Russell and Eileen's Church Missions: FINALLY GETTING SETTLED

Russell wrote the last two weeks of our blog, as I was frankly too busy to do it. It is hard to believe that we just arrived three weeks ago. It seems like so much has happened in that amount of time. We arrived in the Philippines just two days after the Alders. As we didn’t have an apartment at that point, we spent the first few nights in a hotel near Manila. When we finally moved into a house the young missionaries had found, we realized that it was unsuitable for our needs. We lived out of suitcases, with no way to cook, hang up our clothes, or even get out of bed without climbing off the end of the bed. When we first arrived in the Philippines, Russell initially thought he would be doing the finances for the mission. When he realized that something needed to be done immediately regarding accommodations for the senior missionaries he took on the job of housing. We searched extensively and finally found a high-rise building with apartments that we both felt good about. We lined up two units to close on, when the landlord withdrew at the last moment. It was very discouraging. Instead we were shown another unit which finally seemed like home for me. We were excited to find it and closed the deal on that very day. This morning in church the speaker said something akin to this; sometimes it seems the longer we wait for an answer to our prayers, the more we appreciate it when we finally get what we were seeking. That is the way I felt about our current apartment. I was so grateful to have finally found a place. Perhaps we weren’t able to close on the other units because Heavenly Father knew there was something better that would present itself if we were only patient.

I have truly enjoyed working with President and Sister Alder and the young missionaries. I am currently serving as the nurse. I have told the missionaries that my calling is to help them stay healthy so that they can share the gospel more effectively. We have had a number of challenges health wise among the missionaries. Since we have a new mission, I don’t have any documentation to tell me where to send them regarding their health needs. This is something that we are working on. I need to establish relationships of trust with medical facilities in the cities where are missionaries serve so that I know where to send them if they become sick. The missionaries are all kind and grateful. I have had many text me and say they love and appreciate me. This makes the calling so rewarding as I feel like perhaps I am doing some good.

The Filipino people are kind and gracious. I don’t think they are used to seeing foreigners around here. They seem to bend over backwards to help us. As we were trying to prepare the apartments for Sister Gibson and the Bills, I walked over to Waltermart 8 times in one day. That name is not a mis-spelling. We live next to a small mall called Waltermart. On one visit I had a number of heavy items for the apartment I bought from Ace Hardware. One of the young attendents in the store put my items in a cart and walked me over to our apartment. I tried to tip him and he wouldn’t allow me to. Almost everywhere we go someone tells me that they know someone who is a member of our church. This was something we never experienced on our previous missions in Germany or Indonesia. It is nice to have the opportunity to talk about our church for a few moments.

I am grateful to be serving this mission and for God’s patience with me when I am perhaps not as patient as I should be. I am surprised at how quickly I am becoming adjusted to the lifestyle here. I knew my expectations had changed quite a bit when last Thursday I woke up and thought to myself “it is a wonderful day, I had a brief hot shower, and I got no new/fresh bug bites.”