Manila Hotel/Bamboo Organ/San Pablo Mission PA Training

 We had a wonderful adventure today on our way to our Public Affair training

ui in San Pablo. We went to the Manila Hotel, on Manila Bay.

 We had hopes of seeing the MacArthur Suite and we were lucky enough to have

 our very owe personal tour guide!

 The suite was beautiful and anyone can stay stay there for about $2500 a night! 

This is the MacArthur wall of fame!

Loved the master bedroom and no we are not sitting on the bed! Just a little bench!

Outside the hotel, with a view of Manila Bay

 in the background!

All of the employees at the hotel 

wore beautiful clothing!

Our next stop was the Bamboo Organ at St. Joseph's in Las Pinas. They had a little museum

 where we could play some bamboo pipes. The Priest who built the organ was so 

knowledgeable in so many things. They actually "cured the bamboo" in the 

ground before making them into the organ pipes.

This is the actual organ that was built almost 200 years ago and then sent to

 Germany in 1971to be restored. It really sounded beautiful especially the 

special stop that made the sound of a bird.

After a horrible traffic jam and being lost and having to turn around a few times, we found

 Mama Nitze's Resort! We were treated royally. They made just a wonderful chicken dinner 

with rice and fruit. They had the four of us eat first, so they knew that we had plenty then 

these seven lovely people ate the leftovers.

After a nice long visit with 

Mama Nitz, 

our Public Affairs Director in Cabuyao 

Stake,we played a little pool, then sat 

in her pool, natural warm springs, 

before retiring to bed.

                                                                        

AFTER I made the shot, they told me the rule states that you must have 

one foot the floor at all times!!!

 

We had a wonderful training for the
San Pablo Mission, Public Affairs
leaders. Members from four of
six stake attended! 

                                                                              

This picture was taken a year ago at our training! It was wonderful to see some 

of the same faithful members! We love them!

 And we had good food, too! Jan, next to last is a chef for a cruise liner! 

Next to him is Maddy his 14 year old daughter, then May his wife.
 Jan and May are named for the months they were born!!! 

Tita Nitz Resort with Nitz and Edna! Thank you for everything!

As we left, Nitz had one more surprise for us. She took us to see Jose Rizal's some
 which has now been rebuilt. This was an original picture. Dr. Rizal is one of the
 greatest national heros.

Church in the Philippines - Video

 We have hired a crew to make a video - the Church in the Philippines!

 EJ makes last minute plans with Haidi!

 Didn't think the Manila Temple could be any more beautiful than from 

the front door of the POA. Then we got to go up on the roof!

Spectacular!!!

Elder DuPaix is pretty handsome, too!

This is the MTC from the roof of  the PAO. Our apt. complex is the orange high rise in the background.

This is Mark preparing to speak in our video.

Dina, works at the POA. Wouldn't you love to work in her office. The Temple is seen 

right outside her window! She also is one of our Multi-Stake Public Affairs assistants.

This is Felvir's darling family. They had us over for FHE and we taped it for the video.

The boys were so shy, but so cute! They sang for us and even shared some scripture 

their grandpa helped them memorize.

Tondo - National Day of Service 2013

 Our National Day of Service began early as we met with the 

Manila South Multi-Stake.

Elder Baily, Dina, Haidi, Sis. DuPaix and Sis. Bailey.

 Each of the Stakes in the Multi-Stake area gathered together for their individual pictures.

 We met at the KKK Monument! We weren't quite sure what that meant but 

we found it stood for but the last word is Katipunan and it represents and 

upraising against the Spanish.

 Elder and I got to meet Mayor Lim. He came out and spoke to us before 

we started the service project.

 After the Major spoke to us, we all got in vans, jeepnees, and car and had a caravan to 

Tondo to do our service. We actually had a police escort!

 Tondo is a very poor area where there are shacks and tenement housing built on a 

garbage dump. We meet at the "Field of Dreams" as we organized to plant trees around 

the field. This is the one area where they can have some recreational play. Unfortunately, 

there is still broken glass on other garbage in the ground here. Our ground planted 

about 100 trees and their leaders have committed to water them!

 About half of us walked through the town to do another project. This part is pretty bad. 

They still bring the garbage here and it is sorted so some can be reclaimed and recycled.

 Behind me and the little shops is a mountain of garbage. It is just layer upon

 layer with some trees beginning to grow on it. We don't know how

 many years ago it began.

 Our other project was to bring lunch to these 300 little children. They were gathered 

in a small hall and sitting on the floor in straight lines. It was sweltering and 

with very little ventilation.  They were very well behaved and happy to get the 

meals that we partnered with McDonald's to provide for them.

 Other people in our group cleaned the patio area outside of the hall, pulling weeds 

and sweeping. The man in the orange shirt is Jib. He plays the piano almost

 every week for our devotionals in the Area Office. He says he only learned how to

 play chords so he doesn't read music very well but he can turn a regular hymn into a 

solo number with those beautiful open chords!

After the children had lunch, they set up a little movie for them and then gave

 them a toy and some new slippers! Many of the children saved part of their 

lunches to take home and share with their families.

 Elder and Sister DuPaix with some of the children and their "loot" bags!

The DuPaix's and the Bailey's with some of our great local public affairs leaders!

It was a great day!

Wheelchairs for San Pablo

We had the wonderful experience of going with the Hadlocks from Humanitarian and

 the Statons from Wheelchairs, to take some wheelchairs to a couple of 

Hospitals in San Pablo.

We got the chairs unpacked and assembled

as the Hospital Administration came to greet us.

Elder and Sis. Staton even talked their mental health specialist into taking the first ride!

We had to enter from the basement then go up ramps from floor to floor as there are 

no elevators in this hospital. We asked about the actual need for the wheelchairs 

and we were told that that already had two (for the whole hospital) and they

 were in disrepair! They said these chairs would mainly be used for taking 

emergency patients to the floors for inpatient care.

We were taken on a tour of the hospital where we found 8 to 12 little beds in the wards. 

In maternity, each new mom just keeps her baby in her bed and cares for it herself. 

The babies are so beautiful!

They took us up on top of the hospital where we say the most beautiful views of the 

Laguna and this Mount in the background!

We then went to a fairly new hospital and again found a great need for wheelchairs 

and many other things.

They have one room where people must wait after they come into the 

emergency room, to be monitored for 24 hours before they can be admitted. 

They have two beautiful surgical suites but no instruments to do the surgery. 

They have a whole wing that is just waiting to be filled with equipment so it can be used. 

There are so many needs!

We had a wonderful young guide who took us to the hospitals and afterward 

he showed us where he worked as a manage for this little resort. It is right on the 

Laguna and is beautiful!

The Statons, the Hadlocks, the DuPaix's - sharing a wonderful day of giving!