Visit to Aloguinsan Branch

Elders Solomon and Antonio with Primary children in Aloguinsan

Sunday, November 06, 2005

We had another wonderful Sabbath. We got up just after 4:30 A.M. and left for Aloguinsan just before 6 A.M. We had a lovely, safe drive and met Elders Solomon and Antonio at the Pinamungahan Building as planned. We arrived there about 8 and were supposed to meet them at 8:30, but they arrived with Elders Harrison and Pascua soon after we did. We visited and helped set up the building for their classes and visited with the Branch President before leaving for Aloguinsan – a few kilometers down the road. Elders Solomon and Antonio were our guides.

The meeting house in Aloguinsan was the worst we have seen here. We took several telling photos to show the President. In spite of the atmosphere, we had a very good time. I helped in Primary with music and drawing activities. Bob gave his standard Sunday School lesson. 56 people attended Sacrament meeting – some were out on the porch looking in. The Branch was very friendly and the elders said they are helping the missionaries and are doing well. It was Fast and Testimony meeting and I was able to understand some of what was being said and shared my testimony in Visayan.
On the way home, the elders showed us a new building they would like to rent for the Church to use. It looks fine from the outside, but was locked so we couldn’t go in. We also stopped to take a picture of the local elementary school for a possible humanitarian project. We dropped the elders off in Pinamungahan near their apartment with a bag of oatmeal cookies I had made for them. Little things like that seem to mean so much to these missionaries.
We then went on to Toledo. We stopped in to visit Toledo 2 Ward and I attended the last hour of their Primary. I talked to the Primary president – Glenda Tijap – about a possible humanitarian project at the elementary school where she teaches – in the mountains out of Balamban. There is a lot of paper work involved in these projects. I hope I can herd it through the required channels in a timely fashion.
We arrived home, tired again, but very happy