Last Closure - First Week

The temple was closed for maintenance from January 12 to January 26, 2015 so we took the opportunity during the last temple shutdown of our mission to visit a few places we have not been in the Philippines but there are still so many we will not see.  The first week, along with four other senior couples, we flew to Palawan Island considered one of the most scenic islands in the Philippines and in the world.  It was very beautiful and very clean and way less populated than Cebu.  We stayed in the city of Puerto Princesa at One Manolo Place, a very nice motel, and were within walking distance of several restaurants and a short tricycle ride to downtown.

The first day we were given a guided tour of Puerto Princesa which included the Crocodile Farm, Bakers Hill, a Hill Top Mansion, a War Memorial and of course souvenir shops for the sisters.  The second day we took a boat ride to Dos Palmas Island which is a resort area with only the staff of the resort actually living on the island.  We were able to do some snorkeling and saw fish we have not seen before.  We went kayaking by some mangroves and had fish coming out of the water by our kayaks and skipping across the water to get away from us.  One of the staff took time to demonstrate how to make a hat out of coconut palm leaves and also made animals.  Amazing what they can do with the materials available to them.  The third day was spent just enjoying Puerto Princesa because our tour of the Underground River was cancelled because the ocean was to rough for the small boats we needed to take to get there.  Our last day we got up early and were able to make it to the Underground River, which is one of the main things we wanted to see in Palawan.  The Under Ground River was newly named the 7th natural wonder of the world. It was a wonderful trip to Palawan and we appreciate being able to see the beauties of the Philippines, especially since neither one of us had been out of the United States before.

Inside the Airport at Puerto Princesa as we arrived in Palawan.  Not very many people in this small airport.

Sister Decker and Sister Sorensen receiving a shell necklace as they exited the airport and were met by our hostess who arranged our tours while we were in Palawan.  She is a member of the church and has made the arrangements for many senior missionaries as well as some general authorities.

The conservation center is also called "The Crocodile Farm" because they breed and raise both salt water and fresh water crocodiles here.  The Philippine Fresh Water Crocodile is critically endangered so they are trying preserve them as well as manage the salt water crocodiles.  Funds are raised by selling crocodile products such as leather and meat.

Some young crocodiles being raised at the farm.  There was a warning sign telling us to not put your hands over the cages because these young crocs can jump and will bite.

This was Lolong the largest crocodile every captured in the Philippines at 20.24 feet long.  He was captured in September 2011 and at the time was the largest crocodile in captivity in the world.  Our guide told us that before we go swimming in any rivers we should find out if there are crocodiles.  We didn't go swimming.

This is at the War Memorial in Puerto Princesa. Visiting here reminded us of the cost in lives for freedom.  When the Japanese knew they were going to lose this area they put all of their American prisoners in a tunnel and then poured gasoline down the tunnel and ignited it killing 143 men.  We saw the blackened entrance to the tunnel as we entered the memorial.  There were some survivors as indicated on this plaque.  It struck close to home when we saw that two of the survivors were from Utah.

This statue was created as a symbol to remind us of POWs.  We were all touched by being at this memorial.

This is on the boat as we traveled to the island of Dos Palmas.  This woman and two men were sitting behind us and in visiting we found out they are from Russia.  We met people from different places around the world on our trip and Sister Sorensen took the opportunity to hand out pass along cards every day.

The pier at Dos Palmas. Notice how clear the water is.  Looks like a quiet tropical island paradise, oh yea, it was.

Mangroves where we did some kayaking. Not only did we have fish skimming across the water to get away from us but there were many large white herons that flew out of the trees as we approached.  Didn't dare have my camera in a kayak so no pictures of that.

We were treated to a native lunch just after arriving at Dos Palmas.  You could choose from Grilled Liempo, Palatok, Squid Teriyaki, Cassava Cake, Steamed Rice, Lato, Native Salad, and Trevally in Miso Soup.  We tried most everything and some was really good. This is a picture of Squid Teriyaki.  It was okay, especially for squid, and we can at least say we have both tasted squid, yes you eat the tentacles.

Sister Sorensen in her coconut palm hat.  It took less than thirty minutes for the Filipino to make this.

All of these items were made from coconut palms.  Top is the hat with a grasshopper by it.  Left is love birds inside a heart, then a running ostrich in the center followed by a flying bird with a fish at the bottom.  Amazing what they can do and in such a short amount of time.

We made it to the Underground River our last day on Palawan.  We had to travel 80 kilometers from Puerto Princesa to get here but it was worth the trip and was one of the reason we originally wanted to come to Palawan.

One of the local residents looking for lunch.

This is the entrance to the underground river.  Our guide paddled all ten of us for our tour. 

Inside the cave you can see how much room there is.  St. Pauls Underground River Cave is more than 24 km (15 mi) long and contains an 8.2 km (5.1 mi) long underground section of the Cabayugan River. The river winds through the cave before flowing directly into the West Philippine Sea and is navigable by boat up to 4.3 km (2.7 mi) in from the sea so we only went in part way and then came back out.. The cave includes major formations of stalactites and stalagmites, and several large chambers, including the 360-meter-long Italian's Chamber with approximate 2.5 million square meters volume. It is one of the largest cave rooms in the world.

There is no lighting inside the cave so it was very dark but one person in front of the boat held a light attached to a car battery.  As we first entered the cave we could hear high pitched noise and were told it was from swallows that live in the cave.  I happened to take a picture and later noticed a swallow in it, notice the top left of the picture.  

This picture is looking straight up at the roof of the cave.  The dark spots are a few of the many bats that were hanging on the rocks.  Our guide cautioned us not to look up with your mouth open. 

Many formations were given names and some with religious themes.  This was a wise man kneeling at Christs birth.

This formation was said to depict the face of Christ.

Exiting the Underground River cave.

No temple missionaries were lost while in the underground river cave.  Starting at the front of the boat are: Johnsons, Sorensens, Deckers, Baileys, and Henthorns.

Second Christmas

The holidays have come and gone and we hope that all of you were able to create memories with your families.  This was our second and last Christmas in the Philippines and it was memorable.  We enjoyed attending several of the ward Christmas Parties and since this year we knew many of the members in each ward it was special to us to realize the many close associations we have developed in the past year with many of the sweet Filipino people.  We also had the opportunity to spend an evening with President and Sister McCurdy, Cebu Philippines Mission President and wife, who invited senior missionaries, temple missionaries and the temple presidency to the mission presidents home for a pot luck dinner the Monday before Christmas.  We appreciate them and the association we are able to have with the young Elders and Sisters.

This year our gifts to each other were giving and helping others making it a wonderful Christmas for us.  Along with the other temple missionaries, spaghetti dinners were given to the security and grounds people on the temple complex.  On Christmas Eve we went out to the road in front of the temple and along with President and Sister McCurdy, and some of the young missionaries, sang Christmas Carols and handed out fruit, snacks and rice to people who passed by or stopped. Christmas morning we helped load bags of rice, food bags and cloth for bed sheets and then took it to the "Home for the Destitute and Dying" a Catholic run care center which relies totally on donations to operate.  While there we mingled with some of the residents and sang Christmas Carols to them.
In the afternoon we feed about thirty of the young missionaries.  They were very grateful for having a meal provided for them on Christmas.  The day after Christmas the church was involved with other churches to help provide clothing for some of the people who have no homes and live on the streets.  The Temple Missionaries helped by obtaining clothing, putting it in bags and boxing it up then helping deliver it.  Giving truly made this Christmas memorable.

New Years is very big in the Philippines and can get a little wild.  As a safety precaution the young missionaries needed to be in their apartments by 6:00 pm and were to stay there the rest of the night. All of the temple missionaries stayed in also.   We had a progressive dinner in the patron house and then played some games.  Most made it until midnight and those who didn't couldn't sleep anyway as soon as the fireworks started going off.  The fireworks started about 10:00 pm with individuals setting their own off and then when midnight came everything broke loose.  There were numerous commercial fireworks displays all going off at the same time around the city and they were every direction from the temple complex.  We went out on a balcony and could see six or seven displays at the same time and we were only looking South.  The noise level definitely increased also.  You would have to experience it to really know what it was like.  Everyone made it through safe and we have started 2015 and are looking forward to the new experiences waiting for us as we continue to serve on our mission in the Philippines.  We hope all of you are very blessed in the coming year.

Our Christmas Tree in our apartment.

Our Three Wise Men display.

Our hand carved nativity sets.

Santa stopped by at the Patron House to hand out goodies to some of the youth from Bago who came to perform baptisms at the temple.

Santa also made a stop to greet our Filipino children at the Prestigio, (Santa looks a little like Elder Henthorn)

Enjoying the evening with President and Sister McCurdy at the Mission Presidents Home.  President and Sister McCurdy are on the right of the picture by the corner of the table.

Caroling in front of the temple.

Sister Sorensen handing out fruit and treats while we were caroling.

Christmas morning and Elder Sorensen is "trucking" a bag of rice to be taken to the Home for the Destitute and Dying.  Elder Henthorn is behind Elder Sorensen and Brother Perez, Area Church Welfare Manager, is on the right.

Some of the missionaries singing Christmas Carols to the residents of the Destitute and Dying.

Elder Henthorn greets a resident while Elder McDonald behind them is greeting another resident.

Enjoying Christmas dinner with the young Elders and Sisters.  They are wonderful and have so much enthusiasm for the work.

A few fireworks could be seen behind the temple on New Years Eve.

Preparing for a Typhoon

I'm sure all of you are aware that the Philippines was hit by Typhoon Hagupit (named Ruby in the Philippines) making landfall in Samar on December 6, 2014.  Cebu was in the potential storm path so residents here were put on high alert along with much of the Philippines.  On November 8, 2013, one week before we arrived in the Philippines last year, Typhoon Hiayan (Yolanda), hit Tacloban and other areas causing over 7,000 deaths and destruction that some areas still have not recovered from.  Yolanda was one of the strongest typhoons ever recorded that made landfall so everyone still had the memory of how destructive that storm was so were very concerned about being in the path of Hagupit.  The government took a very preventative outlook with this Typhoon and residents in potential threatened areas were placed under forced evacuations instead of just given warnings.

As always the church was very involved in helping members and non members before and after the storm. In Cebu schools were closed as the typhoon got closer and residents in high hazard areas were instructed to head for safer areas.  The edge of the typhoon was forecast to hit Cebu on Saturday evening December 6, 2014 so the temple was only open for two sessions in the morning and ordinance workers who lived very far from the temple were told to not come in.  Two baptism groups were in patron housing earlier in the week and the boats that they were to return home on were cancelled so they were stranded at the temple complex.  The two temple sessions held were mainly members in these groups.  The one group was from the Tacloban area which received the major damage from Yolanda last year so they were very concerned about family who were home.

The church was opened up to members who felt unsafe in their homes to come and stay till the typhoon was past and some members came as early as Thursday.  Getting ready for the storm included putting together food bags to be sent to those in need after the storm.  The Cebu Stake Center became a flurry of activity on Friday afternoon putting together over 3,000 meals in just a few hours.  We had the chance to help so have included pictures of the preparations.  On Sunday Dec 7, 2014 regular church meetings were cancelled, the young missionaries were told to stay in their apartments and only a sacrament meeting was held at the stake center, mainly for those who were stranded here and the temple missionaries.  It was fast Sunday and we had a wonderful testimony meeting hearing from some who had gone through Yolanda last year and had family in the path of Hagupit now.  After Sacrament Meeting the men loaded a truck with the bags of meals ready to be shipped where needed. The meals that were prepared were sent to Samar which was hit the hardest by Hagupit. The Typhoon moved North of Cebu so we received not much more wind or rain than a typical storm and felt blessed with being safe and also being able to provide food for those who were not so fortunate.

This information is from the Church News:

All missionaries and members are safe after Typhooon Ruby (Hagupit) struck the Philippines Dec. 6.
The Red Cross reported 25 deaths and nearly 500 injuries as a result of the storm, which destroyed 16,500 houses and damaged another 33,100 in northern Visayas and Luzon.

A million people — including the Church’s missionaries — were evacuated from the areas. Most missionaries have returned to their assigned areas, according to a Church welfare report.
During the storm, 78 Church facilities were used as evacuation centers, shelter more than 10,000 members and others.

A church class room becomes the place where bags of rice are put to begin the process of putting meals together.  A great lesson in serving is being taught by hands on experience.

Rice is put into meal size bags.

The meal size rice bags are then taken into the cultural hall to be added to bags with other items.  This little girl was helping and could not lift the rice bags so she would slide the chair from the class room to the cultural hall.

In the cultural hall two lines of tables were set up to expedite the process.

These girls are separating bags from the church that will hold the meals.

Cans of Corned Beef to put in the bags.

You are never to young to give service.

A completed meal bag containing rice, noodles, canned sardines and corned beef.

After the meals are put together the bags are tied so the ingredients don't fall out.  Here Sister Henthorn, Sister Sorensen and Bishop Manesses of the Kamputaw Ward tie the bags then put them on the stage where you can see men putting the meals in large sacks.

After each sack is filled with bags of meals they are then sewn closed.

Each sack is marked with a 9 or a 6 indicating how many individual meals are in the sack.

Elder Sorensen stacking a sack after it has been sewn closed.

One room showing part of the 3,000 meals that were put together.

One of the families that came to the church to be safe.

A group of children who stayed in the church during the Typhoon warning.