Indang 11-25-2015

MWe live in Molino where our Mission Office is. However, we have been asked to attend the Indang Branch in the Naic District. 

This is our Indang Church .

We have been driving there for several weeks now. It takes about 1.5 hours to get there, depending on traffic. We love being there. There is no air conditioning in the building. They open the windows and turn on the fans. It is almost like being outside. I love it.

Last week we drove down to Indong on Satursay to attend a baptismal service. This is the baptism font.

Not at the building of course. A little cold, but does the job.

We are loving this.

Baptism in Ternate 10-31-2015

Saturday, October 31, 2015, Sister Petersen and I joined 3 other Senior couples in a little trip to Tagaytay. It is a little resort city in the south part of our mission that is located next to the Taal Valcano. A beautiful area. I have posted about it before, so I am not going to post anything here about it now. 

After, we traveled to a Ternate, a little town in the Naic District, for a baptism service.

I always take a flute along just in case it is needed. Today, I was asked to play prelude music, and some interlude music also. I love playing the hymns of Zion on my Native American Flutes. I started 10 minutes to the actual start time, but played for 40 minutes. ( common Filipino start time, 30 minutes late).

Ternate is a little Branch. I love the Branches. Some of the Branches meet in make shift houses, but Ternate has a little building.

There is a baptismal font there, but it is located outside.

Elder Hansen and Elder  Aguillon are the missionaries that are teaching the baptismal candidate today.

We had Elder Hansen leaving next door to us when we first got here. We got to know him well. He is a great young man.

This was a great service. Time for everyone to go home.

I love my mission.

Corregidor

Corregidor is a small island at the mouth of Manila Bay. After WWI, the Americans fortified it heavenly. Japan attacked the Philippines the day after Pearl Harbor. Corregidor was bombed first by the Japanese, and then by the Americans during the liberation of the Philippines. We can see the coastline of Bataan from the island. A lot of history is represented here on Corregidor.

There were 23 big gun instillations Corregidor. We did not visit them all.

General MacArthur had his headquarters here at Corregidor for a while. He seems to be deeply respected here in the Philippines.

Look at the size of the bullet that is fired from some of the guns here.

An American helping a Filipino soldier. They fought together during the war. Many Filipinos died here.

This is the spot where General Wainwright surrendered. The sun will fall on the table perfectly on the day and hour this surrender was signed. These soldiers would now face the Bataan death march. 

The Japanese lost a lot of people on this island as well. There are memorials set up on the island for those men as well.

Many escaped the bombing in this tunnel. The President of the Philippines was here for safety for a while.

The skyline of Manila on the boat trip back.

Transfer day 9-9-2015

22 missionaries going home and 20 missionaries coming in to the mission, plus lots and lots of missionaries moving to different areas. Sister Petersen and I spend a big portion of our time preparing for transfer day.

It is becoming harder and harder to see these kids go home. We are getting to know them and love them. Tears were shed. 

Departing missionaries.

Arriving missionaries.

Their clothes look new, they are excited and a little nervous. But they will grow into something very special. I know from my own experience that they will grow more here on their missions than they will in any equal time period of their life. This is the best preparatory school for life that is available.

Every missionary has a story to tell about their family, about there service in their missions or about their personal growth because of their missions. The following are just some small glimpses into some of those stories.

This is Sister Batingal (left) and Sister Lacsamana (right). Both are from the Philippines.

Sister Lacsamana is going home this transfer. Sister Batingal is going home next transfer. They have served together as Sister Training Leaders. 

Both are from strong LDS families. Sister Lacsamana is 1 of 11 children in her family. She is the number 4 child and she is the 4th in her family to serve a mission. She told us that her sister, number 5 child has received her mission call and will go out soon.

Sister Batingal is the 8th of 12 children in her family. She is the 7th to serve a mission.

The number of missionaries serving from the Philippines as doubled since the missionary age change. These young people will go back home after their service and be a strength to their Wards and Branches.

This is Elder Haufano. He is leaving today. He is one of the Assistants to the President. He is a very special person.

He is half Samoan and half Tongan, and he lives in New Zealand. I believe this young man will do very well in life.

This is Elder To'o. He is Samoan, and is also from New Zealand. This is a very fun guy to be around.

This is Elder Leaupepetetele. He is from Samoa. He told us that his parents were the very first to be sealed in the Samoan Temple. So if you are Samoan, the logical thing to do would be to name your child after this experience. Therefore, this is Elder Temple  Leaupepetele. He told us that his name, Temple, has brought about a lot of chances to talk about the Church.

Baptism 7-29-2015

This is the biggest baptism I have ever witnessed. A total of 14 converts along with some children of record. There were two families of five, and two couples. 

Part of what Sister Petersen and I do is to enter the names of the new converts onto the rolls of the church. We had 97 new members in July.