8 October 2023 Week #54: Lots of travel
Dear Family and Friends
On Monday we headed to Lite Ferry to book our tickets to Bohol for Tuesday-Thursday. We then had our meeting at the office. Six projects were presented. We presented our Carcar First Ward Member Focused Initiative Chicken Project. It failed big time. The committee didn’t like it. This is a member welfare project. We let them come up with the idea and presented it as they wanted it. Everyone had their idea of how to do it, so we had a lot of different ideas. Now we are really confused. There was a lot of discussion about MWP vs Member Focused Initiative projects, meaning you focus on one individual, and you can include others, or not. We have had discussions about these MFI projects, but apparently, we are not supposed to do them. We can’t keep up with the changing rules.
At 2:00 we had a meeting at DSWD-AVRC and Mabuhay Deseret Foundation about the prosthetics project. It was a good meeting, a long meeting. They want us to donate the tools to the AVRC Alumni Association. These are people who have benefited from a prosthetic and are involved in helping others receive them. It would be a 5-year contract. However, the AVRCAA is not PCNC(Philippine Council for NGO Certification) approved so that is a hurdle. PCNC means it is a non-profit certification. So, it will be interesting to see how we will be able to cover this hurdle. Right now, it looks like it could be a lead foot problem, not the trail leg, (for all of you hurdlers). The team from the U.S., BYU 2FT, are here to do the prosthetic training this coming week. We also had a lot of questions on all of the tools they wanted donated and big discrepancies on prices for them. We decided to wait until after the training to see what BYU 2FT recommends for tools.
We had a good FHE that evening at the Koyles’ with about 15 in attendance. It was a great lesson with individuals sharing why the Book of Mormon is important to them, or a story from the BofM that has impacted their life. It was a very spiritual experience. I am thankful that the Holy Ghost has born witness to me of the truthfulness of that book. I remember several days of praying about it each day while in my Book of Mormon class at Ricks. I would read each night at midnight when I would get home from my custodial job. One night while reading the Holy Ghost just filled me with a wonderful experience where I now knew it was true. I am so grateful for that. Then we had an activity where people shared about something they are pretty sure you won’t see that anywhere back home, “only in the Philippines”. It was a fun time.
Tuesday started at 4:30 so we could catch the early ferry to Bohol. It was a long day. In the afternoon we were visiting Calape FAITH gardens. While turning around after a visit one of the back tires blew out. We couldn’t find anything, but the tire’s sidewall was slit. Thank goodness Junrey was there to help us old guys change it. Elder and Sister Hall were with us. We then cut the visits off so we could take the tire to Tubigon to get a new tire. Junrey got us taken care of. We took the Halls back home to Calape, and then headed to Sagbayan to visit with President JaRed Baguio about a FAITH garden project for his branch. They have been holding the Personal Finance classes and are on number 11 of 12. However, some haven’t made it to all the classes. That could be a problem for those individuals. Hopefully they get the make up classes taken care of. After no breakfast or lunch we got back to McDonalds by our hotel at 8:00 for something to eat.
On Wednesday it was another early morning meeting the Halls at 5:15 a.m. to head to Tres Reyes. We had a great visit at Tres Reyes. They are excited about the electricity. It was a fun boat ride over and back. It was low tide so we had to walk along way in the ocean to get to shore at Tres Reyes.
In the afternoon we went to Talibon to a hospital that needs a well drilled. They run out of water during the dry season that makes it very difficult for their dialysis center. Then we visited a “Lamborghini” school. A member of the district presidency took us to both of these locations. We will see what we can do for the hospital. The school was his old school and it was by far the nicest and best furnished school we have seen here in the Philippines. We didn’t even hesitate as we informed them that we wouldn’t be helping them.
Then to Inabanga to meet with President Jessie Celocia. He is still single but is getting married on December 8th. He wants us to help him with a FAITH garden project for his branch. They are only on lesson number 6 of Personal Finance. President Celocia served in the Naga Mission with James Teichert. He thinks very highly of James.
Once again it was a late evening and we had only eaten snacks during the day. McDonalds was another late dinner. The Halls were great to be with us for the day, but I think we about killed them off. They chose not to go with us on Thursday.
We slept in until 5:30 on Thursday and then up and after it. We had a long drive to Garcia Hernandez to visit some Child Development Centers. It was fun to get on the mats and play with the kids using the educational toys we had given them. Then back to Tubigon to meet President Nueva. We needed to pick up the LDSC generator that has been in their shed since being used for clean-up after Typhoon Odette nearly two years ago. We finally got it back to Manduae Stake Center that evening at about 7:00. Brother Colipapa met us there to unload it. The traffic was terrible. It was a rough night on the road. We finally got home at about 9:00. This place never looked so good! We slept in for real the next morning and just got ourselves through a shower and ready for our 7:30 meeting. We had breakfast and gospel study after the meeting. Then a nap. We are getting old. Then the rest of the day was doing reports on what we had been doing on Bohol and then catching up on emails, etc. with the other projects we have going.
On Saturday we finally got some exercise in. We hadn’t been able to since Monday. We then got through a shower and ready to go to the market with the Koyles and Taylors at 7:30. We came home and then did our study and had some breakfast. We then headed to the office to watch the Saturday evening session of conference on the big screen while our apartment was being cleaned. After the session we worked on some projects. Then we watched some of the first half of the Star Valley vs Cody football game. I was surprised how Star Valley whipped them. I thought that would be a close game.
Home for a quick PB&J and then to the templex to meet with Bro. Erlwin Abanggan from Carcar First Ward to see if we can get this Member Focused Initiative Chicken project better prepared. Brother Colipapa also met with us. We made some changes, but not a lot, just with better understanding of how this project should go. We will see how it goes. However, we have to order some more supplies so that takes going through purchasing. Hopefully, that will happen fast so we can present it again on October 16th. We came home and had dinner. Then off to the Koyle’s where Sister Laura Koyle trimmed Clyda’s hair. We had a great visit with them.
Sunday has been a great day listening to conference a week late. It is wonderful to be led by living prophets and apostles. As we visited with the Koyles last evening we marveled at the great creations that testify of God. Millions of phone calls, facetime calls, going on at the same time connecting people all across the world. The inspiration for that alone is incredible. I’m sure this is just a little thing to the great Creator. Yet just that boggles my mind. Jesus Christ is the Great Creator of this Earth and all that is on it. He lives, Joseph Smith saw him and his Father. They now lead us through our living prophet, President Russel M. Nelson, and the apostles. I hope I never become so prideful that I deny what the Holy Ghost has born witness to me of. I am thankful for my testimony!
Holy Habits
Righteous Routines
Lift Where You Stand
With love,
Dad and Mom
Grandpa and Grandma
Briant and Clyda
Week #54 10/2-10/8
On Monday we headed to Lite Ferry to book our tickets to Bohol for Tuesday-Thursday. We then had our meeting at the office. Six projects were presented. We presented our Carcar First Ward Member Focused Initiative Chicken Project. It failed big time. The committee didn’t like it. This is a member welfare project. We let them come up with the idea and presented it as they wanted it. Everyone had their idea of how to do it, so we had a lot of different ideas. Now we are really confused. There was a lot of discussion about MWP vs Member Focused Initiative projects, meaning you focus on one individual, and you can include others, or not. We have had discussions about these MFI projects, but apparently, we are not supposed to do them. We can’t keep up with the changing rules.
At 2:00 we had a meeting at DSWD-AVRC and Mabuhay Deseret Foundation about the prosthetics project. It was a good meeting, a long meeting. They want us to donate the tools to the AVRC Alumni Association. These are people who have benefited from a prosthetic and are involved in helping others receive them. It would be a 5-year contract. However, the AVRCAA is not PCNC(Philippine Council for NGO Certification) approved so that is a hurdle. PCNC means it is a non-profit certification. So, it will be interesting to see how we will be able to cover this hurdle. Right now, it looks like it could be a lead foot problem, not the trail leg, (for all of you hurdlers). The team from the U.S., BYU 2FT, are here to do the prosthetic training this coming week. We also had a lot of questions on all of the tools they wanted donated and big discrepancies on prices for them. We decided to wait until after the training to see what BYU 2FT recommends for tools.
We had a good FHE that evening at the Koyles’ with about 15 in attendance. It was a great lesson with individuals sharing why the Book of Mormon is important to them, or a story from the BofM that has impacted their life. It was a very spiritual experience. I am thankful that the Holy Ghost has born witness to me of the truthfulness of that book. I remember several days of praying about it each day while in my Book of Mormon class at Ricks. I would read each night at midnight when I would get home from my custodial job. One night while reading the Holy Ghost just filled me with a wonderful experience where I now knew it was true. I am so grateful for that. Then we had an activity where people shared about something they are pretty sure you won’t see that anywhere back home, “only in the Philippines”. It was a fun time.
Tuesday started at 4:30 so we could catch the early ferry to Bohol. It was a long day. In the afternoon we were visiting Calape FAITH gardens. While turning around after a visit one of the back tires blew out. We couldn’t find anything, but the tire’s sidewall was slit. Thank goodness Junrey was there to help us old guys change it. Elder and Sister Hall were with us. We then cut the visits off so we could take the tire to Tubigon to get a new tire. Junrey got us taken care of. We took the Halls back home to Calape, and then headed to Sagbayan to visit with President JaRed Baguio about a FAITH garden project for his branch. They have been holding the Personal Finance classes and are on number 11 of 12. However, some haven’t made it to all the classes. That could be a problem for those individuals. Hopefully they get the make up classes taken care of. After no breakfast or lunch we got back to McDonalds by our hotel at 8:00 for something to eat.
On Wednesday it was another early morning meeting the Halls at 5:15 a.m. to head to Tres Reyes. We had a great visit at Tres Reyes. They are excited about the electricity. It was a fun boat ride over and back. It was low tide so we had to walk along way in the ocean to get to shore at Tres Reyes.
In the afternoon we went to Talibon to a hospital that needs a well drilled. They run out of water during the dry season that makes it very difficult for their dialysis center. Then we visited a “Lamborghini” school. A member of the district presidency took us to both of these locations. We will see what we can do for the hospital. The school was his old school and it was by far the nicest and best furnished school we have seen here in the Philippines. We didn’t even hesitate as we informed them that we wouldn’t be helping them.
Then to Inabanga to meet with President Jessie Celocia. He is still single but is getting married on December 8th. He wants us to help him with a FAITH garden project for his branch. They are only on lesson number 6 of Personal Finance. President Celocia served in the Naga Mission with James Teichert. He thinks very highly of James.
Once again it was a late evening and we had only eaten snacks during the day. McDonalds was another late dinner. The Halls were great to be with us for the day, but I think we about killed them off. They chose not to go with us on Thursday.
We slept in until 5:30 on Thursday and then up and after it. We had a long drive to Garcia Hernandez to visit some Child Development Centers. It was fun to get on the mats and play with the kids using the educational toys we had given them. Then back to Tubigon to meet President Nueva. We needed to pick up the LDSC generator that has been in their shed since being used for clean-up after Typhoon Odette nearly two years ago. We finally got it back to Manduae Stake Center that evening at about 7:00. Brother Colipapa met us there to unload it. The traffic was terrible. It was a rough night on the road. We finally got home at about 9:00. This place never looked so good! We slept in for real the next morning and just got ourselves through a shower and ready for our 7:30 meeting. We had breakfast and gospel study after the meeting. Then a nap. We are getting old. Then the rest of the day was doing reports on what we had been doing on Bohol and then catching up on emails, etc. with the other projects we have going.
On Saturday we finally got some exercise in. We hadn’t been able to since Monday. We then got through a shower and ready to go to the market with the Koyles and Taylors at 7:30. We came home and then did our study and had some breakfast. We then headed to the office to watch the Saturday evening session of conference on the big screen while our apartment was being cleaned. After the session we worked on some projects. Then we watched some of the first half of the Star Valley vs Cody football game. I was surprised how Star Valley whipped them. I thought that would be a close game.
Home for a quick PB&J and then to the templex to meet with Bro. Erlwin Abanggan from Carcar First Ward to see if we can get this Member Focused Initiative Chicken project better prepared. Brother Colipapa also met with us. We made some changes, but not a lot, just with better understanding of how this project should go. We will see how it goes. However, we have to order some more supplies so that takes going through purchasing. Hopefully, that will happen fast so we can present it again on October 16th. We came home and had dinner. Then off to the Koyle’s where Sister Laura Koyle trimmed Clyda’s hair. We had a great visit with them.
Sunday has been a great day listening to conference a week late. It is wonderful to be led by living prophets and apostles. As we visited with the Koyles last evening we marveled at the great creations that testify of God. Millions of phone calls, facetime calls, going on at the same time connecting people all across the world. The inspiration for that alone is incredible. I’m sure this is just a little thing to the great Creator. Yet just that boggles my mind. Jesus Christ is the Great Creator of this Earth and all that is on it. He lives, Joseph Smith saw him and his Father. They now lead us through our living prophet, President Russel M. Nelson, and the apostles. I hope I never become so prideful that I deny what the Holy Ghost has born witness to me of. I am thankful for my testimony!
Holy Habits
Righteous Routines
Lift Where You Stand
With love,
Dad and Mom
Grandpa and Grandma
Briant and Clyda
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