Happy November!

Another great week in the mission.  Among our duties this week was transporting two sisters to their new assignments and companions.  We drove  50 kilometers north to Munoz to drop one sister off and pick up another sister.  We took her 40 kilometers west to Genora to her assignment.  All this was done on bad roads dodging the usual collection of vehicles, people, dogs, chickens, and frogs.  We were stopped in traffic in Munoz and a trike hit the front of the car, scraping up the bumper. He just looked at us and hurried off as fast as he could through the traffic.  The office missionaries just smiled and welcomed us to the "I've been hit"club.

We helped decorate the mission home for Christmas this past week.  It was a weird experience to do that in the hot weather with no promise of snow ever.  We turned down the lights and listened to Christmas music by the light of the tree and with the A/C going and we could almost imagine it was December in Midway.  (he he)

Friday we hosted a mutual group on a tour of the mission office.  They are looking forward to the time they are old enough to serve missions.

As we start the Thanksgiving season, we can't help but think of all of our blessings.  We are so grateful for the gospel, for our Savior, for our eternal family.  The sacrifice of serving a mission is nothing compared to what we have been blessed with.  We love putting that name tag on everyday and hope we can represent the Lord well.

"...live in thanksgiving daily, for the many mercies and blessings which (God) doth bestow upon you."  --Alma 34:38--

Mahal Kita!

Jeepney of the Week

Christmas Tree in a Tarlac park.  Nativity scenes are at every public place.
No "political correctness" here

Elder Naegle and Elder Whiting decorating the Mission Home

Merry Christmas from the Philippines Angeles Mission!

Sister Whiting, center, and the Tongan sisterhood.  Sister Madon on the right is Filipino, but
says she is Tongan living with these three.

Christmas in the Philippines in October

Lando Update

Super Typhoon Lando, (or Koppu) hit our mission really hard, with record rain and flooding.  Many members lost everything in the flood and the rice crop sustained heavy damage.  All of our missionaries are safe, if not a little soggy.  We dealt with power and phone outages and cleanup of some missionary houses. The Philippines are in "Typhoon Alley" and get about 20 a year.  They just smile and rebuild.  We feel blessed that all we had to deal with was a leaky roof.

We continue to have all kinds of experiences we never otherwise would have.  We went to lunch with the elders to a member's eating establishment; the very definition of a hole in the wall.  It was good food and we didn't get sick, and the member was grateful for our patronage, so all's well that ends well.

We drove about 30 kilometers west of Tarlac today to attend the Camiling 6th branch.  Everywhere you could see the aftereffects of the typhoon, including mud around the church and flattened rice crops. We visited with members who had lost everything or who had water up to their chests in their homes.  Earlier this week, President Clark set apart a sister who is going on a mission, whose family had lost everything except what was in her missionary suitcase.  They insisted she leave for her mission, to go serve others, and they would be fine.  What faith!

Christmas is in the air; has been since the first of September.  We sang "O Little Town of Bethlehem" today in church.  We delivered cookies to our neighbors and one of them wished us a "Merry Christmas".  As much as we love Christmas, it's a little bit too much too early.  But I guess when in Rome... or should we say when in the Philippines.  ;)

Jeepney of the Week

Day laborers, not terrorists.  Many men wrap their heads like this.  It's taken some getting used to.

A boy drying rice on the road.

No explanation needed!

A country home with bags of rice and a cow in the front yard.

Our office AP's baptized this young woman (age 15) yesterday.

Rice Terraces.  This is a beautiful country.

Typhoon Lando and Sisic

We are in the midst of our first experience with a Typhoon.  Typhoon Lando made landfall north of us at a catagory 4 storm.  Here in Tarlac it is a catagory 2; plenty strong for us. We have evacuated missionaries from some parts of the mission and have instructed them to stay indoors today. It has been very windy and very rainy since about  9 p.m. local time last night.  Our roof started leaking about 6 a.m. this morning.  We have every bucket and towel in the house trying to sop it up.  The rain is also blowing in under the sliding patio door.  We lost power for about an hour, but have it back now.  And the most amazing thing is the Filipinos are going about their business--trikes and jeepneys and cars are going up and down our road.  Maybe we are like the people we make fun of when there's a big snowstorm at home!  We expect 8-12 inches of rain in the next two days. We will be emptying buckets for a while yet.

Some members who were doing family history brought lunch to the church the other day.  They invited us to join them.  The office elders were particularly anxious for us to try a ground pork dish called "Sisic".  It was awful--we found out that it was indeed pork--pork ears and brains.  The elders thought it was funny.  Somehow we need to get even with them.

We continue to get more comfortable with our duties and are ready to take on more. President Clark is ready to give us more since we are the only senior couples left in the mission other than the self-reliance missionaries--the Naegles.  And they go home in two weeks.  So any of you our friends who are ready to serve, we sure could use you.  Let us know and we can make it happen.  Have a great week!  Mahal Kita!

It never looks as bad on video as it is in real life!

Elder Whiting mopping up the rainwater

Elders and Sisters waiting to see Elder Whiting about money to run the zones.
 His office is behind the closed door on the right.

Some of the Zone Leaders and Sister Training Leaders of the Angeles Mission.

 " magandang anak babae" ( beautiful little girl) That's pretty bad Tagolog

A schoolgirl on a trike

Elders Ilagan, Tejada, Mitchell and Hatch.  Mitchell and Hatch are responsible for Sister Whiting eating Sisik.
She will never trust them again!  Unless they bring her ice cream!

Jeepney of the Week

Transfers and Trike Rides

This past week was a very busy week in the Angeles Mission as we said goodbye to 21 young missionaries and hello to 22. We also said goodbye to Elder and Sister Weber--now Norman and Nancy--as they too were released and left for home. We have become dear friends and will miss them. We wish you well in your "civilian" life and we will see you in a few short months.  Thank you for everything!

Elder Whiting celebrated his 62nd birthday welcoming and orienting the new missionaries.  It was a busy day for all.  These new elders and sisters looked a little bewildered, so we did our best to welcome and love them.  We know they will be great missionaries.  We did go to McDonalds that evening for his birthday dinner. Thanks to all the kids for your birthday calls and texts.

Thursday was transfer day. You cannot appreciate the logistics of this until you witness it yourself.  We think it went off without a hitch.  We do know that everyone got to their areas with their new companions; a miracle in and of itself. Transfers mean lots of work for us which will last well into next week.  But we are grateful to be of service to our Heavenly Father.

Elder Whiting continues to get better and better (or is it worse and worse) driving in the crazy traffic.
Sister Whiting got her first trike ride this week! It was a fun experience. Fortunately the traffic was fairly light so it wasn't as scary as it could have been.

It was General Conference in the Philippines this weekend, so we enjoyed watching at the stake center with the Filipino Saints.  What a great conference!  We love our dear prophet and apostles and love seeing the progress of the Church in this part of the vineyard.

Jeepney of the week. Notice the American Indian spare tire cover

String beans of the Philippines--the vegetable and Elder Whiting.

Goodbye Elder and Sister Weber.  May the Lord bless you for your service. L-R: President & Sister Clark, Sister and Elder Weber, Sister and Elder Whiting.

Getting ready to eat with our fingers.

Sending our new Elders to the mission home in an Australian "Playboy Bunny" Jeepney.  Oops! 

New Elders--look how white their shirts are!

Happy Birthday Elder Whiting!

Yes we have no bananas!  The truck is full of them. The sweetest bananas Sister Whiting has ever tasted.

A Wild Ride and a Typhoon

Yesterday, we accompanied President and Sister Clark to the Guimba District Conference, an hour and a half ride through the countryside from Tarlac.  It was dark when the meeting let out and President Clark was, shall we say, in a hurry to get home.  It was a wild ride through the stormy, lightning filled night dodging trikes with no lights, people and animals, slamming on the brakes one minute to avoid a collision and flooring it the next to get around a slower moving vehicle.  Add to that big puddles and frogs in the road and it was quite a hair raising experience.  Heavenly Father truly protects His missionaries.

Friday, the remnants of a typhoon went over us and we had a windy, stormy day--well stormier than usual.  Tarlac is quite protected from typhoons, thank goodness. They come from east to west and we are on the west side of the island with a mountain range in between to protect us.

Earlier in the week, we took a day to celebrate Elder Weber's birthday by visiting a cultural center called Nayon Philipino.  It's like the Polynesian Cultural Center in Hawaii only not as big. Sister Whiting got called out of the audience during the show to show her skills at dancing between the bamboo poles. It was hard!

It's transfers this week as we say goodbye to one group of elders and sisters and hello to another group. It will be a busy week for us.

We leave you with a thought from one of our Filipino Elders, Elder Nalumen:  "We need to obey like Nephi, teach like Alma, pray like Enos, testify like Abinidi, and repent like Lamoni."

Mahal!

Jeepney of the Week

Doing the bamboo pole dance

Tropical Flowers

At Nayon Philipino

Why we wash the rice before cooking

Gathering up the dried rice

Caribau

Kaliglie--Filipino Tractor

Heather Jean, the Bishop's daughter, has adopted us as grandparents