Maligayang Pasko ---- Merry Christmas!

DECEMBER 25, 2015

Believe!

NOVEMBER 27, 2015

We serve in a country that is not afraid to openly love God.  The Philippines is the only Asian country that is predominantly Christian.  And it is extremely Christian.  This is very apparent as we travel around, especially at Christmas time.  The Christmas season goes from September through December.  Numerous nativities come out about the end of October.  They are everywhere you go.  The Filipino people certainly embrace the spirit of Christmas and love of the Savior.  Nativities are everywhere: the mall, McDonald's, the hospital, the grocery stores, banks, government offices and the army base.  Not much "political correctness" here. There is Christmas music playing loud and and long passers-by frequently humming or singing out loud.  Publicly They Believe!!!!

This nativity backdrop at the SM Mall is made from plastic bottles.  It was truly remarkable.

This is the largest nativity in our area.  It has music playing and often there is a Santa shaking hands with the onlookers.  The nativity backdrop is made out of old CD's.  It is on the main road that we travel each day.  There have been many evenings the road is blocked off to one lane causing quite a traffic jam.  That doesn't seem to be a problem just as long as people 
are allowed to enjoy the nativity.

This nativity is at the entrance of a hotel in town.  Kind of simple and elegant. 

This is a giant tree near the city offices.  It is so colorful and different then any other.  

At the base of the tree is the nativity.

Here is a story book version of the Holy Night so long ago.  They are all so different and creative.

Glory to God in the High.  Peace on Earth Good Will Toward Men!

A Mission - It's a Happenin' Place!

NOVEMBER 2015

Through the course of nearly 18 months, I've taken so many pictures that are never viewed by anyone but me.  This is a small taste of the unseen pictures that have been taken.  Our Zone Conference pictures are at the end.  If you have a missionary in the Angeles Mission, you'll definitely want to scroll down to see them.

These are some of our dedicated Sisters as they greet everyone before church begins.
The children are drawn to our Sisters who make everyone feel welcome.

The Vicente's are the first couple that President Clark has married in the Philippines.
They were a cute couple with two children and were married 
days before they went into the waters of baptism.  

These are our priesthood leaders in our most remote area - Baler.  The three men in the middle are three of the Branch President's of the Baler District.  They are bookended by some of our wonderful missionaries who serve in Baler.  

We dined at the Costa Pacifica Hotel with our Baler leaders and some of their wives.
The rain outside did not dampen the enjoyable time we had with them.

On the way over the mountain from Baler, we stopped in Bongabon.  I walked the halls and found this lovely group of young women.  It is always quite interesting to see what I find when I walk into a classroom.  These young women were very kind when I shared some of my "tagalog" skills with them.  I'm sure they were thinking I should stick with the English language.  

Standard of Excellence (SOE) in our mission is 2 baptisms per companionship per month.  Whenever this is achieved, President Clark and I treat the Zone to a pizza party.  Here is Tarlac Zone before diving into their lunch.  Sadly I didn't get a picture of the Guimba Zone where we delivered another SOE pizza party.  Our missionaries are doing a great job finding, converting and baptizing.  It would be well worth it to us to buy pizza for all 12 zones if they each baptize SOE!

Occasionally we host Family Home Evening at the Mission Home.  It is a treat for us but also for the investigators and members of the ward near our home.  The Sisters did a great job this evening teaching about families.  We played quite the game of Fruit Basket for our activity.  Let's just say that President and I were some of the first to sit down.  One of the members brought pancit to eat afterward.  We loved having the Whiting's join us..  

Just a few months ago, Orson Callister was a missionary in the Angeles Mission.  He quickly flew back by himself to make some great visits.  One was to the mission office.  He came in on Preparation Day so the Elders that work in the office with us were dressed just like him, 

ready for an activity with their zone.

We've had several of our missionaries who have returned home come back to visit.  They will always be our missionaries so we are delighted to see them again.  This is Samantha Carter who visited with her family about six months after she went home.  Samantha got engaged just a couple of days before her family boarded the plane to visit the Philippines.  The fun thing about it is that she is marrying another one of our returned missionaries.  And this is not the first couple to have done that. We are all about eternal families?

More missionaries return!  This time they came back as a married couple!  Sister Bongolto and Elder Wick are now Mr. and Mrs. Landon and Cherelyn Wick.  We loved sitting down with them and hearing their love story across the miles on Skype. 

ZONE CONFERENCE - November 2015

In November we had Zone Conferences at four locations.  With three zones at each meeting we have a very nice size for teaching and learning.  The November Conference focused on teaching with the Holy Ghost, Sabbath Day observance, Follow-up 200 and Lesson Staffing.  A great missionary spirit was felt and a good time had by all.

Last Missionary Standing Winners
It gets more difficult as time goes one to have just one missionary standing.  
These sisters all tied for the 1st prize!
Way to go Sister McGoon, Sister Norman and Sister Resture.

Sister Bonozo and Sister Remund are on fire!  
They are also the recipients of Last Missionary Standing.

Sister Cauilan and Sister Ioane were the winners of the Paniqui, Santa Ignacia and 

Camiling Zones - Last Missionary Standing.  

In the Angeles, Mabalacat and Tarlac Zones, Sister Aguspina and Sister Ram won the prize.       

Here is a group picture of seven of our India Visa-waiting elders.  They have been in the Angeles Mission for over four months now. Four of the elders just found out they will be going back to India the end of December.
We will miss them but we're glad they get to go back to the mission to which they were called.

Zone Conference never goes by without a delicious treat at the end of the meetings.
This time it is Sister Lopez' delicious banana bread.

Mission President Seminar Boost

NOVEMBER 17-20, 2015

Each May and November we look forward to our Mission Presidents' Seminar.  This is a 3-4 day gathering hosted by the Area Presidency for all Mission Presidents and wives in the Philippines.  This year we gathered in Manila and we had some wonderful special guests.  Elder and Sister Andersen, Elder and Sister Renlund and Elder and Sister Maynes.  

Table level view from the seminar.  There are twenty-one missions in the Philippines with stellar Mission Presidents and wives.  The seminar presentations school us and inspire us.  With six General Authorities, including two apostles, providing instruction there is great spirituality and wisdom in the room.  Each day we sat in a different spot.

We are assigned seats for our meals.  This gives opportunity to sit by those we don't know.  Imagine our surprise when one evening we were seated next to Elder and Sister Andersen.  What a delightful evening to get to know them better.

Visit to the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial.  These photos memorialize our afternoon trip to the cemetery, a beautiful, sacred and solemn place. Tens of thousands of World War II deceased soldiers/sailors are buried and remembered at this memorial.  The location also has Church historical significance.  Then Elder Hinckley re-dedicated the Philippines for missionary work from this location.

A moment of personal counsel from Elder Renlund.

Sis. Arner and Sister Clark share the same first name.  They became instant friends!

President McCurdy - Cebu Mission and one of our Batch!

At one point in the seminar, the Presidents and wives separated.  This was a grand time for sisters to unite and discuss some of the issues only sisters can understand.  I loved a statement that Sister Renlund shared with us.  She was in South Africa serving alongside her husband for several years in the Area Presidency.  Her mantra was quite profound to all of us.  It was, "An adventure a day but hope for just one."  We can definitely relate.

Often the Sisters would gather when wearing the same color.  

This is a shot with Sis. Rahlf from the Cauayan Mission.

Just for good measure, the Presidents decided they needed a color matching picture as well.

This picture was taken at the Manila mission home, now occupied by President and Sister Ostler and their son Caleb.  The Ostlers kindly hosted ten of our batch for a great dinner and conversation.  We all trained and arrived in the Philippines together in July 2014.  
Our batch mates will be friends for life!

We love our time at the Mission President's Seminar but we are always grateful to return back to our mission.  We miss it when we are away!

O Come Let Us Adore Him!

One of the great pleasures on our mission is to meet wonderful Church leaders on our stakes, districts, wards and branches.  Each December we look forward to thanking them at our holiday event with dinner and entertainment.  We were privileged this year to have Elder and Sister Garrett from Manila join us as well.  Elder Garrett is our Area Mental Health Adviser.  His wife is a beautiful harpist.  They graciously accepted our invitation and did we ever benefit greatly with their presence! Stake and district presidents and their wives from throughout the mission came.  Dinner was delicious but the best part of the evening came when our missionaries sang, Elder Garrett narrated and Sister Garrett performed beautiful harp music.  Many of our guests had never heard or had seen a harp before.  With the Philippines so humid, it isn't an instrument commonly used.  It was a hit!  

Stake and District Presidents, their wives, the Garrett's and the Whiting's join us at the 

mission home for holiday cheer.

Our performing missionaries wait "off stage" to perform Christmas music for our guests.
They are posed on the landing at the top of the stairway.

Live performance.  The missionaries sang like the angels they are.
The combination of voice, harp and piano was heavenly.     

Marvelous Missionaries who serve and sing with a smile!

Our two non-harpist Assistants pose with Sister Garrett's harp. These are wonderful
young men who will soon be finishing their mission service.

                          Salamat po!                         

Mission Leaders!

 November's MLC was filled with Leadership Training exercises.  The missionaries were able to test their skills at taking instruction blindfolded, trying to get the helium stick to go down and leading one another through some exercises.  

December's MLC was one of counciling.  Our missionaries were split into four groups and asked to come up with ways we could improve our mission.  The areas were Missionary Life, Key Indicators, Mission Culture and Rescue.  They did a fabulous job of helping us know how to better our mission.  We are looking forward to a bright and beautiful 2016 in the Philippines Angeles Mission.