Driver's license excursion

Drug testing on the second floor

 Even before we arrived in the Philippines people were alluding to the fact that we would have to get a Philippines driver's license. When Marcia talked to the sister that she was to replace she asked her if we should get an international license. Her response was that we should wait until we get here because it would take a day to do so.

Once we arrived in Manila, at some point, conversation would always come around to the point of us getting a license. Horror stories abounded. A couple we share an office with told us it took two days for them to obtain their license. Then on further review he said it actually took three days.

View of road from the 'drug testing center.'

Marcia taking the eye exam. Our escort, Clem, to her right

Fortunately we were not sent out on our own to achieve this daunting task. We were sent with Clem. Clem works out of the Philippines Area Office (PAO- The Philippines is awash with acronyms and nicknames. Fodder for later blogs!)
It was his job to take us to where we needed to do our drug screening, physical and then to the office where we actually got our license.

There were four of us who went to get our license- Elder and Sister Jackson, Marcia and I. We compared notes after we had our physical. Our blood pressures were normal. As we compared notes we found out that our pressures were very similar. We were all 120/80. I think its being close to the equator that normalizes ones blood pressure to an equilibrium point. That's just my unscientific observation.

Our urine tests all came back normal. One of the group did have an issue of donating an adequate amount of urine for the 'whiz quiz'. After two repeated tries Clem informed the person on the third attempt, if unsuccessful, to just go ahead and spit into the cup. Fortunately the third time was a charm.

The Jacksons and Frenches surviving our 'physical'

My personal favorite test was the "look at the calf test." This was performed on all of us and I was saddened that the person doing the leg test didn't compliment me on my nice legs. We all did pass that particular test as well.

Amazingly we were in and out of the physical area of our application in about 45 minutes. Clem then took us to where we actually obtained our license. I took heart when I noticed that in the same facility was a Catholic chapel. I guess it is there for those who are having a particularly hard time getting their license. Fortunately for us not one had to resort to a Catholic mass.

For those who don't have a prayer in obtaining a license a Catholic
chapel is located at the driver's license department

After all was said and done we were able to be back at the PAO by 11 a.m. I'm not sure but I do think someone called Guiness World Records to see if we do qualify. I will keep everyone posted on the outcome of that. Overall it wasn't as bad as people made it out to be. Though it was interesting- when you get a chance ask Sister French how well the lock worked on the bathroom door where we did our 'whiz quiz.' ...


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Driving the Manila way

 Last night Sister French and I braved, for the first time, the notorious metro Manila traffic. We survived. Normally leaving the office at 4 pm to travel about 1 mile would take about 30 minutes. Since we left at 7:30 there was minimal traffic on the road and were able to get back to the MRC in about 5 minutes.

We've heard various ways to approach the driving here. One piece of advice from Clem was if there is a space- fill it or it will be filled. Another set of rules we heard originally from our close friends whose parents served a mission in Argentina.

Picture #1 

Rule number 1: Big wins. In this case Bus trumps jeepney; jeepney trumps cars; cars trump mopeds, motorcycles, and trikes; two wheel vehicles trump pedestrians. Their is no right-away for a pedestrian- so one must always be on the guard. As a side note- Trains trump everything.

Go Navy!!

Picture #2

Rule number 2: Do not look the other drivers in the eye. If you do so you concede position in the road. It is, somewhat, a large game of chicken. Or for those who are NASCAR fans just think Daytona. While I brought up the subject of NASCAR- I find it quite ironic the resemblance that jeepneys have to NASCAR vehicles. As a challenge- can you pick out the NASCAR vehicle? (hint- it's the one with not much traffic)

Rule number 3: Play dumb and just go. This is one of my favorites although I'm not sure how Marcia likes this particular rule.

There are also rules for when being pulled over by the local Barney Fife. I think I will save those for another post...


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Video from the Philippines- Helping Hands

The volunteer work that was done on Tuesday night was in conjunction with a Philippine television stations-GMA-7- foundation-GMA Kapuso. The church realizes that the best way to work in foreign countries is to team up with local charities or local government units that are already established. LGUs (local government units) and NGOs (non-governmental organizations) have the means and capacities that the church might not have. For example we sent 20 some people to help GMA Kapuso on Tuesday to help sort and pack clothing and food packages. GMA Kapuso used its contacts and warehouse to get the rice and also the clothing. We provided the manpower with others from GMA Kapuso to sort and fill the packages. After the packages were prepared the military came in with a truck, loaded them up and then took them to the areas that they needed. Posted on the right side is a clip from GMA. Although it is in Tagalog you can get the meaning from the context.

Volunteers from the Cubao 1st Ward

The yellow vests are worn by members of the church. They say "Mormon Helping Hands-The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. The vests are only an outer appearance of who these volunteers represent and why they volunteer. Why they volunteer is because of their love of the Savior and of Heavenly Fathers children. Who they represent is the Savior.

"Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:

All ages are assisting as they can

For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger and ye took me in:
Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, and fed thee? or thirsty and gave thee drink?
When saw we thee a stranger and took thee in? or naked and clothed thee?
Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?

Remember-this is a personal blog!

And the Kind shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." Matthew 25:34-40




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Food trucks finally arrive at 6 pm

Unloading food truck

Packaging rice

The MRC- Mission Recovery Center

(L-R) Elders Nance, Viloria, Sister Obeira, Elders Amen, Tadena

 As a respite from the rain I thought I would mention one of the unique things found only in the Philippines. That is the Mission Recovery Center or commonly referred to as the MRC.  There are 17 missions throughout the Philippine islands. When a missionary becomes ill or has been injured, depending on the severity, they are sent to the MRC to allow them time to recover. Currently the MRC is a rented home in one of the subdivisions near the area office. Construction is ongoing with the new MRC which is the old MTC being remodeled.

Elder Nance

While we have waited regarding our housing we have been staying in the MRC. Our stay their has been wonderful. We have been able to interact with a number of missionaries who are recovering from various illnesses or injuries. While their they are cared for by a senior missionary couple- Elder and Sister Fleming. Sister Fleming is a nurse and is busy almost 24-7. Some may think that it is a luxury for the missionaries to stay their and not recover in the field. From one who has been in the MRC for 9 days the missionaries would prefer to be in the field. For the most part being in the MRC can be very slow and BORING!

Sister Obeira and Elder Viloria

I applaud the church for the forward thinking in establishing this facility. I can only imagine the nightmare that mission presidents would have in dealing with sick and injured missionaries. With having a central location to send missionaries the church is able to build relationships with physicians and hospitals. Once local people realize that the church can be a very reliable customer doors open quicker.

The missionaries who now are at the MRC are waiting for the rains to subside so they can return to the field or go home for further recovery. One missionary has recovered from dengue fever and another recovering from a trike accident. The elder recovering from the trike accident was in a crowd of people when a trike lost control and plowed into a crowd. Fortunately the missionary only suffered a broken leg. Others in the crowd did not fair as well.

Today will be a day of packing kits. The four kits that will be put together are food kits, hygiene kits, sleep kits and baby kits. As of now we are just waiting for the trucks to arrive. As soon as they do the missionaries and volunteers from surrounding stakes will come and help put them together. When that is done the kits will be loaded into trucks and then delivered, most likely by the military, to areas of need. It will be another busy day in the Philippines......

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