Mom and Dad are currently in a place called Aparri - part of the
Cagayan province which is at the most northern part of the Philippines, and
they will travel that area for 4 days. Other than staying in a sketchy hotel (my
mom made sure to bring her own sheets! She also said they had some interesting
meat for breakfast, and that she was worried to get in the shower..lol) they
are having a great time.
“Sending our first missionaries home. Only two of them and we
barely just met them. Others pictured are the assistants, the office Elders and
Sister Nelson. It was a good trial run for me cooking. All American food;
chicken pot pie, green salad with craisins and pecans, and apple crisp for
dessert. What? No rice? Haha!
The Filipinos have rice at every single meal, but they did not complain
here - phew!”
"We had a very sweet experience with this young man (on the right) as dad set him apart to serve a mission. On the left is the branch president, his wife and their son. Most Filipinos that serve missions serve in their own country, however, this young man received his call to Cambodia. His mother, next to him, is a very recent convert and only the two of them are members. She was very tearful about her son going so far away and her being left alone. Her son also was very emotional at the thought of leaving his mom. He wants to take care of her, but also desires to serve a mission. The spirit brought peace to both of them as we shared our testimonies of the incredible blessings of sacrifice and how it would all work out through Christ. Just as dad laid his hands on the young mans head, a light rain started to fall. Then as he began to speak the rain came down with great force and a loud swooshing sound. To me it was symbolic of power from heaven that was poured out on this young man and his mother. I never want to forget that moment."
This week has been filled with more “Meet the President”
traveling to all of the 8 zones in the mission. They also do interviews with
missionaries while they are there and Dad does temple recommend interviews,
Patriarchal blessing interviews, and sets apart newly called missionaries as he
is the acting stake president for the 5 districts in the mission. A lot of
their mission is hours away so this is a very important time to the members.
They were also able to spend time with one of their district
Presidents and his wife and were so impressed with how “on the ball” they are.
While dad and the district president planned the next district conference, the
wife expressed her concerns about the Relief Society sisters not understanding
the new ministering initiative, and so now, mom will be training all the district
and branch RS leaders on that subject.
They have been able to feel the Lord’s guidance in everything
they do - Mom wrote “There is absolutely NO WAY, we could do all this without the help
from on high! The Lord is guiding this work - carefully weaving a plan. Paths cross, things fall into place, simple
things change in peoples lives - and it
all is designed by our Heavenly Father to allow the work of the Almighty God to
go forth!”
At the beginning of the week, my mom was trying to get fully
acclimated with her kitchen because they were to be sending their first couple
of missionaries home and were going to be feeding them! Can you even imagine
having to put on a nice meal for guests while in another country, dealing with
foods you are not familiar with, “brownouts” (apparently when the government
randomly turns off the electricity) and having a tiny oven that you have to
light with a lighter? Mom did it like a champ! Enjoy the pictures and videos we
got this week below! I know the Lord is blessing them to be able to sneak in
time to communicate with their family because they are SO BUSY! Mom said, “My only regret
is that we are always running from one appointment to another and cannot stop
and take pictures of the glorious landscapes and the life of the beautiful
Filipino people. Dad reminds me that we
are not on vacation here haha!” I can’t
imagine the weight they must feel but their spirits are strong and upbeat,
Thanks for being interested in them and their experiences… -Lacey
(captions under the pictures below are written by my mom :)
(captions under the pictures below are written by my mom :)
“Our second “Meet the President”. Our time with these
missionaries is SO enjoyable! This zone bought me flowers and made dad a candy
lai - awe, how very nice!”
Mingling with missionaries at one of the "Meet the Presidents"