CSP

It has been a busy and eventful week for us, full of long days and new experiences. On Wednesday we drove over to Cabanatuan very early, to finish preparing the house for Elder and Sister Dansie. We got back to Tarlac just in the nick of time as they arrived a couple of hours later. We showed them around the mission office and did an orientation with them.  Thursday, they were able to sit in on District Leader Training and the Trainer/Trainee meeting, as well as the pre-transfer staff meeting on Friday morning.  After that meeting, they followed us over to Cabanatuan to their home for the next year.  Sister Dansie is the driver and Elder Dansie is the navigator, and they did pretty well for their first experience of driving in the Philippines.  At President Clark's request, we handed over the car that we had been driving to them, and we are now driving a new Toyota Corolla with just 5,000 kilometers on it.  In the States, we would be excited to be driving such a nice car, but it is just stressful to drive it here. Already we have had to slam on the brakes so hard the tires were screeching to miss a trike that cut in front of us, and then again for a dog. Then we almost got broadsided by a motorcycle--all in the three days we have been driving this nice car. We will do our best to protect this new car. It'll be tough!

Friday evening, we had dinner with the Bongabon District leadership in Cabanatuan.  Bongabon District is where the Dansie's will be spending most of their time, so it was good to have them there and to be introduced to the leadership they will be working with.  After the dinner, we led them back to their apartment, in the dark, and left them on their own to learn about the Philippines.

Sister Whiting was asked by Sister Clark to help teach at the first ever visiting teaching convention of the San Jose, Philippines Stake, which is located about two hours north of Tarlac. Visiting teaching is a challenge here because the sisters really don't know what it is or how to do it.  The San Jose Stake relief society asked  us to teach it--for TWO HOURS--on about a week's notice!!  Ahhh! With Sister Clark's extremely busy schedule, it was a challenge to organize the event. But with a lot of phone calls between us and late night preparation, we were able to put together a nice program, including a Powerpoint presentation, getting to know you activities, and a refrigerator magnet and treat.  To illustrate how pinched for time we were, while Sister Clark drove to San Jose Saturday morning, Sister Whiting sat in the back of the car and tied the magnet and treat together with ribbon--100 of them!  But with a lot of prayer and guidance from the Holy Ghost, we did it!  The presentation went well, and the sisters were so appreciative.  At the end of the conference, they presented us with a certificate of appreciation with all of the pomp and circumstance of the Oscars.  After the meeting was over, we must have spent 15 minutes having our picture taken with various groups of sisters--pictures which are surely all over Facebook by now!  There were about 80 sisters in attendance who now know what a visiting teacher is and how to visit teach. On the way home Sister Whiting and Sister Clark celebrated by stopping at a creamery and eating ice cream made from Carabao milk.  It was very rich and delicious.

Meanwhile, Elder Whiting attended  a baptism at the Tarlac stake center, and manned the office.  When Sister Whiting got back, he informed her that we had been invited to give a presentation at a mini MTC activity the local ward mutual was doing--in one hour! Elder Whiting had known about it for a week, but thought Sister Whiting wouldn't be back from San Jose in time, so he didn't mention it.  She didn't know anything about it until the office elders told her it was time to start.  But it turned out okay.  Sister Whiting  just talked about a couple of things from Preach My Gospel and bore her testimony.  We went home soon after and crashed. (Us, not the new car!)

Sunday, we attended the Burgos Branch Conference, which was packed because the stake leaders AND the group from Pisapungan were in attendance.  The group had all crowded into a jeepney and made the drive in to the chapel for the conference.  The chief and his wife, who Elder Whiting had baptized, were thrilled to see us, and gave us big hugs and jabbered at us in Ilocano while we nodded and smiled. After the meeting they had a "linger longer" Filipino style.  They call it CSP--chika chika, snack snack, picture picture.  Chika chika means gossip, so CSP means to gossip while you eat and take pictures.  Haha!

Whenever food is involved, we try to slip out so that we don't have to eat because we are always nervous about the food served at these events.  It is authentic, and prepared way in advance in questionable sanitary conditions.  But we were literally trapped as the car was boxed in by other cars and jeepneys.  So we put on our brave faces and sat down to eat.  Soon, we had in front of us rice, pineapple chicken, pigs feet and greens, and goat intestines.  Sister Whiting refused the goat intestines and pigs feet and stuck to the rice and pineapple chicken, which was pretty good.  Elder Whiting got brave and ate the goat guts, and almost immediately regretted it as his teeth crunched down on gritty stuff. He came home and immediately downed a big Coke to hopefully kill any bugs.  We're pretty sure they hadn't cleaned out the intestines before they cooked them.  Ewww!

We finished off the day by driving to Angeles to pick up a departing missionary, taking him to the mission home where we had much better food for dinner.  Elder Whiting met with and settled the missionaries' financial accounts while Sister Whiting weighed and tagged their luggage. Today, we presented the departing workshop, which is so much fun and so emotionally draining. Transfer week is now in full swing.  Round and round we go!

We leave you with the words from the Primary song, "If the Savior Stood Beside Me". sung beautifully at the branch conference by a pretty little black eyed girl:

"If the Savior stood beside me, would I do the things I do?
Would I think of His commandments and try harder to be true?
Would I follow His example, would I live more righteously?
If I could see the Savior standing nigh, watching over me?
If the Savior stood beside me, would I say the things I say?
Would my words be true and kind if He were never far away?
Would I try to share the gospel?  Would I speak more reverently?
If I could see the Savior standing nigh, watching over me?
He is always near me, though I do not see Him there.
And because He loves me dearly I am in His watchful care.
So I'll be the kind of person that I know I'd like to be
If I could see the Savior standing nigh, watching over me.

Mahal ko kayo,
Elder and Sister Whiting

Jeepney of the Week

Elder Whiting helping get a high centered trike unstuck in a construction zone

Bongabon District leadership wives--Sister Whiting on the left, Sister Clark third from right,
and Sister Dansie on the right

Bongabon District Leadership--President Clark third from left, Elder Whiting second from right,
and Elder Dansie far right

The first ever San Jose Stake Relief Society Visiting Teaching Convention
Guest Teachers: Sister Clark and Sister Whiting 

San Jose Stake Relief Society Convention
Full time sister missionaries in San Jose
L-R: Sisters Rimano, Palang, Clark, Whiting, Canoy, and Perez

Sister Whiting teaching at the San Jose Stake Relief Society Convention

Presentation of Certificate of Appreciation
Sisters Clark and Whiting in the middle

Sister Whiting at the Carabao Research Center Creamery
Carabao ice cream is rich and creamy!

This container truck was trying to go down a tiny alley road.
He might still be there!

Elder Whiting and his goat guts dinner