19 March 2023 Week #25: A Garden Day for Mom
Dear Family and Friends,
Monday was another office day, working on projects, attending our TEAMS meeting with Manila. That gave me a headache as a project was presented by one of our superiors where we are not donating any materials or supplies, and yet we have been told that all we do is donate materials and supplies. I’m confused. I’m terrible at communicating and even worse at listening and understanding. After two hours and many questions by other colleagues I was glad to leave the meeting. I turned off my computer and left the room. We had made a commitment to drive the Tidwells to the airport. They had been here over the weekend and had a meeting at the same time as ours. Theirs didn’t go as long. They were waiting for us. We took them to the airport and checked some things out there like long term parking and the international terminal so we will be ready for Olivia’s arrival. We are so excited to have Olivia and Quincy!! Then, we headed to the port area to learn more and get our bearings a little straighter in that part of the city.
On Tuesday we went to Rise and Rebuild and had a wonderful experience there. This farm operation was started by Ray Goodson. He was one of the first four missionaries here back in 1961, right after Elder Hinckley dedicated the Philippines for missionary work. It was still part of the Southeast Asia Mission. In 1967 the Manila Philippines Mission was established. Ray Goodson came back in 1973 as the mission president for the Cebu Mission, the second mission to be established here. The Philippines now has 23 missions. Anyway, sorry to get sidetracked. But Brother Goodson saw the need for feeding children. He has established 4 vegetable farms here with another one soon to be in operation. The one farm on Cebu Island is about 3 hours north of here. With the farms they feed several thousand children a day at schools. The children are screened for malnutrition. If they qualify, then they can get fed for free. Rise and Rebuild has built kitchens by the schools, they then provide the food and parents come to the kitchens, nutrition centers, to prepare the lunches for the children. For some it is the only meal they get that day. It is pretty cool that Rise and Rebuild will do this. Sadly though, they only feed a small percent of the children here that need it. They are doing a great job, but you can only produce so much food on so many acres. When you pass the farms, and then come to this farm you just go WOW. It is unlike any other farm here. You can see the influence of money and education in a very productive farm. The head guy here is Raysen Pua. He and his wife, Judith, are doing a great job. He also oversees the other four farms. He has to travel quite a bit. A guy by the name of Bob Johnson is the “big guy”, taking over for Ray Goodson. Ray is getting older and wants this to continue so he has put other people in place to make it happen. Bob lives in the U.S. and oversees it from there, but visits frequently, and Ray Goodson was here visiting not long ago. This is the smallest of the four farms and hires about 70 employees. One guy is the person in charge of feeding the children and his title is Nutrition and Education Specialist. They are trying to educate the parents, teach them” how to fish” instead of giving them a “fish”. It was fun to meet him. One of the people Bob Johnson brings over on occasion to help out with the nutrition training is “Sandra Rogers”. Yes, for those who know, she is the lady that Clyde and June got to know so well while serving their mission in Africa. She worked closely with Clyde and June for about 9 months if I remember correctly. That was fun to make that connection. Well, enough, you can only imagine how Clyda was walking on air for a couple of hours at this farm with all kinds of vegetables growing in unique ways. They really want to go hydroponic so they can increase production. It is difficult when crops don’t get enough rain, or too much rain.
That evening we fed the Sister missionaries. Sister Bangcong was transferred to Old Escalante. She was wonderful. We will miss her. She was a good trainer for Sister Noble. On Wednesday evening we fed the Elders. Elder Willis was then transferred to Sibonga. We will miss him. He is doing great! Elder Espinosa has a new companion, Elder Jenkins, from Monroe, Utah. A South Sevier High School boy. It will be fun to get to know him.
Too many late nights and early mornings, too much stress, and I have gotten a cold. I took a nap on Wednesday and Thursday mornings to try and get caught up on some sleep and get better. On Thursday afternoon we headed out. We drove over the mountain to Toledo. We visited with the Dickinsons for about an hour. Then we boarded the ferry to San Carlos on Negros Island. We arrived in the evening and went to our motel. The next morning at 7:30 we had our meeting with the top people to present our projects to. I have a lot to learn. The older I get the less I know. One project passed and one didn’t. The solar project didn’t pass. It is on hold as I learn more about solar and prepare to justify having this put in. I couldn’t answer simple questions, the lifetime of solar panels, the lifetime of the batteries, how will the people be able to keep the solar panels maintained, etc. Hopefully, I will be able to answer these questions this next Friday as we present it again.
Then we headed up to Toboso and Escalante to visit a couple schools. One school is asking for TVs, and the other one is asking for Science Experiment supplies. Both teachers that have made the requests are members of the church. At the TV school I had requested seeing a teacher teach a lesson on one of the two TVs they currently have. She did an outstanding job. So, we will see if we can get them one for every classroom. That is like the Cayos National High School that we just got passed. At the science school they have no supplies, all experiments are just read about.
Back to the motel in San Carlos. It was a full day. The next day we left early to get back to the stake center in Escalante for the WSR conference. We presented our Member Welfare Project presentation again. It went well with all the leadership from the Escalante Stake and the San Carlos District. One of the young Elders, Elder Hale, came up after and introduced himself. His mother is Nathan Halls sister. He is a first cousin to the Hall kids in Cokeville. He has been to Cokeville. He is from St. George. He went to Snow Canyon High School. That was fun to make that connection. He seems like a real good missionary. It was fun to visit briefly with him.
Then back to San Carlos to catch the ferry home that night. It was dark when we got back into Toledo. It was a scary drive home over the mountain. Such a narrow road, so many motor bikes, so many pedestrians, it was a white-knuckle drive. Clyda’s eyes were as big as silver dollars.
Church was wonderful again. It is so good to see these good saints. Many are dedicated to this great work of helping God’s children along the covenant path. If you didn’t read Connor’s email last week you missed out on a great testimony. This work is the real deal. We need to get a hold and hang on tight. I am so grateful the Holy Ghost has born witness to me of the Prophet Joseph Smith numerous times. I know he was a prophet. I know the Book of Mormon is the word of God. I know we are led by a living prophet of God today, President Russel M. Nelson. I am grateful that the Holy Ghost has born witness to me of these things. It keeps me focused on trying to do the things I need to do to stay on the covenant path so I can live with our daughter Tillie and our grandson Clyde again. They will be in the Celestial Kingdom. I need to do my best to get there. I want to be with them and all of you. This is a great work. Hold on tight and “Lift Where You Stand”.
With love,
Dad and Mom
Grandpa and Grandma
Briant and Clyda
Week #25 3/13-3/19
Monday was another office day, working on projects, attending our TEAMS meeting with Manila. That gave me a headache as a project was presented by one of our superiors where we are not donating any materials or supplies, and yet we have been told that all we do is donate materials and supplies. I’m confused. I’m terrible at communicating and even worse at listening and understanding. After two hours and many questions by other colleagues I was glad to leave the meeting. I turned off my computer and left the room. We had made a commitment to drive the Tidwells to the airport. They had been here over the weekend and had a meeting at the same time as ours. Theirs didn’t go as long. They were waiting for us. We took them to the airport and checked some things out there like long term parking and the international terminal so we will be ready for Olivia’s arrival. We are so excited to have Olivia and Quincy!! Then, we headed to the port area to learn more and get our bearings a little straighter in that part of the city.
On Tuesday we went to Rise and Rebuild and had a wonderful experience there. This farm operation was started by Ray Goodson. He was one of the first four missionaries here back in 1961, right after Elder Hinckley dedicated the Philippines for missionary work. It was still part of the Southeast Asia Mission. In 1967 the Manila Philippines Mission was established. Ray Goodson came back in 1973 as the mission president for the Cebu Mission, the second mission to be established here. The Philippines now has 23 missions. Anyway, sorry to get sidetracked. But Brother Goodson saw the need for feeding children. He has established 4 vegetable farms here with another one soon to be in operation. The one farm on Cebu Island is about 3 hours north of here. With the farms they feed several thousand children a day at schools. The children are screened for malnutrition. If they qualify, then they can get fed for free. Rise and Rebuild has built kitchens by the schools, they then provide the food and parents come to the kitchens, nutrition centers, to prepare the lunches for the children. For some it is the only meal they get that day. It is pretty cool that Rise and Rebuild will do this. Sadly though, they only feed a small percent of the children here that need it. They are doing a great job, but you can only produce so much food on so many acres. When you pass the farms, and then come to this farm you just go WOW. It is unlike any other farm here. You can see the influence of money and education in a very productive farm. The head guy here is Raysen Pua. He and his wife, Judith, are doing a great job. He also oversees the other four farms. He has to travel quite a bit. A guy by the name of Bob Johnson is the “big guy”, taking over for Ray Goodson. Ray is getting older and wants this to continue so he has put other people in place to make it happen. Bob lives in the U.S. and oversees it from there, but visits frequently, and Ray Goodson was here visiting not long ago. This is the smallest of the four farms and hires about 70 employees. One guy is the person in charge of feeding the children and his title is Nutrition and Education Specialist. They are trying to educate the parents, teach them” how to fish” instead of giving them a “fish”. It was fun to meet him. One of the people Bob Johnson brings over on occasion to help out with the nutrition training is “Sandra Rogers”. Yes, for those who know, she is the lady that Clyde and June got to know so well while serving their mission in Africa. She worked closely with Clyde and June for about 9 months if I remember correctly. That was fun to make that connection. Well, enough, you can only imagine how Clyda was walking on air for a couple of hours at this farm with all kinds of vegetables growing in unique ways. They really want to go hydroponic so they can increase production. It is difficult when crops don’t get enough rain, or too much rain.
That evening we fed the Sister missionaries. Sister Bangcong was transferred to Old Escalante. She was wonderful. We will miss her. She was a good trainer for Sister Noble. On Wednesday evening we fed the Elders. Elder Willis was then transferred to Sibonga. We will miss him. He is doing great! Elder Espinosa has a new companion, Elder Jenkins, from Monroe, Utah. A South Sevier High School boy. It will be fun to get to know him.
Too many late nights and early mornings, too much stress, and I have gotten a cold. I took a nap on Wednesday and Thursday mornings to try and get caught up on some sleep and get better. On Thursday afternoon we headed out. We drove over the mountain to Toledo. We visited with the Dickinsons for about an hour. Then we boarded the ferry to San Carlos on Negros Island. We arrived in the evening and went to our motel. The next morning at 7:30 we had our meeting with the top people to present our projects to. I have a lot to learn. The older I get the less I know. One project passed and one didn’t. The solar project didn’t pass. It is on hold as I learn more about solar and prepare to justify having this put in. I couldn’t answer simple questions, the lifetime of solar panels, the lifetime of the batteries, how will the people be able to keep the solar panels maintained, etc. Hopefully, I will be able to answer these questions this next Friday as we present it again.
Then we headed up to Toboso and Escalante to visit a couple schools. One school is asking for TVs, and the other one is asking for Science Experiment supplies. Both teachers that have made the requests are members of the church. At the TV school I had requested seeing a teacher teach a lesson on one of the two TVs they currently have. She did an outstanding job. So, we will see if we can get them one for every classroom. That is like the Cayos National High School that we just got passed. At the science school they have no supplies, all experiments are just read about.
Back to the motel in San Carlos. It was a full day. The next day we left early to get back to the stake center in Escalante for the WSR conference. We presented our Member Welfare Project presentation again. It went well with all the leadership from the Escalante Stake and the San Carlos District. One of the young Elders, Elder Hale, came up after and introduced himself. His mother is Nathan Halls sister. He is a first cousin to the Hall kids in Cokeville. He has been to Cokeville. He is from St. George. He went to Snow Canyon High School. That was fun to make that connection. He seems like a real good missionary. It was fun to visit briefly with him.
Then back to San Carlos to catch the ferry home that night. It was dark when we got back into Toledo. It was a scary drive home over the mountain. Such a narrow road, so many motor bikes, so many pedestrians, it was a white-knuckle drive. Clyda’s eyes were as big as silver dollars.
Church was wonderful again. It is so good to see these good saints. Many are dedicated to this great work of helping God’s children along the covenant path. If you didn’t read Connor’s email last week you missed out on a great testimony. This work is the real deal. We need to get a hold and hang on tight. I am so grateful the Holy Ghost has born witness to me of the Prophet Joseph Smith numerous times. I know he was a prophet. I know the Book of Mormon is the word of God. I know we are led by a living prophet of God today, President Russel M. Nelson. I am grateful that the Holy Ghost has born witness to me of these things. It keeps me focused on trying to do the things I need to do to stay on the covenant path so I can live with our daughter Tillie and our grandson Clyde again. They will be in the Celestial Kingdom. I need to do my best to get there. I want to be with them and all of you. This is a great work. Hold on tight and “Lift Where You Stand”.
With love,
Dad and Mom
Grandpa and Grandma
Briant and Clyda
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