Mother's Day in Cebu

Sisters Watterson, Sacopayo and Hamson with new members of the Church

Talisay Triplets - Ammon, Omner, and Omni


Visiting Teaching Transportation

Sunday, May 14, 2006

We had a lovely day – long and busy making it easier not to think so much of all the family at home. We first visited Pardo Ward where Sister Watterson and Sister Sacopayo are the missionaries. Their Bishop told us. “We have the best missionaries in the whole Church!” We took pictures of these two sisters and some recent converts.

During Sacrament meeting the Bishop had all the mothers and potential mothers sit in the middle near the front. I sat next to a sister with a seven-month-old baby named Spencer. She let me hold him for much of the meeting and I thought of our dear little babies at home – Mariah, Charlotte, Susan and Rebecca. He was very wiggly and chatty and adorable- just as a baby that age should be. The Primary children did a program of songs and short talks about mothers and then the Bishop spoke. Afterwards the Primary children took a gift – a little colorful cloth bag – to their mothers and delivered it with a kiss. Then they went back and got another bag and took it to another sister sitting in the middle. Mine was delivered by an 11 year old boy who delivered the kiss too! What a treat! I must admit I had tears, but mostly of gratitude for the wonderful children and their spice (that is the plural of spouse isn’t it?) and grandchildren. We are so blessed.

After visiting for awhile with the members, and being very impressed with the Bishop – Bishop Winston Lee – who goes out teaching with his wife and the missionaries every Friday night, we drove over to the Talisay Stake Center. We ate a snack in the car and then met with the Relief Society President, Elders’ Quorum President and about 15 members and planned our visiting and Home Teaching. I met three brothers – triplets named Ammon, Omni and Omner who had just returned from their missions to Davao, Manila, and Baguio – all in the Philippines. Seventeen children are in the family – two are on missions now – a sister and a brother. These three are right in the middle of the group. We took a picture of them – fine young men. One of them went Home Teaching with Bob.

At first they were going to have all six sisters go out together. I suggested we divide into three groups and go two-by-two as more sisters would get visited that way. I went with Virginia Alcantara – she has been in the Church about two years, speaks almost no English, and was scared to go with me. I was a little concerned too since my Visayan is so limited. But, off we went – the Relief Society President and her companion, a new convert went on the tricycle with us at first to show us the way. We rode about 3 kilometers on the tricylcle - it was motorcycle one – not pedaled and was a little scary at times – when we were passed by big trucks, for example, but is a pleasant way to travel.

We had a wonderful, wonderful experience. We visited two sisters – one was on her way out shopping with her children and only talked for a few minutes. She had two young teen-age daughters and I couldn’t help but think what a blessing the Church would be in the lives of these girls, but the mother was not interested and politely sent us on our way.

The next sister we visited was delighted to see us. She has just started coming back to Church after many years away. Her children are grown and gone from home – working abroad – and she is helping raise her brother’s children and is bringing them to Church. She and Sister Alcantara talked in Visayan and I could understand enough to know that she wanted to be part of the Church again and remembered the wonderful year when she was a teacher in Relief Society. The Spirit was very strong and I was able to share my testimony in Visayan before we left.

We took a Jeepney across town to meet other sisters at a Julie’s Bake Shop – a famous chain of bakeries here. I was to change companions there and, along with two new sisters, go visit one of the older, long-time members of the Church. One of the sisters was nearly an hour late in coming, but when she did arrive, she had her husband driving her in their pickup and he drove us to the house we were to visit. The three sisters – one had brought her teenage daughter – rode in the open back and made me ride in the cab. The husband/driver is a young policeman and was very interesting to talk to – same concerns as at home – drugs, gangs, domestic violence, robberies, etc. He has a college degree in criminal justice and hopes to end up in administration.

The sister we visited lived at the far side of a big field – no wonder she doesn’t get out much – it would have taken us 10 minutes just to walk across the field. Her house was very nice and her grown daughter was there visiting from Cebu for the day. I said the prayer in Visayan – very simple prayer – but they seemed to appreciate my effort and much of the lesson and conversation was in a mix of English and Visayan as all there spoke some English. It was a delight to meet this sister who had joined the Church in 1968 and spent over thirty years teaching and serving in the Church and raising her family in the Church. She is now mostly house-bound – bad arthritis in both knees and poor vision…but very cheerful and pleasant and a blessing to meet.

We met back at the Church and after a quick reunion with my first companion, Virginia – and a picture, Bob and I left and drove back to Cebu. We went to the Sikatuna building for a CES Fireside. There was some confusion about when it was supposed to start. The flyers said 6, but someone thought maybe 5. As it turned out, it didn’t start at all. They couldn’t get the broadcast system working and after waiting over an hour and visiting with the Grahams and several of the young people we know, we all were told to go home and that they would try again another time. I was amazed that they didn’t have a meeting and take advantage of the over 100 young adults who had come. Of course, they did enjoy talking with each other, but I think they would have benefited by hearing from the Grahams and others who were there.

We finally arrived home about 7:30 – tired and hungry and happy – it had been a very good day.

Happy Birthday/Mother's Day

Saturday, May 13, 2006



We cleaned, did laundry, worked in the office, and went for a ride with the Grahams to locate a chapel here in the city in the daylight. The CES Broadcast will be there tomorrow night. We opened a wonderful birthday/mother’s day box from Karl and Carmen – 2 tee shirts for me, candy, sun flower seeds for Bob and lemonade mix, temple stickers and a nylon body scrubber to share. We had fun opening it all.

David sent flowers which were delivered! I was impressed with the service. It is a huge bouquet with each stem in its own little water vial and the whole bouquet is wrapped in bright pink crepe paper with a big yellow bow – very colorful. I will have Bob take a picture of me with it.

In the evening I baked oatmeal cookies and made chicken and stuffing for Bob’s birthday dinner.

Two Wheel Chairs Delivered

Gloria with Lourdes and her son Charles and the new wheel chair

Estoy in his new wheel chair

Monday, May 8, 2006

This was a busy, happy day. While Bob and I and the office elders were walking about a block away to have a rental contract notarized, four wheel chairs were delivered. They are really here! I was so excited that I called the two people whose telephone numbers I have and they said they would come over in the afternoon. And, they did. When the first one came, Estoy, and Elder Knaphus – bought in one wheel chair, I realized we had been given the wrong sizes. We had three children’s chairs and one for an adult. We gave Estoy the adult one and he was so thrilled. He had an old wheelchair, torn and falling apart, and it had no rests for his feet, so he kept one foot curled up on his lap and the other resting on the edge of the wheel support – very uncomfortable looking. Both he and his brother had polio as children and are both crippled in the legs. His brother can walk – with a ‘stick’. Both brothers have jobs working in a factory that makes fire extinguishers. Estoy is paid 2000 pesos – about $40 a month. Minimum wage would be about $6500 pesos a month. Now that Estoy has a good wheel chair he says they have promised him more work. It was a great blessing to be able to help him.

We called the freighter who had delivered the chairs and he said he would come right over, but did not arrive before an 89 year old woman was brought in by her son to get her wheel chair. She can walk very slowly with someone pulling on her arm and her using a three pronged cane. When she has to go some place far, the family sits her on a chair and the men carry her and the chair! I felt so bad to see her hobble into the office and not have a chair for her. But, she and her son were very patient and said to call them when the right sizes (supposed to be on Tuesday) arrive, and they will come back. The freighter did arrive and said he would make everything right tomorrow morning.

Wednesday, May 10, 2006

First thing yesterday morning the small wheel chairs were picked up and about two hours later the right ones were delivered. I called the family of Lourdes Young and her son Charles brought her back in the afternoon and we were happily able to give her a wheelchair. She and her son were very grateful and invited the missionaries – Elder VanderVeen was talking to them – to come and visit their house

Teaching English

May 3, 2006

Again, I helped teach a conversational English class at the Church employment resource center. About 40 people attend and are very eager to learn. They learn English in school so a pretty good at reading, writing and comprehension, but speaking is a whole different ball game. It is very fun to be working with people - mostly young adults - who are dedicated to improving themselves. Most of them need English to get a job - or a better job - or to go work abroad. The only sad thing is to see the best and the brightest head out of the country in search of work.

One of the highlights of the class was when a young woman in the group of 8 that I was working with answered my question, “Tell me about your family.” She told the group that the five children in her family all have unusual names. Her name is Darien Gold; her sister’s name is Diamond.

Her three brothers are named Copper, Silver, and Ruby. She said her parents wanted the children to know that they were the wealth and jewels of the family and the family was rich, not in money, but in the family members themselves!

Another young man has just taken his first real job – as a high school math teacher. He is there to learn better English so that, “…my students will respect me and I can be a good example for them.”

It is a great blessing to be involved with the people here.

Two Temples

Bob and Gloria at entrance to Taoist Temple

Bob and Gloria at edge of Cebu Temple Property




View of 3 islands from Taoist Temple...Cebu up close, Mactan - flat in the distance - and Bohol - faint blue hills below the clouds on the left.

Monday, May 1, 2006

We went to lunch today at the Marco Polo – a hotel that reopened recently. It is on a hill on the road to Toledo, not far from the Mission Office and has a delicious buffet. Elder Crespo treated us all as his ‘going away’ gift. He is being transferred to be a Zone Leader on another island. We also had a short planning meeting for the transfers coming up this week.

About four o’clock we went to the Taoist temple with the Grahams. I was the only one who had been there before and we all enjoyed it very much. It is so clean and lovely and peaceful. I took several pictures as did the Grahams.

Afterwards we drove around the back of the lot for the new temple here and took pictures with us standing by the edge of the lot. It will be fun to take more photos as the work begins and to see the progress and know that we were here when it all began.