25 April 2015

I was sitting here taking it easy and it suddenly dawned on me that it is Saturday and time to do another Blog post.  And we are busy this afternoon so I need to get on with it quickly.

I recall from General Conference a talk by a member of the 70 which I wanted to comment on.  It was a talk given by Elder Jose A Teixeira who is from Portugal.  When we were in Germany, he was the European Area President and we met him when he visited a Stake Conference in Munich.  In fact, the Stake Presidency was being reorganized and as I was on the High Council at the time, I was interviewed by Elder Teixeira for my thoughts on a new Stake President.  It was a very interesting experience and weekend with him while visiting the Munich Germany Stake.  His talk in General Conference had some very good advice for us in this technological world that we live in and I want to share that with you quickly.  He recommends 3 Habits that will help us "deepen our understanding of the Lord in our lives" and "help us share this understanding with the rising generation".  The habits are: 1. Visit the Church's website for resources; 2. Subscribe to the Church's Official Social Networks; and 3.Make time to set aside your mobile devices.  This may seem more like recommendations to our children than to us but I notice adults as well as kids with their cell phones out during Sacrament meeting.  It is also a problem even here in the Philippines (if they own a cell phone).  I have seen several of our own children sitting together on the couch and all on their phones - No one really talking to each other.  I think the recommendations are great.  There is a place for our technology and we love having it when it works.  The church has great material for us and it will benefit us to be part of what is there.  But let's put down the devices and talk to each other.

The 5 students we tested

The weeks are getting pretty common place for us and not much happening that is different from the previous weeks.  So, I am going to report on only the things that are somewhat different or unusual. There is a YSA member who works for a company that provides English Tutoring services to Japanese clients. She asked us a couple of weeks ago if we would come and test the English of the employees providing the tutoring.  We agreed and they picked us up last Saturday with a taxi and took us to their office which was pretty humble and we tested 5 individuals.

The entire staff at the Tutoring center.

 The questions were already written on a paper and all we had to do was ask the question, listen to the response and give them an evaluation along with a score.  The people were all very apprehensive about us and we could tell they were so nervous.  Many had never spoken with Americans before and, of course, all were worried about their English.  But by the time we were done, they loved us and want us to come back again.  It was a very fun time and we were able to give them an understanding of why we are here in the Philippines and a little about the church.  We have been so well accepted by everyone when we have a chance to talk to them.

The first part of the week was spent in making cookies with Sister Missionaries, feeding Elders and the really fun part was when Sister Hoopes took lunch (BBQ Pork with homemade buns) to the Facility Management team whose office is in the church house next to us.

The Sisters enjoying their chocolate cake!

Elders are always ready for lunch, breakfast or dinner.

Bishop left and 1st Coun in Mission Presidency center.
All three make up the FM Group here in Naga.  They were so thrilled to be
remembered.  In fact, they said they last had BBQ in 1995 when a couple
shared some with them.

Eggs being delivered who knows where!

Sister Reeder gave us a coconut which had the outer green layer chopped off by a machete.  Then they had made a hole and we drank out the Coconut milk.  It is clear and very good.  But the inside is different than we are used to.  This is a "young" coconut and the meat inside is very soft.  Here it is being dug out by a spoon.  It is not very thick  and is actually very good.  We have had this served in a restaurant in a "Chopsuey" dish that we like a lot.  The brown shell of the coconut here is also soft.  We are used to them hard and this one would be like that if left to mature.

We have also discovered Mango's.  Here are two and they are very large.  This picture shows the ingredients for our Mango Shake.  The empty blue bottle on the left side had Buko Loco in it or coconut milk.  We added banana, mango and some protein powder.  It makes a very tasty and we think, healthy meal.