17 March 2024 Week #77: Rise and Rebuild
Dear Family and Friends,
Last Monday in our Humanitarian Team Meeting we had two projects pass: MV Gamboa Elementary School and Cadiz District Hospital. However, on Tuesday the Core Leadership had questions. Then we didn’t have a Welfare Self Reliance Committee Meeting on Friday to answer their questions. So, they will have to wait until this coming Friday for us to present to be approved and implemented. We are spending a lot of time right now closing projects.
On Tuesday we headed out at 6:00 a.m. and we took Elder and Sister Koyle with us to go visit the Rise and Rebuild Farm in Sogod. It is a couple hours north of here if you leave at that time. You will need to add an hour if you wait until 7:00. We had a great visit with Reyson and Judith Pua. They run the farm. We also got to see Clark Rafada again. He is the construction manager for Rise and Rebuild. He was busy last summer with all the youth groups building nutrition centers here in Cebu. Then we worked with him again on the CRs at Lahug Night School. Clark is busy with his group building six HUGE hydroponic green houses. It was so cool to see their farm. It is amazing and these hydroponic green houses will be able to regulate the amount of water the vegetables will need. The problem here is when there is too much water and when there is not enough. That is the problem for all farmers, but back home it is usually not enough water.
Of course, you have all the vegetables that you aren’t going to raise in a green house either, corn, potatoes, camote, etc.
One of the cool things we saw here was the 7FSSU building roads and hauling gravel and sand for the cement of the green house frames, walkways, etc. 7FSSU had a big loader and a big dump truck there to help with this project. It was fun to see them cooperate with Rise and Rebuild. We had made a big donation to 7FSSU of tools for them to use in repairing their equipment. They know that Rise and Rebuild is run by members of the church, so they are working together. Rise and Rebuild has built some CRs for 7FSSU here at their base in Cebu and are coming back to drill them another well. It is fun to see great organizations help each other and they are here to help the people. 7FSSU has helped us transport relief goods to victims of fires and typhons. Reyson told us that Rise and Rebuild (started by Ray Goodson, one of the original missionaries here in 1961 and then a mission president in the 1970s) has donated property not fit for farming, for an elementary school here so children don’t have to walk so many miles to school. 7FSSU is going to do the landscaping and build the roads. Rise and Rebuild will make all the bricks they need for this project and build the building.
After leaving Rise and Rebuild we had an adventure as Google Maps took us on a back road to San Remigio. We found a much better road on our way home. We went to San Remigio to meet up with Elder Bradshaw. This is Jolene Buckley Bradshaw’s son who is serving in the Cebu East Mission. We had met with him once before in Carmen, Bohol. We wanted to catch up with him again before we headed home. He is doing great! As we meet with these young missionaries who have parents I worked with in school, it is so wonderful to see what great missionaries they are. They carry the light of the gospel in their eyes. They are humble and seeking to do their best to represent Jesus Christ, to live as he would have them live, and love as he would have them love these wonderful Filipino people. He is blond and 6’7” tall so he really stands out amongst these people. But, the light in his eyes makes him stand out even more. It was a wonderful visit. When we meet with them, and eat, then I share with them a spiritual experience I have had, then I ask their companion to share one, and then I ask the Elder we know to share. Elder Bradshaw shared a couple of verses and then talked about how in his study in Preach My Gospel he has really come to understand how important it is for him to learn to Love these people and all people as the Savior would. I then shared one last thought as it triggered my memory to Connor’s email about learning to Love. Since Elder Bradshaw knows Connor, I pulled that letter up on my phone and shared Connor’s testimony of Love. It was a wonderful experience. The only downer on this was Clyda had baked chocolate chip cookies for him the day before and then I forgot to bring them.
That evening as we returned to Cebu we arrived just as Elder and Sister Cary from San Carlos arrived. We joined them and the Eppersons and went out to dinner. The Carys, along with Eppersons, Heaths, Welches, and Sister Beasley headed out Wednesday morning on a get-away to Bohol. They are having a good time from what we gather on the GC.
On Thursday we went to Carcar with Brother and Sister Colipapa. We visited Lunas Elementary and Valencia High School. Some progress is being made. There are still plenty of problems. However, it was good to see progress and a few workers on sight building.
On Saturday morning we headed to the office to watch “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers”, Cokeville High School’s musical. At 9:00 a.m. Saturday we caught the Friday 7:00 p.m. performance live. That was fun.
It has been mostly just computer work, trying to get everything lined up for Elder and Sister Wayman. We hope to give them a smooth turnover onto our projects in progress. Elder and Sister Huskinson did a great job of that for us. We have about six projects they will need to finish up and the two I previously mentioned to start implementation on. We also have two for them that they will need to present and do it all. Then it will be up to them.
On Saturday morning as we were walking at the templex, me strolling and Clyda getting after it, I visited with a young man about 30 years old who has lived here for about five months. He is from Long Island, New York. One of his arms is completely tattooed, but he had a light in his eyes. He is dating a Filipino returned missionary. He was with a group of guys that were meeting to go on an EQ excursion. EQ-Elders Quorum. It was fun to visit with him. He has been to church twice in the Apas Ward. I waited after our meeting today to meet Elder Johnson and his companion who serve in the Apas Ward to see if they know about him. They are well aware of him and are teaching him. The girl he is dating asked him to listen to the missionaries. They say the discussions are going great. I believe it. He seems like a great young man.
This coming week we go to Manila on Tuesday to get our passports with visa clearance to go home, turn in our phones and computer, listen in on training for the three new couples that arrive on Tuesday. Then on Thursday we will drive north for about three-four hours to go to the Urdanetta Temple Open House. Then we, along with the Waymans, will fly from Clark back to Cebu. We are excited to get to go to this open house. This will be just the third functioning temple in the Philippines. There are ten more that have been announced with three of those ten currently under construction.
The gathering of Israel is happening on both sides of the veil, and it is a Marvelous Work and a Wonder! How in the world can this be happening with 18–23-year-olds doing the work. Incredible what the Lord can do. “And the arm of the Lord shall be revealed;” D&C 1:14 “The weak things of the world shall come forth and break down the mighty and strong ones..” D&C 1:19. “And then cometh the day when the arm of the Lord shall be revealed in power in convincing the nations, the heathen nations, the house of Joseph, of the gospel of their salvation. For it shall come to pass in that day, that every man shall hear the fulness of the Gospel in his own tongue, and in his own language, through those who are ordained unto this power, by the administration of the Comforter, shed forth upon them for the revelation of Jesus Christ.” D&D 90:10-11
This grand work is happening because it is TRUE, Jesus Christ is in Charge, the Holy Ghost is bearing witness to the honest in heart all over the world, and he is doing it through these valiant young men and women who have chosen to serve Him.
Holy Habits
Righteous Routines
Lift Where You Stand
With love,
Dad and Mom
Grandpa and Grandma
Briant and Clyda
Week #77 3/11/24-3/17/24
Last Monday in our Humanitarian Team Meeting we had two projects pass: MV Gamboa Elementary School and Cadiz District Hospital. However, on Tuesday the Core Leadership had questions. Then we didn’t have a Welfare Self Reliance Committee Meeting on Friday to answer their questions. So, they will have to wait until this coming Friday for us to present to be approved and implemented. We are spending a lot of time right now closing projects.
On Tuesday we headed out at 6:00 a.m. and we took Elder and Sister Koyle with us to go visit the Rise and Rebuild Farm in Sogod. It is a couple hours north of here if you leave at that time. You will need to add an hour if you wait until 7:00. We had a great visit with Reyson and Judith Pua. They run the farm. We also got to see Clark Rafada again. He is the construction manager for Rise and Rebuild. He was busy last summer with all the youth groups building nutrition centers here in Cebu. Then we worked with him again on the CRs at Lahug Night School. Clark is busy with his group building six HUGE hydroponic green houses. It was so cool to see their farm. It is amazing and these hydroponic green houses will be able to regulate the amount of water the vegetables will need. The problem here is when there is too much water and when there is not enough. That is the problem for all farmers, but back home it is usually not enough water.
Of course, you have all the vegetables that you aren’t going to raise in a green house either, corn, potatoes, camote, etc.
One of the cool things we saw here was the 7FSSU building roads and hauling gravel and sand for the cement of the green house frames, walkways, etc. 7FSSU had a big loader and a big dump truck there to help with this project. It was fun to see them cooperate with Rise and Rebuild. We had made a big donation to 7FSSU of tools for them to use in repairing their equipment. They know that Rise and Rebuild is run by members of the church, so they are working together. Rise and Rebuild has built some CRs for 7FSSU here at their base in Cebu and are coming back to drill them another well. It is fun to see great organizations help each other and they are here to help the people. 7FSSU has helped us transport relief goods to victims of fires and typhons. Reyson told us that Rise and Rebuild (started by Ray Goodson, one of the original missionaries here in 1961 and then a mission president in the 1970s) has donated property not fit for farming, for an elementary school here so children don’t have to walk so many miles to school. 7FSSU is going to do the landscaping and build the roads. Rise and Rebuild will make all the bricks they need for this project and build the building.
After leaving Rise and Rebuild we had an adventure as Google Maps took us on a back road to San Remigio. We found a much better road on our way home. We went to San Remigio to meet up with Elder Bradshaw. This is Jolene Buckley Bradshaw’s son who is serving in the Cebu East Mission. We had met with him once before in Carmen, Bohol. We wanted to catch up with him again before we headed home. He is doing great! As we meet with these young missionaries who have parents I worked with in school, it is so wonderful to see what great missionaries they are. They carry the light of the gospel in their eyes. They are humble and seeking to do their best to represent Jesus Christ, to live as he would have them live, and love as he would have them love these wonderful Filipino people. He is blond and 6’7” tall so he really stands out amongst these people. But, the light in his eyes makes him stand out even more. It was a wonderful visit. When we meet with them, and eat, then I share with them a spiritual experience I have had, then I ask their companion to share one, and then I ask the Elder we know to share. Elder Bradshaw shared a couple of verses and then talked about how in his study in Preach My Gospel he has really come to understand how important it is for him to learn to Love these people and all people as the Savior would. I then shared one last thought as it triggered my memory to Connor’s email about learning to Love. Since Elder Bradshaw knows Connor, I pulled that letter up on my phone and shared Connor’s testimony of Love. It was a wonderful experience. The only downer on this was Clyda had baked chocolate chip cookies for him the day before and then I forgot to bring them.
That evening as we returned to Cebu we arrived just as Elder and Sister Cary from San Carlos arrived. We joined them and the Eppersons and went out to dinner. The Carys, along with Eppersons, Heaths, Welches, and Sister Beasley headed out Wednesday morning on a get-away to Bohol. They are having a good time from what we gather on the GC.
On Thursday we went to Carcar with Brother and Sister Colipapa. We visited Lunas Elementary and Valencia High School. Some progress is being made. There are still plenty of problems. However, it was good to see progress and a few workers on sight building.
On Saturday morning we headed to the office to watch “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers”, Cokeville High School’s musical. At 9:00 a.m. Saturday we caught the Friday 7:00 p.m. performance live. That was fun.
It has been mostly just computer work, trying to get everything lined up for Elder and Sister Wayman. We hope to give them a smooth turnover onto our projects in progress. Elder and Sister Huskinson did a great job of that for us. We have about six projects they will need to finish up and the two I previously mentioned to start implementation on. We also have two for them that they will need to present and do it all. Then it will be up to them.
On Saturday morning as we were walking at the templex, me strolling and Clyda getting after it, I visited with a young man about 30 years old who has lived here for about five months. He is from Long Island, New York. One of his arms is completely tattooed, but he had a light in his eyes. He is dating a Filipino returned missionary. He was with a group of guys that were meeting to go on an EQ excursion. EQ-Elders Quorum. It was fun to visit with him. He has been to church twice in the Apas Ward. I waited after our meeting today to meet Elder Johnson and his companion who serve in the Apas Ward to see if they know about him. They are well aware of him and are teaching him. The girl he is dating asked him to listen to the missionaries. They say the discussions are going great. I believe it. He seems like a great young man.
This coming week we go to Manila on Tuesday to get our passports with visa clearance to go home, turn in our phones and computer, listen in on training for the three new couples that arrive on Tuesday. Then on Thursday we will drive north for about three-four hours to go to the Urdanetta Temple Open House. Then we, along with the Waymans, will fly from Clark back to Cebu. We are excited to get to go to this open house. This will be just the third functioning temple in the Philippines. There are ten more that have been announced with three of those ten currently under construction.
The gathering of Israel is happening on both sides of the veil, and it is a Marvelous Work and a Wonder! How in the world can this be happening with 18–23-year-olds doing the work. Incredible what the Lord can do. “And the arm of the Lord shall be revealed;” D&C 1:14 “The weak things of the world shall come forth and break down the mighty and strong ones..” D&C 1:19. “And then cometh the day when the arm of the Lord shall be revealed in power in convincing the nations, the heathen nations, the house of Joseph, of the gospel of their salvation. For it shall come to pass in that day, that every man shall hear the fulness of the Gospel in his own tongue, and in his own language, through those who are ordained unto this power, by the administration of the Comforter, shed forth upon them for the revelation of Jesus Christ.” D&D 90:10-11
This grand work is happening because it is TRUE, Jesus Christ is in Charge, the Holy Ghost is bearing witness to the honest in heart all over the world, and he is doing it through these valiant young men and women who have chosen to serve Him.
Holy Habits
Righteous Routines
Lift Where You Stand
With love,
Dad and Mom
Grandpa and Grandma
Briant and Clyda
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