Visiting Sapang Palay

Today we decided to leave early to be able to visit some members homes before church started. We had a pair of Elders go with us as they knew where the members lived. We drove for a short distance and then walked to the homes.

This is really a most humbling experience. It puts all into perspective. This is an area that is extremely impovershed. Semi cobble stone streets, cement and corrogated tin houses with some electicity piped to them. Dirt floors and propane cooking equipment. The home we went to visit was a member that I have seen at church with her daughters. When they come to church they are very clean and dressed approprately and look generally very nice. They are very wonderful people who are happy and strong in the gospel. I don't think all the members live in this type of environment. It was a great experience to see them happy in the gospel.

Of the two Elders one was from the United States and spoke perfect tagalog and even had an accent. His companion was a Filipino. Both very strong into their calling as missionaries.

Some of the things I saw today reminded of the stories my sons Brad and Randy talked to me about. The streets of Ecuador and Guatelmala are similar to the streets I saw today in Sapang Palay.

We came home early from Church today as their was a level 2 alert for a Tsunami resulting from the an earthquake in Chile. By early this evening the leval 2 alert had been cancelled. We are grateful that the Filipino people will not suffer another natural disaster.

We hoped to stay later and take more pictures but that didn't happen. Darn it. The members were disappointed that we were leaving and so was I. But we will be back next Sunday to visit more members.

Sunday February 28, 2010

We are ok and no big concern with a tsnumani. We will travel to the Sapang Palay branch today to attend church and visit members. We are safe.

Saturday Feb 27th, 2010

We are looking at the world news with the Earthquake in Chile and the Tsnumani that will hit Hawaii, The Philippines and other places. Our concern is for the Philippines and have not had much feedback from the weather reports or American Embassy. Waiting to hear.

Picture of orchestra and choir

Picture of the Orchestra and choir at the Bamboo Organ concert

Picture of the Bamboo Pipe Organ

Here is a picture of the Pipe Organ that another Senior Missionary took. It is quite a structure. Renovated in 1974 in Germany and placed in it's original spot.

more videos

Here is another video of our cultural experience.

Been on our Mission one month today

We have been on our mission one month today and in the Philippines three weeks come this Saturday. Everyday we are doing something and making progress in our position here and in our branch. Two of the sisters in the branch has requested my friendship on FaceBook. That is so sweet of them. I am going to try to attach a video that one of the Senior Missionary Elders took last night.

Last night we went to a Bamboo Organ Festival in an 18th century Catholic Church in a city called Las Pinas. There is a sister here who is not a missionary but wife of the Legal Attorney here. He is an employee of the church. Brother and Sister Wright. Sister Wright has found things to do in the Real Estate Office and she knows where everything is and can drive there herself. I don't know how she does that but she finds some cultural activities for us to attend if we choose to. So we went with about 8 other couples to this bamboo organ festival. It was constructed late 1700's by a Catholic Priest from Spain. The organ had been damaged by typhoons and earthquakes several times but in 1972 it was sent to Germany for restoration and then returned to the Philippines. I hope to get some pictures from other Senior M's to post so you can see what it looks like. Before the concert outside of the church there were some high school students playing an instrument that I have never seen before called Kayawan. It is a bamboo made type instrument. I will post a video. I think you all will find this fascinating. We got our culture fix last night.

Sunday February 21, 2010 in Sapang Palay

These pictures were taken just after church in front of the Sapang Palay chapel. The members just love to have their pictures taken.

These two just love to pose.

To the left is a girl about 13 who was really anxious and eager to have her picture taken but very shy to ask. Once I asked her she brightened right up and cozied up to me for a pose.

Above is a member and his daughter. I had to pick here up to get in the picture.

The sister below wanted to know how old I was, she said I want a picture with you because I am older than you. I don't know what that meant but she is 68.

This dear sister with her one month old baby girl. Everyone at church wanted to hold her baby. She is pretty attached to her. The father has to beg for time to hold her.

The two primary children to the left are real sweethearts and love coming to church. The two young adults above tell they are single adults. In other words they are available. Smart girls and busy studying I am told by another single adult. The young adult to the right asked me if I was on FaceBook and I told her yes. She quickly got out a pen and paper and asked me to put my name down so she can request friendship.

These are children of the branch that Elder Burningham clicked away on interesting poses.

Believe it or not....this is a mother and her two sons. She looks young enough to be their sister. All Filipino's look younger than they are.

This is their meeting chapel. Well made building and nicest around.

Finally I got some pictures posted.

In Relief Society today a young sister came and sat by me and asked me if she could translate the lesson to me as it was all in Tagalog. I though that was so nice of her. All the sisters in the branch are very friendly and loving. They just don't want to shake your hand they want to give a warm hug and kiss on cheek. I hugged back. Al and I feel so pleased to feel so welcome by them. We know we can never blend but it is so heartwarming to be loved by them immediately.

Saturday Feb 20, 2010 Oh Happy Day

I am feeling better today. Antiobiotics helped along with a probiotic drink the doctor suggested. We went shopping today with another senior missionary couple that kindly took us to a mall called Market Market. It has a grocery store and then four stories high of different shops and a movie theatre. Very modern looking. It also had a big play area for kids. It seems very safe. There are security guards in uniforms at every entrance. We did our grocery shopping and got some incidentals there. Then we went to a Costco type store called S&R. It is lined up just like a Costco. You find many things there quite like a Costco with some Kirkland brand items. Not everything like Costco but comparable. We decided to become a member. We bought a vegetable steamer with three tiers and it works great. We also purchased a blender so we will try that tomorrow with mangoes. We are determined to eat healthy and trim our waist lines down a bit. We did a lot of feasting over the past 4 to 6 months. Enough of that.

Tomorrow we will travel out to the provinces for church. I will post pictures of that on Monday. The people are very friendly. The common practice there is to shake everyone's hand before the meeting starts. About 97% of the service is in Tagalog, then they throw in a few English words. For Sunday School and Relief Society/Priesthood meeting it is the same, but we get the jest of it. It is an hour and a half to ride out to the provinces and you feel like you are on Mr. Toad's wild ride. It is really an adventure. Sunday is a long day for us.

Thanks to those who left comments on the blog. At least I know who is reading it.

Friday February 19th 2010

Today we ended the week with two days of it on our own in our position. We have been learning where things are and what to do with them from the computer.

Tomorrow a senior missionary pair will be taking us around places where we need to shop etc. There is a membership store called S&R which is like a Costco to us. It will be interesting to see. On Tuesday the 23rd I have been invited to go to the Bazaar to shop with the sisters. That should be interesting.

Still working on a safe place for the cultural event June 12th. We can only advise we can't just take over. Hopefully it will work out ok.

Well, I got a little bug and had to see the Missionary doctor Elder Jafek. He prescribed an antiobiotic and I found it at the local pharmacy. You buy pills by the singles and I was able to get the prescribed amount no problem. You have to be very very careful about washing food. And take it from me, even if the water looks ok, you still have to put a drop of bleach in the water. I got a big stomach ache, slight fever and several trips to the comfort room (CR is what we would term as restrooms) I just have to be careful. Someone needs to watch me like a hawk as it doesn't do any good to give me a good talking to. :) I am out of here for the weekend.

Wednesday Feb 18th, 2010-

Yesterday Tuesday we went to the American Embassy to meet our contact there. I have never been to an American Embassy and found that it is lock down secure. We had to have an appointment which we did, leave our drivers license at the guard house, get special passes, walk to the compound, greeted by guards and go through the electric security gate, get a wand over us. Escorted through more doors to get to our location. Wow.....I don't know who could get in there. And the guards are Filipino at that.

After that, we took a picture of Elder and Sister Gibbs who are leaving this afternoon and we have pretty much taken over our post. We learned as much as we could from them and now we are on our own.

Our main focus is the security around the activities in Cebu. The Colosium for the cultural event, open house and dedication. Safety for all is a must but for President Monson especially. Many Filipinos will be coming to see the Prophet and we want the event to be safe and healthy for him so we are working on it. As usual any event you plan takes getting over some hurdles. We are trying to enlist all those involved to voice their concerns so we have alies. So far everyone is in strong agreement. The colosium is not the place. If it comes to that it is doubtful that the Prophet's security will allow him access to a place where there is no safety access. Prayers in his behalf is requested. The Cebu events will be in June.

As soon as we are technically able we will post pictures of the Cebu temple construction. It is coming along nicely and we were able to get inside and look around. Just beautiful as all the temples are.

Sister B

Sunday February 14, 2010

By some slim chance I was able to get an internet linksys signal so I am entering in a post for today. We traveled out today to the provinces where we went to church in a nice church buildings. It is a branch not a ward. A branch is a small congregation not large enough for a ward. It took 1 1/2 hours to get there through the craziest drivers I have ever seen. Al (Elder Burningham) drove and he loves it. It will be quite a while before I will drive. Its nuts here.

It is a land of extremes. Abject poverty on one side and then mansions and affluent stores. While going to the provinces we went through places that had dirty and littered rivers. We stopped by a older member that Elder and Sister Gibbs know and wanted to say their last goodbyes and give them a gift. This was a really humble circumstance. The house was made of cement and it was a one room with a bed. On the bed was a very frail old man with his wife by his side and three granddaughters. The door was open and chickens were coming in and out. The adjoining room lived their daughter, son in law and children. The daughter just had a baby girl two months ago and she was bathing her on a flat cement structure with a baby blanket on it. She just bathed her by pouring water over her in small amounts. Good baby, seemed to enjoy her bath. The man has been ill for some time but he was sitting up and talking to us. After a few minutes we excused ourselves to travel further to our meetings.

Elder Burningham and myself were introduced to the congregation as the replacing senior missionaries that will be helping out on Sundays. Which means I will brush up on my music skills and practice on a keyboard to play hymns. Believe it or not.

We were asked to speak today and introduce ourselves. Elder and Sister Gibb also spoke and said farewell. Most of the meeting was spoken in Tagalog with very little English. We got the jest of most everything that was said.

After the meetings were over the members got out their cell phones with cameras and wanted to take tons of pictures. I hope to post pictures soon. It will be great. The primary wanted a picture of us with them, the Relief Society wanted our pictures taken with them then the young adults and the priesthood. It was happy. Everyone there was smiling and laughing and snapping pictures. These people love to have their picture taken. One sister in Relief Society that is very small, about 4 foot 6 inches wanted to have a picture taken with me. I really dwarfed her. I am rather spellbound by these people and really taking it all in.

Today is Valentines Day so Happy Happy to everyone. The Primary made a Valentine for us and signed their names to the card. Lovely people. Very Humble people. The ride home was another hour and a half. We have had dinner and now starting to yawn.

Tomorrow we will try to get the internet....at least we will restart that process to obtain it. We have our work tomorrow and then it is a Family Home Evening with President Ho Ching and wife at their house. President Ho Ching will be there till July and then they will move to Utah.

Hope to post tomorrow.

Exciting things happening

We spent two days in Cebu City staying at the Marco Polo. We looked over the hotel for the Prophet President Thomas S. Monson to stay in for the dedication of the temple. It is awesome. best I have ever seen. Security is up to standard for his stay.

We looked over the possible facility for the cultural celebration and found security issues there. We are trying to find a more suitable facility for the celebration that will suit the needs for all those attending and for the performers. On the same day as celebration there is a parade for their independence day and rally afterwards. Some legistics and security issues exist and we will be working at this.

Elder and Sister Gibb hosted a luncheon with our security staff and Elder and Myself. It was wonderful to meet 12 wonderful men all members and return missionaries and active in their branches as Presidents or in their Stakes as High councilmen. Wonderful people.

We have been trying to buy internet service for our apartment and found that their current policies require another form of foreign id which we don't know what it is they want. Still trying. Our washer-dryer unit will be installed tomorrow Saturday.

Things are going well. I have had some swelling in my feet due to the long plane ride but I have been able to purchase diuretics that have been helping. Should be fine by the end of the weekend.

We are also looking into cell phones that we can use here. So we are busy. I will get my first haircut on Monday. Seems like a great place. We shall see.

Until Monday I guess.
Kathy and Al

First few days

Our flight here to the Philippines was 15 hours long with a few legs with a few hours overlay. From Salt Lake City to Los Angeles it was pleasant. When we were about to disembark we were stopped by a couple of passengers asking questions about where we were going etc. Elder Burningham was speaking with one passenger and I with another. They know we are missionaries by our name tags. As I was speaking with one person there were many passengers leaning over to hear my conversation. I have never had that happen to me. People wanting to know what I had to say.

The flight to Taiwan was 13 hours long and then to Manila it was 2 hours. We were in Taiwan about 4 hours before our flight took place. There was a travel person with our name on it and he took us through customs quite quickly. We left the terminal with him and then met Elder and Sister Gibbs who we will be replacing. They helped secure our apartment for us. We have moved into it and then will sign the lease sometime this afternoon Feb 8.

We got our drivers licenses today. It is really an ordeal. But we got them. This is too much information but I just couldn't bring myself to give them a urine sample....just couldn't do it. So they took my saliva instead. And you pay everyone along the way. The bathroom for the urine test left alot to be desired so sorry...just couldn't comply. They found another way, for all I know it was satisfactory to their standards.

We have been to the store first day here, Saturday, and bought a few needed things. We are making lists as we get established.

Sunday, yesterday we went to church. They speak both Tagalog and English. They will speak English and then translate into Tagalog. Very Very humble people. Very strong LDS Saints. And they sing very well. We sat in front of a family with quite a few children and they just sang out so strong. Know all the words in English and all the notes. It was beautiful and so impressive.

After church we went back to our apartment and rested. Our predecessors had us over for dinner and it was very good. Elder and Sister Gibbs gave us information about the people and what the customs are like and what humble circumstances they are in. They also told us that many of the women do not get married simply because the men can't afford it. Average Filipinos don't get married, just live together and create families...divorce is against the law. So many Filipino women marry American men. They are very sweet and beautiful and very smart. LDS families are strong in the LDS faith and live the Gospel with temple marriages etc. I met many Filipino women in St. George and asked them why they were in the states. In every case they said because they married American men. Seems to be happy arrangements at any rate.

I am logging this post from the area office. Stilll will need to get our private Internet to really be able to do this. So please check in often.

Love, Sister Kathy Burningham

Last Day

This is our last day in the US and in SLC. We have a few hours of Security Training here and then it is off to the airport about 4 pm. or so. Next stop will be to the Philippines. We are excited. We are doing last minute packing and weighing our luggage and so far we are in the weight limit.

I would say we are excited and a little tense. Excited to go and a little tense on what all the requirements are for travel. Well passports are in hand and so are the visas. Off to the hot and humid from the cold of Utah. What a change. Still the anticipation of an adventure.

Will write another post once we get there.


magandang gabi ( Good evening) or in this case magandang umaga (good morning)

Elder and Sister Burningham

Day 1 of Security Training. February 1st, 2010

This was an interesting day. We were fingerprinted, gave handwriting samples, both printed and handwritten. Voice recordings. Then various classes on how to keep missionaries safe. What we should do if at all acosted. How to recognize bombs and what to do. Well, if you work in security you have to know all that.

We got an overview of the security in around Manila and what we should do to report back to our supervisor here in Salt Lake City. From what I hear today, the Catholic Church has more problems than any church.

It is truly going to be an adventure.