Latest in Pictures

Ford Mustang 'Ragtop' circ. 1969 

 This post is some of the accumulated pictures over the last 5 months that we have been here. I will try and put some detail to the captions to give you an idea the broad range of things that we are experiencing here. Marcia and I absolutely love it here. The people are friendly and kind. When someone brings out a camera you will have swarms of people surrounding you in anticipation of having their picture taken. That can be seen in some of the pictures in this post.

Marcia with youth and 2 Elders outside the Manila Temple

This is Elder Steven Hadlock in an evacuation center. This is two months
following the end of the typhoons that hit the Manila area in August. A week or two
after this picture all who were in the center had returned to their homes.

Waterfall at Sierra Madre Resort

Waterfall at Sierra Madre Resort

Sunset at the end of White Plains Avenue. This street is
immediately north of our office.

 As you can see in the picture on the left the youth like to have their pictures taken. This is just outside the Manila LDS Temple. Our offices are directly across the street from the temple. It is a beautiful sight to see every morning as we drive into work.

Speaking of driving-as I digress- Marcia and I took a psychiatrist out for dinner this past Thursday evening. We mentioned that we drove. She was rather shocked that I drove in the Manila area and then when we told her that Marcia also drove she was even a little more shocked. Marcia and I really like to drive here. It's just short of driving for NASCAR. We have been blessed that we haven't had any accidents as of this point. And, unlike most of the senior missionaries here, we haven't received a ticket up to this point. That doesn't mean we haven't been stopped. Especially Marcia whose blonde hair sticks out quite a bit.

The picture on the left here is of Elder Hadlock who currently is the countries wheelchair coordinator with his wife, Becky. This year the church is placing about 5,000 wheelchairs to people with disabilities. Their is no cost to the recipient other then asking them or their family, or their community, to perform up to 40 hours of community service. LDS Charities has partnered with Rotary International, The Philippine Marines, and a few other NGO's to distribute these chairs. The partners pay for the shipping to the individuals who need the chairs and the LDS Charities pays for the chairs themselves. Next year they are budgeting in for 7,000 wheelchairs. They love their work and it keeps them quite busy. When there is a calamity they change hats and go quickly into calamity mode. With the typhoon that just reeked havoc in Mindanao the Church is already in action to help supply clothing, food and shelter where they can.

The two waterfall pictures were taken on a senior missionary outing to visit a senior couple who had moved to the far reaches of our particular mission. It was up in the mountains. On the way back one of the couple asked to stop at a resort run by a retired Army General who was their friend. We had the wonderful opportunity to tour that facility and see the beautiful falls. Marcia and I also had a the chance to zipline. It was quite fun!

Birthday celebration- Me, Sister Hadlock, Sister Armstrong

 Birthdays here are remembered. Possibly to the chagrin of some! The above picture is of me, Sister Hadlock and Sister Armstrong as we blow out the candles on our combined cake. Sister Armstrong and I share the same birthday although a few years apart. Sister Hadlock's birthday is one day after ours. Sister Hadlock works with her husband in the wheelchair distribution. Sister Armstrong and Elder Armstrong work at the Manila Mission Training Center. She is the MTC nurse and her husband works their as the executive secretary for the MTC presidency.

If you have been in the Philippines you will know what this sign is about!

Marcia and I on the way to Sierra Madre resort with the Senior
Missionary Zone

Papaya tree on the way to Sierra Madre Resort

Marcia and Sister Hadlock in front of a Jeepney

Marcia has a very busy office. As her responsibility as the Philippine Area Mental Health Adviser she is constantly on the phone communicating with missionaries, Mission Presidents or their wives, or with leadership from other areas regarding their missionaries who are serving here in the Philippines. One of the other responsibilities that she has is to screen those missionaries who have been flagged that might have had some sort of mental health issue in the past. Some of these issues are not necessarily diagnostic in nature but more counseling in nature. An example might be that a missionary who desires to serve has indicated that they may have experienced abuse of some nature in the past as they have grown up. Marcia is tasked to see how well they are doing following such a traumatic experience and determine if the missionary will be able do endure the stress of a mission under those circumstances. It is a very hard task to do and quite the burden for Marcia. She does very well and is a blessing for these missionaries as she counsels with them. As I may have stated previously the mental health care here is not quite up to date as what we may feel the US is up to. Marcia has seen and experienced things here that she hasn't quite seen in the United States. Mind you she has seen the types of abuse and mental health issues here that she counseled for in the US but their are some things regarding PTSD that she hadn't seen before. She is doing a tremendous work in helping these young missionaries. If they weren't on their missions they would not have been able to receive the assistance and counsel from anyone else because the resources are not available. Marcia being here is a tremendous blessing for them. With us only being here for 5 months she has already helped hundreds of people. That is why I say that we are quite busy!!

       

Marcia busy in her office

Concrete Drainage Pipe Home

 The picture on the left is a concrete drainage pipe section. It is also the home of a lady and a few cats. Marcia and I haven't seen her but Elder and Sister Hadlock have seen her on several occasions. She has a make shift door out of cardboard which she uses to cover the entrance during the day when she is not their. The plastic is used to help keep it dry when it rains.

Thanksgiving dinner at the Taylors

This picture is a gathering at the apartment of the MTC President and his wife, President and Sister Taylor. They are a great couple. This was taken during our Thanksgiving dinner in which we were so graciously invited to. From left to right: Elder and Sister Jackson, Marcia, Sister Taylor and President Taylor, Sister Fleming, Elder and Sister Armstrong.

Can you say Mandaluyoun?

We live on the 12th floor of an apartment/condo complex in the community of Mandaluyong. On the Sunday following Thanksgiving we started hearing loud 'banging' sounds. I looked out the window and was pleasantly surprised to see a firework display going on. I shouted to Marcia, who was in the living room, to look out. After she was able to orient herself and realize she needed to look down from our 12th floor we were both able to watch a 25 minute firework display. As of today we are still not sure as to why it was going on!

Pictured here is Marcia and Gilda. Gilda is our office manager and we were surprised to find out that she spent her mission in the same mission and at the same time as our sister-in-law, Laurel Mount. When Gilda saw a picture of Laurel in Marcia's office she stated that she did remember her even though their paths crossed for a short period of time. It is a small Mormon world after all!!

Gilda and Marcia

Squatter's homes below Seagulls in Tagaytay

We have learned that the sense of community here is strong. If a family grows a garden it is not uncommon for the neighbors to come and harvest the the fruits of the garden for their own families. It is ok as long as the produce isn't used to sell in the market. We found some of that when we were in Tagaytay. Below Seagulls squatters had built several huts/homes in which they live. You can see the smoke coming from one of the huts in one of the pictures. They normally don't have electricity but what they do have is a long extension chord. Every night at 6 p.m. the staff at Seagulls plug in the extension chord giving power to the squatters who live down the hill. Later in the evening or early in the morning they unplug the chord and the squatters have to wait again for the evening to have power...jsf

Squatter's homes

Extension chord to power squatter's homes