The end is getting closer. We actually have two weeks remaining. We were scheduled to attend the Calape District Youth Conference on the 6th but we got notification that it has been postponed until May 7th. That leaves us with very little Self-Reliance work to do so as it now stands, we will conclude our time here in Cebu serving in the temple three days each week.
Our self-reliance responsibilities have been turned over to Sister Hargraves so as I said we will have little involvement going forward. .
Sunday was a regular fast Sunday here in the Philippines even thought it is General Conference weekend in Utah. Conference is not broadcasted here the same day but will be rebroadcasted next weekend. So with it being fast Sunday we were asked to bare our testimonies as our farewell Sunday.
Monday there was a pot luck party planned by the temple sisters at the temple complex stake center. It turned out to be a farewell for the Rasmussen's and the Uzelac's. Unfortunately the Rasmussen's who have been a stick in the mud about any Filipino farewell activities changed their flights so they could leave at 1:00 AM Monday morning so nobody would know and they would not have to attend the farewell party.
I spoke with Brother Rasmussen the other day at the temple when he was complaining about any farewells activities and mentioned to him that it is just a nice gesture to let the local members do their Filipino cultural thing regardless of how he might feel, but he was adamant about not having any farewell activities for he or his wife. SAD! Well we just joined in and made them feel appreciated for reaching out to us the "Part Time" temple missionaries.
In attendance was the Temple Presidency, the Mission President and Office Staff and the Temple Missionaries and Temple Ordinance workers.
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| Temple Pres & Counselor |
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| Mission Pres, Staff & FH Missionaries |
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| Temple Missionaries |
Filipino people love to eat at every occasion so the pot luck was provided.
The second thing Filipino people like is their music and entertaining. They announced that there was going to be a floor show consisting of dancing. Well, we looked around to see who was going to dance when the announced that Jenee and I were the featured dancers for the program and the music began.
After Jenee and I wore ourselves out doing the Cha Cha President Daclan, President Belleza and their wives along with other couples join with us on the dance floor.
After we were all exhausted, to the crowds delight, the Sister ordinance worker presented a Spanish dance.
The concluding number as always was Brother Nunez one of the Temple Sealers and our Stake Patriarch. He has a beautiful voice and it is a joy to have him entertain at all the functions.
All inall it was a wonderful send off. Jenee and I were given the opportunity to bear our testimonies and to express our deepest gratitude for having been given the opportunity to serve in the Cebu Temple and to become part of the temple family. Truly this has been a blessing for us to serve in the Cebu Philippines Temple.
Before I close out this event I want to introduce to you my dearest little temple work friend. This is Brother Engis the most humble and sweetest man I have had the pleasure of getting to know. He is so willing to serve anywhere he is assigned in the temple and does it with such love and devotion. He is about 5 foot something and when we are in the Initiatory he loves to be act as a patron. He runs to shield closet and grabs a X Large then looks at everybody and laughs.
We have become very close friends during our serving in the temple and I will be so ever grateful for knowing him and having had the pleasure, No HONOR to have served along his side. He has been an inspiration to me that is for sure.
The entire Temple Presidency has been a pleasure to serve with. Not a one of them is pretentious about their callings, always open to suggestions and willing to learn. They have on occasions asked for my advice which I was humble to provide. The Temple Recorder and Assistant Recorder are also two wonderful men whom I really enjoyed getting to know and work with.
All in All the Cebu Temple experience has been the crowning moment for me during our service in Cebu Philippines.
Monday the 4th President McCurdy invited Jenee and I to the Zone Leaders Training meeting on Tuesday to share our testimonies and to say something about missionary work and how much we enjoy serving. We arrived at 1 PM Tuesday as requested and after following Elder & Sister Gray the Family History Missionaries, we took a few moments to express our deepest love for the Lord, the church and for missionary work.
As always we love being in the midst of the young full time missionaries when ever we can get the opportunity.
FARWELLS. For the past three days everybody has wanted to say farewell and show their appreciation for our service here in Cebu. We are overwhelmed with their love and gratitude as we really did not think we had made that kind of impression on the people here in the Philippines.
Here are some of the pictures showing the various farewell events.
The Mission President and Sr.
Missionaries
People from the Stake
The SR Team and Ward Members
One last item on Jenee's bucket list is to ride a jeepney. Monday we went to dinner and then caught the jeepney home.
This is the end of our stay in Cebu. Elder Nelson is picking us up at 10AM to take us to the airport to fly to Manila. We will spend 5 days visiting some of the war memorials, attending the temple and visiting with old friends from South Africa Elder & Sister Webb before leaving for home on April 18th.
CORREGIDOR ISLAND
Corregidor is a small rocky island in the Philippines about 48 kilometers west of Manila which is stragetically located at the entrance of Manila Bay. This island fortress stands as a memorial for the courage, valor, and heroism of its Filipino and American defenders who bravely held their ground against the overwhelming number of invading Japanese forces during World War II.
Also known as "the Rock," it was a key bastion of the Allies during the war. When the Japanese invaded the Philippines in December 1941, the military force under the command of Gen. Douglas MacArthur carried out a delaying action at Bataan. Corregidor became the headquarters of the Allied forces and also the seat of the Philippine Commonwealth government. It was from Corregidor that Philippine President Manuel Quezon and General MacArthur left for Australia in February 1942, leaving behind Lt. Gen. Jonathan M. Wainwright in command.
The Philippine and American forces held out for 27 days against great odds only to surrender on May 6, 1942, to Lt. Gen. Homma Masaharu of the Japanese Imperial Army. It was only two years and ten months later in March 1945 when the Allied forces under the command of General MacArthur recaptured Corregidor ... making good his promise to return to the Philippines.
The big guns of Corregidor are now silent and the ruins of buildings, structures, and tunnels in the island tell a very moving story of a war that has claimed so many lives. In his speech delivered at the signing of the surrender of Japan aboard the U.S.S. Missouri at Tokyo Bay on September 2, 1945, General Douglas MacArthur said, "It is my earnest hope and indeed the hope of all mankind that a better world shall emerge out of the blood and carnage of the past - a world founded upon faith and understanding, a world dedicated to the dignity of man and the fulfillment of his most cherished wish for freedom, tolerance and justice."
The Malinta Tunnel is a tunnel complex built by the United States Army Corps of Engineers on the island of Corregidor in the Philippines. It was initially used as a bomb-proof storage and personnel bunker, but was later equipped as a 1,000-bed hospital. The main tunnel, running east to west, is 831 feet long, 24 feet wide and 18 feet high. Branching off from this main shaft are 13 lateral tunnels on the north side and 11 lateral tunnels on the south side. Each lateral averaged 160 feet in length and 15 feet in width
At noon we took a break at the Corregidor Hotel for lunch before continuing on with the tour of the island.
With lunch over we visited the other areas of the island and saw the ruins and the spoils of war.
To conclude the visit of Corregidor we visited some of the war memorials on the island.
After a day at Corregidor we took Thursday to visit the American Memorial Cemetery.
The Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in the Philippines occupies 152 acres on a prominent plateau, visible at a distance from the east, south and west. It contains the largest number of graves of our military dead of World War II, a total of 17,202, most of whom lost their lives in operations in New Guinea and the Philippines. The headstones are aligned in 11 plots forming a generally circular pattern, set among masses of a wide variety of tropical trees and shrubbery.
We also visited other historical sights in Manila.
Tomorrow Friday we set out for the Manila Temple and later in the evening we will be attending "A Night of Philippine Culture, Dinner." The shuttle van will pick us up at 6:30PM for the show that starts at 7:30 PM.
The taxi to the temple took only 35 minutes as the traffic was rather accommodating. But returning home it took us about 1hour and 45 minutes. They are right, the Manila traffic can be horrendous when it wants to be. We were warned so we were prepared and have planned our activities accordingly.
Our tour guide turned out to be LDS so all the way to the restaurant (1 hour drive) he told us many interesting facts about the Philippine history. Jenee was writing away as fast as she could to get all he was departing to us.
Once we arrived we knew the food was going to be Filipino food so we made our selections lightly sticking with the items we were familiar with. No bad, had plenty to eat and then sat back and enjoyed the entertainment. One never knows what one is getting with making arrangements on the internet, but this adventure was not as bad as it could have been but not quite what we had expected. It was an adventure, which is what out little vacation is all about.
Saturday we thought we would sleep in but at 6:30 Am we were up and awake. We got showered and did come emailing before starting our day. We had decided that we needed to try to transition ourselves from the Filipino Culture back to the American Culture. We started with breakfast.
Jenee had a cheese omelet; I had hash browns and eggs; we both had bacon and orange juice - real American type orange juice.
We then got a taxi and headed out for the largest mall in Asia which is located near the Manila Wharf.
This mall has four levels and covers more land that I could imagine. Attached is a Olympic basket ball stadium and ice rink. Across the street from the mall are condos that stretch what seems for ever. We walked about the mall trying to see what we could but there were just to many sections to cover. We finally decided to take a rest and take in good movie so we got tickets to see "The Jungle Book" which occupied two hours.
After the movie we decided it was time for lunch and we wanted to again try to transition into American cuisine so we did.
Back home we loved going to Wendy's for a salad and today we found a Wendy's and YES we found our salads along with their chocolate frosty just like home.
After lunch we spend a little more time wondering about the mall and decided we needed to go to the grocery store and get some apples. We discovered the Hyper SM Market and grocery store that seemed to never end. It was packed with shoppers - no lack of money in Manila that is for sure. We got a couple of apples when Jenee noticed this stand with raw fish just setting out in the open so she had me take a picture just incase you would not believe our tales.
Well that concludes Saturday and we returned to our hotel just a little tired. The cab driver we got to take us back to the hotel was just a bit crazy driving like a stock car racer - in and out of cars missing them by inches and all over the road. But we got home save and sound.
Sunday we met up with Brother Webb to attend church at a ward especially for patriots. After church we stopped in at our of our favorite restaurants to have lunch before visiting the Philippine History Museum which was just around the corner from the chapel. We decided to call it a day and go home to get packed to leave early Monday morning.
Sister Webb had returned to Utah to be with her daughter who at the moment is having a baby so our visit has been with Elder Webb. Elder Webb is serving in the Welfare Department here in Manila and we had a little over an hour to visit in his office at the Area Office before going to the temple and we shared experiences and hear some of the same issues from Elder Webb that we have expressed concerning Self-Reliance. It seems like Welfare and Self-Reliance are trying to accomplish the same objectives but are doing it is completely different ways and directions. We discovered that Benson the Welfare Director for over 15 years was leaving as he took a S&I (CES) position up north. The new director is a local brother who is concluding his call as a Mission President here in Manila and will begin the first of June and according to Elder Webb has a new perspective and direction he hopes to move in to bring Self-Reliance and Welfare closer together in purpose and objectives.
Monday the 18th 6:00 AM we left for the air port to check in and start our long trip home from Manila to Hong Kong to Los Angeles to Salt Lake City. What more can be said other than - IT WAS A LONG DRAWN OUT TRIP!
We arrived in Salt Lake at 5:10 Pm Monday evening to be greeted by all our kids and grandkids except for the Watsons which was expected since they live in California. It was exciting to see how the grandkids have all grown up - WONDERFUL. We then went to Café Rio for dinner then home to settle down and visit for a few moments.
So the end comes to another church mission. As we look back we do so with fond memories of some wonderful members whom we served with both in the Self-Reliance Program as well as at the Cebu Temple. Friendships mean everything when serving in a foreign land and hopefully those friendships will remain forever. As to accomplishments, we do feel that we left Cebu and the Cebu East Missions Stakes/Districts & Wards/Branches that we served moving in a much more positive direction in Self-Reliance.
We concluded our service by making a mission report to the Self-Reliance/PEF Department on May 5th at the Church Office Building. After the report we offered our assistance if there was anything we might share with others and we were invited to assist two local Stakes who are just now introducing Self-Reliance to their members. We will just wait and respond when called upon.
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