well, i think i'm growing ...

i'm going to give this blog thingy another shot.  the big news last week was not one, but two typhoons that hit the philippines.  typhoons are just hurricanes in the eastern hemisphere.  we thought the first one was headed right for us so emergency preparations were made and evacuation plans were reviewed by our 180 missionaries.  church was cancelled in much of the philippines as travel was expected to be difficult.  thankfully, we were spared and only got a few periods of heavy rain saturday night.  bright and early sunday morning we noticed some members of the calapacuan branch streaming into the church (we live next door) and found out they hadn't gotten the message about the cancellation.  the four elders who live next door and the mission president, hurriedly decided to arrange a church service so they would not have come in vain.  we had two speakers and then a few people were called on to bear their testimonies.  for the next two hours, we watched a session of general conference.  it turned out to be a lovely day for about 20-30 of us!  i continue to be pulled out of my comfort zone here.  the latest 'opportunity' came as i was asked to lead the music for sacrament meeting.  there's nothing i love more than standing in front of a group of people to do something i'm unfamiliar with!  thankfully my companion was there, again, with her camera to document it all.  how would i remember any of this stuff without her?

then on wednesday, another typhoon set it's sights on us.  this one was a super typhoon but we were not expected to take a direct hit.  still, precautions were taken.  we had a little more rain from this one but were spared any major problems again.  many of our missionaries families WERE in the path and experienced devastation.  thank you so much for your concern and prayers on our behalf.

in between the storms we hired a driver and got to make a day trip to manila!  don't get too excited ... i had to see a dentist for a root canal!  my faithful companion accompanied me and was able to visit with our friends, the other 'sister sisters' in the area office, while i was occupied.  it was interesting because we ended up having 4 missionaries that needed to go to doctors/dentist as well, so we had the party bus!  we were leaving at 4:30am and at 4:00 we got a notice that our next door neighbor was going with us.  HIPPA rules prevent me from saying his name (not really, just protecting his privacy!) but he had been in the hospital the week before suffering with kidney stones.  we went to visit him every day and i'm posting a picture of him just so you can appreciate the quality of care in the worst of hospitals in the USA.  well, he had a relapse and was really sick... felt really bad for him.  we only brought one missionary back with us (the other dental patient) but all are now recovered and safely home.  diane and i are going back on halloween to finish up the root canal and get a crown.  the church has brought in american dentists as missionaries so i didn't have to fret over the credentials of a philippine dentist and the best part? ... the crown only cost me $25!  gotta love the philippines!

one last thing to mention.  referring back to stretching and growing ... sister dahle (the mission president's wife loves to say, "there's no growing in your comfort zone and no comfort in your growing zone" and i've come to realize she's spot on.  seems like i heard something similar from my brother, mike, when i told him about my decision to serve a mission!  anyway, i had to give a presentation to all the missionaries during three different zone conferences two weeks ago about their finances and how to budget.  once again i could hear daryl laughing his head off!  (the olongapo mission is divided into 9 zones of about 20 missionaries each.  they were divided into three groups and we held a 'zone conference' three days in a row in three different locations).  i created my first power point presentation ever and didn't even faint or throw up so i consider it a success!!  i think maybe i AM growing a little.

love you all more than you know.

the pic of our gecko parent i couldn't load last post

it's rainy season!

i'm going to remember this if i ever complain about healthcare in america again! 

uh ... how do you count notes again??

rush hour traffic in manila ... please ... walk right in front of all moving vehicles!

just a little localized flooding.  we were lucky with these typhoons!

my favorite part of zone conferences were the 'impromptu choirs' that happened.  i LOVE these missionaries!

the lack of any sort of traffic control never ceases to amaze us but after 6 months of it, we're not laughing anymore.  at least some of these drivers wear helmets.  lots of tragic accident stories here.