Year's End

Elder Little, Bob, Elder Thomas



Bob, Gloria and Elder Pittard with Banner made by Del Mar Ward Youth

Monday, December 26, 2005

I got up early to try and call home; it was Christmas afternoon there. But, several elders were already on the phone and some stayed on for hours. I went for a nice walk – no traffic as today is a holiday. It was very cool, for here, and very pleasant. Things were slow in the office with a few elders coming in and out; others on the phone as their parents called, as arranged previously. I did a little work finishing up entering two new missionaries’ information in the three data bases. They will come in February.

Sisters Balita and Castillo came in early. It was their P-day and Sister Castillo had an interview with the President. They are doing a little better, but didn’t really know what to do with themselves for P-day so they hung around the office. We took them over to McDonald’s for lunch – except they had already eaten so they just had ice cream. We visited, talked about our “Poor Man’s Tour” and encouraged them to get around the city a bit more and see some of the things that are here. Sister Balita goes home in March and has seen very little of the cultural sites.here. We then took them to the Kodak store so Sister Castillo could unload the 80 pictures on her disc and get a few developed. Then we all went back to the office and Bob and I went to work – him on preparing the bank papers and forms for the five new elders that arrive on Saturday, and me to handling the stack of papers the President put on my desk when he arrived. However, I didn’t get much done, because – hurrah, hurrah! – mail arrived from home. Many Christmas cards had pictures as well as letters and I had a feast! This was Christmas for me. Wonderful photos of Lisa and Chris and their family, Karl and Carmen and the children, Matt and Dana and their crew, David and Tresa and gang, and Ben and Bryn and the girls were there along with some photos and letters from friends. What a treat.

We worked until about 6:30 and then I went up to make spaghetti while Bob finished up his project. The Assistants called about an 7:30 and needed passport copies for Elders Crespo and Tanner in preparation for them getting their Drivers’ licenses tomorrow. A few weeks ago I had asked the President if it would be possible to draw up a list of potential ‘leaders’ among the elders and I would send to Manila for their passport copies so that we would be prepared when we needed them. It worked! Then the Assistants wanted to know if I could put a couple of packages of popcorn in the microwave for them. One of them had received it in their Christmas box, but oil has oozed out – butter flavored of course – and they were very messy…but we did it and, hopefully, they enjoyed it.

Tuesday, December 27, 2005

Much work in the office today. I did a lot of tying up of loose ends and visiting with missionaries from City Zone who were in the office for their interviews with the President. We received a package from the Youth and Primary of Del Mar Ward. The YW and YM had painted a big banner with Christmas greetings, lots of artwork, and cute sayings. Elders Thomas and Norton helped me hang it high on the cabinets between my desk and the reception area. It looked great and everyone seemed to enjoy looking at it. They had included pictures of them making it along with Christmas cards and a package of Christmas cards from the Primary. We had fun reading them and showing them to the missionaries in the office.

Wednesday, December 28, 2005

The year is rushing to an end. I have been trying to call each of the children and so far have Ben, Chris and Norman to go. It is such a joy to hear their voices and talk to them. We are so blessed.

This morning began with a surprise. The new car from Manila arrived and the driver wanted to take back one of the old cars. We had been told he was coming in January, and both cars were out being used. The Assistants had one in the City somewhere; they had gone on exchanges with some elders and I was able to contact them and arrange for them to bring it back at lunch time. Elder Farnsworth –the 3^rd Assistant for a few weeks until he goes home in early January to meet a school deadline- had the other car down in CarCar – about 1 ½ hours south where he was working with an elder for a few days. We finally were able to make arrangements for the driver to take one car from here down and trade with Elder Farnsworth and then continue on to Manila from there. He was planning to take the road across the hills from CarCar to Aloguinsan then up the coast to Toledo. He would take a ferry over to Negros, drive across that island to Bacolod, then take a ferry to Iloilo Island and drive and ferry all the way back to Manila – sounds kind of tough, but very interesting to me.

I met with Sister Anderson and helped plan the District Auxiliary Training for this next year. She has so much to do and I don’t have enough, so hopefully, I can do some of this for her.

In the afternoon, Bob and I went to the mall to get groceries and then stopped by to pick up eggs at the egg lady’s house. Earlier, at the end of my morning walk, I bought vegetables and fruit from the local street market; we are all set for the week end.

Thursday, December 29, 2005

Sisters Castillo and Balita were back in the office – third time this week – Sister Castillo is still struggling and Sister Balita is at a loss as to how to help her. They came in to do their Community Service – pack all the vitamins for the month for Sister Anderson. She came in to help them and we all visited as they did the project right next to my desk. While they were doing it, an family came in to visit from Hawaii. Their son is coming here on his mission in March and they wanted to see what it was like so they came for their Christmas vacation. I had a nice visit with them, and we look forward to Elder Domingo’s arrival after the MTC in Provo.

Sister Anderson left and went home to work and Sisters Castillo and Balita helped Bob file and organize the rent payment receipts. He is beginning to get a bit more organized and confident – except for the reports. He still isn’t sure what they want or how to get it.

Friday, December 30, 2005

Again some how there was work all day long. Several people stopped in the office to visit. Sister Platt, who is here in Cebu with her husband who is setting up a drafting company, came by. They have been called as Church Service Missionaries to help in the ERC. She also plays the piano in the ward Primary and had come to go on a Primary field trip to Crocolandia to see the crocodiles. I ask the elders if it was worth it – I could petition to go too – they said, “No.”

I am really enjoying the elders who are in the office right now. The two Assistants – Elders Pittard and Tanner are friendly and Elders Crespo and Lowry are great – willing to do whatever is needed and very capable.

Elder Tanner took a picture of Bob and me and Elder Pittard and the banner the Youth made so I could send them a Thank You Card. Then I took all the Christmas decorations down. The office looked bare – I’ll get some flowers and, maybe, a plant tomorrow when I walk to brighten things up a bit.

A Filipino sister married to an Australian member came in also. It was fun to learn a little about them. She is the older sister of Nats – our wonderful office cleaner and ward YM president. There are 10 children in the family; the father is deceased. Nats is the only active brother, but all the girls are active – there are 5 boys and 5 girls. Nats wants to go to college and become an accountant, but it is very hard to save the money when so many people at home need food, clothing, etc.

Saturday, December 31, 2005

I went for a walk and bought flowers for the office. I arranged them and then fiddled around the house – washed the sheets and towels and changed the bed, painted my toe nails – important stuff like that. About 11 we were dressed and down in the office as new missionaries were coming from the U.S. Their plane was late so we had to hurry through the orientation process, but because there were only 5 it was very easy to work one-on-one and get all the forms and papers we need in the office. Then Sister Anderson took their pictures and gave them a brief health orientation, President interviewed each one and then assigned them to their areas and sent them off. That took until about 4 in the afternoon. We enjoyed visiting with the new elders and with some of our favorites – like Elder Little – who had come to pick up their new companions.

We were hungry – missed lunch in the process. I made an early dinner; Bob worked on his lessons for tomorrow and I went to bed very early. Happy New Year.