3 December 2023 Week #62: A trip to Manila
Dear Family and Friends,
On Monday morning we were able to do our complete exercise routine for the first time in a couple weeks. It consists of one hour walking then 30 minutes of pushups, sit-ups, lunges, wall sits, and stretching. We were sore the next couple of days. Then we did our gospel learning while our heart rates dropped a little. Then a shower and breakfast. Work on projects, kangaroo sewing for Clyda, and preparing for another whirlwind trip.
On Tuesday we woke up at 12:01 a.m. (yes, you read that correctly, shortly after midnight) to catch a 2:00 a.m. flight to Manila, then three and a half hours in the airport, caught a flight to Catarman in Northern Samar. We arrived there at 8:00 a.m. (There is no direct flight from Cebu to Catarman, and we can only make connecting flights there on Tuesday or Friday morning.) Mam Olchandra, the young, single Cagdara-o Elementary School Head, met us at the airport. She had a friend who was shuttling us. We then had a two-hour drive to the Catubig River. It was probably 100 yards across. We had a ride in a pumpboat, like going to Tres Reyes in the ocean. The river was chocolate brown. They had as much rain in 24 hours as they usually get in the month of November. All kinds of garbage was hanging 10-15 feet high in the trees on the bank. That flood must have been something else. The river was 15 feet below the basketball court where boys were shoveling mud off the court so they could play.
We had to travel in the boat about a mile up the river and across it. We then rode on motor bikes for about a half mile to the school. It was a cement pathway about a yard wide.
The school had electricity and that was about all. They need any kind of supplies we can give them. We will see what we can do. Two single male teachers for the 5th and 6th grades, then four married female teachers for K-4. They just have 1st grade in the morning and kindergarten in the afternoon. The same teacher does both. Five of the six teachers ride motorbikes for 40-60 minutes one way to get to the river each day. One lives within about 20 minutes of the river.
We had contacted both the Tacloban Mission President and the Catarman Stake President and neither one of them thought there were any members within an hour of this area. They don’t have any missionaries in this area. (Four different languages are spoken in this mission). The school head had done her homework, had learned a little about the church, had downloaded “I Am A Child of God”, and played it in a little welcome program.
Later in the day we arrived at the stake center in Catarman where the Huffs had just finished their first of two days of training for 200 schools on a literacy program. We helped set up for the next day. One hundred schools had come on Tuesday and the others were coming on Wednesday. The Huffs had arranged for trainers to come from Mindanao to teach the school heads how to run this literacy tutoring program. They said it had been a good day.
We had dinner with the Huffs that evening. The next day the first counselor in the stake presidency was supposed to pick us up at 7:00 and take us to the airport for our flight out at 8:15. We either caught this flight out or waited until Saturday to get the next flight. At 7:20 we were getting nervous and now trying to flag down people on motorbikes to get us there. The motorbike drivers said they couldn’t give us a ride, we would need to take a tricyle to the bus terminal and then catch a bus to the airport. Some fast and furious prayers, we did not want to spend the next three days there. At 7:35 our driver arrived. Whew, we made it to the airport at 7:50 and caught a flight back to Manila and then to Cebu. It was so good to be home!
On Friday at about noon Kamala (our son-in-law Casey’s sister) and her husband, Edgar, arrived. They live in South Jordan, Utah. He is a Filipino and grew up north of Manila. It is their 30th wedding anniversary and they are here to celebrate. They spent time with family on Luzon and then came to Cebu. They had never been here before. They did some sight-seeing for a couple of days and then joined us on Friday. We had a marvelous time with them. We took them to the gardens in the mountains and Ayala Mall. We took our time in the gardens because it was a beautiful day. It was overcast but not rainy, so it was cool for here. It felt good! It was a wonderful afternoon and evening.
We did our normal routine, including going to the market with the Taylors and Koyles on Saturday morning. Kamala and Edgar went to the temple. They came to our apartment at 9:30. We had a wonderful breakfast prepared by Clyda. Then at 10:00 we took them to the airport. Traffic wasn’t too bad so we were back by about 12:00.
That afternoon Clyda sewed Kangaroo Tubes and I caught up on all of my BYU sports. The women’s soccer made it to the Finals Cup (final four) but were eliminated by Stanford 2-0. The volleyball won the first match with Weber State 3-0 in the first round of playoffs, (64 teams) but then lost in the second round of 32 to Arizona State 3-0. Both the soccer and volleyball teams had great seasons.
The men’s basketball season is going well and they are 7-0. The women were 6-0 but then took a whipping by Wyoming in Laramie and then another whipping at Utah. They are now 6-2. At Wyoming the Cowgirls ran a great motion offense. It made me long for the good ole days coaching Taffy, Tami, and Violet. Tami’s junior and senior years, Violet’s sophomore and junior years, we had a group of girls that really understood the game and now I finally knew how to coach a motion offense. We could have done it with Taffy’s group, but I didn’t know how to coach it yet. It was fun to see the Wyoming girls make the four different cuts off of the screens and making different cuts each time depending on the defense. I was awake most of the night coaching basketball again. It was fun! I would have loved to have used this offense again, especially with Olivia and Tessa, but we never had enough girls committed to the game. We got pretty good as is and won a few state championships. All groups got pretty good at running our fastbreak and secondary system. That was always fun!! I loved my years coaching girls basketball!! I also loved coaching football and track. People use to ask me which was my favorite sport to coach. I would respond, “Whichever one I’m coaching at the time.” I loved them all. I loved playing football the most when I was young, then old man’s basketball through the years, but skiing has been my favorite through the years because I have been able to even enjoy it as I have slowed down with the balance and reflexes gone out the window. I hope I can still make a turn or two in the winter of 2024-2025.
While at Catarman on Tuesday evening a group of about 16 men were playing ball at the stake center. Several on the sides waiting for their turn, “Next”. One older gentleman was playing some good ball. He was grey and you could tell he had been a real good player in his day. I found out he is the stake patriarch and had been the stake president for a lot of years.
Toledo was made a stake yesterday. The three couples from the office and Sister Garner attended. They said it was packed and wonderful. I continue to marvel at the growth of the church. While walking on Thursday morning we met a good group of YSA that had arrived from Mindanao for a couple days at the temple. Also, a group of young married couples with children arrived from Catarman. Those are long journeys to get here. I am so impressed with this kind of commitment and dedication to the Lord. This gospel is true. Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer. Joseph Smith was a prophet. The Book of Mormon is true. President Russel M. Nelson is a prophet today. It was wonderful to listen to the Christmas Devotional this morning. We are a part of something magnificent. Hold on tight!! It for sure will be worth it!
With love,
Dad and Mom
Grandpa and Grandma
Briant and Clyda
Week #62 11/27-12/3
On Monday morning we were able to do our complete exercise routine for the first time in a couple weeks. It consists of one hour walking then 30 minutes of pushups, sit-ups, lunges, wall sits, and stretching. We were sore the next couple of days. Then we did our gospel learning while our heart rates dropped a little. Then a shower and breakfast. Work on projects, kangaroo sewing for Clyda, and preparing for another whirlwind trip.
On Tuesday we woke up at 12:01 a.m. (yes, you read that correctly, shortly after midnight) to catch a 2:00 a.m. flight to Manila, then three and a half hours in the airport, caught a flight to Catarman in Northern Samar. We arrived there at 8:00 a.m. (There is no direct flight from Cebu to Catarman, and we can only make connecting flights there on Tuesday or Friday morning.) Mam Olchandra, the young, single Cagdara-o Elementary School Head, met us at the airport. She had a friend who was shuttling us. We then had a two-hour drive to the Catubig River. It was probably 100 yards across. We had a ride in a pumpboat, like going to Tres Reyes in the ocean. The river was chocolate brown. They had as much rain in 24 hours as they usually get in the month of November. All kinds of garbage was hanging 10-15 feet high in the trees on the bank. That flood must have been something else. The river was 15 feet below the basketball court where boys were shoveling mud off the court so they could play.
We had to travel in the boat about a mile up the river and across it. We then rode on motor bikes for about a half mile to the school. It was a cement pathway about a yard wide.
The school had electricity and that was about all. They need any kind of supplies we can give them. We will see what we can do. Two single male teachers for the 5th and 6th grades, then four married female teachers for K-4. They just have 1st grade in the morning and kindergarten in the afternoon. The same teacher does both. Five of the six teachers ride motorbikes for 40-60 minutes one way to get to the river each day. One lives within about 20 minutes of the river.
We had contacted both the Tacloban Mission President and the Catarman Stake President and neither one of them thought there were any members within an hour of this area. They don’t have any missionaries in this area. (Four different languages are spoken in this mission). The school head had done her homework, had learned a little about the church, had downloaded “I Am A Child of God”, and played it in a little welcome program.
Later in the day we arrived at the stake center in Catarman where the Huffs had just finished their first of two days of training for 200 schools on a literacy program. We helped set up for the next day. One hundred schools had come on Tuesday and the others were coming on Wednesday. The Huffs had arranged for trainers to come from Mindanao to teach the school heads how to run this literacy tutoring program. They said it had been a good day.
We had dinner with the Huffs that evening. The next day the first counselor in the stake presidency was supposed to pick us up at 7:00 and take us to the airport for our flight out at 8:15. We either caught this flight out or waited until Saturday to get the next flight. At 7:20 we were getting nervous and now trying to flag down people on motorbikes to get us there. The motorbike drivers said they couldn’t give us a ride, we would need to take a tricyle to the bus terminal and then catch a bus to the airport. Some fast and furious prayers, we did not want to spend the next three days there. At 7:35 our driver arrived. Whew, we made it to the airport at 7:50 and caught a flight back to Manila and then to Cebu. It was so good to be home!
On Friday at about noon Kamala (our son-in-law Casey’s sister) and her husband, Edgar, arrived. They live in South Jordan, Utah. He is a Filipino and grew up north of Manila. It is their 30th wedding anniversary and they are here to celebrate. They spent time with family on Luzon and then came to Cebu. They had never been here before. They did some sight-seeing for a couple of days and then joined us on Friday. We had a marvelous time with them. We took them to the gardens in the mountains and Ayala Mall. We took our time in the gardens because it was a beautiful day. It was overcast but not rainy, so it was cool for here. It felt good! It was a wonderful afternoon and evening.
We did our normal routine, including going to the market with the Taylors and Koyles on Saturday morning. Kamala and Edgar went to the temple. They came to our apartment at 9:30. We had a wonderful breakfast prepared by Clyda. Then at 10:00 we took them to the airport. Traffic wasn’t too bad so we were back by about 12:00.
That afternoon Clyda sewed Kangaroo Tubes and I caught up on all of my BYU sports. The women’s soccer made it to the Finals Cup (final four) but were eliminated by Stanford 2-0. The volleyball won the first match with Weber State 3-0 in the first round of playoffs, (64 teams) but then lost in the second round of 32 to Arizona State 3-0. Both the soccer and volleyball teams had great seasons.
The men’s basketball season is going well and they are 7-0. The women were 6-0 but then took a whipping by Wyoming in Laramie and then another whipping at Utah. They are now 6-2. At Wyoming the Cowgirls ran a great motion offense. It made me long for the good ole days coaching Taffy, Tami, and Violet. Tami’s junior and senior years, Violet’s sophomore and junior years, we had a group of girls that really understood the game and now I finally knew how to coach a motion offense. We could have done it with Taffy’s group, but I didn’t know how to coach it yet. It was fun to see the Wyoming girls make the four different cuts off of the screens and making different cuts each time depending on the defense. I was awake most of the night coaching basketball again. It was fun! I would have loved to have used this offense again, especially with Olivia and Tessa, but we never had enough girls committed to the game. We got pretty good as is and won a few state championships. All groups got pretty good at running our fastbreak and secondary system. That was always fun!! I loved my years coaching girls basketball!! I also loved coaching football and track. People use to ask me which was my favorite sport to coach. I would respond, “Whichever one I’m coaching at the time.” I loved them all. I loved playing football the most when I was young, then old man’s basketball through the years, but skiing has been my favorite through the years because I have been able to even enjoy it as I have slowed down with the balance and reflexes gone out the window. I hope I can still make a turn or two in the winter of 2024-2025.
While at Catarman on Tuesday evening a group of about 16 men were playing ball at the stake center. Several on the sides waiting for their turn, “Next”. One older gentleman was playing some good ball. He was grey and you could tell he had been a real good player in his day. I found out he is the stake patriarch and had been the stake president for a lot of years.
Toledo was made a stake yesterday. The three couples from the office and Sister Garner attended. They said it was packed and wonderful. I continue to marvel at the growth of the church. While walking on Thursday morning we met a good group of YSA that had arrived from Mindanao for a couple days at the temple. Also, a group of young married couples with children arrived from Catarman. Those are long journeys to get here. I am so impressed with this kind of commitment and dedication to the Lord. This gospel is true. Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer. Joseph Smith was a prophet. The Book of Mormon is true. President Russel M. Nelson is a prophet today. It was wonderful to listen to the Christmas Devotional this morning. We are a part of something magnificent. Hold on tight!! It for sure will be worth it!
With love,
Dad and Mom
Grandpa and Grandma
Briant and Clyda
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