29 October 2023 Week #57: Schools, orphanages, and hospitals
Dear Family and Friends,
On Monday we did our usual routine and then headed to Negros for three days. We left home at 9:00 and arrived in Toledo at 11:00. We loaded onto Lite Ferry RoRo at 12:30, departed at 1:00, and arrived in San Carlos at 3:00. Elder and Sister Cary met us at the port, and we headed to Toboso. It was fun to visit Sister Plaza and Toboso National High School. We arrived at 4:00 just before school let out. We saw a few classes being taught with TVs. It was good to see. Sister Plaza gave us the academic reports for each quarter from 2022-2023. The first quarter just finished, and she will send us the results of the first quarter test scores on November 10th. We want to see if the use of TVs in the classroom will improve academic performance. Hopefully this quarter test scores are better than last year’s first quarter test scores. We will see.
We returned to San Carlos by about 6:00 p.m. We dropped the Carys off at their place and then we checked into the Ma Awani Motel. We walked to a restaurant where we met the Carys for dinner. It was wonderful to catch up with them. They are doing a great job as MLS missionaries in San Carlos. They grew up in Littleton, CO, but have moved to Dallas, TX, where they live by a daughter and family.
At 6:30 a.m. we were out the door headed to Floro T. Bongco Farm School to watch Sister Dolly Salazar teach a science experiment using some of the laboratory equipment we have donated to them. She did a great job, and it was fun to see her again.
Then off to visit a school about 45 minutes out of Cadiz City. It was MV Gamboa. The last five kilometers was on a boulder bumpy, muddy road in sugar cane fields. It was a nice school tucked away in the sugar cane mountains. They need help with a purification system for their water. They would like potable water. Amen! Hardly any schools have it. Then they would also like technology to improve student learning and instruction. A nice young lady who grew up at the school is back teaching there in her second year and did a great job of teaching a lesson to a combined class of first, second, and third graders. The lesson was on common and proper nouns. The principal is a former Bishop. We had a great visit and hope to be able to help them.
Then we headed to Cadiz City for the turnover at Dr. Vicente F. Gustilo Memorial National High School. That started a little after 3:00. It was a big event. We taught about tithing, fast offerings, mission funds, and humanitarian aid which all the members of the church get an opportunity to participate in and the donations we made to their school came from church members willing to contribute to help people all over the world have better lives through the humanitarian funds. Literacy and Education is a big way for young people to get out of the poverty they are caught in. The stake communications department was there to do an article on the event. Four young ladies were assistants to the stake communications director, a lady about 40 years old. Two of the young ladies are returned missionaries and the other two have mission calls. One of them is headed to Layton, Utah. Pretty cool. Most Filipinos go to one of the 23 missions in the Philippines.
After the turnover we went to Cadiz City Municipal Hospital. That was a sad experience. You just want to hope you never have to go there for help. They need a lot of help. It was sad to see the conditions of the place. For the most part at hospitals here if you want bedding you need to bring your own. What bedding they do have is washed by hand. It was a long visit. We were there until 8:00 p.m. The director at the hospital is LDS. We arrived in Bacolod at our motel after 9:00. It had been a long day.
On Wednesday we met with Kalipay. It is a foundation for orphans. These orphans range in age from abandoned babies to seniors in high school. This place was started by a generous lady who is doing a lot of good. She has a good group of people working for her. She also has recruited well other partners to help. It was a night and day difference from the hospital we had just visited and any school we have seen. They have a new facility that is really nice. You just don’t see anything like that in the Philippines except the LDS church buildings and the malls. They do have a need for air conditioning in the unit for their babies up through 4 years old. They also need a refrigerator/freezer for storing breast milk. They have the mothers who contribute breast milk but the milk needs special storing to stay good. It needs more attention than just formula or store-bought milk. We hope they can find the correct appliance.
It was a good visit in a remote location. Then we headed back to San Carlos. We were going to swing by where Jonas Bird is serving but we didn’t have time and also make it to our ferry on time. We were looking forward to connecting with him. Hopefully we will another time.
We had a beautiful drive through the mountains back to San Carlos. We had a good ferry ride and a drive back through Balamban and Busay to home. We arrived at about 7:30 so that was nice since we had to be up at 3:30 the next morning to catch our flight to Manila.
On Thursday morning we caught the 6:00 a.m. flight and then met up with Elder and Sister Larsen at the area office at 10:00. They took us to “Boys Town” to see the home for the Elderly they have helped. We were there to do an evaluation on their project. They have done a great job to help this sad place. They also go once a month to help with a party and singing, etc. This was the saddest experience of our mission. It was so sad to see 250-plus elderly people in a facility being helped by so few. The helpers are very caring, but they need a lot more helpers. This government facility is terrible. They have about 30-35 people per room that is the size of a very small cultural hall. The beds are plastic pool side chairs that don’t adjust. It looked more like a war concentration camp than an elderly care center. It was very disturbing.
That afternoon Elder and Sister Woods invited us to join a lot of the senior missionaries at a farewell for a senior couple heading home. It was a fun atmosphere with goodies and socializing. Because we live in Cebu, we didn’t hardly know a soul among the about 20 couples who were there. One couple, the Storms, came up to us and asked if we were related to Allen Teichert. I asked where they were from, and they said the San Francisco Bay area. I replied that he was my first cousin but somewhat older than me. Elder Storm really liked Allen. He said they were in the same stake and worked together a lot. They had both been Bishops at the same time and Elders Quorum Presidents at the same time. They knew each other well and he really enjoyed working with Allen. He took a photo of us to send to Allen.
I told Elder Storm that Allen provided one of my greatest writing examples for teaching my third graders how to write. I think Allen had just graduated from high school and I was just out of 2nd grade. One day Ron and I were at the ranch and Allen was there. I can’t remember anyone being there but us. I don’t remember what the circumstances were that led up to the chase, (I was probably being pretty obnoxious) but Allen seemed determined to dunk Ron and me in the horse watering trough. Thank goodness we were experts at climbing up and down on the outside log walls of the barn and up though the feed stalls to the loft where hay was stored for the horses. We had climbed those walls hundreds of times, and we were pretty fast. Well Allen could easily catch us if we were trying to outrun him, but the safety of our playhouse was the saving factor that day. He probably chased us for at least a half hour. When he was up, we were down, when he was down, we were up. We didn’t dare leave the barn. That was our safety. He came really close to catching our feet a few times. I don’t know which was working faster, our heart rates or our hands and feet. After a bit he left, and we stayed at the barn window sitting with our legs dangling out. We were watching him. We could see the lane past the shop. When he didn’t appear, we didn’t get down because we knew he was waiting there for us. A little while later we finally saw him walk down the lane, across Collett Avenue, down the alley past Uncle Johnnie’s house and on to his house. We didn’t get down until he got home. I’m just glad he wasn’t waiting on Main Street when we finally rode our bikes home.
Sister Storm said that she had been around Allen quite a few times and couldn’t stand him. She said she finally told him he was the most arrogant, conceited person she had ever met. She said it didn’t even phase him. Later on, with her husband encouraging her to give him a chance she came to really like him. She said he is an amazing guy. Since he retired, he has taken up helping several orphanages all over the world. She says that he has made them real nice places for the kids, seeing that the workers are paid well, and the facilities are in great shape. He gets the rich to adopt an orphanage and finance it. He goes for the big guns. One of his sponsors for a couple of orphanages is Bill Gates. She says Allen doesn’t mess around. It is either go big or go home. It was fun to visit with them. I personally don’t remember Allen very well. As a matter of fact, I only have two memories of him. I remember him chasing Ron and me and then when he brought his new bride to meet Grandpa and Grandma. I was at their house when they showed up. I have no idea why I was there, but here was Allen with his beautiful wife. Oh me oh my what a guy!
On Friday we had our training and then back to Cebu that night. We got back about 10:30. We woke up the next morning early to get our walk in before cleaning up and heading to the market with the Koyles and the Taylors. The Eppersons joined us this time. We needed to stock up on food supplies. Later we took the truck to the car wash. It looked like we had just come out of the mountains from 4-wheeling after a first snowstorm. We ran some errands and then watched ball games. It had been a long week.
Today was a wonderful Sabbath day. I continue to be impressed with the faithfulness of so many wonderful saints. I also love getting the weekly letters from Connor and Kole. It is fun to read their testimonies of the Savior, many of the different principles of the gospel, and of the work they are involved in. To me the fact that Satan is so active trying to get us to all make mistakes and having a lot of success at it is a testimony of this great work. If Heavenly Father’s plan wasn’t correct and the way to go, then Satan wouldn’t be trying so hard to destroy us. Opposition in all things. This is the Savior’s work. “This is my work and my glory to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man!”
Holy Habits
Righteous Routines
Lift Where You Stand
With love,
Dad and Mom
Grandpa and Grandma
Briant and Clyda
Week #57 10/23-10/29
On Monday we did our usual routine and then headed to Negros for three days. We left home at 9:00 and arrived in Toledo at 11:00. We loaded onto Lite Ferry RoRo at 12:30, departed at 1:00, and arrived in San Carlos at 3:00. Elder and Sister Cary met us at the port, and we headed to Toboso. It was fun to visit Sister Plaza and Toboso National High School. We arrived at 4:00 just before school let out. We saw a few classes being taught with TVs. It was good to see. Sister Plaza gave us the academic reports for each quarter from 2022-2023. The first quarter just finished, and she will send us the results of the first quarter test scores on November 10th. We want to see if the use of TVs in the classroom will improve academic performance. Hopefully this quarter test scores are better than last year’s first quarter test scores. We will see.
We returned to San Carlos by about 6:00 p.m. We dropped the Carys off at their place and then we checked into the Ma Awani Motel. We walked to a restaurant where we met the Carys for dinner. It was wonderful to catch up with them. They are doing a great job as MLS missionaries in San Carlos. They grew up in Littleton, CO, but have moved to Dallas, TX, where they live by a daughter and family.
At 6:30 a.m. we were out the door headed to Floro T. Bongco Farm School to watch Sister Dolly Salazar teach a science experiment using some of the laboratory equipment we have donated to them. She did a great job, and it was fun to see her again.
Then off to visit a school about 45 minutes out of Cadiz City. It was MV Gamboa. The last five kilometers was on a boulder bumpy, muddy road in sugar cane fields. It was a nice school tucked away in the sugar cane mountains. They need help with a purification system for their water. They would like potable water. Amen! Hardly any schools have it. Then they would also like technology to improve student learning and instruction. A nice young lady who grew up at the school is back teaching there in her second year and did a great job of teaching a lesson to a combined class of first, second, and third graders. The lesson was on common and proper nouns. The principal is a former Bishop. We had a great visit and hope to be able to help them.
Then we headed to Cadiz City for the turnover at Dr. Vicente F. Gustilo Memorial National High School. That started a little after 3:00. It was a big event. We taught about tithing, fast offerings, mission funds, and humanitarian aid which all the members of the church get an opportunity to participate in and the donations we made to their school came from church members willing to contribute to help people all over the world have better lives through the humanitarian funds. Literacy and Education is a big way for young people to get out of the poverty they are caught in. The stake communications department was there to do an article on the event. Four young ladies were assistants to the stake communications director, a lady about 40 years old. Two of the young ladies are returned missionaries and the other two have mission calls. One of them is headed to Layton, Utah. Pretty cool. Most Filipinos go to one of the 23 missions in the Philippines.
After the turnover we went to Cadiz City Municipal Hospital. That was a sad experience. You just want to hope you never have to go there for help. They need a lot of help. It was sad to see the conditions of the place. For the most part at hospitals here if you want bedding you need to bring your own. What bedding they do have is washed by hand. It was a long visit. We were there until 8:00 p.m. The director at the hospital is LDS. We arrived in Bacolod at our motel after 9:00. It had been a long day.
On Wednesday we met with Kalipay. It is a foundation for orphans. These orphans range in age from abandoned babies to seniors in high school. This place was started by a generous lady who is doing a lot of good. She has a good group of people working for her. She also has recruited well other partners to help. It was a night and day difference from the hospital we had just visited and any school we have seen. They have a new facility that is really nice. You just don’t see anything like that in the Philippines except the LDS church buildings and the malls. They do have a need for air conditioning in the unit for their babies up through 4 years old. They also need a refrigerator/freezer for storing breast milk. They have the mothers who contribute breast milk but the milk needs special storing to stay good. It needs more attention than just formula or store-bought milk. We hope they can find the correct appliance.
It was a good visit in a remote location. Then we headed back to San Carlos. We were going to swing by where Jonas Bird is serving but we didn’t have time and also make it to our ferry on time. We were looking forward to connecting with him. Hopefully we will another time.
We had a beautiful drive through the mountains back to San Carlos. We had a good ferry ride and a drive back through Balamban and Busay to home. We arrived at about 7:30 so that was nice since we had to be up at 3:30 the next morning to catch our flight to Manila.
On Thursday morning we caught the 6:00 a.m. flight and then met up with Elder and Sister Larsen at the area office at 10:00. They took us to “Boys Town” to see the home for the Elderly they have helped. We were there to do an evaluation on their project. They have done a great job to help this sad place. They also go once a month to help with a party and singing, etc. This was the saddest experience of our mission. It was so sad to see 250-plus elderly people in a facility being helped by so few. The helpers are very caring, but they need a lot more helpers. This government facility is terrible. They have about 30-35 people per room that is the size of a very small cultural hall. The beds are plastic pool side chairs that don’t adjust. It looked more like a war concentration camp than an elderly care center. It was very disturbing.
That afternoon Elder and Sister Woods invited us to join a lot of the senior missionaries at a farewell for a senior couple heading home. It was a fun atmosphere with goodies and socializing. Because we live in Cebu, we didn’t hardly know a soul among the about 20 couples who were there. One couple, the Storms, came up to us and asked if we were related to Allen Teichert. I asked where they were from, and they said the San Francisco Bay area. I replied that he was my first cousin but somewhat older than me. Elder Storm really liked Allen. He said they were in the same stake and worked together a lot. They had both been Bishops at the same time and Elders Quorum Presidents at the same time. They knew each other well and he really enjoyed working with Allen. He took a photo of us to send to Allen.
I told Elder Storm that Allen provided one of my greatest writing examples for teaching my third graders how to write. I think Allen had just graduated from high school and I was just out of 2nd grade. One day Ron and I were at the ranch and Allen was there. I can’t remember anyone being there but us. I don’t remember what the circumstances were that led up to the chase, (I was probably being pretty obnoxious) but Allen seemed determined to dunk Ron and me in the horse watering trough. Thank goodness we were experts at climbing up and down on the outside log walls of the barn and up though the feed stalls to the loft where hay was stored for the horses. We had climbed those walls hundreds of times, and we were pretty fast. Well Allen could easily catch us if we were trying to outrun him, but the safety of our playhouse was the saving factor that day. He probably chased us for at least a half hour. When he was up, we were down, when he was down, we were up. We didn’t dare leave the barn. That was our safety. He came really close to catching our feet a few times. I don’t know which was working faster, our heart rates or our hands and feet. After a bit he left, and we stayed at the barn window sitting with our legs dangling out. We were watching him. We could see the lane past the shop. When he didn’t appear, we didn’t get down because we knew he was waiting there for us. A little while later we finally saw him walk down the lane, across Collett Avenue, down the alley past Uncle Johnnie’s house and on to his house. We didn’t get down until he got home. I’m just glad he wasn’t waiting on Main Street when we finally rode our bikes home.
Sister Storm said that she had been around Allen quite a few times and couldn’t stand him. She said she finally told him he was the most arrogant, conceited person she had ever met. She said it didn’t even phase him. Later on, with her husband encouraging her to give him a chance she came to really like him. She said he is an amazing guy. Since he retired, he has taken up helping several orphanages all over the world. She says that he has made them real nice places for the kids, seeing that the workers are paid well, and the facilities are in great shape. He gets the rich to adopt an orphanage and finance it. He goes for the big guns. One of his sponsors for a couple of orphanages is Bill Gates. She says Allen doesn’t mess around. It is either go big or go home. It was fun to visit with them. I personally don’t remember Allen very well. As a matter of fact, I only have two memories of him. I remember him chasing Ron and me and then when he brought his new bride to meet Grandpa and Grandma. I was at their house when they showed up. I have no idea why I was there, but here was Allen with his beautiful wife. Oh me oh my what a guy!
On Friday we had our training and then back to Cebu that night. We got back about 10:30. We woke up the next morning early to get our walk in before cleaning up and heading to the market with the Koyles and the Taylors. The Eppersons joined us this time. We needed to stock up on food supplies. Later we took the truck to the car wash. It looked like we had just come out of the mountains from 4-wheeling after a first snowstorm. We ran some errands and then watched ball games. It had been a long week.
Today was a wonderful Sabbath day. I continue to be impressed with the faithfulness of so many wonderful saints. I also love getting the weekly letters from Connor and Kole. It is fun to read their testimonies of the Savior, many of the different principles of the gospel, and of the work they are involved in. To me the fact that Satan is so active trying to get us to all make mistakes and having a lot of success at it is a testimony of this great work. If Heavenly Father’s plan wasn’t correct and the way to go, then Satan wouldn’t be trying so hard to destroy us. Opposition in all things. This is the Savior’s work. “This is my work and my glory to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man!”
Holy Habits
Righteous Routines
Lift Where You Stand
With love,
Dad and Mom
Grandpa and Grandma
Briant and Clyda
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