8 Jan. 2023 Week #15: Another Bump in the Road (that we're not licensed to drive over)
Dear Family and Friends,
Sister Woods is of Danish Descent. Last Sunday she invited us to their apartment for a Danish tradition of theirs. The tradition is open faced sandwiches with several different kinds of toppings. It was very good. They also invited the Welches and Sister Garner. The seven of us had a great time together eating and visiting.
Monday was a very chill day with no meeting because like in America if the 1st of January is on a Sunday then the 2nd is also a holiday. It was complete without football games. That was kind of sad. We celebrated with our normal morning routine and then Clyda gave me a haircut and I colored her hair. Three times now, and I must say she looks beautiful. So even if I messed up the coloring she still looks really good. In the afternoon we went to the Templex and found the Koyles and spent the afternoon with them. They are new temple workers and live at the Patron housing. They don’t have a car. We walked with them up here to JY Square to show them where a grocery store is within walking distance. We also showed them a couple places here close with ATM’s. We brought them to our apartment and had a good visit. We exchanged information so we can message them on messenger. They don’t have Filipino phones yet, but we can contact them over messenger if they have wifi. It was a good afternoon with them. They are a neat couple from Heyburn, ID. They have seven children and four of them are married to kids from Duchesne, UT. Their oldest married one from there, and then others went to visit, got set up, and it just kept going.
It has been raining pretty good this week. On Tuesday and Wednesday we did our walking with umbrellas. We had the sister missionaries over for Taco Tuesday. They are real good missionaries. They set a baptismal date for a couple young men they are teaching for Jan. 14th.
We were going to go to Sibonga with Brother Colipapa this week to visit their pig project, but it would be too muddy trying to slop around on their hills. It has been postponed. So, we went to Mandaue to visit with Bro. Colipapa and go over where we are on all the different projects we have. In our conversation about us not having drivers licenses yet, he said we could get a minister certificate letter from Jairus and that would do. We just needed pictures of our passports which we have on our phones. We also talked about our delay on projects to the Carcar schools. This was the start of frustration problems for the week.
On Thursday we met Brother Colipapa at the place where we get drivers licenses. It took a long time to finally get denied. We have to have the real
passport, not a picture of it. Well, they kept our passports in Manila when we arrived. They said they needed them to get them stamped with our Visas. We got our fingerprints taken and pictures taken at the end of October. We still don’t have our Visas. We then found out a couple things. We contacted the people in Manila, we just got our Visas, but it will take 3-4 days to get the stamp on our passports and then another 4-6 days for something else. Then it will take a couple weeks to get here through the mail. So, we are looking at a month without a driver’s license. You can drive here on a US license for 90 days. Well, that ended on Saturday. We have now been here in the Philippines for 90 days. So much for driving for a month, just when I was kind of getting the hang of it and learning my way around this city a little bit.
That afternoon we went to the temple with the Woods, the Parkers, and Sister Garner. We did sealings for an hour for a bunch of names Sister Woods had prepared. It is fun to listen to these Filipino accents on Danish names. We enjoyed our time. As I was exiting the men’s locker room I met a young man who was there assisting in the temple. I struck up a conversation and it was fun to find out he was from Dumaguete. He knows Leo and Yet-Yet very well. They are friends of Olivia’s when she was in Dumaguete. It was fun to make that acquaintance. He didn’t serve a mission because of bad choices he said, so he is now on a mission. He serves in the temple on Thursday and Friday the first week of each month. He has two children. His wife serves on Thursday and Friday the second week of each month. Pretty cool!!
Brother Colipapa is trying so hard to help us and things just kind of backfired this week. He was able to get the previous missionaries their licenses that way, but they have become more strict now. He also wants to help us get some projects going. The two schools in the mountains of Carcar that have the worst damages have not been able to get an architect or engineer to come and
assess their damages. So, Brother Colipapa got a hold of two different vendors to go with us to the schools on Friday. They brought their engineers to write up the different damages to get quotes on materials, etc. Well, while we were at the second school one of our bosses calls. I told him where we were and what was going on and that was a no no. The vendors are not suppose to be identifying the needs because they give us a quote on materials after the schools assess the damages. We are in the doghouse now. He was kind enough in his reprimand, but still very discouraging for us. We still have so much to learn. We wanted to help these two schools from the first time we laid eyes on them. Here we are almost 3 months later, and we haven’t been able to do a blessed thing for them. Maybe if I
had been a school administrator or Special Ed person I would have been more prepared for all of this paperwork trail and hoops to jump through to get a project off the ground. Then, there will be a lot more of it to do during the project, and to finish the project. Then again, if I had been an administrator or Special Ed person I’d be dead by now from stress and a heart attack.
On that line, Brother Colipapa was telling us Friday about his mother dying in the temple as a worker while she was helping a lady go through the veil. She just had a heart attack right there. She didn’t have far to go to pass through the veil. I think maybe that would be a good way to go.
Saturday we decided we better go to Lander’s and stock up on food supplies that we can’t get at JY Square since we won’t be driving for a month. We also got our dirty truck washed so it looks good sitting in the parking lot. And then we watched Friday’s basketball games of Cokeville and Mt. View.
It has been a good Sabbath day. Fast and Testimony meeting was very good. Almost everyone bore their testimony in English. A couple did in Cebuano. Elders Quorum meeting was good, but almost entirely in Cebuano.
Even with a frustrating and discouraging week, we still had a lot of neat things happen, and I continue to admire these good people here. The Priesthood meeting was on Elder Christofferson’s talk about Belonging. An older gentleman got up and shared how he use to drink all the time and couldn’t keep a job. When the missionaries came and taught him and his family everything changed, and a huge help to him was the fact that he felt like he belonged, both in the church and with Jesus Christ. We do belong in the church and with Jesus Christ. He loves us and wants us back. To return should be on the top of our list of priorities, through the difficult times and through the times of prosperity. We love you. Let’s all make it back together. Serve your best in what you are asked to do. Lift where you stand!
With love,
Dad and Mom
Grandpa and Grandma
Briant and Clyda
Week #15 1/2-1/8
Sister Woods is of Danish Descent. Last Sunday she invited us to their apartment for a Danish tradition of theirs. The tradition is open faced sandwiches with several different kinds of toppings. It was very good. They also invited the Welches and Sister Garner. The seven of us had a great time together eating and visiting.
Monday was a very chill day with no meeting because like in America if the 1st of January is on a Sunday then the 2nd is also a holiday. It was complete without football games. That was kind of sad. We celebrated with our normal morning routine and then Clyda gave me a haircut and I colored her hair. Three times now, and I must say she looks beautiful. So even if I messed up the coloring she still looks really good. In the afternoon we went to the Templex and found the Koyles and spent the afternoon with them. They are new temple workers and live at the Patron housing. They don’t have a car. We walked with them up here to JY Square to show them where a grocery store is within walking distance. We also showed them a couple places here close with ATM’s. We brought them to our apartment and had a good visit. We exchanged information so we can message them on messenger. They don’t have Filipino phones yet, but we can contact them over messenger if they have wifi. It was a good afternoon with them. They are a neat couple from Heyburn, ID. They have seven children and four of them are married to kids from Duchesne, UT. Their oldest married one from there, and then others went to visit, got set up, and it just kept going.
It has been raining pretty good this week. On Tuesday and Wednesday we did our walking with umbrellas. We had the sister missionaries over for Taco Tuesday. They are real good missionaries. They set a baptismal date for a couple young men they are teaching for Jan. 14th.
We were going to go to Sibonga with Brother Colipapa this week to visit their pig project, but it would be too muddy trying to slop around on their hills. It has been postponed. So, we went to Mandaue to visit with Bro. Colipapa and go over where we are on all the different projects we have. In our conversation about us not having drivers licenses yet, he said we could get a minister certificate letter from Jairus and that would do. We just needed pictures of our passports which we have on our phones. We also talked about our delay on projects to the Carcar schools. This was the start of frustration problems for the week.
On Thursday we met Brother Colipapa at the place where we get drivers licenses. It took a long time to finally get denied. We have to have the real
passport, not a picture of it. Well, they kept our passports in Manila when we arrived. They said they needed them to get them stamped with our Visas. We got our fingerprints taken and pictures taken at the end of October. We still don’t have our Visas. We then found out a couple things. We contacted the people in Manila, we just got our Visas, but it will take 3-4 days to get the stamp on our passports and then another 4-6 days for something else. Then it will take a couple weeks to get here through the mail. So, we are looking at a month without a driver’s license. You can drive here on a US license for 90 days. Well, that ended on Saturday. We have now been here in the Philippines for 90 days. So much for driving for a month, just when I was kind of getting the hang of it and learning my way around this city a little bit.
That afternoon we went to the temple with the Woods, the Parkers, and Sister Garner. We did sealings for an hour for a bunch of names Sister Woods had prepared. It is fun to listen to these Filipino accents on Danish names. We enjoyed our time. As I was exiting the men’s locker room I met a young man who was there assisting in the temple. I struck up a conversation and it was fun to find out he was from Dumaguete. He knows Leo and Yet-Yet very well. They are friends of Olivia’s when she was in Dumaguete. It was fun to make that acquaintance. He didn’t serve a mission because of bad choices he said, so he is now on a mission. He serves in the temple on Thursday and Friday the first week of each month. He has two children. His wife serves on Thursday and Friday the second week of each month. Pretty cool!!
Brother Colipapa is trying so hard to help us and things just kind of backfired this week. He was able to get the previous missionaries their licenses that way, but they have become more strict now. He also wants to help us get some projects going. The two schools in the mountains of Carcar that have the worst damages have not been able to get an architect or engineer to come and
assess their damages. So, Brother Colipapa got a hold of two different vendors to go with us to the schools on Friday. They brought their engineers to write up the different damages to get quotes on materials, etc. Well, while we were at the second school one of our bosses calls. I told him where we were and what was going on and that was a no no. The vendors are not suppose to be identifying the needs because they give us a quote on materials after the schools assess the damages. We are in the doghouse now. He was kind enough in his reprimand, but still very discouraging for us. We still have so much to learn. We wanted to help these two schools from the first time we laid eyes on them. Here we are almost 3 months later, and we haven’t been able to do a blessed thing for them. Maybe if I
had been a school administrator or Special Ed person I would have been more prepared for all of this paperwork trail and hoops to jump through to get a project off the ground. Then, there will be a lot more of it to do during the project, and to finish the project. Then again, if I had been an administrator or Special Ed person I’d be dead by now from stress and a heart attack.
On that line, Brother Colipapa was telling us Friday about his mother dying in the temple as a worker while she was helping a lady go through the veil. She just had a heart attack right there. She didn’t have far to go to pass through the veil. I think maybe that would be a good way to go.
Saturday we decided we better go to Lander’s and stock up on food supplies that we can’t get at JY Square since we won’t be driving for a month. We also got our dirty truck washed so it looks good sitting in the parking lot. And then we watched Friday’s basketball games of Cokeville and Mt. View.
It has been a good Sabbath day. Fast and Testimony meeting was very good. Almost everyone bore their testimony in English. A couple did in Cebuano. Elders Quorum meeting was good, but almost entirely in Cebuano.
Even with a frustrating and discouraging week, we still had a lot of neat things happen, and I continue to admire these good people here. The Priesthood meeting was on Elder Christofferson’s talk about Belonging. An older gentleman got up and shared how he use to drink all the time and couldn’t keep a job. When the missionaries came and taught him and his family everything changed, and a huge help to him was the fact that he felt like he belonged, both in the church and with Jesus Christ. We do belong in the church and with Jesus Christ. He loves us and wants us back. To return should be on the top of our list of priorities, through the difficult times and through the times of prosperity. We love you. Let’s all make it back together. Serve your best in what you are asked to do. Lift where you stand!
With love,
Dad and Mom
Grandpa and Grandma
Briant and Clyda
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