Earth Day - April 22, 2013

 It was a beautiful morning as we went to Quezon Center to celebrate Earth Day 2013!

 There is a huge monument in the middle of Quezon City. 

Five major roadways enter on to the circle.

 Mark Longoria with his two sisters. He was the representative for the Church

 in the prayer meeting and sang "The Lord's Prayer." It was beautiful.

 Back at our exhibit tent we were making new friends! They were manufacturing hydrogen fuel!

 We made friends with lots of cute kids because we played a bean bag game and 

they got to win a whistle or a flashlight!

 After they hit the basket with a bean bag and got their prize, we also gave them 

pamphlets to teach them about the importance of having 72-hour kits for emergencies.

 Everyone likes to have their pictures taken with the "Palefaces!"

 The little ones also wanted to be part of the drawing for the 72-hour kits!

 They provided a nice vegetarian lunch! Only one problem - it was in a styrofoam container!

 The day got hotter and hotter! After we gave away our prizes, we didn't have many 

visitors to our booth. Neither did anyone else! Therefore, the Healers behind 

Elder and Sister Bailey gave us all massages! It was great!

 There was entertainment in the afternoon and we enjoyed watching the beautiful 

dances that were performed.

 Mark came and sang for the program again in the afternoon. He set a great tone 

for the Church to give away three 72-hour kits!

Elder DuPaix was a great MC and showed a lot of enthusiasm and excitement 

for the drawings!

It was a great day for all!

72-Hour Kits - Bulong Pulungan

 A great idea turned into a lot of work but was so successful and opened many doors! 

Haidi thought we should start at the top to teach about preparedness and the 

importance of 72-hour kits. We started with the media and gave the kits as 

tokens at their April meeting of Balung Palungan.

 Vaun helped us with the first part of putting all the little things for the kit 

together in one little bag.

 We made an assembly line in the conference room and went to work!

 Kits were filled with water, noodles, meat, crackers, candy, hygiene kits and whistles!

70 72-hour kits! Great work and we didn't even crush the crackers!

 Janis and Doug McAllister were among the guests at Bulong Pulungan, where a 

lovely luncheon was held.She is our Branch R.S Pres. and he is in our Branch Presidency.

 Haidi with Sister and Elder Farnsworth

 Sister and Elder Bailey

 Elder and Sister DuPaix

 Our Public Affairs Missionary couples with Natalie!

Beautiful background at Hotel Sofitel!

April Conference Weekend

April Conference weekend arrived right on scheduled, a week after Conference in SLC!

We met at the temporary mission home - lovely sun room!

It is the best experience to watch conference with a room full of your 

friends and fellow missionaries!

Ferrins, Frenches, Statons in the rear and Elder DuPaix up front. Waiting to begin!

Jo, the DeLaMare's helper and Ben, their son! 

He has pretty much been a son to all of us here!

Sat. we enjoyed a Soup and Salad lunch! 

Everyone brought something and we are great cooks!

Jensen's are the main couple you see - Tabor Canada!

 The Hulls, the Farnsworths and the Baileys

 Sis. DeLaMare, the Frenches, the Jensens and Pres. DeLaMare

 The Fonbuenas, Sis. DuPaix, the Statons, the Harrises and the Enderleys.

 Elder and Sis. Jackson! He is our Mission Medical Dr. and they are from Fillmore!

He said he cared for everyone from"the womb to the tomb"!

Sun. again we had a wonderful Conference and meal. Sis. Baileyand I made 

Yummy Potatoes - mine GF! We were fill both spiritually and physically!

Picture Perfect X-ray Signing

This is one of the articles we wrote for MormonNewsroom.ph

LDS Charities (LDSC) representatives met with doctors from the Quirino Memorial Medical Center earlier this month at the Manila Philippines Area Office (MPAO) of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to arrange for the donation of an x-ray machine to their hospital. Medical Center Chief, Dr. Angeles T. De Leon, together with several senior staff members of the hospital visited with Benson Misalucha, the Area Welfare Service Manager, and other humanitarian missionaries who represented LDSC.
Elder Hadlock, LDSC Country Director, shared information on the humanitarian projects in the Philippines.  He also talked of the six global initiatives: emergency response, clean water projects, vision care, wheelchair training and distribution, neonatal resuscitation training, and food production. Elder Hadlock excitedly announced that in partnership with the World Health Organization, they have inoculated children in the Philippines against polio.
Elder Hadlock also spoke on the cheerful and happy dispositions of medical personnel at the hospital upon their visit and gratefully  spoke of their wonderful attitude of service.  Dr. De Leon responded and said, “We have 350 beds in our facility but intake of patients is from 700 to 900. There are often three or more patients to a bed. We are under staffed and over worked, yet the nurses and aides are happy and productive.”

The highlight of the day was the signing of the Deed of Donation and Acceptance document.  Dr. De Leon said, “This x-ray machine will be a great asset to our hospital since we do around 120 x-rays per day."   After the signing, the guests then viewed the the x-ray machine that will soon be used in their hospital.
They were then hosted for a tour of the Area Office,  the Manila Temple and the Philippines Missionary Training Center (MTC). Ms. Luz Padua, the Chief Nurse at Quirino said, “This place is very, very clean and organized. Everything  is safe, secure and very peaceful.” Another administrator from the hospital said, “I just wish we could have some of your facilities be the annex to our hospital!”

The morning event ended with a luncheon and visit among hospital staff and LDS Charities administrators. As the guests prepared to leave, they extended an invitation for LDS Charities to be with them as they commemorate 60 years of service by August of this year.
LDS Charities was created to follow the admonition of Jesus Christ and help others who are in need. Elder Hadlock said of this x-ray machine donation, “We found that there was a great need and this will be a wonderful resource for the Quirino Memorial Medical Center. This partnership is a perfect fit.”

Elder and Sis. DuPaix, Sis. Ferrin, Elder and Sis. Bailey

The Ferrin's are our Area IFR couple. 

Their office is where the z-ray machine 

is being kept!

Taal - Wonderful day of Adventure!

 Today we had a major adventure as we went to Tagaytay. Haidi had a 

Famnet Conference so we and the Baileys went along to do some sightseeing!

 Above the trees here, you can see Taal Lake with the volcano rising above it!

We dropped Haidi off at this Convent for her conference and we left for our adventure!

Finally, our very first ride in a 

Jeepney. It was much smaller

 than we thought! 

We were very cozy!

Sis. Bailey and Robert our driver. He took very good care of us all day! He was actually

 the driver that picked us up at the airport when we first arrived in the Philippines and 

helped us get our driver's licenses. He is a good friend to us!

 From high on a mountain, looking across to the volcano over Roger's left shoulder!

 From the highs to the lows! We made a quick descent to the lake. We needed

 to take a boat across Taal Lake to Taal volcano. We waited in the 

nipa hut while arrangements were made.

 We found a group who had life preservers on their catamarans!!!

 

 

 We arrived safe and sound on the 

other side after about 20 mins!

Then it was time for our next adventure! 

Ride to the top of the Volcano on some

 cute little Filipino ponies!!

 

Their owners walked by our side the 

whole way up, with the horse pulling 

them part of the way. The horses only 

make three trips up the mountain a 

week so they aren't over worked.

 Finally at the top! A lake inside the volcano to Roger's right and 

Taal Lake to Edie's left

 Such a beautiful sight! An island within a lake in an island(Taal Volcano), 

within a lake(Taal), on an island(The Philippines)

Hope you can make sense of that one!!!

 It was extremely hot! I thought we were going to fry!

Elder DuPaix rode on a 

little horse named Emily!

Sister DuPaix on Black Wind!

 We ended the day with a fun visit to the Puzzle Mansion!

This lady is the Guinness Book of World Record holder for putting puzzles together!

 We are standing in front of her largest puzzel!