Just a small deep breath, before the madness of Transfers begins on Monday ............

While we were in church on Sunday, a Fast, Hard, Thunder storm went over.  The rain was loud, and the thnunder deafening, and then I heard a lot of voices and excitement.  I looked out the front door, and I think all the children from the neighborhood had come to enjoy the rain in the church parking lot.  

They had balls, and some of them were actually sliding down the driveway in the rain, on their rears.  Others were sort of swimming in it, and bathing in it.  Finally, they got a little out of hand, and one of the brothers came, and just signaled to them to leave.  Guess what?  They did.  No back talk, no dirty words or hand gestures.  We are definitely not in "Kansas" anymore!

So, while we were swimming early on Friday Morning,

Elder S says to me:,  "We really have it rough, don't we?"  We laughed and laughed, and then decided to make our list of the Top Ten Reasons why You Should go on a  Senior Mission.

#10.  Senior Missions are NOT like Single Missions.  You get to choose your companion, you don't have to be in bed at 10:30 and up at 6:30, you can call home whenever you want to, see movies and watch TV (we don't, though) and SWIM.  In our case that translates to a beautiful crystal clear pool, maintained daily by a dedicated pool man, which we almost always have to ourselves.

#9.  You have a car.  Of course, you pay the church for the expense of it, and buy the gas.  But you don't have to watch the mileage, you go when and where you feel the need.  Again, for us, that is a brand new, bright red, happy car which we enjoy.

#8.  Your housing will be as comfortable as they can manage to find.  We have two bedrooms, two baths, a good kitchen, internet, parking garage, Air Con, hot water in showers and kitchen.  And a beautiful view.

#7.  You leave your worries at home. (No, I don't mean your family! Although I think most of us find that we don't worry about them in the same way.  It just feels like you can trust them to the Lord.)  But most of us left our business concerns, our property, etc. in the hands of people who take care of it.  Our darling daughter took on all our business.  She even did our taxes!

#6.  You are entrusted with interesting, important, challenging work to do, even if the world thinks you are a little bit "past it". Here your knowledge and experience are valued, and drawn upon. .  We work in an air conditioned office all day, with everything we need to get the job done.  (This was a special day. Usually it is me and about 5-10 Elders.  This day, we had two proselyting activities * going on, and I had LOTS of Sisters.)

#5    You get to wear a name tag, proclaiming the Name of Jesus Christ.  Although people may wonder who YOU are, no one seems to wonder who HE is.  They just assume they can trust you, smile at you,  encourage their children to speak to you, and generally think you are OKAY.

#4.    Every day is a gift.  You give it to the Lord, and He gives it back to you to do what you can with it.  We LOVE that every minute of every day is already dedicated--it brings a peace we never knew before.

#3.   You "Go Where You Want Me to G0", as the hymn says.  This resulted, of course, in us working in the Philippines, which expanded our experience WAY beyond what we imagined.   But it also translates to letting the Spirit Guide.   You plan, and work, and then you just pray for the opportunity to be of service to some ONE  that day.  And miracles truly happen.  
                And we get to live in the tropics---balmy air and no snow to shovel.  (I think, even if you are sent to Alaska, YOU won't be shoveling the snow!)

#2.  You meet and work with wonderful people---This is the Quezon City South Zone, on their Temple Day last week.  Because these are the ones who work in the office and in that area.  we see them all the time and know them well.  Just a little idea of who the Lord is preparing to carry his church to meet him.  Aren't they beautiful?

#1.   You will come to know and love Our Father's children as you strive every day to serve them.  We are so grateful for the faith the Filipino People  demonstrate to us.  Yes, they have a lot to learn.  Yes, we don't always understand them.  Yes, there are problems here.  But they are simple, and kind, and joyous, and teachable, and humble.  The Spirit works with them so consistently, because He CAN!.  

* Proselyting Acitivy:  When missionaries from the MTC, or others, come to the mission to work with our msissionaries as a training exercise.  On this day, we had 4 women from TX, (mother and three daughters) and 17 MTC come, 10 of those Sisters as well.  A good time was had by everyone!



Actually, we usually DO have a good time.  This week, we had office lunch twice.  Thursday was Sister Cutia's Birthday.  She is from CA, one of our STLs,  the one holding up two hands to show you she is 22.  Her Kabahays, (housemates) brought her a cake from Purple Oven, the best bakery.  We all shared it, then ordered lunch delivered from Greenwich.  They do Pasta, etc.  I had brought a fresh green salad, and we had Lasagna and Carbonara.  Yummuy.  (See Elder S in the background, working hard while they played!)  

  Maligayang Bati, Sister Cutia❤

AY MASAYA AKO❤ ❤ 

Kami Ay Masaya ❤ ❤