just another day...or week!

I'm going to start off with this picture we took with our office elders before transfer day.  President Dahle hinted to one of the Elders that he and another might receive a new assignment.  The Elders wanted to document their time together.  This has been another dedicated group of young men.  Just one was transferred, Elder Hardy.  He is the Elder wearing glasses.  Elder Detera has now taken his place.

Elders: Ancog, Hardy, Nelson, and Tui'one

On Monday all our departing missionaries came to the mission home for their ending devotional and dinner.  Before that, the Filipinos take an English test.  The church pays for this and the missionary receives a certificate indicating their level of proficiency.  This aids them in getting better employment.

Donna and I had our one-on-one time with each missionary to go over their travel and financial needs.  I love that part!  We had pictures to take and pictures taken of us.  I can see it gets harder and harder each time a new 'batch' leaves because we know them even better than the last.  I don't know what we will do in a year!  This was an unusual departing group in that they are all from the Philippines.

Four of our visa-waiting missionaries came to the mission home to participate in the ending devotional because they had to come to town anyway.  They went to Manila  Tuesday morning for appointments with the US Embassy.  

Our October 26, 2016 Departing Missionaries...plus 4 visa-waiters ready to go to the USA!

The sister in pink is now in Arizona!  She arrived to her Tempe Arizona Mission on Friday.  It was the same day that our sister wrote to tell us that Arizona was having record heat of 100 degrees!  What a nice (not) welcome for a Filipina!  This is Sister Avanceña.  If you ever see her in your travels, be sure to tell her 'hi' from us in the Philippines.  We have promised her that we will visit her as soon as we get home next October.  She will still have a couple of months left in her mission.

Wednesday was a CRAZY day!  It was transfer day, new missionary arrivals, and trainer/trainee match-ups all in one day this time.  This was an experiment.  I'm not sure how President and Sister Dahle feel it went, but it was nothing like the plan.  Plans change all the time, but this really was crazy.  The day started with our 20 new missionaries arriving from Manila 2 hours later than expected.  In the past, all we did on Wednesday was welcome and spend time with our new missionaries.

I took this next picture as a lesson on how to deal with the heat for all of us from Arizona.  This is a normal sight every day.  Umbrellas are used for rain and sun.  It doesn't matter what the weather is, you carry your umbrella.  The other lesson is that if you wear something on your head (usually a towel or t-shirt), you will be cooler.  Small towels or bandanas are carried by everyone to wipe the sweat off your face and body.  In Arizona I just 'glisten' and don't do anything about the sweat running down my face.  I am learning many lessons.  

Lessons to be learned every day in the Philippines!

We welcomed a new senior missionary couple this week!!  We are all so excited!  It is Elder and Sister Rollins from Oklahoma.  They are so needed and are going to be loved by all the missionaries.  Sister Rollins is a nurse and will be our new mission nurse...taking over the duties from Sister Dahle.  No one is more excited than Sister Dahle, however.

I never get tired of this scene...usually with just two...today an investigator joined in prayer.

This is our 'District'...8 young Elders in prayer before heading out for the day.  We love them!

Street Vendor...if you look closely you can see goldfish in water in plastic bags!!

We see this vendor and others like him each time we drive our main highway.  The goldfish surprised me.  I was always looking at the bright colors under the umbrella.

... wonderful sister missionaries

I had to share this cute picture of our cute sister missionaries.  We made a visit to their home to give birthday wishes and deliver a passport.  This is the kind of errands we absolutely love!

Drying rice before it goes to the Mill

I will never get this picture out of my head.  I know I take so many of them during our travels.  Rice is grown constantly and the fields are all in different stages of growth.  This rice is drying on the sides of this 'highway' before it is gathered back into bags and taken to the Mill.  I knew there were a lot of varieties of rice, but when I go to the market here and see the rice, I am amazed!  

I (we) love the Philippines.  We are having experiences we will be talking about for the rest of our lives.  I am so grateful that I get to share the experiences with my sister.