Children Visit Mission

Last week Brady, Janay, Lacey, Nils, Rachel and I were able to travel to the Philippines to visit our parents and see the Laoag mission. It was incredible!

We were able to do so many things and see quite a bit of the west side of the mission. We loved seeing the sights with our parents, but most of all we enjoyed being uplifted and edified by their spiritual strength. It was everything we could have asked for.

The mirror in their dining room was still decorated with cards and letters from many of you. My mom said,
"We were honestly pleasantly surprised at the Christmas cards and notes that were sent to us all this way! It really was so fun to receive each and every one! They lifted us and we felt such support and love - which we need! Please tell everyone Maraming Salamat! (Many Thanks)”

We literally did SO many things while in the Philippines. I wish I could write about it all! I have done my best to caption the photos of our trip below.

- Sadie

After traveling for 2 days, we arrived in Laoag on Thursday, January 10th. It felt like a mission homecoming as my parents, the office elders, and Brother and Sister Kartchner were there to greet us with their welcome sign! (note; Sadie is too humble to include this and so I (Lacey) am adding the fact that Sadie designed the welcome sign - along with their new mission logo which is the "o" in Laoag. 👍🏻).

On Friday we had the privilege of attending the Ilocos side Zone Conference. We loved getting to meet some of the missionaries and especially loved seeing President and Sister Peterson in action! President Peterson covered many topics, but two of the overlying themes were obedience and faith. President Peterson challenged all of us (children included) to pick 3 ways we could increase our obedience and 3 ways we could increase our faith. I'm sure if he could speak to all of you, he would challenge you to do the same! We loved seeing the missionaries taking notes and being involved. For this particular Zone Conference, Sister Peterson focused on the "nitty-gritty". She helped to clarify and explain mission rules to help keep missionaries safe and healthy (as any loving mother would do 😊)! It was so fun to see them teach and interact with the missionaries. They are an amazing duo!

Nils chatting with some of the Elders.

Elder Kartchner

Sister Kartchner

Eating with the missionaries!

One of our favorite treats while visiting the Philippines was the fresh mangoes! They were absolutely delicious and we simply couldn't get enough!

According to Nils, mangoes form the Philippines are "smooooooth" - a pretty accurate description!

One of the cities we stayed in was Vigan (about 2 hours south of Laoag). The city is defined by its Native Philippine and Oriental building designs and construction, with colonial Spanish architecture. We loved walking the cobblestone streets, watching the horse drawn carriages, and of course we loved shopping for loved ones back home.

Janay was interviewed by a group of Filipina students! Everyone in the Philippines is very friendly, it was easy to talk to anyone!

As part of our visit to the Baluarte Zoo, we enjoyed having a photo shoot with "The White Lion"!

We spent Sunday in Vigan and had our picture taken with some of the members there. Instead of the regular Sunday meetings, we had the pleasure of listening to a live broadcast. Elder Holland was the main speaker - It was Incredible! (he was in the Philippines for the dedication of the Urdaneta temple which took place a few days later - my parents were invited to attend but chose to spend that time with us). A couple of things that stood out from his talk were, "...2 hour church is not a retreat from the chapel, but a movement to the home. Everyone has a home, but church buildings are not available. 3 hours out of 168... It is the other hours that we are questioning... What are we doing with the other 166 hours?..... I don’t know when the second coming is, but I know it is one day closer than yesterday. It’s already underway. When that day comes - we need to look like His church. No other dispensation has had to present the Savior with His church. The church of the Lamb to the Lamb.....

If you were the Savior and you were returning to the earth and announcing yourself - what would you say about yourself. How would you announce your arrival? Who would you say that you are? Here is what the Savior did say, “Behold I am Jesus Christ whom the prophets have testified should come into the world. I am the light and the life of the world. I have drunk out of the bitter cup which the Father has given me. I have suffered the will of the Father in all things from the beginning.” Why is that what you would say? Why wouldn’t you say, “I am the King of Kings!” “I am the Messiah, that everyone has talked about”. “I am the one who has healed the sick and given site to the blind....”. All of that is true. There are a thousand things that he could have said about himself, but he chose - “I have suffered the will of the Father in all things from the beginning”... it must have something to do with this idea that obedience is the first law of everything. Basically he is announcing to the Nephites, “I come as the son that obeyed”. As bitter as the cup was - nevertheless, I obeyed the will of the father. "