Elder and Sister Whiting in the Philippines: 100 Islands and Commuting by Trike

While everyone back home is shivering through winter, we are enjoying unusually cool weather for the Philippines. Although it's not cold by any stretch of the imagination, it has been quite comfortable. We hope it lasts another month or so.

Since the car we are driving was in the shop last week, we commuted to the office via trike. We learned firsthand that trikes are built for Filipinos, not Americans. Each day we would go out to the road and flag down an empty trike, then wedge ourselves into the sidecar and off we went! Outside of the bubble of the car, we got an up close and personal view of life in the Philippines; the sights, the sounds, and the smells. We were not thrilled when one morning our driver took us past the "Wet Market" where they sell fish and other cuts of meat from all parts of the animal. It smelled horrible. We were glad when all we could smell again was exhaust fumes! Haha! We were happy when we got word the car was finished a day earlier than promised. Although it was a fun experience, we are glad we didn't have to commute by trike our entire mission.

Tuesday, we took a P-Day. We went with all of the senior couples to the coast to Hundred Island National Park. We drove from the Angeles Mission through the Urdaneta Mission and the area where Elder Clark from our home ward is serving. We didn't see any missionaries, but we saw several LDS chapels. When we got to Hundred Island we rented a motorized outrigger and took a tour of these beautiful volcanic islands which have been carved into interesting shapes by the tide. They are located in the Lingayen Gulf of the South China Sea, where U.S. forces returned to the Philippines during WW2 to help liberate the country from the Japanese. It was a fun day of sightseeing and socializing with the wonderful senior couples we serve with.

On Friday, Elder Whiting made a loop through Mabalacat and Angeles doing various mission tasks, and last night we made an emergency trip to Capas to fetch a very homesick missionar back to Tarlac for some counsel and TLC. Yesterday morning we watched the worldwide missionary broadcast with the Tarlac Zone. It was fun to see first hand the reactions of the missionaries as they learned of the changes in their schedules and reporting of key indicators. Some didn't quite know how to take the news.

We continue to prepare for the arrival of Elder and Sister Richards, who will be here in just over a week. We look forward to meeting them and getting them trained in their duties in the short time we have with them.

We leave you today with the words of a hymn that has been running through our minds:

"The time is far spent, there is little remaining ..." --Hymn #266--

Mahal Kita,
Elder and Sister Whiting