Excerpts from some letters (some repetition, sorry):
From Ron, January 17: We are one of 9 missionary couples, 2 Filipinos and 6 other "foreigners". The two temple presidency counselor couples also live in our housing here. The local temple ordinance workers come when they can. Traffic is horrible and very slow, The main driving rule is that to go forward you poke the front of your vehicle of the guy trying to turn to go in front of you and if you get there first, you get to go first. Most of the driving is at a speed of 20 to 30 km per hour because of that. There are very few traffic lights and the lines between lanes do not exist so you can make any part of the road your lane.
Local food is quite cheap but we could also buy food in a store that carries a lot of Costco products so it might be a COSTCO subsidiary. Toilet paper from home costs $30 for a 30 roll package, but at least we can buy it (and peanut butter). We also bought two watermelons, a red one and a yellow one, so I am happy. Honey was $4 a pound, which is twice what we pay at home, but again, at least we have some. that said, I ate at the temple cantina today and my meal included green beans, a type of squash, and a cup of rice with beef strips in a pleasant tomato sauce -- that cost $1.60.
Unfortunately, mangoes are out of season and they are a dollar apiece for large ones. Pineapples, a smaller variety about 5 inches across and 7 inches long, are 80 cents each, trimmed and cut while you watch.
The temple here is beautiful with its settings of palm trees, shrubs and other trees on a well manicured 10-acre parcel. The saints come from fairly far away as well as locally. Numbers are low this time of year, but apparently things pick up in March. Today a bus loaded mostly with youth arrived and they did baptisms with a few of the adults also doing endowment sessions. We have had the opportunity to use our language training to greet people in Cebuano and say an occasional word or two in conversation.
Our apartment is very comfortable. We have a 15 by 25 feet area with a nice table and chairs, a hutch/buffet for tablecloths, etc, a desk for our computer and phone, plus a sitting area with two spartan arm chairs and a couch. A TV is found in a nook in the room as well. Our kitchen is quite nice with a fridge and a stove with four burners (strange heating elements) and a water cooler. We can drink the water out of the tap here. We are on our third fridge already though. The one we have now works, but makes more noise than I am comfortable with. (But as soon as the management learned about the noise, they got us another, quieter fridge. Very helpful people here!)
We do have a shower with hot water, for which I am grateful. Our bedroom has a queen size bed in it and a separate air conditioner which we are learning to adjust so we are neither too hot nor too cold.
Birds actually are plentiful in the yard which is unusual in the cities I have lived in during my young missionary years. Our building also has housing for temple patrons -- with a capacity of 150 people I think. Some youth groups of over 60 come to do baptisms. They travel by boat from the various islands and stay for a few days. It was nice to see youth in the temple today along with all us old temple ordinance workers, and to talk with some people who have lived in the same areas that I served in many years ago.
We enjoy the Filipino people and have some friends here now that are from the States as well. I just got my first haircut this morning, and maybe I will sweat a little less now. Our apartment is air conditioned, thank goodness, as is the temple. We spend 7.5 hours a day at the temple helping with ordinances, and have Sundays and Mondays off. We go to different wards each Sunday, since we are not assigned to any one in particular. Some fun things we have done is driving to the top of nearby mountain and eating dinner at the top. Ten years ago there were few cars on the road, but now there are many. Speaking of on the road, I have not dared drive here yet -- they have some unusual traffic rules. 1) cars have the right-of-way: people do not. 2) The car with the front ahead of you has the right of way, so when you come to the intersection with five roads coming into it and no traffic light, you ease ahead to get the front of your car ahead of other cars coming across your path and that is how you eventually work your way through. At the same time, there are hundreds of motorcycles buzzing by you and in front of you carrying their passengers. I will drive smaller roads on a Sunday to get a feel for the van here once I get a drivers licence. We have good water to drink in our apartment, a fridge that is about 2/3 the size of one at home, a gas stove with all the labels around the knobs worn off, a tiny tub but good shower, and a queen size bed, so things are pretty good. There is no carpet in our building -- all tile. There are a dozen apartments like ours on this third floor of a large building. The second floor is for patrons, and can sleep 150 people. The bottom floor has a reception area, a mission office, a family history office, a cantina, and some custodial-engineering areas. It is a two minute walk from our apartment to the temple. So life is good. We keep in touch with our kids using Facebook messenger and a fun app called Marco Polo. I am still trying to get a phone working so that we can call in Canada and the USA free.
From Mary-Rose: Went on our second jeepney ride yesterday--fun and hot and squishy! We went all by ourselves, too--figured it all out and got to the store just fine. The slowest part was getting a taxi to go home, and then the ride home. Traffic is so craaaazy here!
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Some of the other jeepney passengers. The windows are open both sides, behind your back.
The exhaust from traffic can be nasty, but the people have been so friendly.
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| Here's a pic of two newer jeepneys. |
People here are so pleased when we just say "Maayong buntag" (Good morning) or "Walay sapayan" (You're welcome). We are working on learning some of the temple ordinances in Cebuano-- that's where they say we would be used the most. One woman was helping me with the pronunciation and she said, "I never thought I would hear an American speak Cebuano. It is so cute!"
Since the Manila Temple is closed until May, any new missionaries coming to the Manila Missionary Training Center from Southeast Asia have been coming to the Cebu Temple for their own endowment. We have met young men and women from Mongolia, Kiribati, Thailand, and Indonesia. It's exciting to see their enthusiasm and their love of the Lord.
I am surprised at how quickly we have felt "at home" here. It is a wonderful place to be. The Saints here have little in material goods, and maybe because of that, they have developed a great faith. Their prayers are never rote, as mine have often been, and they serve in the temple, sometimes at great sacrifice. We have a lovely, clean little apartment and great people to work with. We are so blessed!!
