My parents have done even more traveling this week! They drove from Laoag to Aparri to Santa Ana, then back through Gonzaga and then to Ballesteros, and then to Claveria! All the while meeting counselors and district presidents, conducting baptismal interviews, attending district meetings, interviewing missionaries and much more. The drives included beautiful sceneries of thick jungles! 
Sister Peterson is learning how to help the missionaries with their sicknesses - talking them through it, asking lots of questions, and attending to their needs!
President and Sister Peterson attended the open air market for the first time! Before visiting they said, "We are excited, but a little scared! We might try to look for face masks, because we've heard it is going to smell!" Once there, they said the fruits and vegetables looked delicious! They also saw dried fish, a myriad of foods that they weren't sure how to identify, crabs, and more - but one of the most disgusting things they saw was a "Ute" hat! (Go Cougs 😜). (More info in caption below).
They have continued to conduct "Meet the President" meetings, and have also been preparing for Zone Conferences which they will do in 3 clusters (each cluster has about 3 zones) starting next week.
They had many firsts this week. They were in their first typhoon on Saturday which was a signal 2 out of 5. It was very rainy and windy, but President Peterson said, "We just take an umbrella and we go! As long as it doesn't flood us out, it doesn't affect us!" They also went to their first baptism which was in a tiny chapel that was at the top of 87 steps! It was the first one built in the area. "The baptism was very sweet and simple!". They also experienced their first "brown-out". People had warned them that it was going to last from 8 am - 5 pm on Saturday. They planned as best as they could by getting food ready and preparing ice packs, turning up the A.C. Friday night, and by Saturday morning at 7:30 sure enough there was a brown-out! Then their handyman showed up and informed them that they had a generator the whole time. Immediately their A.C. turned back on, the electricity turned back on, their water was back on, and they were able to live as normal again!
They loved visiting the YSA ward. They showed the "Happy" video that my dad was in which was made during his service in the stake presidency, showed photos, and of course won over the hearts of the YSA ward.
- Sadie
(Captions in quotation marks were written by Sister Peterson)
The petite sister next to Sister Peterson, Sister Bagadiong, is the tiniest sister in the mission but has a huge spirit. Sister Veras, far left is from the island of Oahu.
Visiting the Gonzaga branch where President and Sister Peterson were asked to speak as they entered the chapel... The sisters on either side of Sister Peterson, Sister Anderson and Sister Pinpin are the STLs in that zone and the other two, Sister Alatini and Sister Maluga, are serving there as well.
"The grounds to this chapel in Claveria were beautiful! Nice backdrop!"
President and Sister Peterson made the most of evicting their unwanted tenant!
This is Brother Domingo. Supposedly he just took the rat out of the cage and put a screw driver through its head 😳!
The first District meeting that President and Sister Peterson have attended. 6 missionaries attending.
"We loved this meeting! Sister Kaufusi, far right gave a top notch message!"
"Cutest church building award so far! In Sarrat. No AC, but plenty of fans and even more charm."
"First time at the market was quite the experience! The fruits and vegetables were brightly colored and looked so delicious! Up on the third floor is where one will find the meats. We had heard of Americans saying that it made them nauseous and that they would never go there again. I admit I was cocky and thought that was silly and would never be the case with me- however, I was humbled in a BIG way as we walked to the third floor, went about 15 feet and I turned right around and left. I could not get to fresh air fast enough. Mark said I lost the color in my face... I don’t think we will be buying our meet from the market... There is a grocery store and the meat there is the same exact meat from the market - they have just wrapped and packaged it and raised the prices. It’s a mental thing- it is just easier to handle without the sights and smells of the meat market."
My parents ran into this cute little guy in the market. The bright yellow thing in the little cage was his live pet chicken.
"Our whole mission has been given washing machines! Here are just a few of them that arrived and are waiting in our carport to be delivered to the missionaries. This is a huge deal as most were washing their clothes by hand. It will save tons of time. It is one unit with two sides. One side washes and the other side spins out the water. They still need to hang their clothes to dry, but they will dry faster. They are not connected to running water as that is not available every where. Instead, they just pour a bucket of water in the tub and it agitates. Then there is a tube that you let down so that gravity empties the water from the tub. Much more effective and time saving than doing it all be hand."
"This young man came to the Mission home to plant some bushes today. Mark said hello and asked his name. The young man replied, “Eric Viduya”. Mark quickly asked, “do you know NewYear Viduya?” Eric said, “He is my father”. Mark got emotional because he had baptized Eric’s father, 40 years ago in Malolos (an 8 hour drive from here). NewYear loved playing basket ball with the missionaries and had repeatedly asked them to teach him. Mark and his companion refused because NewYear’s family did not want to listen and they knew how important family support was. One day NewYear said that his family had agreed to listen. So, they went, and 2 min. into the discussion the family all left, but NewYear’s desire was so great they could not deny him. He was quickly baptized. In 1992 when Mark and I came to the PI, we visited Malolos. Mark asked some members if they knew NewYear. They replied, “oh, you mean Bishop Viduya? He is at the church at a youth activity”... It was a tender mercy that we could meet his son now."
"For our date tonight we went to dinner with the Nelsons and our entertainment was the Filipino version of Louis Armstrong. 👏"
Attending church in this little branch building in Bangui.
The branch in Bangui. The girl to the right of Sister Peterson is a convert of 6 years.
"I attended the youth Sunday school class in Bangui. The girl taking the selfie is a convert of one year and it is the first time I have seen the new Come Follow Me teaching implemented. She did a super job!"
President and Sister Peterson stopped to take a picture and this happened 😯. They all had the same items to sell and even after they bought something they still would not back down.
Bangui is known for the huge windmills.
After speaking at the YSA Fireside.