PIONEER DAY AND ANNIVERSARY IN THE PHILLIPINES

Each morning in our mission office we have a prayer and devotional. This past week I (Eileen) was asked to give the devotional on July 24^th.  In Utah, July 24^this a state holiday as residents commemorate the Mormon pioneer’s entrance into the Salt Lake Valley in 1847.  I decided that it might be appropriate to learn more about the early pioneers of our church here in the Philippines. 

During the Spanish-American War in 1898, two missionaries from Utah, preached while stationed in the Philippines. Missionary work ceased in the Philippines at the beginning of World War II and resumed again two decades later. On April 28, 1961, under the direction of Elder Gordon B. Hinckley, the Church was legally registered in the Philippines and received permission to send missionaries to the nation. In 1969, the Church had spread to eight major islands and had the highest number of baptisms of any area in the Church. On September 10, 2017 Elder Neil L. Andersen of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles created the 100th stake in the Philippines.

After creating the 100th stake, Elder Andersen asked why among all the nations of the earth “has the Savior set His feet so firmly here in the Philippines? It is because of who you are,” he told the Filipino members. “This is a special place. Do not underestimate who you are. … The most important part of the Philippines is the people.”

With the creation of the Antipolo mission in July of 2019 there are now 23 missions in the Philippines and over 750,000 members. We are so blessed to be a part of this era of great growth in this area of the world.

Thursday we went out to lunch with the office missionaries. We took a “trike” which is the equivalent of a motorcycle with a side car.  Trikes are a common form of transportation here, with the fare being about 60 cents (USD) to a dollar depending on how far you are going. The trikes can weave in and out of the thick traffic and can get you to your destination faster than a car. For Elder Keller’s birthday we went to a restaurant where we got a BBQ chicken quarter and all you can eat rice for $2.00. I am not a huge fan of rice, but the young missionaries sure love the deal.

Friday we had the Taytay and Antipolo Zone Conference. President and Sister Alder have invited me to go to each Zone and new missionary conferences and talk about ways the missionaries can stay healthy. Russell stayed at the office so he could go help Elder Bills with his first driving experience here. The Bills will be working in the office with us. They arrived this past week, and are still trying to get settled. 

President Alder started out and finished the day by telling the missionaries how much he loved them. His love is obvious as he greeted each Elder with a smile and a big hug, and each Sister missionary with a warm handshake.  He then asked how many missionaries used their morning commute to invite someone to go to church. When only one Sister raised her hand, he expressed his disappointment. He then challenged every missionary to have at least one invitation offered by that evening and asked the missionaries to text him and let him know what happened. By the end of the evening, 172 invitations had been extended by 44 missionaries. I thought that was a pretty remarkable response by an inspired leader. I determined that I need to do better about opening my mouth and sharing the gospel and have given out two pass-along cards since Friday. Unfortunately with the language barrier there isn’t much I can say to share my testimony. We are hoping that we can get pass-along cards with the phone number of someone who can actually speak Tagalog to a potential investigator.

There were several takeaways from Zone conference. President Alder said when he ever feels tired he looks at the picture of President Nelson and thinks to himself, “he is doing so much more than me, and he is almost 95 years old, of course I can keep going.” 

One of our young Elders spoke about  how moved he was when Elder Renlund came to visit the Philippines. Elder Renlund said he came representing the Savior to say thank you to the missionaries for their efforts.

Saturday was Russell’s and my 41^st wedding anniversary. It is actually the 7^th out of the past 8 years where we have been on a full-time mission during July. Last year, our 40^th, was the one year when we were not.  However, at that time we were serving as Church service missionaries. To celebrate, Russell cleaned out our previous residence getting it ready to return to the landlord. He then took me shopping to buy a bed and recliner that would be more comfortable for me. The furniture that we have been using has been very painful for my back. I was thrilled to get some new furniture. We won’t be able to take it with us to back to the U.S. but hopefully our replacements will love it almost as much as I do. To get to the furniture store we took a trike to avoid the traffic. On the way home we took a jeepney.  Our jeepney fare was 20 cents each.  It was interesting traveling the way the locals do.

Today I drove the car for my first time here.  Sunday’s are the lightest traffic day so that was a good. I haven’t killed anyone yet so that is also good. 

Brother Bobbit working on the yard outside of our office. He hand cuts the grass with shears.

Look at the size of this cockroach. It was close to 3 inches long.

Elders celebrating Elder Kellers birthday. He is 6'4" and towers above most Filipinos.

We took a trike to lunch. Needless to say it is challenging to fit 5 American missionaries on a trike. Filipinos regularly put 5 people on a trike. 

Sister Gibson and Eileen before our first trike ride. It was a little tight!

Russell on trike with Elder Bills to side of him. 

Eileen on my first jeepney ride. 

Jeepneys are colourful long jeeps, people frequently hang off of the back during the ride.

Eileen in her new recliner, you have to understand what I was sitting in before to truly appreciate this  gift.

This is our old bed with our new mattress on top. I sort of have to do a high jump to get into bed