November 1st is All Saints Day, a national holiday in the Philippines. It is similar to our Memorial Day. Families come from all over the Philippines to be together. They go to the cemetery with flowers and spend all day there. Some even spend the night. The graves are decorated with flowers and vendors set up outside the cemetery to sell food items and other items. This picture is one of the streets in Agoo that has vendors on selling items for All Saints Day.
Another photo of the many beautiful flowers that are available for this holiday.
The Soriano brothers baptism photo. The married brother is on the left with his wife, daughter and oldest son. His brother is on the right with the Branch Mission Leader. They were a very happy family today and we pray they will always be happy and strong in the gospel. When we visited this family a month ago Elder Fullmer promised Brother Soriano if he remained strong in the gospel he would be a future leader in the church.
The Gascon Family at their baptism. Another very happy family and we are happy for them. We are happy for both families.
Another photo of the Gascon family with the Elders.
The converts on their baptism day with the Elders, the Elders quorum president with the sun glasses and behind him the Branch President. The Branch mission leader is on the left.
A beautiful sunset taken from our home.
A family we visited. During the lesson Elder Fullmer wanted to hold the baby. After a few minutes he felt a warm sensation and realized the baby was wetting on him. The poorer people do not have the money to buy diapers for the babies. Elder Fullmer discovered this the hard way. Everyone had a good laugh and his shirt and pants dried quickly in the Philippine heat.
Another family we visited who are in the car restoration and painting business. All of the less-active families we visit have scriptures and are happy to read from them and to offer prayer when asked.
This is the kitchen in the Agoo chapel. This is a typical kitchen for the chapels.
The arrival of the new Sister missionaries on transfer day with Sister Fullmer and Sister Monahan.
This is Clem, he is a returned missionary with a family. He has a business that the church uses to meet new missionaries at the airport. For the senior couples he takes us to the hotel, meets us the next day to help us get our drivers license and takes us to the mission home. He also is the driver for General Authorities of the church when they are in this part of the Philippines. He has a great sense of humor and keeps the missionaries laughing.
Photo taken inside one of the malls near the mission home.
This is lady is probably going to the market or coming from the market.
After shopping there is still work to be done with the produce needing to be washed in soapy water then rinsed in a bleach and water solution. This takes quite a bit of time. The green beans are a favorite of ours.
The big yellow fruit is the pamelo. The eggplant is very different here. The texture is more firm like a cucumber and notice the pretty shopping bag made out of drinking straws.
Many homes have these beautiful orchids of different colors growing out of dead tree stumps and some are grown in pots.
This is a common method of transportation and it always concerns us to see the little children on the Trike's or the motorcycles.
Even the dogs like this method of transportation.
The Filipino's love colors so their homes can be many different colors. This is one of the nicer homes with the pineapple Christmas decoration.
This is a father and his son we visited at their business. The son wanted to go on a mission but his father wanted him to stay and work the business with him. After we had read scriptures, bore our testimonies of missionary work, and prayed, the father changed his mind and said he would support his son on a mission. The son was extremely happy and shed lots of tears. Sister Gina is a blessing to us as she helps us find the less-active.
The small green fruit is sort of like a lime. It is quite tart and they use it to season fish they have cooked. We were also told it is very good for a sore throat.
This pump is pumping water from a well for watering the crop in the next photo.
This lady is a farmer who is hand watering her crop with the water pumped to the field using the pump in the previous photo. After we took the photo this lady had a large smile and waved to us. They love having their picture taken.
This young sister wanted to go on a mission but her mother wanted her to stay home and work. We bore testimony to the mother that she would be blessed if the daughter went on a mission. We also read scriptures and had prayer. Prior to us leaving the home the mother said she would support her daughter on her mission.
Sister Gina and the young sister under a papaya tree.
Sister Gina with the young girl who wants to go on a mission and now has her mothers permission. They are walking down the path from her home to where we parked the car. Note the corn field on the left. The corn here is not sweet like the U.S. corn. They love their corn even if we don't.
This is the way they make charcoal. They burn the wood in this mound for several days and the end product is charcoal.
Sister Fullmer did not care to get any closer to the caraboa. As it turned out he was more afraid of us than we were of him.
Sister Gina wanted our picture with the caraboa but he ran away. This is on the way to our car from the young sisters home. We sometimes have to park and walk quite a distance to some of the homes.
We passed this native pig on our way to the car. He did not want to pose for a picture.
Taking Sister Gina to her home this fellow did not want to give us the right of way until Sister Gina got out of the car to pull on the line in his nose.
Sister Fullmer is wanting to bring one of these back to the states but that is not possible due to the different voltage. They are beautiful Christmas decorations when plugged in.
This is a new furniture store that opened several blocks from our house. The long arm rests on the rockers are used to rest their legs.
Sister Fullmer's took a trike to church one day because Elder Fullmer was sick. She found the experience fun. The missionaries were very surprised and thought she was very brave.
Working the rice fields.
Even the animals like the trike rides.
Sister Augustin, wife of the Seventy, with the missionaries. Sister Augustin is the wife of Manual Augustin, who presided over the Bauang District Conference.
A mother taking her little girl shopping.
Sister Fullmer and the wife of the Agoo District President with a family we visited.
Pamelo, a fruit that tastes somewhat like a grapefruit but is sweeter.
One of the few indoor water pumps we have seen. This is the lovely daughter of a family we visited.
This is the young girl and her family outside of their home.
This man is fishing in this muddy pond. We watched him catch and keep several fish.
These children are washing the fish that was caught in the previous photo.
Outside the home, the grandmother and granddaughter are getting ready to cook the fish the man caught.
This family is sitting on the steps leading to their bedroom. During high tide the floor beneath their feet is covered in water. Would you believe the boy is 15 years old and only about four feet tall. We were glad to share a spiritual message with them because four months earlier they had lost their 4 year old daughter to a liver disease.
These kids are playing a game similar to pool. The dark round items are the pool balls. Kids find all kids of ways to play.
This path between the homes was on the way to the home we visited and where we passed by the kids playing pool and the grandmother getting ready to cook.
Homes next to the pond where the man was fishing. Laundry is almost a daily process.
The Agoo Relief Society sisters were admiring the dried fish. We were never tempted to try one.
Basketball is almost a national pass time. All the kids love to play.
Another home on our way to visit a family.
Rice field that has been harvested
This field has to be prepared for the rice planting.
This field is ready for rice planting.
One of the machines used to prepare the rice fields for planting rice.
These individuals are planting rice.
There is an abundance of beautiful flowers everywhere.
Almost every road has a drainage system to help with the run off of rain and diminishes the damage of flooding. The drainage system can restrict, or make turning around, or parking a real challenge.
This 8 day old baby was the highlight of one of our visits to a members home.
Sister Fullmer took a liking to this little babe and we know you will enjoy the photo.
This Catholic church reminds us that Christmas is just around the corner.
This Santa was on display at the mall near the mission office. Elder Fullmer would love to bring the Santa home to put in their front yard. The Filipino's begin to celebrate Christmas in September with Christmas music and decorations as well as some stores stocking Christmas items.
This has been a spiritual and wonderful month for us. The strong faith of the humble Filipino people is inspiring and uplifting and strengthens us. We have seen parents of prospective missionaries decide to support their sons and daughters on missions. We have enjoyed visits to many families and enjoyed their hospitality and love. The two pictures of us with the 8 day old baby reminds us of the Christ child at this time of the year. We love serving the Lord here and are grateful for our many blessings and to have the Gospel of Jesus Christ in our lives. We hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and have rejoiced in your blessings as we have in ours. We are grateful for the love and support of our family and friends. We love and miss each of you, especially the children.
