3 September 2023 Week #49: Canyoneering FUN!!
Hello Family and Friends,
Monday was slow. It was a national holiday so no meeting and no FHE that night. We did some work on projects and that was about it. When the Manila office is closed then we don’t have much communication. Clyda did some sewing on Kangaroo Tubes and I read a book.
On Tuesday the kids started school again. However, in many places in the Philippines the new Typhoon is affecting that. Many schools did not start in the Luzon area and In the Eastern Visayas. A lot of flooding is going on in Panay.
However, we had a great day. Our long-awaited Canyoneering with the Koyles, the Taylors, and Sister Jepson arrived. Other couples were invited but were too busy to go. We had started planning this back in June. The Cebu Temple is closed for a month, so the Koyles and the Taylors are making the best of it.
We met at the templex at 5:00 a.m. and headed out. We had a crazy driver. We were all in a van. I thought for sure the driver was going to kill people with his driving. Motorcyclists beware. We had a 4-hour drive to southwest Cebu Island and did a canyoneering in the Kabutongan Falls area. We hiked plenty but most of it was in water, and we had plenty of jumps. One was about the height of the highest level at Lava Hot Springs. I passed on that. Sister Jepson and Elder Koyle jumped. Most of us hit all the other jumps that ranged from the lowest level to about the height of a high dive. The water is warm, and the air is warm. You wear a life jacket and helmet the entire time. We swam in some caves and under and behind a waterfall. In one watery cave where you can’t touch the bottom with your feet there was a lizard of some sort with about a six-inch body on the wall of the cave just above the water. Sister Koyle wanted a picture by the lizard, so she swam over there. She and Clyda aren’t afraid of those things. Clyda went over and touched the lizard and it jumped onto Laura and then back and forth it went with Clyda trying to get it off of Laura and then on the wall and back into the water and back on Laura. Laura was a great sport and didn’t mind. I was an Olympic swimmer getting out of there before Clyda threw the lizard onto me. The water is a turquoise color. It is like going through Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble country with a lot of water covering a good portion of it. Most of the town of Bedrock was covered. It was a fun day!
We arrived back in Cebu at 5:00 and then Clyda and I took Sister Jepson home to Liloan. That took about an hour each way. She is a pretty neat gal. She goes home the first part of December. Her replacement is another single sister a little older than her from the same Stake in Lehi. They live about a mile from each other but have never met. How crazy is that. The replacement arrives the first of November and will have a five-week training time with Sister Jepson.
Happy birthday to me on Wednesday the 30th. I am now 68 years young, and four years older than Clyda for a month. We celebrated by doing some computer work in the morning and Clyda sewing. In the afternoon we visited Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. It is a catholic run rehab center for persons with disabilities. They have many needs. They are doing a lot with very little. They have a good staff of Physical Therapists and Occupational Therapists and interns. The place is led by Sister Anne Healey. She was assigned here from Ireland 23 years ago. She goes home to visit every once in a while. She had a delightful Irish accent. It was fun to visit with her. We hope we can help there. We love to help those who are helping others. We don’t do the nuts and bolts of projects, but there are a lot of people and organizations that do. It is rewarding to help them with items that will make it possible for them to do their jobs more efficiently and help more people, and better, than they already are.
For my birthday dinner we had meatloaf with Sweet Baby Rays Barbecue sauce, a baked potato, green beans, an orange jello with pineapple chunks, and brownies for dessert. It was delightful. On my next birthday I think maybe a Rack of Ribs at Texas Roadhouse or a Ribeye Steak or Prime Rib at Outback Steakhouse. Whatever Dave decides to buy me! Or maybe I’m buying dinner and he is taking me to the game.
We went up on the roof to check out the Blue Moon. It was shining bright and a little south of it the Angel Moroni on the Cebu Temple was shining also. It was a beautiful sight.
We spent Thursday morning at the office. We aren’t finished with the Kangaroo Tube project, and someone has closed it. It was started in 2019 so someone must have figured it was complete. They should have checked closer and saw four money transactions in June and Clyda’s notes in the note section. One note was just put in a week ago. Now the project is closed, and we have a 20,000 pesos bill to pay on Monday. We also will have at least one more bill before we are finished. We called Jairus to ask what we should do. He said to charge it to another project. That doesn’t seem quite right, but the bill needs to be paid.
In the afternoon at 1:30 we were involved in a zoom call with Kenneth and the Huffs. They are in Tacloban setting up Reading Literacy programs with the school divisions in Samar and Leyte. We listened in on one of the five presentations to the five school divisions on those islands. It was about a 2-hour conversation and presentation. It was good. We will be involved in some way with these since they are in our area. I don’t blame Kenneth for not having faith in us and using the Huffs in our area. I do want to see these literacy projects fly.
On Friday we worked from home until about 10:00 when maintenance came to replace our AC. We have 3 AC units, one in each room. The one in our bedroom hasn’t worked for about 4 months now. The one in the front room/kitchen area is off and on. Sometimes it is pretty good and at other times it just blows warm air. Right now it is about 95 outside with plenty of humidity. Our bedroom and kitchen both have windows from the floor to the ceiling. It gets plenty hot behind our curtains. However, having the curtains closed all day is a pain. We like the daylight. The windows face the east so by 11:00 we can open the curtains and don’t have direct sun anymore. Well, when they came to fix the AC we were glad to leave. We headed up the mountain to explore the Temple of Leah. Afterwards we headed to the bank and then caught a late lunch at Italianis. We had to pick up some ink cartridges for our printer and we weren’t in a hurry so we strolled around the mall for a few minutes. Then we hit the Metro market at the mall to get a couple items. They had about 20 cash registers going and long lines at each one. It took over a half hour to get to the cashier. We now were in heavy traffic getting home. When we arrived, they were still working on our AC. They got it installed but not hooked up, and they will be back on Monday. We had some confusing conversations about some projects on Leyte. We both have communication problems. It was plenty discouraging. We know we struggle communicating very well with Americans in English but doing it with Filipinos is really tough for us. I don’t know how many times we have asked a question, verbally and written, and when the answer comes, we are thinking, that has nothing to do with the question we just asked. Oh well, at least we are aware that it is a problem, and we are the problem most of the time.
Saturday after early morning exercise we went with the Koyles and the Taylors to the outdoor market. We went at 7:00 instead of 8:00. Last time at 8:00 it was packed. We enjoy this outing with these two couples. We spent a fair amount of the day working on a project to present on Monday. It is a health clinic and technology for a school of almost 8,000 students in Cadiz City on Negros Island. The rest of the day we tried to watch some Mt. View and Cokeville volleyball at the Evanston Tournament. We also watched the Cokeville vs Upton/Sundance football game. We had to stop at the end of the 3rd quarter. What a surprise when we found out they lost. I had to go back and catch the 4th quarter to see why. That was too bad.
First thing this Sunday morning I had to check out cross country results from the Soda Springs invite. Then volleyball results from Saturday at the tournament. Our meetings were good. Afterward we headed out to Rabbi Rabanes to pick up the Kangaroo Tubes he has put the church’s name on. The print is about the size of a missionary name tag. We will turn them over to the Vicente Soto Hospital tomorrow. One hundred and seventy-two weren’t sewn completely. Someone didn’t understand. Clyda will complete them along with some others she is working on. When things get frustrating for her cutting and sewing is good therapy. She had a little of that therapy Friday and Saturday. We have a bolt of material that she can continue to work on when she needs a little therapy. We can’t go canyoneering every other day. Although that was great for our souls.
Sister Ramos got transferred this week and Sister Alvez is now training. Today before church Sister Sorenson was at the templex. Sister Sorenson trained Sister Alvez in Escalante. We first met them in Escalante where we took them for Ice Cream at the 7-11 with Sister Bangcong and here companion along with Elder Sorenson from Casper and his companion Elder Lopez. They have since been with other companions and other assignments. At dinner one night Sister Sorenson’s name came up and Sister Alvez commented on how she loved Sister Sorenson, and what a good missionary she is. Well today we witnessed them seeing each other for the first time in what has probably been awhile. Oh, the excitement, the Filipino with dark black hair from Manila, a huge city, and the blond country girl from Moses Lake, Washington, run to each other, the big, long hug. Really heartwarming for us old folks. The Celestial Kingdom in action. It will be a great reunion for us all. Let us all press on in the work of the Lord. It will be worth it.
Holy Habits
Righteous Routines
Lift Where You Stand
With love,
Dad and Mom
Grandpa and Grandma
Briant and Clyda
Week #49 8/28-9/3
Monday was slow. It was a national holiday so no meeting and no FHE that night. We did some work on projects and that was about it. When the Manila office is closed then we don’t have much communication. Clyda did some sewing on Kangaroo Tubes and I read a book.
On Tuesday the kids started school again. However, in many places in the Philippines the new Typhoon is affecting that. Many schools did not start in the Luzon area and In the Eastern Visayas. A lot of flooding is going on in Panay.
However, we had a great day. Our long-awaited Canyoneering with the Koyles, the Taylors, and Sister Jepson arrived. Other couples were invited but were too busy to go. We had started planning this back in June. The Cebu Temple is closed for a month, so the Koyles and the Taylors are making the best of it.
We met at the templex at 5:00 a.m. and headed out. We had a crazy driver. We were all in a van. I thought for sure the driver was going to kill people with his driving. Motorcyclists beware. We had a 4-hour drive to southwest Cebu Island and did a canyoneering in the Kabutongan Falls area. We hiked plenty but most of it was in water, and we had plenty of jumps. One was about the height of the highest level at Lava Hot Springs. I passed on that. Sister Jepson and Elder Koyle jumped. Most of us hit all the other jumps that ranged from the lowest level to about the height of a high dive. The water is warm, and the air is warm. You wear a life jacket and helmet the entire time. We swam in some caves and under and behind a waterfall. In one watery cave where you can’t touch the bottom with your feet there was a lizard of some sort with about a six-inch body on the wall of the cave just above the water. Sister Koyle wanted a picture by the lizard, so she swam over there. She and Clyda aren’t afraid of those things. Clyda went over and touched the lizard and it jumped onto Laura and then back and forth it went with Clyda trying to get it off of Laura and then on the wall and back into the water and back on Laura. Laura was a great sport and didn’t mind. I was an Olympic swimmer getting out of there before Clyda threw the lizard onto me. The water is a turquoise color. It is like going through Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble country with a lot of water covering a good portion of it. Most of the town of Bedrock was covered. It was a fun day!
We arrived back in Cebu at 5:00 and then Clyda and I took Sister Jepson home to Liloan. That took about an hour each way. She is a pretty neat gal. She goes home the first part of December. Her replacement is another single sister a little older than her from the same Stake in Lehi. They live about a mile from each other but have never met. How crazy is that. The replacement arrives the first of November and will have a five-week training time with Sister Jepson.
Happy birthday to me on Wednesday the 30th. I am now 68 years young, and four years older than Clyda for a month. We celebrated by doing some computer work in the morning and Clyda sewing. In the afternoon we visited Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. It is a catholic run rehab center for persons with disabilities. They have many needs. They are doing a lot with very little. They have a good staff of Physical Therapists and Occupational Therapists and interns. The place is led by Sister Anne Healey. She was assigned here from Ireland 23 years ago. She goes home to visit every once in a while. She had a delightful Irish accent. It was fun to visit with her. We hope we can help there. We love to help those who are helping others. We don’t do the nuts and bolts of projects, but there are a lot of people and organizations that do. It is rewarding to help them with items that will make it possible for them to do their jobs more efficiently and help more people, and better, than they already are.
For my birthday dinner we had meatloaf with Sweet Baby Rays Barbecue sauce, a baked potato, green beans, an orange jello with pineapple chunks, and brownies for dessert. It was delightful. On my next birthday I think maybe a Rack of Ribs at Texas Roadhouse or a Ribeye Steak or Prime Rib at Outback Steakhouse. Whatever Dave decides to buy me! Or maybe I’m buying dinner and he is taking me to the game.
We went up on the roof to check out the Blue Moon. It was shining bright and a little south of it the Angel Moroni on the Cebu Temple was shining also. It was a beautiful sight.
We spent Thursday morning at the office. We aren’t finished with the Kangaroo Tube project, and someone has closed it. It was started in 2019 so someone must have figured it was complete. They should have checked closer and saw four money transactions in June and Clyda’s notes in the note section. One note was just put in a week ago. Now the project is closed, and we have a 20,000 pesos bill to pay on Monday. We also will have at least one more bill before we are finished. We called Jairus to ask what we should do. He said to charge it to another project. That doesn’t seem quite right, but the bill needs to be paid.
In the afternoon at 1:30 we were involved in a zoom call with Kenneth and the Huffs. They are in Tacloban setting up Reading Literacy programs with the school divisions in Samar and Leyte. We listened in on one of the five presentations to the five school divisions on those islands. It was about a 2-hour conversation and presentation. It was good. We will be involved in some way with these since they are in our area. I don’t blame Kenneth for not having faith in us and using the Huffs in our area. I do want to see these literacy projects fly.
On Friday we worked from home until about 10:00 when maintenance came to replace our AC. We have 3 AC units, one in each room. The one in our bedroom hasn’t worked for about 4 months now. The one in the front room/kitchen area is off and on. Sometimes it is pretty good and at other times it just blows warm air. Right now it is about 95 outside with plenty of humidity. Our bedroom and kitchen both have windows from the floor to the ceiling. It gets plenty hot behind our curtains. However, having the curtains closed all day is a pain. We like the daylight. The windows face the east so by 11:00 we can open the curtains and don’t have direct sun anymore. Well, when they came to fix the AC we were glad to leave. We headed up the mountain to explore the Temple of Leah. Afterwards we headed to the bank and then caught a late lunch at Italianis. We had to pick up some ink cartridges for our printer and we weren’t in a hurry so we strolled around the mall for a few minutes. Then we hit the Metro market at the mall to get a couple items. They had about 20 cash registers going and long lines at each one. It took over a half hour to get to the cashier. We now were in heavy traffic getting home. When we arrived, they were still working on our AC. They got it installed but not hooked up, and they will be back on Monday. We had some confusing conversations about some projects on Leyte. We both have communication problems. It was plenty discouraging. We know we struggle communicating very well with Americans in English but doing it with Filipinos is really tough for us. I don’t know how many times we have asked a question, verbally and written, and when the answer comes, we are thinking, that has nothing to do with the question we just asked. Oh well, at least we are aware that it is a problem, and we are the problem most of the time.
Saturday after early morning exercise we went with the Koyles and the Taylors to the outdoor market. We went at 7:00 instead of 8:00. Last time at 8:00 it was packed. We enjoy this outing with these two couples. We spent a fair amount of the day working on a project to present on Monday. It is a health clinic and technology for a school of almost 8,000 students in Cadiz City on Negros Island. The rest of the day we tried to watch some Mt. View and Cokeville volleyball at the Evanston Tournament. We also watched the Cokeville vs Upton/Sundance football game. We had to stop at the end of the 3rd quarter. What a surprise when we found out they lost. I had to go back and catch the 4th quarter to see why. That was too bad.
First thing this Sunday morning I had to check out cross country results from the Soda Springs invite. Then volleyball results from Saturday at the tournament. Our meetings were good. Afterward we headed out to Rabbi Rabanes to pick up the Kangaroo Tubes he has put the church’s name on. The print is about the size of a missionary name tag. We will turn them over to the Vicente Soto Hospital tomorrow. One hundred and seventy-two weren’t sewn completely. Someone didn’t understand. Clyda will complete them along with some others she is working on. When things get frustrating for her cutting and sewing is good therapy. She had a little of that therapy Friday and Saturday. We have a bolt of material that she can continue to work on when she needs a little therapy. We can’t go canyoneering every other day. Although that was great for our souls.
Sister Ramos got transferred this week and Sister Alvez is now training. Today before church Sister Sorenson was at the templex. Sister Sorenson trained Sister Alvez in Escalante. We first met them in Escalante where we took them for Ice Cream at the 7-11 with Sister Bangcong and here companion along with Elder Sorenson from Casper and his companion Elder Lopez. They have since been with other companions and other assignments. At dinner one night Sister Sorenson’s name came up and Sister Alvez commented on how she loved Sister Sorenson, and what a good missionary she is. Well today we witnessed them seeing each other for the first time in what has probably been awhile. Oh, the excitement, the Filipino with dark black hair from Manila, a huge city, and the blond country girl from Moses Lake, Washington, run to each other, the big, long hug. Really heartwarming for us old folks. The Celestial Kingdom in action. It will be a great reunion for us all. Let us all press on in the work of the Lord. It will be worth it.
Holy Habits
Righteous Routines
Lift Where You Stand
With love,
Dad and Mom
Grandpa and Grandma
Briant and Clyda
Comments
Post a Comment