Another Packed Week...

Well...our suitcases are unpacked.  Success!  I must admit, though, that I have one (maybe two) bins full of unorganized items.  We brought tons of toiletries because we were told to...we have discovered we didn't need to.  We were scared into thinking that we wouldn't be able to buy much here.  That was wrong information.  We do have our 18 month supply!

Mission Office-lower level with 2 apartments above.

We took some pictures of our 'little compound'...office, apartment above the office, church, and Mission Home...so you can see where we live.

Morning exercise each day at 6:30!!
President Dahle in white t-shirt.

The parking lot is full of our 5 mission cars + 1 Branch member.  The little cart is called a "trike".  It is usually a motorized bike with the cart on the side to hold people and things!  This is the public transportation of many of the members. We have an armed guard 24-hours a day.  That isn't unusual; even McDonald's has an armed guard.  The Elders tell us that it is just the duty of the military and isn't a big deal.

Sunday Morning from our window...church and Mission Home.

We went to Zone Meeting on Tuesday because Donna needs to be there for reimbursements when missionaries have receipts.  There were no receipts this time.  We may let the office Elders handle this in the future.  This was a 3 hour meeting going over the things learned last week in MLC.  We decided to make the most of the day so we went out to lunch!  We tried an Asian restaurant that Sister Dahle suggested.  We shared squash soup, pineapple and shrimp rice, and then had mango shakes.  All of it was yummy!!  That energized us for our work the rest of the day!

I had a bad day on Wednesday.  I came home so overwhelmed and wondering if I could ever learn all that had to be done.  I am so afraid that I will forget to do something that is important.  I was helped 'off that ledge' by my sweet sister companion.  I was reminded that we had only been in the office for 4 days!!  What??!!  It seems like much longer. We are packing so much into each day.

We had our first adventure 'out' on errands with the Elders.  We parked in Olongapo City and walked 1 1/2 blocks to the bank.  I'm grateful we had the Elders with us...one Filipino and one large American.  The mission is run on cash, so we'll be going to the bank often for cash. Then we went to the dry cleaners to pick up the upholstered furniture for our apartment.  It was being cleaned, but they told us to come back in an hour.  What can we do for an hour...we went to lunch, of course!  We took the Elders to lunch at TGIFridays.  It was a treat for them.  We have gotten attached to our wonderful Office Elders!

Lunch at TGIFridays with Elders Kresge and Daquero.

We finally attempted laundry.  The machines are in the hall and we share them with the Office Elders.  The instructions are not in English!  The wash turned out okay, but we don't know if we can change the water or heat temperature, water level, and so much more.  We will be asking for instructions.

Because of Mother's Day, the office Elders were talking with their families on Saturday.  That was fun to see their excitement and joy!  The Philippines have their national elections on Monday.  It is a holiday, and the missionaries have been asked to stay home.  Apparently, it gets crazy.  They were going to call home on Monday because it would be Mother's Day in America, but they realized that Monday is going to be busy for us.  It is transfer week.  The missionaries that are being released will be here Monday for lunch, devotional, testimonies, dinner, and interviews.  The office staff is involved with all of this.  Our new missionaries arrive on Wednesday morning.  It is going to be a fun and very busy week for us.

These young missionaries are pretty amazing.  Thank you for your prayers on our behalf.  We love you!!

Sister Sisters Diane Epperson and Donna Hays

happyme215@me.com-----Diane

bestemor923@gmail.com--Donna