Bishop's Message for Perry 6th Ward Newsletter

Note:  We thought that those not in the Perry 6th Ward might like to see the message we sent them. 

This along with the other letter to the ward will take the place of our normal post for this week.

Dear Perry 6^th Ward Members,

We are honored to be asked to write the message for the Ward Newsletter this month.  Our humble message in this newsletter will follow those of the Apostles and Prophets at General Conference.  What more can we say than to “Follow the Prophets” and sustain them by listening to their words and following their counsel.

By the time you read this, we will probably have sustained 3 new Apostles of the Lord.  What an unusual occurrence for this to happen. Pray to have the witness of the Holy Ghost that they are truly called of God.  Learn for yourselves, that all of these men have been called, ordained and set apart to lead us through these wonderful last days in this last dispensation of time.

If you really sustain them, then you will follow their counsel. You show through your actions what you really believe. King Benjamin gave his wonderful message to his people,, it can be read in Mosiah 4.  We would suggest that all of you open your scriptures and read his message.   This message was for us, just as it was for the people of his day.

He tells us “Believe in God; believe that he is, and that he created all things, both in Heaven and in earth; believe that he hath all wisdom, and all power, both in heaven and in earth; believe that man doth not comprehend all the things which the Lord can comprehend…Believe that ye must repent…and now if ye believe, see that ye do them”.

In this day and age, the world is depending on MAN to solve the problems that we are experiencing. How can we look to man to solve the problems that man created.  We need to look to God to help us get through these troubling times.  Our problems are bigger than our wisdom.  But God knows all things.  He has taught and warned all of his children since Adam and Eve in the garden.  He is still teaching and warning us through his prophets and apostles.

Our message to you faithful Perry 6^th ward members is this “Believe in God; that he is, ….that he has all wisdom, and all power,” that he wants the best for us and that he speaks to us today, through His Apostles and Prophets  and “if you believe these things,   See that ye do them”.

We say this in the name of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Redeemer.  Amen

For those of you who wish to know what we are doing on our mission we have a mission blog that you can read. (jandkphilippines.blogspot.com)  We love working with the missionaries and love the people.  We only need to come live in a country such as this to realize how blessed we are at home in Perry. Not one of us has any right to complain.  We have truly been blessed to live under the protection of the gospel principles in our family and community.   There will soon be a post on our blog just for the Perry 6^th Ward which will contain more specific information about our mission.

LETTER TO THE PERRY 6TH WARD

LETTER TO THE PERRY 6th WARD

8 October 2015

Hello to all the wonderful friends of our Perry 6^th Ward. This started out to be for the Ward Newsletter in October but after I had it done, I thought it wasn't quite appropriate for the Bishops Message.  So, we are sending it as a special letter to the Ward through the medium of our blog.  

Our going away party with the Augsburg Ward in Germany.

How the time does fly! 

Our mission to Germany flew by and was over so fast.   Our 2nd year anniversary since coming home from Germany was in February and we were already here in the Philippines. Our mission here in the Philippines is now half way over.  When one is busy and enjoying what they do, then the days just disappear.

Many of you probably do not know that this is our second trip to the Philippines.  Over 20 years ago, we traveled here to pick up a son who served in the San Pablo mission which is just north of this mission.  We had a nice visit but after seeing the living conditions; heat and humidity; and all the challenges, we thought that the Philippines would be the last place we would ever visit again.  In fact, when President and Sister Reeder asked us to come and join them here (just after we returned from Germany), we answered “no thanks, we’ve seen the Philippines”.  We are here to testify that the Lord really does soften hearts and change perspectives because a year later, we decided that going back to the Philippines might not be so bad after all and perhaps we might be able to help and assist in some ways.  So, here we are and we have very much enjoyed this opportunity to serve.

Our kitchen whch is quite nice.

We have been very blessed to have nice living accommodations.  In fact, they are better than we had anticipated.  We have running hot and warm water and air conditioning which none of the missionaries have but those who work in the office.  There is also a generator for when the power goes out which is often.  The only drawback is that we have no air conditioning while on emergency power.  

This is the Naga Mission Office.  We live upstairs in the front.
There 2 apartments upstairs.

We do have an old washer and dryer for which we are grateful.  All the missionaries do their clothes by hand as do most of the Filipinos.  If we could just eliminate the bugs and lizards that frequent our living quarters, life would be much more tolerable.

It is amazing what they carry on motorcycles, bicycles,
Jeepneys and Tricies.

We do have a car and it is a blessing as it would be so difficult to get around anywhere on a schedule that we would be terribly unproductive.  But that little blessing also brings its' own set of challenges.  Driving here is like nothing you have ever seen or experienced.  Imagine a little road with 2 lanes – one for each direction.  But that is frequently turned into a 4 to 6 lane road.  How they can squeeze a Jeepney and a car side by side into a single lane with a motorcycle is simply amazing.  

Cars, motorcycles, jeepneys, etc. pass on the right or left side as desired regardless of oncoming traffic. 

This is a family going home after Stake Conference.
All on one motorcycle.

Everyone just seems to know that someone will move so they can go where they want to.  If this system were tried at home, there would be all out war every time you got into your car.  Here, everyone just lives with it and it is okay.  There are no stop signs and only 2 traffic lights in this entire city.  The system works, however.  When you come to a cross road, you just poke your nose out a little at a time until somebody stops for you and then you go on through.  Easy!

We have been blessed to meet many wonderful people here.  We love them all.  The members are so humble and gracious and just love to have us visit at church whenever we can.  We do travel around a lot and visit branches mostly on Sundays.  We try to go to a Missionary District meeting or Zone training meeting every week and support and teach them.  We love being around them and they treat us with the same love back.  Maybe it helps that Sister Hoopes feels it is her duty to supply home baked cookies, cake, or brownies each time we go to a missionary event. 

Piano lessons in Pamplona.

 We stay busy with piano lessons (Sister Hoopes); English testing for non English speaking Missionaries; Mission Vehicles; training for Branch Presidencies in MLS; teaching in workshops and other missionary leadership training; visiting and helping sick missionaries; shopping for groceries and everything else we need; washing clothes; washing dishes; cooking food including treats for missionaries and traveling to branches for church on Sundays. 

A baptism in Sipocot.  Of course, they want us in
their pictures every time.  

We try to go to as many baptisms as we can which are generally held on Saturdays.  We love being out and around the people.  They are so kind and humble and pleasant.

 

We see President and Sister Reeder often and it has been a blessing to us to be able to serve with them.  They are doing well and know the time is progressing rapidly.  Unfortunately, you will see us before you see them as we are being released on June 16, 2016.  Yes, we already know the date and will be home in time for Fathers Day.  The Reeders will not be leaving until around July 1, 2016. 

Out to Shakey's for a Banana Split for OUR anniversary.

We have been greatly blessed and know that we are where we should be right now.  Our eyes are opened every day to how much we have compared to these wonderful and humble people who have so little.  We love them and are grateful the Lord opened our hearts and blessed us to come here to serve.  We love all of you and miss you and pray that the Lord will watch over and bless you.

In the name of Jesus Christ,  Amen.

3 October 2015

Already October!

President and Sister Reeder have been moving all week.  A new Mission Home has been built next to the Canaman Chapel (Stake Center) and they are finally in it as of today.  Things were being moved from the old Home on Monday through Wednesday.   They spent Thursday and Friday nights in a hotel in Naga and have finally moved into the new Home today.  We had them over to our humble apartment last night for leftovers and then we were at their place today with dinner provided by Sister Hoopes again.  It was an effort to help them out with all they have going on.  The new Mission Home is very nice but we all miss the old one already.  The old home is actually bigger but it also has an outside annex which is used to sleep missionaries who come in for meetings and to also hold meetings.  That is no longer available and all meetings will have to be held in the church next door to the new Mission Home.  Missionaries coming in for meetings or going home will have to stay in hotels or with other missionaries as space permits.  It is a lot of change for everyone but more especially for the Reeders.

The other change that is happening is that the church next to where we live is going to be torn down and replaced.  That will start sometime in December or January so we are told.  It has been decided that the annex at the old Mission Home will be converted into the meeting house for Sunday meetings and the Mission Home will be used for offices and classrooms.  We will stay where we are but there will be construction all around us.  We just hope they leave us some room for parking the mission vehicles.

Two Elders from the office came home on Wednesday night
after being out all day moving things from the old Mission
Home.  Sister Hoopes invited them in for left overs.  They
seemed quite grateful.

In reading from the Book of Mormon last week in 2 Nephi 33: I was touched again by his words.  This is one of the last things that Nephi writes to his children and to us "as one crying from the dust".  In verse 2, he writes that "there are many that harden their hearts against the Holy Spirit that it hath no place in them...and cast away many things..." It is so clear to see that it is always us who pulls away. It is not that the Spirit leaves us as much as it is that we push it out and won't allow it a place inside of us.  It comes down to what we really want. Let's strive to push out our defiant attitudes rather than the Spirit of God.  We do that by humbling ourselves and praying that the Lord will help us to open and change our hearts that there may be place inside us for the Spirit to dwell.

We went to Iriga Zone Training on Friday.  This is a picture of the entire zone and some of the pizzas that were ordered for lunch.  We enjoyed being with them and seeing so many of the new missionaries who just arrived the week before. They all seem to be doing well.


We started English testing again on Monday and will be busy for the next 4 Mondays with these tests.  Some days will be very large.

That is all for this week.  If you want to see a review of our lives in the Philippines, read the Letter to the Perry 6th Ward which will be posted here later this week.

27 September 2015

I started my normal "time to do the blog WHINE" about noon on Saturday and Sister Hoopes volunteered to write something and that took the rest of the day.  You can see it on the post dated 26 September 2015.  We both decided it would be best to just put some pictures in another post and call it good for this week.

It was a busy week but it was also a  GREAT week!  It was transfer week which means we taught the Workshop for missionaries going home and were involved in the orientation of the new missionaries coming in.  We also attended a District Conference meeting in Pamplona on Sunday where an Area Authority Seventy was in attendance.  It is always fun to attend these things.

Following are some pictures and comments on the week.

Some Elders from the Pamplona District.  This is after the Confernece.
Brother Bautista, your son got his package this day.

The Elder with the glasses is from Henderson, NV.  He was in
for an eye checkup.  He was just made a trainer which is
great for him.

Sister Hoopes took some treats down to this group on Sunday
evening.  They were standing around in the parking lot
which is so common on Sunday night.  The next thing we
know, they are all at the door wanting water and ended
up with more of the treats.  Ummm???

This is during break at our workshop on Tuesday.

The group from the workshop after completion.

We received 25 new missionaries on Wednesday.  There were 10
North Americans this time.  It was really great to see and
visit with them.

Some interesting tidbits about this group from America:

One of them is a Teichert from Cokeville, Wyoming.

The other is named Sessions from Mt. Home, Idaho.  When he met us, he said, "Oh, I have relatives who are named Hoopes".
His mother's sister is married to Gary Hoopes.  Son of Tex Hoopes.  It is really a small world.

This is all of the new missionaries for the benefit
of the parents of some who may read this blog.

This was in the Presidents home just before the new missionaries
arrived.  This is a sister Missionary.  She stood there with her
hand on Sister Hoopes' shoulder the whole time.

26 September 2015

Who cares about the Shemitah?

(By Sister Hoopes)

Blood Moon.   On Sept. 28 will be a Super Blood Moon.
Super because the moon will be at it's closest point
to the earth.  Will be very easily seen from Jerusalem.

There has been lot of talk about the ending of the Shemitah Cycle of 2014-2015, which ended on September 13, 2015 THIS YEAR.  There has been talk about the possible crash of the stock market again, at the end of the Shemitah Year, as it did in 2008, 2001, 1987, 1931. But, for the naysayers, it didn't happen on September 13, this year.  All is well in Zion, let's move on! But, I am thankful because of all the talk. I have learned more about the Old and the New Testaments than I have ever done before.  I  have come to learn that God talks to his people and He warns His people and He has done it for centuries.  I have learned that the God of the Old Testament, speaks to us today and because I have  listened, I have studied and I have learned.  I have learned so much from the mouth of a Jew, by which I have come to understand more about the Jewish symbolism and the Jewish ways, and Jewish rejection of the Messiah and the signs of the times given to God's ancient people as well as His people today. I have been fascinated as we listen to the Words of Isaiah from the mouth of a Jew and find that those very scriptures were so important to Nephi that he included them in the Book of Mormon as another witness for our day.  So, are we going to keep on listening or are we going to dismiss the events of this month as all hype or drama? Do I believe tomorrow is the end of the earth? No way, there is still too much work to do.

Maybe, the signs of the times, are still there, but we may be failing to look for them and see them. God reveals to those who seek.  I personally saw many signs that I feel will change the world.  We listened and made changes that kept us personally from losses in the stock market.  We added to our food storage, we prayed for leaders to come forth and stand for truth and righteousness.  We looked inside ourselves and searched for the things for which we need to repent and we need to change.  And we looked to see how the Jewish Holidays and Gods Laws and warnings fit into our religious history and the Restoration of the Gospel. We pondered and studied the words of the latter day Prophets.

Lehi, left Jerusalem in 600 BC. Was it a Shemitah year?  He heeded the warning of destruction? 

2 seven year cycles later, in 586 BC, Jerusalem was destroyed. Did Lehi enter the promised land in a Shemitah or a Jubilee year?  I don't know, but we know that they lived the Law of Moses. It was  the un-corrupted Law of Moses that they took with them. See Alma 25:16.They would have celebrated the Shemitah or Sabbath Year, during their years of righteousness. God warned his people to leave to protect the righteous in the Book of Mormon. How many times? Study and find out.

It has been a blessing to us to study and learn , again, by the mouth of a Jew. By the way, it was a Messianic Jew, a believer in Yeshua, or Jesus Christ, the Messiah of Israel.  Are we not the House of Israel ourselves?  Do we not have Patriarchal Blessings that give our lineage and give us blessings and warnings.  Don't we have God speaking to us in our everyday lives?  Yes, I do.  Am I thankful that I have signs and warnings given through the Gift of the Holy Ghost as well as the Gift of the Holy Scriptures and the gift of the Holy Prophets? Yes, I am.

My Patriarchal Blessing not only told me, that I was of the House of Israel through Ephraim, but also

"You shall be a blessing unto many and shall see the church grow and see many eventful things happen and shall assist His people to prepare for the great day of His Glory."

I testify to you that I have already seen many eventful things (9/11), and this Shemitah year I have seen eventful things that will change the world, just like 9/11.  They may not be as dramatic as the burning towers of 9/11 but they will be just as eventful and life changing. May we as a people prepare ourselves, so that we can be a part of the "Great "and not the Dreadful day of His coming. Whether it is great or dreadful will depend on our own preparation for the "Great Day of His Glory" ..

Watch on Sunday, September 28, the last of the 4 blood moons that have occurred.  Two last year and two in this Shemitah Year - all four on Jewish High Holy Days.  Is God warning us? Of course, He is and of course He has! And of course He will in the future.

We received this warning on September 23, 1995 from the First Presidency and the Apostles of God.

"WE WARN that individuals who violate covenants of chastity, who abuse spouse or offspring, or who fail to fulfill family responsibilities will one day stand accountable before God.  Further, WE WARN that the disintegration of the family will bring upon individuals, communities, and nations the calamities foretold by ancient and modern prophets. 

 WE CALL UPON responsible citizens and officers of government everywhere to promote those measures designed to maintain and strengthen the family as the fundamental unit of society".

What did you see this Shemitah Year?  What are you going to do about it?  It starts with you  and it starts with me!

Sorry, but we'll do a blog later this week.  I just got carried away with my thoughts and warnings.  

May we listen and obey, that is my prayer for all of us, at this great and eventful time in the History of Gods world.  I bear this testimony of Gods love for us by His warnings to us, in the name of Jesus Christ Amen.

PS:

Joseph Smith received the 1st Vision in the Jubilee Year  1820( a year of blessing)

Joseph Smith received the plates on September 23, 1827. On the very day of the   Feast of the Trumpets in a Shemitah year.

1917-1918- A Jubilee Year, the British took Palestine, from the Turks, without a shot being fired. AND  The Vision of the Redemption of the Dead to Pres. Joseph F. Smith - A Jubilee Year

Jerusalem returned to the Jews in 1966-67, following the 6 day War.   A Jubilee Year. 

September 23, 1995: The Family:  Proclamation to the WORLD  by a prophet of God, Gordon B. Hinckley. The warning year following the Shemitah year of 1993-1994.

Who cares about the Shemitah??? We all should!!!

19 September 2015

Sister Missionaries for dinner on Sunday night.  They
tend to get left out because they are not around the office
very much like the office Elders.

I am calling this VACATION WEEK!  I mentioned last week that there is a celebration here called Penafrancia.  It started a week ago Friday.  We have heard all about this celebration since we arrived here.  President and Sister Reeder told us to not plan anything this week and to just stay home.  Not because it is unsafe but because there are thousands of people who come in from outside areas to participate in the celebration and traffic is terrible.

When the celebration started last week on Friday the main road in front of our building was shut down just past us where it crosses the river and goes into downtown Naga.  All roads in downtown Naga were closed.  There is a statue of someone (probably Penafrancia) which is taken from the old Catholic church and moved in a procession to a downtown area where it sits for over a week while other festivities go on.  Then tomorrow, the statue will be taken in another procession back to the church.

Wednesday morning waiting for parade to start.  In
front of our building.

 What goes on during the week?  There are parades nearly every day.  The first parade was on Wednesday and the road in front of us was completely shut down starting at 6:00 am.  People were already gathering at that time and the road was completely full by 7:00 but the parade didn't actually start until later - about 9 to 9:30.  Then it went until early afternoon.  Mostly younger kids from girl scounts and boy scouts; elementary schools, etc.  All of them wore uniforms of some kind and many played drums and a portable xylephone.  We heard many familiar tunes including the Hymns of the US Marine, US Navy, US Army, and US Air Force.

Waiting for parade to start.  The leader of these girls is a
member and she brought them to our parking
lot to have chairs and wait for the parade to start.

 We also heard Stars and Stripes Forever; When Johnny comes Marching Home Again and some song that we didn't recognize but it made us feel like we were in Disneyland on the "It's a Small World" ride for 8 hours.  That was all on Wednesday.  Our apartment overlooks the road below and so we could see quite well. We are somewhat obstructed by a large tree and the stairwell.  So, when it was too hot or wet, we could still watch and certainly hear from our apartment.  The parade on Thursday was not so eventful and didn't last as long but the Friday parade made up for everything. There were groups from High Schools, Colleges, Universities along with military, ROTC and anyone else who could get in. There were 750 groups which participated and it started at 7:00 am prompt and went until 2:30 in the afternoon without a break of any kind.  The only slowdown was a huge downpour mid day but all the groups kept going.   I will post more pictures of the parade further down.

Our Bishop and his family.  The tallest girl in between was
the one who got baptized.  

On Monday, the Bishops daughter, was baptized.  It was her birthday that day and another little girl from the other ward in our building was also baptized that night.  This is the little girl who Sister Hoopes started teaching piano lessons to when we first got here and who has done amazingly well. She and her sisters speak English as if they were Americans because that is their language at home.

Isa came to our home on Monday night after her baptism with her mother to bake some cupcakes for her birthday party the next day.  She was here without her sisters and just helped a little; chatted, smelled all the DoTerra bottles; and looked at all our pictures.  She had a lot of fun being here by herself.  At one point she kind of skipped into the kitchen and I heard her kind of sing or say outloud to herself, "I feel so good"!!!

Isa and her sisters with her mom behind.

We were invited to the birthday party on Tuesday night.  Sister Hoopes offered to help bring something and was asked to make some hot dog buns for the party.  She spent all day on Tuesday working on the "pigs in a blanket" style hot dogs for the party.  It was definitely different from our birthday parties.  There were a lot of her friends there but apparently when you invite a child, you also get his/her parents and all the family.  So there were lots of older people there.

The "pigs in a blanket" prepared by Sister Hoopes.  80 of them.

Besides a full spread of food in the other room, Sister Bigtas
made all these cupcakes and cookies.  Very nice!!!

Right at the beginning fo the parade on Friday.  They stretch back
a long way.

Parade watchers taking shelter under our awning to the office.
We were watching from the stairwell above.  

The Stake Presidents Family side business.  This is
called a Tricie (???) most cart people.  This one
is a cart for selling Shomai.  A chinese item with pork and vegies
in a pastry wrap.  I think they are boiled.  We bought them heated
and they are very tasty.

Stake President selling the Shomai to us.  You can see what
they look like.  You add soy sauce, or sweet, or HOTTTTT.

A picture of one of the brass bands.  Most were drums and Xylophones.

A lot of things happened last week but nothing that I really need to comment on.  I will point out that there was a 8.3 earthquake in Chili; Europe is being invaded by thousands of Muslims; continued weakness in our financial system; China's economy imploding and they have started "dumping" US Treasuries of which they hold or held 1.2 Trillion $.  Perhaps I should comment on what didn't happen.  While I was expecting a major market crash that didn't really occur on a given day, it is interesting to note that the Dow Jones Industrial Avg is down over 2000 points in 3 weeks. Interesting!!!  By my calculation that is over 10%.  So not a single day record drop but certainly huge over the course of a few weeks.

 Also, we are approaching Sept. 23 which is the Day of Atonement for Israel or Yom Kippur (the most holy of days for the Jews) and then on Sept. 28 is the Blood Moon which is the last of the 4 (2 from last year and 2 from this).  The last time this will happen for 500 years.

There is still a need for our country to repent and turn back to God and again be a support and strength to Israel.  Short of that, we will come under judgement.

Until next week.

12 September 2015

This is Baao after a rain storm.  We came home
from an Iriga District Mtg and drove through this.

Yesterday, Friday, in Naga began a week long celebration called Penafrancia.  That is the name of a very old Catholic church here in Naga that is supposed to be quite the tourist site.  We haven't been through it yet but is the Penafranchia church.  Yesterday, all downtown roads were closed so no traffic could get into or through the downtown area.  Our main road in front was closed further up before it went into the downtown area so we still had access to our church, apartment and parking.  We are supposed to be okay until Wednesday of next week when our road, Panganiban, will be closed for parades on Wednesday through Friday.

This rice field we showed a few weeks ago just before planting.
This is with the rice now tall and green.  It is a really beautiful
rice field.

Apparently, there will also be something on Saturday but I didn't hear about any parades that day.  This celebration is for the whole region of Bicol and it usually brings thousands of people in from all over. We have been told that we should just stay in the apartment and not try to drive anywhere next week.  We are planning to do just that.  It could be a long week but our apartment looks out on the road where the parades will go so we could have an air conditioned box seat for all of the parades.  It would be a good site except we have this huge tree which obstructs most of our view of the road.  I am sure we will have some interesting pictures next week.




Last week I wrote about this weekend of the Shemitah.  We are now on Saturday and wondering what this coming week or weeks might bring.  Some of the things we have read concerning this refer to the Lord's judgements as a "shaking".  That is a very descriptive word in that it might mean a way of getting someone's attention or even a warning.  Jonathan Cahn, who we have talked about previously refers to the events around the Shemitah as a shaking.  I remembered in our reading of the Book of Mormon when Nephi was commanded to build a ship and his brothers thought he was crazy and refused to help him.  Nephi tried to change their hearts but they were even more angry and were going to throw him into the sea.  The Lord told him to stretch forth his hand and that He (the Lord) would shock them.  1 Nephi 17:53.  vs. 54: ...I stretched for my hand unto my brethren, and they did not wither before me; but the Lord did SHAKE them... and in vs 55 his brothers said,"for we know that it is the power of the Lord that has SHAKEN us."  This was a shaking that the brothers of Nephi felt and recognized as coming from the Lord and it changed their attitudes.  At least for the time being.  But they repented for a while and did what the Lord wanted them to.  I can only hope that we will recognize the "shaking" which is coming as a warning from the Lord and let it be the moving force to help this nation and each of us individually desire to repent and return to God.

Elder Legler on the left is leaving the office and we
had a lunch which he helped prepare.  These
are all office Elders.

We buy pineapple from this old lady as we come home from the
mall.  She is really sweet and friendly.  Her granddaughter is always
with her.

 We drove to Calabunga on Thursday to a district meeting.  We had never been to this area or chapel before.  The views are quite beautiful as you can see.  This is the large mountain which is called Isarog.  Of course, an extinct volcano.

An old Catholic church that we passed on the way
to Calabunga.  This was really old and looks
very Spanish.

This is the District in Calabunga.  We always text a few days ahead of the meeting and ask if we can come and have some time on the agenda.  When we got to this meeting, they informed us that in their previous meeting, they had decided to speak all English in this meeting.  At the time, they were unaware that we would be attending but they were really excited that we were coming to be with them and it was a really great day there with them.  One of the Elders is from Australia and so they have someone to really help them with their English even if it does sound a little funny.


We hope all is well for all of you and that you are learning what the Lord expects of you.  Until next week.