August 2013

The month of August began with the transfer of current missionaries to their new areas and also the assignment of the new missionaries that arrived on July 31st to their first area of labor. 

We thought you would enjoy the next few photo's of what the area that we live in looked like a few years ago, and what the neighborhood looked like before the area was developed, which now includes 6 houses and 1 small business that caters to the police at the nearby police academy.

The town of Aringay with the river on the South side of town running into the South China Sea, which you can see in the distance.  This photo was taken from the home we live in which was the first home built in our neighborhood.

This photo was taken looking from the edge of the property on the North side looking toward the South.  The house on the right is the one we are living in.

This photo is of the home we live in and was taken from the hill on the East side of the property.  There are now 3 homes and 1 small business on the same side of the road as our home.  Across from our home is 2 houses and one under construction and 1 Nepa.

The home we live in.  Notice the Nepa's on the right and left side of the driveway.  The one on the right side of the drive way has been replaced with a home.

Elder Fullmer and two Zone Leaders delivering some furniture to the Caba sisters apartment.  This was a rare occasion as Elder Dinkel is the apartment manager and does all of the move In's for the missionaries.  The Caba sister's lived close to us so we delivered to them this one time.

The Elders get to carry the heavy stuff.

This is one of the old style beds that Elder Fullmer is securing for the drive to the mission storage.

Putting together one of the new style of wood bunk beds in the Caba Sister's apartment.

We could have used the electric drill but did not have a cord long enough to reach the power source,

Garbage collection in the town of Agoo.

Corn drying in the basketball court below our house.  This photo and the next one were taken a month or two ago.

Corn drying along the side of the road.

This photo and the following three shows the process of planting rice.  In this photo the field is flooded then it is plowed with this piece of equipment.

Another photo of the field being prepared for the rice planting.

The rice seedlings are being planted.

This is a planted field of rice.  First they make a row of seedlings, then they plant a big square, then fill in the square with little seedlings.  All the work is manual labor and is back breaking work. 

The little guy playing basket ball is the son of one of our neighbor's.  It seems everyone in the Philippines plays basketball and this boy is no exception.

 

The boy wondered what we were doing when we tried to get a picture of him shooting the ball.  Finally his father talked him into taking a shot. 

A typical traffic day in Agoo.

The first rainbow we have seen in the Philippines. 

Everyone seems to mention that they love the photo' of the sunsets, so we will try to include a few on each blog.

The sunsets here are gorgeous.

Every sunset is a thing of beauty.

 

 So much beauty makes you realize the Lord had his hand in all this.

Sheep in the area where we live, drive, and work are not a common sight to see, so we took this photo.

This photo and the next few photo's are of the market in Aringay where we buy our fresh fruits and vegetables

There are many varieties of banana's here in the Philippines and we have tried most of them.  The apples are much more juicy and tasty than what you buy in the U.S.

We prefer to buy our meats in the grocery stores.  The locals do not have the luxury of being able to get to the grocery stores which are many kilometers from Aringay.

A lot of chicken and pork is eaten in the Philippines.

The staple of the diet here seems to be fish.

There are also many varieties of fish sold in the market and most are caught in the local area.

A rain shower during the typhoon of August 11th and 12th.

Journal entry being made by candle light when the power failed during the typhoon.

We thought it was unique that a tanker truck would be hauling coconut oil.

 

 This family was baptized last year.  The little girl in the wheel chair (donated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) has the prettiest smile.  It was raining when this photo was taken so it was hard to get a smile out of anyone.  During sacrament meeting she was near us and would look back at us and give us a great big smile.

 

Our neighbor repairing his roof at the start of the rains brought on by the typhoon.  Notice the bare feet.

The Filipino's are very clean and they are always sweeping or cleaning.  This gentlemen is cleaning the street in front of our home.

Each morning as we go to the mission office we see this dog perched on the tryke watching the traffic.

We are always amazed that the Filipino people seem to have no fear for their safety and they ride on top of all types of vehicles.

This stand is selling dragon fruit and vinegar made from the dragon fruit.  We purchased some of the fruit and it is quite good but not as sweet as we anticipated it would be.  The fruit is full of anti-oxidants and other things good for your health.

This is what the fruit looks like when peeled and cut up.  The seeds are soft and edible and more like a strawberry seed.  Sister Dinkel made some delicious jam from this fruit and brought us a jar of it.  It makes very pretty and tasty jam.

We close the month of August content in our service to the Lord.  The sun never sets on the missionary work and we are glad to be a part of that work.  We are excited and are getting prepared for another 29 missionaries that will arrive on the 11th of September.


 

July 2013

 

 The new Baguio Mission was created on July 1, 2013 from the old Baguio mission, the Olongapo mission and the Laoag mission.  The new mission president is President Anthony John Balledos.  We are now assigned as the office couple and will still live in Aringay which is a one hour drive to the new mission office.

 

 

 This is a side view of the new mission office where we will be working.  The photo was taken from the parking lot of the Lingsat chapel which is on the same property as the new mission office and the new mission home when the home is completed.

 

 This photo was taken in from of the new mission home.

A close up of the new mission home and the Baguio mission sign.

 

This is President and Sister Balledos and their family.  They have five children, one of which is married, one daughter has received her mission call to the Salt Lake temple Visitors Center and the son received his call to serve in the South Salt Lake Mission.  They both leave in November for the Mission Training Center (MTC).  The younger son and daughter will live with their parents in the mission home.

From our initial meeting with President and Sister Balledos we have been impressed with his leadership and spirituality..

This banner was hung on the front of the mission office to welcome the first group of missionaries to be assigned to the new Baguio Mission.

Those missionaries who have completed their mission leave for home on Tuesday.  Arriving missionaries come in on Wednesday, stay near the mission office on Wednesday and Thursday nights and leave on Friday for their new mission assignment.  Luggage is a big task as it has to be moved from where the bus lets the missionaries off to the mission office, then to the house where the new missionaries will stay for two nights, then back to the mission office on Friday so the missionaries can be prepared to catch their bus, jeepney, or tryke to their newly assigned area to serve.

The baggage is about to be loaded onto the pickup to be taken to the house where the missionaries will stay.  The mission has one house for the Sisters and one house for the Elders.

This group photo of incoming missionaries was taken just before the missionaries left to go to the mission home for dinner.  It is so fun to be around them and to feel their excitement of wanting to serve the Lord.

These awesome Elders are our office elders and assistants to the president (AP).  From left to right is Elder Spiers, Elder Comer, The AP's are Elder Matthews and Elder Olson.  The office are a great help to Sister Fullmer.

 These are the Dinkels.  They served with us in the old Baguio Mission and were assigned to the new Baguio Mission and they have been a big asset to the mission.

 

 

This photo and the next two photo's were taken by the Engels.  The chairs are on a tryke and the Engels said each time the tryke made a move the chairs would sway to one side or the other. 

 

 

 It is amazing how they transport things here in the Philippines.

 

 

Hopefully they are close to their destination.
 

Elder Fullmer had a severe nose bleed which ended up being a polyp that burst and he lost a lot of blood before getting to the hospital.  The doctor took him into the Operating Room and cauterized the bleeding and he was discharged the next day.  It was a scary night for us but the mission president, President Balledos, took good care of us.

 

 

 Just before discharge from the hospital.

 

 

 One of our last families we got to visit before beginning work in the mission office.  We enjoyed these visits with the members and will miss being able to visit with the members and less active members.

 

 

 These Sari-Sari stores are abundant and have a variety of items to sell.  Sari-Sari means a variety of items.

 

 

 Another great sunset.  We see a lot of them especially at this time of the year.

 

 

 The kitchen for one of the families we visited.

 

 

 This is typical of families on the roads.

 

 

 This is the Naguilian Eagle.  It is quite a sight.

 

 

 Sister's Gina and Fullmer cleaning their shoes and feet after walking through a muddy area to visit one of the families.

 

 

 This is typical of how people get their water when they do not have water in their homes.

 

 

 Whether sunny or raining the umbrella is used to protect you from the rain or the heat of the sun.

 

 

 These children were with the family we visited.

 

 

 The children always enjoy getting candy from Elder Fullmer

 

Can't resist putting in these beautiful evening sunsets. 

 

 

 The sky sometimes appears to be on fire.

 

 An armored vehicle at the mall.

Elder and Sister Fullmer love these Mango shakes from KFC.

This is some type of unusual fruit growing in our front yard.

Hope you enjoy the sunsets.

We love to see the  evening sky on fire with the sunsets.

These sisters live by us and we know with transfers we could lose one or more.  We have enjoyed having dinner with them but there is no time for that now that we have such long days driving to and from the office and working in the office.  Sometimes there are tears shed when we know some of the sisters who live by us will be transferred to new areas.

Elder and Sister Engels of Arizona were the office couple in Urdaneta, at the Baguio mission office and they came to the new Baguio Mission office a few times to train Elder and Sister Fullmer.  We learned a lot and we will miss them a lot as they left for home on July 22nd after completing their mission.

 This sister is a very energetic, bubbly and hard working sister we.  She came to the mission office this month to be trained as a Trainer. 

We have 104 missionaries in our mission.  29 will arrived on July 31st and 2 went home on July 30th.  Our mission is really growing and will continue to do so.  We enjoyed meeting all of our new and wonderful missionaries.  As of April 4 the church will have 65,634 full-time missionaries serving, with over 20,000 more who have not yet entered a missionary training center and over 6,000 more in the interview process with their bishops and stake presidents.  The Lord's work is moving forward and we are glad to be a part of it.  We know the gospel is true and we bear testimony of this.

On July 29th we celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary.  Who would have thought that we would be in the Philippines to mark this milestone in our lives together.