
This is part of the amazing Baao branch complete
with about 6 investigators doing family history activities.
We went to church in Baao
then packed another load for Naga. We
stopped on our way through the city to get to Pamplona for a district training
with the FH Consultants. Although we
don’t like driving at night we make it home in the dark for our last night in
the Baao house. On Monday morning the
mission vans came and picked up the big furniture. It took three van loads so between loads we washed the house and
filled the car with the last of our clothes and personal items. We got to our new place above the mission
offices and started to put furniture together and unpack. The Hoopes, a SR couple from Utah are in the other apartment next door. They have been so good to us. We share a washer and dryer with them.
This is enough for this busy week. Thanks again Tab for keeping up with our
blogs and getting them posted. We love
you all!!
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