The Birds Fly!

We knew the time was growing short for Elder and Sis. Bird's stay in the 

Philippines as the parties and "One last time" things began!

We were delighted to be invited to Janis and Doug's home for a lovely dinner. 

What gracious hosts they are!

Of course we had that last shopping trip to Mega Mall. We at least learned where the Valet parking was and how to take advantage of it! We also found Kultura!



Sis. Bird had been dying to try those Brownies and finally got a special sample pack.

Elder and Sis. Bell hosted our "Pioneer Missionary" farewell party. 

Sis. Hardick, Sis. Bird, and Sis. Bell will all be gone by the end of Jan.

It was a great party but we almost broke the elevator with our LOAD!

L. side - E. Hadlock, E. Bird, E. DuPaix, S. Bird.

R. back - E & S. Hardick R. front - S. French, S. Hadlock, E. French

Finally, our office party farewell!

Haidi gave them a special plaque and certificate and we had our "batch" picture taken!

Elder Bird was so excited to turn the car keys over to Elder DuPaix, 

"without ever having an accident"! 

We drive their car only a few weeks and a bus ran into us!!!

On the way home from the office we made one last stop at Green Hills and of course, bought one last Rolex watch for the Elders and Sis. Bird!

We drove past Chili's where we had a fun dinner with Kim Farah from SLC and where we bought the most expensive chips and salsa we have ever eaten!

We did stop for one last chicken salad at California Pizza, though!

 Five am came early as we went to the "Bird's" apt. one last time to help them 

get their luggage down and loaded in the van to head to the airport!

The heaven's wept as we said our farewells!

At least one Sister was weeping as we said our last, 

"Harrah for Israel!"

Thanks Elder and Sister Bird for all you taught us!

We love you!!!

Trip to Clark and Subic

 Sept. brought our first trip out of Manila. The Bird's needed one last adventure before they returned to Utah! The Philippines are actually green and beautiful and not just full of skyscrapers and cars! We could hardly believe this road - one car???
We headed to Subic Bay and Clark Air force Base. The scenery was beautiful with the rice patties, sudden peaked mountains and some strange water paths that looked cool!

 We decided to hit the wild life park. Zoobic was fun! We were on a pretty fast-paced tour which kept us moving and out of there in under two hours!








 We rode on a tram which moved us from one area to another. The lions and tigers were beautiful but they didn't smell very good! Our guide warned us not to get "sprayed" as the smell lingers for a couple of days! There were many varieties of birds - besides the ones we brought! There were many crocodiles but very few monkeys. At least we got a picture of a carabao - even though the ones in the zoo were gold. The ones we see working in the fields are always black. 

Our first adventure was to try to feed the animals. "Hey, Lady! Keep your fingers out of that camel's mouth!"

 All the children were feeding the baby goats so we gave it a try, too!  Those little piggies were almost climbing into my lap trying to get a drink. "Whoa! Can't you feed one of these babies, Sis. Bird?"

 That was fun but we had to move on. NOW, shades of Jurassic Park! They LOCKED us in this nice TIGER BUS and we drove into a fenced area to feed the tigers. (Of course, we had to buy the raw chicken to feed them!) He knows we have goodies and here he comes. We just didn't know that our guide would be throwing the chicken on the roof of the bus for the tiger to JUMP up and eat! That's when we were glad the WE were in a cage!!!

 Zoobic came to an end and we headed to Subic Bay. We were excited to see the ships
and the sea but the weather had different plans. We were grateful that it held off until we
left the Zoo, but suddenly the heavens opened and it began to pour. When the roads started
to flood we decide it was time to head for higher ground and we drove back to
 Clark Air force Base.  

We stayed at a very nice Holiday Inn. They didn't quite understand 

"Elder DuPaix" on the reservation though!!!

The pool was pretty but too cold to swim in.  Larry, the lifeguard,
(really, that was his name!) 

was so nice and as we visited with him, we found that he was a member.
He said the missionaries were coming to visit with his wife!
 Roger said I should also tell you about Harry, 

the hotel manager but that was not his real name, so I won't!
The best part of the hotel, beside the really nice bed and pillows,
was the all-you-can-eat buffet! It was International 

night and we found everything from steak to crab, soup to pastries!
Even found some GF goodies!

 Sat. morning on our way back to Manila, we stopped at Clark Veterans Cemetery.

It was along the way of the Bataan Death March. What a terrible part of history we have 

learn more about. This cemetery was damaged by shrapnel during the Japanese invasion.

 The Cemetery was further damaged when Mt. Pinatubo erupted in 1991. It has been

 cleaned and is a nice monument to those who gave their lives.  They have a guard there

 to protect the area.

Mt. Pinatubo is located just behind the clouds. It looks as though it's top was blown off. 

Wish we could have gotten a picture. It is amazing.

Family Week and Family History Exhibits

September was a busy month as it is "Family Week". There was too much to be
containedin one week so it turned into "Family Month"! Elder DuPaix quickly
learned how tosend out displays, AND how to get them back because you have to
send a separate orderfor the forwarders to do the work. It all went smoothly though! 
We were involve in severalmajor events. Cavite held the first Family History Exhibit
of the month in their SM Mall.
We, Haidi, and the Birds all went up to celebrate the event.

Elder and Sister Bird and Elder and Sister DuPaix wearing our new
"Mormon Helping Hands" polos!

There was a parade early in the days a kids from several schools marched in it! 

 They all wore their school colors and looked so cute!

The parade was follow by a program. Our Public Affairs director, Haidi, was asked,

spur of the moment, to address the crowd!  She did a great job! After the speakers, 

a group of youth from one of the Wards did a Filipino dance.

The Exhibit open with a ribbon cutting and was well attended. They had computers 

available so people could actually look up their ancestors and these folks were the
 main support group!

Before we left the mall,
Elder Bird even found 

a great sign for him and
 Elder DuPaix!

Our next event was the actual Family Week Celebration which was hosted this year by 

our own city, Mandaluyong! Haidi met us and the Birds during the Parade then we
went to the city center for a wonderful program!

There were VIP's from government, lots of speakers, musical performances and 

they gave some presentations to outstanding families.

My favorite dance was this "Bird" dance performed by a group of deaf dancers. 

They were so graceful, that they really looked like birds in flight. 

Very beautiful.

Our mayor - Benhur Abalos. He gave a great presentation on the accomplishments 

of the people of our city.

Next activity was our Family History Exhibit at the Mall of Asia - 

the biggest Mall in the Philippines.

They also had a parade and exhibit opening but Elder and I

 only got to go for a short time.

We worked with DSWD and Famnet to plan our first annual
National Family Conference. 

It was held in the Buendia Chapel and everyone was so impressed with our facility. 

They couldn't believe that this chapel is 50 years old, the first LDS Chapel 

built in the Philippines!

We did a presentation on being prepared and talked about 72 hour kits. We worked
really hard to fill these backpacks with everything that was needed, then we
gave them away! What a GRAND PRIZE!

We got to one last event held in the Fairview Mall. We met up with Elder and Sis. Hatch 

who are our Family History missionaries - specialists for the whole Philippines.  

They are away training more than they are here at our Family History Center!

 We were there for the ribbon cutting to open up the exhibit and they asked 

Elder DuPaix and Elder Hatch to help their honored guests.

We are very excited about the Family History Exhibits as that will be our big 

emphasis in 2013 and we hope to have many exhibits all around the Philippines.

 For more information about Family History and The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints, you may check out:
MormonNewsroom.ph
or go to:

http://www.mormonnewsroom.ph/article/family-history-library

 http://www.mormonnewsroom.ph/article/lds--rotary-showcase-family-history-exhibit-in-sm-malls

http://www.mormonnewsroom.ph/article/church-features-family-history-exhibit-in-sm-taytay