April 2020

This is me - Cathy.  Lacey and Sadie have been SO SO helpful in producing this blog for Mark and I, but for the moment, I find that I have a little more time on my hands and so I am taking a shot at doing it myself.  I think things will ramp up again, so most likely they will be back in control soon. 

 In the last couple of posts, in an effort to get out the current news about our missionaries going home, we skipped over a few things and so I will go back in time a bit now,  before COVID - 19,  and then come back to current events.

I want to begin with telling you about Elder Ejera.  About four months into his mission, he texted this message to me, "Good day Sister Peterson.  I wish I had something good to say, but I dare tell you I can no longer see from my left eye properly...".  We immediately got him into an Ophthalmologist and the diagnosis was a possible tumor.  He was flown to Manila where he could receive the best care available in the Philippines.  The doctor in Manila told us his eye would need to be removed.  That night we talked to Elder Ejera on the phone, and his humble and gentle words were so powerful.  His concern was for the mission and returning to serve - not that he would be losing an eye.  After the surgery, he stayed in the hospital to heal.  The doctors told us that he would rise early every morning and put on his missionary attire without fail.  He emailed us every day during his stay in the hospital.  His words were always of returning and how much he missed the people he was teaching, and he would always include the words, "I know God has a plan for me".  

A day before he was to return to us, he sent this picture along with the words, 

"Now I really have an eye single to the glory of God".  

How can you not smile and be lifted by that!

Mark's dad passed away in early March.  He often said how he wished he could come to the Philippines and experience it with us, and the week after his passing, Mark felt him very near.  We think he got to come after all....  Here are our kids and grandkids who represented us at the funeral.  Nils & Rachel were with us in the Philippines at this time, so they are not pictured, but their kids are.  

Here is our February outgoing batch - Wow, this seems like it happened years ago and yet like we just saw them all yesterday.  They become such a huge part of our lives.

This is our February incoming batch.  We are hopeful that those three Americans will be able to return to us when all this virus stuff is over.

We usually do not have much time to spend with our Cagayan neighbors/landlords - Ronnie and Shirley.  We are always racing in and out,  but one afternoon, when we arrived back to the little green house we are renting from them, they had this nice merienda (snack) waiting for us.  Fresh coconut from their tree.  We ate the delicious soft white meat of the young coconut and drank the fresh coconut water.  Although we have told them all about why we are in the Philippines, we have never taken the time to explain more - this day, Ronnie asked us about the Book of Mormon and we were able to give him a copy in Tagalog and English.  When they ask for both, it is usually a good sign that they will read it.  The Cagayan province is closed during COVID-19 and I am not sure when we will be able to go back and see them.  They called us the other day and asked when we were "coming home".  Soon I hope 😊 

We are so grateful for the Stake and District leaders and all they do.  

We try to take them to dinner every once in a while.  

March outgoing batch.  We relied a lot on these three wonderful sisters.   

Seemed like we would always be able to have them in our mission - 

the end came way too soon...

March incoming batch.  All but one had to return to their homes due to the virus, and again, we are crossing our fingers that they will return to us.

These next two pictures are very special to us.  They are the last pictures we had taken of our whole mission before all the foreigners were shipped off due to the virus concerns.  It was the mission tour with Elder and Sister Bangerter from our Area Presidency.

Missionaries serving in the Ilocos Province

Those serving in the Cagayan Province

We knew that we would enjoy having the Bangerters visit our mission, but we had no idea how much!  We are so grateful for what we learned from their words and their examples.  They were with us during those first few days of receiving the news about the pandemic. Our missionaries on the Cagayan side had traveled long distances to learn at the feet of Elder and Sister Bangerter, and it was that morning that the announcement was made that large groups could no longer gather.  The conference - that usually lasts 7 hours-  was shortened to one hour, but it was a power hour.  We will never forget the inspiring message from Elder Bangerter.  There was so much uncertainty as the news unfolded, but he was calming and assuring and prophetic.

Elder Bangerter hugs Mark at the podium.  

Getting in a little sightseeing.

These are all our Senior Missionaries who had to leave us due to COVID - 19.  We truly are the luckiest to have them come and help us!  They became family to us here and we miss them all dearly.  Sister Cox, Sister Snyder, Sister Drzayich and Sister Robinson were at the end of their mission time anyway, but Elder and Sister Ward still had 7 more months and Elder and Sister Roundtree had just begun.  We pray for their speedy return 😊 

In preparation for a possible lockdown, all of the Sr. Missionaries had gone and stocked up on groceries.  When they were told they had to return to the US, they only had a few hours to pack up everything to leave, and so lots of food was left in each of their apartments.  We put it all out on the countertops in the mission home and let the missionaries "go shopping" for free. 

There are checkpoints into each City now.  No one is allowed to pass without documentation.  Luckily, the governor put out a notice about who was authorized and in the fine print, it mentioned "heads of missions".  Although I am sure it is not what they meant, we defined it as Mission President.  We made a copy of the document and taped it in our window.  It has gotten us through every checkpoint - except one.  I think some of them just let us through because they do not want to have to speak English haha.  

Mark trying to talk his way through this checkpoint.  You will notice that he has a T-shirt on - all our missionaries have been told to wear civilian clothing when leaving their apartment to get necessities so they are not seen as proselyting.

I took this picture because I thought the dog was cute riding on the back of the motorcycle, but the house is fun to see too.  

Huge ones like this are sprinkled throughout the more humble homes.

The City Entry to Aparri.

Although we miss the 95 foreign missionaries that had to leave so SO much, we are excited about moving forward with the 84 Filipino missionaries that are still here.  They are real troopers as they handle lockdown with no smart devices!  All they have are small cell phones that are similar to those made in the early 1990s.  They only text and call, but the missionaries diligently contact recent converts, investigators and members with them.  They know that the Lord is not limited to a prehistoric cell phone - His work will still move forward!

During the beginning of quarantine, we were still able to bring the sacrament to the sisters apartments that were in the same province as the Mission Home. We had some beautiful experiences.

Sacrament Meeting with the Sisters in Bacarra. Before enhanced quarantine...

They were so prepared, they even had the hymn numbers posted.

Sharing a video on my phone.  

We were told we would have smart devices by last November, but we patiently wait.... 

Sacrament Meeting with these awesome Sisters in Laoag.  Before enhanced quarantine.

The following pics are what our visits look like now.  We do not go into their apartments.  We just meet them outside.   We can only get to about half of our missionaries right now as the others are in provinces where we are prohibited from traveling to.

A visit to the Elders in Laoag.  They still get dressed in proselyting clothes every morning even though no one else will see them.  They also keep a strict missionary schedule.  We are getting creative with their schedule to keep it fresh and waylay boredom - recently adding a riddle each day and time to choreograph and practice a dance.  Filipinos love to dance!

A visit to these darling Sisters in Sarrat.  Most of the apartments are surrounded by a similar fence and gate as this one and so we stay on the opposite side.  It is so hard not hugging them!

These cute Sisters in Paoay!  So many of the exteriors of homes are painted with bright colors which I have grown to love.  I wonder what our neighborhood in Idaho would think if I changed up our house color upon our return....

We have heard from most of the missionaries who had to leave and they are all doing their best to handle this unexpected adjustment.  They send emails and messages and we love hearing from them.  There are still so many questions at this point and so we try not to let the unknown hamper our work, but move forward with faith knowing that if the Lord desires, some of them will return.

As of yesterday, we had a technological breakthrough 😊  The Area upgraded all our missionary's phones to an unlimited plan and that allowed us to use Microsoft Team.  Microsoft Team enables as many phones as possible (no matter how prehistoric) to call in and then Mark and I were able to give a message to them all at once.  It is the first time since the quarantine began and it felt sooooo good!  We long for the day when we can be with all our missionaries again in person.

We will never forget this Easter and the special circumstances that have helped us turn to and remember Jesus Christ more than ever before.  We truly have felt how He has been our friend and advocate through all of this.  There are so many signs of great things to come in the Philippines Laoag Mission!  The people are more receptive than ever and like Mark said, "Our missionaries are like race horses at the starting gates.  As soon as the gates are opened, they will be off and running in their best form!"