Teach, Travel, Repeat

This has been a week of repetition, travel, and bad breaks.  Beginning on Tuesday, we traveled to Cabanatuan for the first of our three Zone Conferences. Wednesday was in Tarlac, and Thursday was in Paniqui (pronounced panicky--tee hee). Each conference lasted 5-6 hours with a opening meeting, two workshops, lunch and mission business, two more workshops, and a closing meeting.  We worked for about a month preparing our workshop--Powerpoint and all--which we presented to each zone for a total of 12 presentations.  By the time we got through with the last presentation on Thursday, we had it down and were really glad to be done.  Our topic was entitled "How Great is Your Calling", which focused on overcoming the "natural man" to be more obedient as a missionary, and learning to turn ourselves outward as Christ did to meet the needs of others before our own needs in order to be more effective missionaries.  We based our workshop on two talks, "Begin With the End in Mind" by President Russell M. Nelson, given at the 2014 New Mission President's Seminar, and "The Character of Christ", given by Elder David A. Bednar at the Provo MTC.  We don't think either talk is available but Elder Bednar gave a similar talk at BYU-Idaho when he was president there.  You can find it by searching in BYU-Idaho speeches.

On Tuesday in Cabanatuan, President Clark broke the fifth metatarsal bone in his foot when he landed awkwardly as he stepped down from a table.  He finished the zone conference that day limping around, had x-rays that evening, and has grudgingly hobbled around on crutches ever since.  It hasn't slowed him down much, just changed the way he does things.  He jokingly told the missionaries that he broke his foot when he landed awkwardly after dunking the basketball like LeBron James.  They got a kick out of that.

Friday evening, we helped the Clark's host dinner for the Paniqui bishops and stake presidency and their wives at the mission home.  Sunday, we made another trip to Manila delivering sick missionaries to the MRC. Not long after we got home, we got called to the emergency room because two of our sister missionaries and some ward members were hit by a trike.  One sister had a concussion and bruises, the other sister was unhurt, but the young woman ward member had a skull fracture and broken bones in her face.  She faces a long recovery.  It could have been much worse.  So, after a long day of travel and three hours in the emergency room, we came home and fell into bed.

 Yesterday we traveled back to Cabanatuan to attend a zone activity at a bowling alley, which as one American elder put it, the most "ghetto" thing he's ever done.  The balls were the size of shot puts with no holes for your fingers, and the pins half the size of regular pins.  The bowling alley was very old and dilapidated and the pins were set and the balls returned manually by real people.  A-mazing.

We leave you with a thought from President Nelson we used in our workshop; his definition of enduring to the end: "Does that mean inhaling and exhaling until we can't anymore"? No! it means the endowment and the sealing ordinances of the temple."  ("Begin with the End in Mind", 2014 New Mission President's Seminar)

Mahal Kita
Elder and Sister Whiting

Jeepney of the Week

Angeles Mission Zone Conference Pictures

The largest snail we've ever seen--about six inches from tip to tip

President and Sister Clark posing with a missionary who understands.

Tending the bishop's son while they ate dinner. Missing the grandkids.

Our neighbor Richard had to show Elder Whiting that he has the same hairdo.

Ghetto bowling with Cabanatuan Zone.  Elder Fillmore shows the size of the ball and his cool bowling attire.

Setting the pins and returning the balls by hand.

Cabanatuan Zone Activity. Bowling! It (we) are so HOT!