13 June 2015

I mentioned last week that Sister Hoopes was helping with a piano recital that was in our church next to the mission office.  A sister from another ward has been teaching piano lessons for the past 2 months, during their summer break.  She wanted to do a recital and requested Sister Hoopes to help and include the youth that she is teaching.  It was last Saturday and it turned out to be a very interesting day.

An interesting day, because ....it was all very Filipino! Here is the story as told by Sister Hoopes.

Sis Brines left and Gia on the right took lessons from me

 It started a couple of weeks ago when I was asked by Sister Brines to help with the recital. We had worked together a little throughout the last couple of months.  I checked with our Bishop to ensure that there were no other activities for the planned day.  There were none and then the original date got changed by the Stake which wanted it later so that it could be announced in the wards and get a lot of people there to support the piano recital and to encourage others to learn.  So, we moved it to last Saturday from 3-5 PM.  I talked to the Bishop and the building was clear. I said to him, "No meetings, no baptisms, no primary.  No meetings between 3&5".  He said OK.  We were at a members home on

Thursday night before the recital and Elder Hoopes was told that there was to be a Family History training for all of the stakes and Districts in the mission on Saturday afternoon. He asked where it was going to be held and was told in the Panganiban Chapel - conflicting with our recital. He called me over to talk to the Brother and I told him flat out that the chapel had been scheduled for the recital and it is the only room with a piano.  He said that he had not checked with anyone before scheduling the meeting and would gladly hold it in a different room of the church. Saturday afternoon, as the primary children began arriving, we learned that there was a primary activity also scheduled for that afternoon

Bishops oldest daughter played well with both hands.
7 years old!

and so there were kids running around the building during the recital as well. I stood guard at the door, keeping the noise and the children out. We also heard there was a baptism scheduled and they were filling the font.  That really would have messed things up because the font is just off the chapel, separated by accordian sliding doors. but it was actually at 6 PM, later than our recital.  And, just to help you understand the Filipino way, the Stake President, who was supposed to speak at the recital, never did get there until after it was over, as he was at a CES meeting across town. The Family History meeting went on from 2-5.  In addition, the reason for changing the date was so that announcements could be made..... didn't make any difference because none of the Bishops announced it in the stake.

The final touch:  Kathlene didn't see Sister Brines for several days and wondered how things were going.  My wife had already agreed to put a program together and make up some certificates. On Thursday afternoon, we were running to the Presidents Home and we see her walking into the parking lot so we made an appointment for later.  They went over the program and talked about certificates.  We were going to meet the next afternoon but then Sister Brines didn't come.(It was raining cats and dogs)!  She had 1 student that was there for 3 or 4 hours waiting.  Kathlene was to finalize the program before press time. But NO ONE came. On Saturday morning Sister Brines asked about decorations but none of

Our bishop speaking in place of the Stake President

the Bishops had budgets for decorations so  Kathlene gave her some colored paper and some scissors to decorate.

On Saturday afternoon, one of the younger Sisters in the ward, who takes lessons from Sister Hoopes, offered to do a Power Point so  the kids names could be projected on the wall.  It was a nice way to introduce the kids and the songs.
Half of Kathlene's students canceled  the night before and I think 2 of the others students didn't show up.

The program did, however, turn out pretty good and there were some parents there.  Sister Brines had arranged for refreshments and the parents were proud and happy. So this recital was a big success in the Filipino way.

These are the Bishops 3 children.  The oldest played in the recital and the youngest I showed in a picture a few weeks ago.  She just turned 3. They are really beautiful little girls.

The rest of the week was pretty uneventful.  We went to Baao on Sunday at the request of Elder and Sister Watson.  Sister Watson was doing sharing time in Primary just to show the leaders and kids how it is supposed to work.  She asked for help from Sister Hoopes.  We had a great day there with them in their old rented house.  After Primary, Sister Hoopes was asked to give the lesson in Relief Society.  Go figure!

With all the English testing going on and Piano lessons, I have been much more domestic than is usual for me.  I have actually put clothes in the washing machine and dryer.  And I have been doing the dishes which is quite extraordinary, I think.

Next week is going to be huge with an Area Authority Seventy coming to spend several days.  Will let you know next week how we are involved and share what we learned.

All nice and clean again

Just this last thought:  I was in a Sunday School class on Sunday and it was in Tagalog, of course.  So, I was day dreaming a little but I realized I was being asked a question.  The teacher in English said, "Elder Hoopes, this Sister wants to know why the Lord lets good people be poor and the bad people have money". ?  My first question was, "Is that the lesson for today" because I thought it was totally something else? And secondly, why ask me the question but I thought, okay, I am going to give it to them good.  I asked, "Do you believe the prophets"?  If so, go read the talk by Elder D. Todd Christofferson from last October General Conference on Free Agency.  He tells us that men choose their own circumstances in life.  God will not make us anything that we do not by our actions choose to become.  So, there is the answer.  I doubt they understood it at all but an American Missionary came up to me afterwards to get the reference so he could print it and read it.  Good for him!

6 June 2015

This week was the same as last week so you can stop reading now if you want to.  We went to a WARD on Sunday; English tests on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday; a visit to a Zone Training on Thursday and office work on Friday.  So I am not going to give a run down of our days but a few little hi-lights of the week.

English Tests:  Continue to be a huge factor for us.  It is all on Sister Hoopes but it requires us to be here and it takes a considerable amount of time.  There are 35 missionaries going home in 3 weeks and there are 23 non-English speaking missionaries who need to take the test.  Each test takes nearly 1.5 hours by the time they do the pre-test; and get all the explanations, etc.  Some can go a little faster if they have been around and can get the explanations ahead of time.  Many have to come from distant areas of the mission and so they try to do the test when they are here for something else. Tuesday was a meeting for the Mission Leadership Council and many of them were here for that so there were several scheduled on Monday night and Tuesday night to accommodate them.  There are still about half left to do in the next 2 weeks.  Sister Hoopes is now discussing the need to study English and the value of the test as we go out to the various District Meetings and Zone Training along with her other concerns about health and cleanliness.

OUR WEDDING ANNIVERSARY:
Wednesday was our wedding anniversary.  We stayed home and ate stacked Enchiladas which is our favorite food here.  We can't buy anything that even approaches it so we chose to stay at home and fix that for our anniversary dinner.
We did get President and Sister Reeder in the afternoon to go with us to Shakeys where we each shared a Banana Split which was actually really good.



Language tidbit:  We were shopping this past week and some young person said to me, "Thank you, po".  Po is a word that is meant for respect which was nice but that is not the point of my thought here.  She said "thank you" and I responded with "bitte".  I should have said, you're welcome or something in Tagalog which I don't know but I said "bitte". Bitte is German for "you're welcome".  We both do this all the time.  Sister Hoopes is usually in Spanish. Our minds must be thinking that we need to respond in a foreign language so it grabs the most recent experience.  But why didn't I just come out with the English?  It is beyond me but I laughed about it for a while.

Saturday afternoon we drove to Pasacao, a little branch on the coast to attend a baptism we had been invited to by the Elders.  It is a nice drive and it was a beautiful day.  It is always fun to go to these baptisms.  We were surprised to have President and Sister Reeder show up there as well.  They had a couple of RM's with them (upper right on the photo) who had both worked in Pasacao and knew many of the people there.



MLS update:  Last Sunday we went to an actual Ward in the Naga Stake.  It is in Pili about a half hour away from us.  This Ward has had some real issues with a large number of members who are on the records but no one knows where they are.  We had been there about 2 months ago but they now have a new Bishop and we thought it would be a good time to go back and check in on them.  They sustained 2 YM to receive the Aaronic Priesthood in Sacrament meeting so when I had a chance to talk to the Bishop, I asked him, "How do you get the information on AP ordinations to your Ward Clerk so he can put it in the computer"?  He answered me saying, "I don't know".  When I asked if I could show him how to use the forms and where to get them, he got really excited.  I realized that this probably would have been another situation where ordinations take place but no record is kept. Happens every Sunday across the Mission and probably the country.  Maybe we made some small progress last Sunday.

Brother and Sister

We were invited to a members home on Thursday evening for the Homecoming of their daughter who just returned from the Mindanao Mission.  She is pictured with her brother who got back in March from Australia.  We mentioned this family a few months ago as a missionary family.  They still have a son in another Philippine mission.  He won't finish until next July.


CARS:  Church Automotive Reporting System
I will give an update on this if I ever get going good on it.  (The new reporting system I was trained on and mentioned last week)

The missionary family with us and the Reeders
and 2 Sister Missionaries

Thought for the week:  Some day I will need to describe the challenge of driving in this country.  At times, it is beyond anything you could imagine.  And yet, we see relatively few accidents and the traffic generally does move.  I have found myself getting really angry with the way drivers pass and cut in and I decided last Sunday that I am going to just take it easy and enjoy the ride.  Most of these people have grown up like this and cutting people off is how they drive.  At home, we are so proud and competitive that it makes us angry.  Here, it is their way of life.  If I can make this change in my life, I will be much happier; my blood pressure will be down to normal; and I will be much more in tune with the Lord's way.  Pray for me!!!

Baking cookies for 30 Missionaries at Zone Training

This is how they move a refrigerator in Naga.  Look close.

Just got in from a Piano recital which has been a big thing for my wife.  She played a solo, "A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief" which was just beautiful.  I will give more with pictures next week.  Otherwise next week will be more of the same but the following two weeks are huge.  We have a visiting Area Authority Seventy with a special request for dinner with the Senior Couples and a special twist for us (really Sister Hoopes)  and then transfers with 35 going home. (more next week or the week after)  We will have 2 days of Career Workshop training.  Although we love doing it, it is very draining.  

That's all folks!!!

The Elders took some pants to be fixed and this is
the bag the pants came back in

30 May 2015

This is starting to become a chore to write this every week.  The problem for me is two fold - it seems like I am sitting down to write this almost every other day; and that our weeks are all starting to be the same.  So, I will try to describe a little of the things that are different from the weeks previously and put in a few pictures.

Some of the District Leaders at Tuesday's meeting

President Reeder asked me to teach a section at the District Leader Training on Tuesday of this week. He invited both of us to come and spend the day with these leaders from the entire mission.  I think there were 26 or so District Leaders there along with the Assistants and us.  My assignment was to teach Section 3 of the Red Handbook (Handbook 2) which is, "Leadership in the Church of Jesus Christ".   I wondered about how to teach it because it is really focused on Leaders in a church Stake or Ward.  However, I quickly realized two things:  1.  That I am teaching these young men how the Lord wants them to lead in their current assignment as a District Leader and, 2.  That they will all go home eventually and will become the next generation of leaders in their Wards and Branches.  So, I decided to teach them right from the handbook and emphasize parts that affect them now and things they should remember for the future.  Another thing I quickly realized is how different the Lord's view of Leadership versus the world's view.  With that in mind, here are some thoughts...  "All Church leaders are called to help other people become true followers of Jesus Christ.  To do this, leaders first strive to be the Savior's faithful disciples, living each day so that they can return to live in God's presence.  Then they can help others develop strong testimonies and draw nearer to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ."  (Handbook)  A few more principles from the handbook teach that all leaders should prepare spiritually; participate in councils (I think this is really the Lord's way); learn how to minister to others; and teach the Gospel.  There is more but this is sufficient to show how the Lord does things.  I now see things so differently than I used to.  There is great wisdom in the scripture where the Lord says, "When thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren" (Luke 22:32)  That is how we are to lead in the church; in our families; and in our communities.  We need to work hard to become "true" followers of Christ.  Believe Him and Love Him by keeping His commandments. Then our job is do everything we can to help those around us.  This is what the Lord calls Leadership!

Last Sunday we were in the Pamplona branch and I met with the Branch President who is a man that I have talked about before on this blog.  I really love him.  He works 6 days a week with a small business and then has Sunday for all of his church work.  I presented to him Sunday some thoughts about how to improve his MLS (membership records) information gathering and data entry by the correct use of forms.  After talking to him about it, he said to me, "I can see that this is the Lord's way".  I really do love this man!  I find most of the Branch Presidents to be really good men but some catch the vision much quicker than others.  This one is great.  He just needs help because he has no time to do it all.  Maybe some week I can talk about some of the things we are doing here to help these Branch Presidents collect information and get it entered.

Sister Hoopes has been very involved with helping Sister Reeder with sick missionaries this past week.  There are so many problems here with so many different things.  We spent a good portion of the day on Monday visiting and working with a sick missionary.

The path to the missionaries living place.  It is behind the wall
on the left.

There is always something for us to do here.  I spent the morning yesterday being trained on the Church's new program to manage vehicles.  It is called CARS.  I don't remember what the acronym stands for but it is a complex management system for all the vehicles.  Since being assigned to be the vehicle coordinator, I have had to get much involved in knowing about and dealing with vehicle issues.  Thank goodness we only have 6 vehicles to manage.



I spent time this morning in a vehicle coordination meeting with all of the office Elders who drive the vehicles.  There has really been no records kept of oil changes or any maintenance on the vehicles.  That all changes now as we will be maintaining records on the computer.  It will require considerably more work for me but I actually enjoy it.  Monday is the first of June and I will have all the reports in and start entering the data that afternoon.  My big challenge will be getting access to the office computer since it is Monday and it is a big day for all the Elders to do their emails.

We are going to a baptism in Pasacao this afternoon.  The Elders saw us on Thursday at their district meeting and invited us specially to come.  Maybe they want Sister Hoopes to play the piano but whenever we go to these things, we are treated like royalty.  I am not kidding.  They act like it is some special thing to have us come. I don't understand it yet.

Until next week.

ps:  I received this early this morning from Elder Watson who is from Canada and is working in the Iriga area.  They have a house but have problems with power going out all the time.  I thought you might enjoy his note to me.

 Yesterday, after a really hot busy day we got home in the evening to no power, but that is expected, and no water.  When the water did finally come on they pressured about 3 miles of line without  bleeding it so when we turned on the taps we would get huge blasts of air…didn’t know that in time.  I desperately needed to do one load of wash to hold us until P-day.  I turned the water on manually into our  washer to fill the tub and blew the hose off the faucet.  Me and the room got a good soaking.   I finally filled buckets in the house and dumped them into the washer tub and did the wash that way.  When I see Jon Denver next I am going to sing his song about the sweet simple life down on the farm then punch him in the face!  If you find this incident funny in any way we are no longer friends!! 

Sorry but I did laugh a little.  Just glad it isn't us out there.

23 May 2015

This has been a busy, busy week.  A rundown by day follows:

Sunday: May 17 - Up early and on our way to Buhi with President Flores who is a councilor in the Mission Presidency and his wife.  Buhi is where the new chapel is being completed and we were informed that the first meetings were to be held there on the 17th.  President Reeder was speaking at a Stake Meeting in Goa and so could not go but President Flores asked if we could take him and his wife down.  It was a great day to be there and see the new building and be with the members and missionaries again.
There was a lot excitement and great turnout.  Usually they have about 80 to Sacrament Meeting.  Today about 160.

From the back of the new chapel before meeting started.  

At Buhi chapel with some members in front.

Monday: was Pday and get ready for the rest of the week.  It was a good day for me as I prepared myself for the career workshop on Tuesday.  Sister Hoopes was involved all day with the English testing.  All had to be finished that day because they were going home on Wednesday.

Career Workshop during a writing/thinking exercise.

Tuesday: Career Workshop which is nearly all day.  I will give more about this later but we went home for a couple of hours late afternoon and then back to the Mission Home to help clean up after the dinner.  Ate some leftover Chinese food and got home later that evening really tired.

Wednesday: Back to the Mission home to help with the processing of the 17 new missionaries which just arrived that morning.  We were there through lunch and then able to take a little time off.

These 10 Elders along with me and Elder Watson made a great Choir.

Thursday: On our way to Bato for a combined district meeting of Bato and Nabua districts.  The 10 Elders from these districts were asked to sing at a Funeral on Friday in Bato for a Sister Missionary who had died.  She is from Cotnogan which is a small branch near Bato.  She was serving in the Philippines Angeles mission which is in northern Luzon.  She just got very sick and died while serving there last week.  They think maybe a ruptured Gall Bladder. We practiced a song with the Elders and me with Sister Hoopes accompanying on the broken down piano.

Pres & Sis Ardern are in this picture along with the Reeders.
The family is also here with a picture of the missionary who died.

Friday:  Back to Bato for the funeral service which included the Area President, Elder Ardern and his wife who had flown into Naga the day before.  We stopped on our way and picked up the Watsons who wanted to go with us that day.  The Funeral started at 8:00 am and so we got up at 5;30 and were on the road about 6:30 in order to get there on time.  It made for a long day even though we got back in pretty good time that afternoon.  Sister Hoopes ended up playing the piano for everything including a choir of youth from Iriga.  They were planning to sing acapalla but that would not have been good.   Sadly, the piano didn't play the right note all the time and the pedal made noises but the music turned out very nice.

This young man volunteered to sing a solo part in our song.
I am thanking him for his service.

We see this mountain named Mayon which is an active volcano every time we go to Buhi.  It is usally covered by clouds.  This time we actually stopped and got a great picture.  It is just outside our mission so we will probably never get any closer than this shot.  You can see the smoke coming from the top of the cone.

My thought for this week is regarding the teaching of the missionaries in the Career Workshop.  I have mentioned before that we are trying to inspire each missionary and give them courage and knowledge about what the Lord desires for them both temporally and spiritually. We use the talk from Elder Todd Christofferson from last October as the basis.  I have never seen anything better.  It is a powerful message of how the Lord will work in our lives once WE choose what we want and ask Him.  We teach them how to show by their actions what they want to be or have.   One young man, a Philippino, came up and thanked me for the workshop.  He said he had always wanted to be an electrical engineer,  He said, "I was afraid to go home from my mission". Now I am not afraid anymore and I know what to do.  This is a message for all of us.  Quit being afraid and go do what you want to do.  Show the Lord what you want and ask Him and he will help you.  If any of you want our Power Point presentation, just ask.

"The Lord will not make us something that we do not choose by our actions to become". (Elder Christofferson)

That's all this week.

16 May 2015

Today is Grandpa Hoopes' birthday!  Something we would probably not think of other than I think about it every year.

I am starting off this week with a little lesson. Sister Hoopes was asked if she would demonstrate making BBQ Pork sandwiches for the Relief Society Sisters last Saturday evening. There were about 18 Sisters there along with some children to hear how the BBQ is made and also to have a taste.  The activity was promoted by our Bishop who had sampled the BBQ Pork sandwiches during the previous week.  The picture to the right is of his wife and youngest of three girls.  This little one is just over 2 years old.  The little girl wanted me to hold her which I am not supposed to do, so I just lifted her by her arms and then sat her down again.  I probably did this twice.  Then I held the door open for them to leave and shook hands as they were leaving and this little girl said out loud in ENGLISH "I love you". I was absolutely stunned!!  I know the family speaks English at home and the older sister is taking piano lessons and speaks English very well.  It was not just the English but the thought that she would say that to me (or us) after only a few minutes of interaction.  It was one of the sweetest and most special moments I have had while here on this mission.  We have had our own children say that now and then and have had grandkids say it but this was somehow different.  I have thought a lot about why she might say that and what it meant.  Perhaps she says it to everyone and they probably do it in the home and, if so, what a special thing.
I was talking with Elder Gardner before he left a couple of weeks ago and he said to me, "We love you" and I looked at him somewhat stunned and asked him why he would say that.  He said back to me, "I know we don't know each other that well but I can feel your spirit and I love you".  I wonder if this little girl felt the spirit that night.  I know I did.  It was a wonderfull feeling for me and I will treasure this little girls simple statement of love to me.  I know I had the same feeling for her.

Sister next to Sister Hoopes is Relief Society President and the other is her daughter.
This was after the BBQ activity.

This past week has been really slow for me as we hardly went anywhere and I did very little.  Sister Hoopes is now officially assigned as the English Tester for the Mission.  The mission provides an English language course for all non English speaking missionaries which they are to study throughout their mission. Then when they go home, they take a computerized test which is graded and returned with a certificate of English proficiency.  The church has found that the better these missionaries speak English, the better the jobs they can get.  In fact, they estimate that they can earn up to 4 times more if they speak English well.  There is a large group of missionaries going home next week and so this week has been completely taken up with the English testing nearly every day.  

We did not have any tests on Thursday so we decided to run to Libmanan for District Meeting and check on their progress with the records.  The missionaries there are really making a difference both in finding information but in also putting it into the computer.  This is probably the most progress we have seen yet in getting membership records updated.

 
Dinner guests on Sunday.  A young couple from the US was in church and Sister Hoopes invited them along with a friend of theirs and the 4 missionaries who had already been invited.  We were 9 for dinner and had to really stretch to fit everyone in.  The sister from the US had served in this mission about 4 years ago and she and her husband had come back for a visit.

Elders going home this next week.  Couldn't believe they had their suits
coats on all morning for Zone training.  I made them go outside to get their picture.
Absolutely great young men.  We will miss them.

I have missed our sunsets at home so when I saw this, I had to get a picture.

We spent several hours with Pres and Sister Reeder on Tuesday afternoon.  We had time to visit and relax a little.  It is always great to be with them.  We also worked on our presentation for the Career Workshop which is coming up again on Tuesday.  We have 23 in the class this time and don't know how we are going to do it.  More than double last time.  The Reeders have asked us to help that evening and also again on Wednesday with the next missionaries coming in as it is also a large group. So, even though I say it was a slow week, we had a lot going on and I am grateful for that.

Have a great week.

9 May 2015

"And now I would that ye should be humble, and be submissive and gentle; easy to be entreated; full of patience and long-suffering; being temperate in all things; being diligent in keeping the commandments of God at all times; asking for whatsoever things ye stand in need, both spiritual and temporal; always returning thanks unto God for whatsoever things ye do receive."  Alma 7: 23 (Book of Mormon)
We attended Zone Training yesterday with the Canaman Zone which is in Naga but at the Stake Center.   Their training was on teaching Christlike Attributes.  I was reviewing Preach My Gospel and found the above scripture on these Christlike attributes which I really liked and thought I would use it as a message for today.
I have tried to think of any better advice that could be given to someone with challenges in their life or even those for whom everything is going well.  We need to remember God in all things and strive to be more like him every day.  This scripture is a great lesson in how we should lead our lives.

 

Elder and Sister Gardner went home this past week.  We had lunch together on Monday with the Reeders and Watsons and then on Tuesday, we drove the Gardners to the airport and said goodbye.  Sister Reeder was with us.  We were sad to see them go but knew they were anxious to get back home.  They have been our friends and our mainstay for the past few months.  They picked us up at the airport when we got to Naga and showed us around the area.  They got our apartment all set up and ready for us and were the ones we turned to whenever we needed to know something.

Saying goodbye at the Naga Airport on Tuesday

Monday after lunch

Lunch at the White Bean which is located in downtown Naga in a hotel.  It is a nicer place and a little more expensive.  The food is good and they have some different things on the menu than just Philippino food.  I usually get the Chicken Parmesan when I come and it is quite good.  I haven't found any other place here that has a full chicken breast in any form.

 We invited the Facilities Maintenance folks to our apartment on Thursday for lunch.  They got the famous "stack enchiladas" that we have eaten at our house for years.  (ever since Kevan introduced us after his mission)

They love Sister Hoopes' food; bread, cookies, BBQ pork sandwiches and now enchiladas.  It is amazing she can make it all taste so good even though the ingredients are not all the same.

Our Bishop is the head of the group and at the end of the table.

Serving treats at the end of Zone training

Probably our favorite food is Creamy Mushroom soup and Greek Salad at Shakeys 

Our Typhoon fizzled again and all we have is rain.

We sent out a card last week to family inviting all to join us in reading 2 chapters a day from the Book of Mormon.  We completed chapter 16 of 1 Nephi today.  Still time to jump in and catch up. We encourage all of you to do this for yourselves and your families.  It will bless your lives.

2 May 2015

Iriga last Sat but this size doubled just after this picture was taken

Another Saturday and this past week was very much like the last few.  I suspect I will be saying that very often now.  Piano lessons have become one of our biggest and most time consuming events.  Last Saturday afternoon, we went to Iriga which is about an hour south and had over 50 people show up.  There were many youth and children along with some adults.  The branch president from Baao brought 3 of his 4 children all on a motorcycle.  We went back to Iriga again yesterday to do piano lessons again but not so many people this time.  I was also able to meet with a branch clerk while piano lessons were going on and provide some training for the membership records.

Smaller group in Iriga yesterday

We went to Libmanan on Sunday and met with the Branch Presidency and clerk and were able to teach and train on the system.  We made an appointment to go back on Wednesday and meet with the missionaries.  In this branch, the missionaries now have access to the computer and they were able to enter information which they had collected on people who had moved, died, had ordinances, etc.  It is really the first time I have seen some significant progress and it was a really good feeling.

We also had piano lessons in Pamplona and Libmanan this past week along with meeting with the Missionaries in their district meeting.

On the way to Buhi

On Thursday, we went with the Gardner's and Watson's to Buhi.  The Gardner's used to work out of Baao and Buhi was a Branch that they visited often.  As the Gardner's are going home in a few days, they wanted to go back and see some people and the new chapel being built in Buhi.  We had a very nice day with these great friends.  It will be hard to say goodbye to the Gardner's on Tuesday.  The Watson's came just a week before us so we will be able to see them a lot before we go.

New chapel in Buhi

New chapel nearly finished inside-dedication in May

This is the active Volcano outside of Cotnogan. A small cloud is covering the symmetrical pointed cone.  It is called Mayon. It is the most prominent land form of the Bicol Region.  It's last eruption was August to Nov. 2014, which included lava flows. Yes, it is still smoking. We can't visit it because it is just outside our mission boundaries, although our little branch in Cotnogan geographically is in the Legazpi mission boundaries.

I checked out the new piano, its a Kawaii digital. OH DARN, they're everywhere.

 There is a member in Buhi who all the missionaries call the "Buhi Lady".  She weaves her own material on weaving looms and then makes bags, blankets, etc.  All the missionaries who work there own some of these things.  We even bought a bedspread for our place along with another purse/bag for Sister Hoopes.

We picked up an order for Elder Shepherd who will be going home this month. He had stopped by our apartment the night before because he had left his medicine in the office for a very infected toe. I soon had his foot soaking in hot water and chicken enchiladas in his tummy, and his order in hand.

The weaving looms with some of her material out.

Girls' day out.  Shopping at the central market.

(Sis Hoopes) I keep hearing about the market but I hadn't been there yet.  It had everything, but of course, many shops had the very same thing.  I bought a pineapple, but because our fridge went out, our food started to rot and I threw it away.  It's too risky to eat questionable food over here. We have another Elder in the hospital with ameobia's.  This is the 4th from that area.
Lunch at the White Bean.  This is the "go to" place for mission couple's in Naga.  We'll be going again on Monday as a farewell party for the Gardner's.

If you look close you can see the chickens stuffed in this Tricie.  Probably on the way to market. Yes,they're alive!