18 June 2023 Week #38: Happy Father's Day and What an Incredible Week for Us
Dear Family and Friends,
Oh, what a week! Monday was a whirlwind. It was Independence Day here in the Philippines. We woke up early and headed to the Templex to walk. We have missed so many days lately because of travel or being up in the middle of the night, that we had to make sure we got this day in. After our morning study routine, I completed the mock DOD for 7th Forward Service Support Unit (7FSSU). Brother and Sister Colipapa picked us up to go to the turnover. We arrived early, I explained to the Commander-in-chief that I didn’t have the real DOD ready, and I would return later with it. I had to get more technical about the requirements we have for them to report to us on how, what, and when we need them to report to us on the gift we are giving them. Because we were early, we started with the program early. The bishop over that area arrived halfway through, and the stake president arrived as we finished, which was the original start time. These instances always require a ton of photos, the Filipinos are big on photos for everything. I have heard about a million times now, 1,2,3 and, one more!
Meanwhile, Sister Cheryl Harrison who was with us while her husband was installing the solar power system at Tres Reyes, had brought some items from her non-member friend in Orem, Utah, to a work associate here in Cebu named Jill. This Orem lady and Jill have had work connections for some time now. Cheryl called Jill and asked if she knew where the Cebu LDS Temple was located and asked if she could meet us there. We had told Cheryl we lived right close to the temple. Cheryl just knew Jill’s first name and that she lived in Cebu, and she had a phone number. When they visited on the phone Cheryl found out her last name was Colipapa. Yes, Brother Colipapa’s daughter. What are the chances, that Cheryl’s non-member friend is working with Jill Colipapa, returned missionary here in Cebu, Philippines. Amazing!
After the 7FSSU turnover we went to lunch with the Colipapas on Lapu Lapu. It was a restaurant out at the end of the spit close to where the fisherfolk boat builder, Ruel, works. We needed to meet Ruel to pick up two more boats to be turned over that afternoon.
Now, talk about tender mercies. We helped the 7FSSU by donating to them big tools like, impact wrenches, welders, 1,2,3and5 ton jacks, etc. so they can repair repairable but unserviceable vehicles. They take a couple old army trucks and make a new one out of the two or three. The main reason we helped them is because they help others, and they helped LDSC a couple times. They helped us transport a lot of roofing materials to Sibonga after Odette destroyed so many homes here. They also helped rescue a bunch of wheelchairs at the dock getting rained on. We didn’t want them to get rusted.
Back to the story. At the turnover, the commanding officer, a lady, told me if we ever need their services be sure to ask. Well, while we were socializing afterwards with Filipino treats, Brother Colipapa gets a phone call saying the guy with the truck to haul the fisherfolk boats to the delivery site has conked out and they can’t deliver the boats. So, I asked the lady commander if we could use their services now. She politely smiled and agreed. I didn’t expect to need their services that soon.
Their truck met us at Ruels. They hauled the boats to Old Bridge, or Bridge #1. (There are 3 bridges from Cebu to Lapu Lapu.) The fisher folks live right by the Old Bridge. Under the bridge is a nice park, and 200 meters away is the fisherfolks shanti town. The boats were delivered, boats #5 & #6 now. Two more to go. We had a short turnover for 4 more excited families. Two families share a boat. Originally 16 families with licensed fishermen were told they would receive boats. The Huskinsons started this project. The boats had been destroyed along with their village by Odette. We have now been a part of the delivery of four boats. So now 12 of the sixteen families have boats. Two more boats to go.
After the turnover, Brother Colipapa took us to our apartment. We got some dinner and then headed to catch the 7:00 p.m. ferry back to Tubigon, Bohol. We caught a taxi to the port. It was crazy busy, because of all the people headed back to Bohol from Cebu who had come to celebrate Independence Day with family. We boarded the Ferry and sat down in our seats. I put my hands on my legs and realized I didn’t have any keys in my pocket. I had left the keys to the truck in the apartment on the counter. Holy cow, we would ride the ferry for two hours and be stranded with a truck and no keys. We hurried and got off the ferry just as it pulled out. We asked the ticket takers if they would honor our tickets on the 1:00 a.m. ferry. They said they would. We caught a taxi back to the apartment for a five hour wait. Thank goodness for tender mercies and the Holy Ghost prompted me to check for the keys before we pulled out.
We caught the 1:00 a.m. ferry and arrived in Tubigon at about 3:30 a.m. We started driving. It was no hurry. No sense in going back to Ubay and paying for a motel room for about 3 hours. We stopped a couple times and slept. It is about 2 hours from Tubigon to Ubay. However, we had scheduled a visit to a school in Bien Unido, about 20 minutes this side of Ubay, for a 9:30 a.m. visit. LDSC charities helped them last fall with two different projects. We went there for the turnover with the Huskinsons the day after we arrived here in Cebu last October. We were now going back to do an evaluation on the project and see what kind of an impact it has had on their school. It was a positive meeting. Brother Tingsten is the Industrial Arts teacher there.
Then back to Ubay, after a long night and morning. We checked into our motel at noon and took a 3-hour nap. That evening, Tuesday, Clyda and I had invited President Avenido and his wife to dinner with us. Sister Harrison ate earlier, and the guys were staying on the island like they had since Sunday so they could get early starts on the project. I had been wanting to meet Sister Avenido and she hadn’t come to church on Sunday because she was sick. She joined the church as a young lady there in Ubay when there were only a handful of members. She went on a mission to the Butuan Mission. Later she taught James, President Avenido. He was baptized. Two years later they got married, while she was home from Hong Kong on leave. She was employed as a nanny in Hong Kong. She returned to Hong Kong to work after three weeks of married life. Then covid hit and they were separated for almost 4 years. She returned home at the end of April this year. What a great reunion. Three weeks of being married in a four-year marriage and it wasn’t World War I or II. Amazing! Well, I had to get to meet this young lady for another reason, just by chance if I could make another connection. Before covid hit, Lynn and Marian Wardle were serving a mission in Hong Kong and working with the Filipino members. (For those not in the family Marian is my first cousin, and her husband Lynn served a mission here in the Philippines when my cousin Conrad Teichert and Christina Teichert Clark’s husband Jim served here. All three of these Philippine missionaries from 1968-1970 era now cousins through marriage.) Back to the story. I asked Mary Ann Autor Avenido if when she was in Hong Kong if she had ever met Lynn and Marian Wardle. Her eyes got big and a huge smile, “How do you know Lynn and Marian?” I explained Marian and I are cousins. She was so excited. “We have almost identical names, and she gives the best hugs.” (Teresa, be sure to share this with Marian.) Another tender mercy and wonderful connection, making this mission just that much more exciting.
Wednesday morning a fun 25-minute boat ride to Tres Reyes for a wonderful ceremony. Elder and Sister Strong came as well as Elder and Sister Parker. President Avenido had a lot of school and government dignitaries there. It was a great program, the solar installation was complete, and people were excited. The only downer was they still didn’t have the wiring complete for most of the classrooms and computer lab. We had lights, fans, and phone chargers going in a couple rooms. The rest will need to be completed by the electrician. But, they are excited to have SOLAR POWER!!
A boat ride back to Ubay and a quick trip to Tubigon. We missed the 4:00 ferry but made it home on the 5:30 ferry. We arrived in Cebu at 7:30 to a warm rain. Norman and Cheryl Harrison rode in the cab with us. Nathan and Arman rode in the back with the luggage. Please don’t tell anyone, riding in the back of a truck is against mission rules. However, it is not against the rules of the Philippines. You see a lot of people riding in the back of trucks here all the time. Well, the rain turned into a downpour. By the time we arrived at our apartment-hotel those poor guys were drenched. They couldn’t have been any more wet if they had jumped into a swimming pool.
Dry off, get something to eat, go to bed, wake up at 3:30. I took them to the airport at 4:00 a.m. so they could catch the 5:30 flight to Iloilo to meet up with Nathan’s folks, Elder and Sister Peters. They will spend five days there before heading back to Orem. Clyda stayed at the apartment, it was still raining, and now the five of us could all ride in the cab of the truck.
Back to the apartment and to my bed. It never felt so good. I slept until about 9:00. Three nights in one week where I spent more of the night awake instead of in bed. The rest of the week has been kind of a blur. We spent time in the office finishing up paperwork on these projects and starting others. We went grocery shopping because our refrigerator was bare. I like to eat! We did get to the Templex on Friday and Saturday mornings to walk. After our walks we come home and do push-ups and sit-ups, lunges and stretches. Then we read from “Come Follow Me” and the Book of Mormon as we cool down. On Saturday afternoon we went to the 3:00 session at the temple. We are grateful for the temple so close and the fact we can go often. Clyda has been busy cutting out fabric for the Kangaroo Tubes. Oh, by the way, Clyda went on an afternoon outing with the girls to a “Dip and Dine” at the Marco Polo Hotel. It is a fancy hotel with a big fancy pool and restaurant. It would be fancy even in the U.S. She had a good time. They were gone from about 2:00 until 6:00 on Friday afternoon. Come to find out the other husbands went also. I wasn’t given the memo. That’s alright though because they didn’t need a party pooper. I had computer work to do anyway.
Today has been a wonderful Father’s Day! I’m so grateful for my father. His example of service to the Lord and his family is incredible. I’m grateful to my brothers who I think are great husbands and fathers. I am impressed with their commitment to the gospel of Jesus Christ. They have all been examples to me. Now I am impressed with my four son-in-laws and my two sons. I think they are great fathers. I’m especially grateful to my Heavenly Father, for His love, His plan, His answers to my prayers, His patience, His forgiveness, and his sending His Son to carry out the great Plan of Salvation, Happiness, Redemption, etc. His gospel is true, and we should follow Him, by following His living prophet! 3 Nephi 28:34 and 3 Nephi 29.
With love,
Dad and Mom
Grandpa and Grandma
Briant and Clyda
Week #38 6/12-6/18
Oh, what a week! Monday was a whirlwind. It was Independence Day here in the Philippines. We woke up early and headed to the Templex to walk. We have missed so many days lately because of travel or being up in the middle of the night, that we had to make sure we got this day in. After our morning study routine, I completed the mock DOD for 7th Forward Service Support Unit (7FSSU). Brother and Sister Colipapa picked us up to go to the turnover. We arrived early, I explained to the Commander-in-chief that I didn’t have the real DOD ready, and I would return later with it. I had to get more technical about the requirements we have for them to report to us on how, what, and when we need them to report to us on the gift we are giving them. Because we were early, we started with the program early. The bishop over that area arrived halfway through, and the stake president arrived as we finished, which was the original start time. These instances always require a ton of photos, the Filipinos are big on photos for everything. I have heard about a million times now, 1,2,3 and, one more!
Meanwhile, Sister Cheryl Harrison who was with us while her husband was installing the solar power system at Tres Reyes, had brought some items from her non-member friend in Orem, Utah, to a work associate here in Cebu named Jill. This Orem lady and Jill have had work connections for some time now. Cheryl called Jill and asked if she knew where the Cebu LDS Temple was located and asked if she could meet us there. We had told Cheryl we lived right close to the temple. Cheryl just knew Jill’s first name and that she lived in Cebu, and she had a phone number. When they visited on the phone Cheryl found out her last name was Colipapa. Yes, Brother Colipapa’s daughter. What are the chances, that Cheryl’s non-member friend is working with Jill Colipapa, returned missionary here in Cebu, Philippines. Amazing!
After the 7FSSU turnover we went to lunch with the Colipapas on Lapu Lapu. It was a restaurant out at the end of the spit close to where the fisherfolk boat builder, Ruel, works. We needed to meet Ruel to pick up two more boats to be turned over that afternoon.
Now, talk about tender mercies. We helped the 7FSSU by donating to them big tools like, impact wrenches, welders, 1,2,3and5 ton jacks, etc. so they can repair repairable but unserviceable vehicles. They take a couple old army trucks and make a new one out of the two or three. The main reason we helped them is because they help others, and they helped LDSC a couple times. They helped us transport a lot of roofing materials to Sibonga after Odette destroyed so many homes here. They also helped rescue a bunch of wheelchairs at the dock getting rained on. We didn’t want them to get rusted.
Back to the story. At the turnover, the commanding officer, a lady, told me if we ever need their services be sure to ask. Well, while we were socializing afterwards with Filipino treats, Brother Colipapa gets a phone call saying the guy with the truck to haul the fisherfolk boats to the delivery site has conked out and they can’t deliver the boats. So, I asked the lady commander if we could use their services now. She politely smiled and agreed. I didn’t expect to need their services that soon.
Their truck met us at Ruels. They hauled the boats to Old Bridge, or Bridge #1. (There are 3 bridges from Cebu to Lapu Lapu.) The fisher folks live right by the Old Bridge. Under the bridge is a nice park, and 200 meters away is the fisherfolks shanti town. The boats were delivered, boats #5 & #6 now. Two more to go. We had a short turnover for 4 more excited families. Two families share a boat. Originally 16 families with licensed fishermen were told they would receive boats. The Huskinsons started this project. The boats had been destroyed along with their village by Odette. We have now been a part of the delivery of four boats. So now 12 of the sixteen families have boats. Two more boats to go.
After the turnover, Brother Colipapa took us to our apartment. We got some dinner and then headed to catch the 7:00 p.m. ferry back to Tubigon, Bohol. We caught a taxi to the port. It was crazy busy, because of all the people headed back to Bohol from Cebu who had come to celebrate Independence Day with family. We boarded the Ferry and sat down in our seats. I put my hands on my legs and realized I didn’t have any keys in my pocket. I had left the keys to the truck in the apartment on the counter. Holy cow, we would ride the ferry for two hours and be stranded with a truck and no keys. We hurried and got off the ferry just as it pulled out. We asked the ticket takers if they would honor our tickets on the 1:00 a.m. ferry. They said they would. We caught a taxi back to the apartment for a five hour wait. Thank goodness for tender mercies and the Holy Ghost prompted me to check for the keys before we pulled out.
We caught the 1:00 a.m. ferry and arrived in Tubigon at about 3:30 a.m. We started driving. It was no hurry. No sense in going back to Ubay and paying for a motel room for about 3 hours. We stopped a couple times and slept. It is about 2 hours from Tubigon to Ubay. However, we had scheduled a visit to a school in Bien Unido, about 20 minutes this side of Ubay, for a 9:30 a.m. visit. LDSC charities helped them last fall with two different projects. We went there for the turnover with the Huskinsons the day after we arrived here in Cebu last October. We were now going back to do an evaluation on the project and see what kind of an impact it has had on their school. It was a positive meeting. Brother Tingsten is the Industrial Arts teacher there.
Then back to Ubay, after a long night and morning. We checked into our motel at noon and took a 3-hour nap. That evening, Tuesday, Clyda and I had invited President Avenido and his wife to dinner with us. Sister Harrison ate earlier, and the guys were staying on the island like they had since Sunday so they could get early starts on the project. I had been wanting to meet Sister Avenido and she hadn’t come to church on Sunday because she was sick. She joined the church as a young lady there in Ubay when there were only a handful of members. She went on a mission to the Butuan Mission. Later she taught James, President Avenido. He was baptized. Two years later they got married, while she was home from Hong Kong on leave. She was employed as a nanny in Hong Kong. She returned to Hong Kong to work after three weeks of married life. Then covid hit and they were separated for almost 4 years. She returned home at the end of April this year. What a great reunion. Three weeks of being married in a four-year marriage and it wasn’t World War I or II. Amazing! Well, I had to get to meet this young lady for another reason, just by chance if I could make another connection. Before covid hit, Lynn and Marian Wardle were serving a mission in Hong Kong and working with the Filipino members. (For those not in the family Marian is my first cousin, and her husband Lynn served a mission here in the Philippines when my cousin Conrad Teichert and Christina Teichert Clark’s husband Jim served here. All three of these Philippine missionaries from 1968-1970 era now cousins through marriage.) Back to the story. I asked Mary Ann Autor Avenido if when she was in Hong Kong if she had ever met Lynn and Marian Wardle. Her eyes got big and a huge smile, “How do you know Lynn and Marian?” I explained Marian and I are cousins. She was so excited. “We have almost identical names, and she gives the best hugs.” (Teresa, be sure to share this with Marian.) Another tender mercy and wonderful connection, making this mission just that much more exciting.
Wednesday morning a fun 25-minute boat ride to Tres Reyes for a wonderful ceremony. Elder and Sister Strong came as well as Elder and Sister Parker. President Avenido had a lot of school and government dignitaries there. It was a great program, the solar installation was complete, and people were excited. The only downer was they still didn’t have the wiring complete for most of the classrooms and computer lab. We had lights, fans, and phone chargers going in a couple rooms. The rest will need to be completed by the electrician. But, they are excited to have SOLAR POWER!!
A boat ride back to Ubay and a quick trip to Tubigon. We missed the 4:00 ferry but made it home on the 5:30 ferry. We arrived in Cebu at 7:30 to a warm rain. Norman and Cheryl Harrison rode in the cab with us. Nathan and Arman rode in the back with the luggage. Please don’t tell anyone, riding in the back of a truck is against mission rules. However, it is not against the rules of the Philippines. You see a lot of people riding in the back of trucks here all the time. Well, the rain turned into a downpour. By the time we arrived at our apartment-hotel those poor guys were drenched. They couldn’t have been any more wet if they had jumped into a swimming pool.
Dry off, get something to eat, go to bed, wake up at 3:30. I took them to the airport at 4:00 a.m. so they could catch the 5:30 flight to Iloilo to meet up with Nathan’s folks, Elder and Sister Peters. They will spend five days there before heading back to Orem. Clyda stayed at the apartment, it was still raining, and now the five of us could all ride in the cab of the truck.
Back to the apartment and to my bed. It never felt so good. I slept until about 9:00. Three nights in one week where I spent more of the night awake instead of in bed. The rest of the week has been kind of a blur. We spent time in the office finishing up paperwork on these projects and starting others. We went grocery shopping because our refrigerator was bare. I like to eat! We did get to the Templex on Friday and Saturday mornings to walk. After our walks we come home and do push-ups and sit-ups, lunges and stretches. Then we read from “Come Follow Me” and the Book of Mormon as we cool down. On Saturday afternoon we went to the 3:00 session at the temple. We are grateful for the temple so close and the fact we can go often. Clyda has been busy cutting out fabric for the Kangaroo Tubes. Oh, by the way, Clyda went on an afternoon outing with the girls to a “Dip and Dine” at the Marco Polo Hotel. It is a fancy hotel with a big fancy pool and restaurant. It would be fancy even in the U.S. She had a good time. They were gone from about 2:00 until 6:00 on Friday afternoon. Come to find out the other husbands went also. I wasn’t given the memo. That’s alright though because they didn’t need a party pooper. I had computer work to do anyway.
Today has been a wonderful Father’s Day! I’m so grateful for my father. His example of service to the Lord and his family is incredible. I’m grateful to my brothers who I think are great husbands and fathers. I am impressed with their commitment to the gospel of Jesus Christ. They have all been examples to me. Now I am impressed with my four son-in-laws and my two sons. I think they are great fathers. I’m especially grateful to my Heavenly Father, for His love, His plan, His answers to my prayers, His patience, His forgiveness, and his sending His Son to carry out the great Plan of Salvation, Happiness, Redemption, etc. His gospel is true, and we should follow Him, by following His living prophet! 3 Nephi 28:34 and 3 Nephi 29.
With love,
Dad and Mom
Grandpa and Grandma
Briant and Clyda
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