July 30th 2010 Friday night activity- viewing the MacArthur Suite and having dinner at the Manila Hotel followed by the Univ. of Philippines Choir

The University of Philippines Concert Choir - Homecoming concert
The concert choir perform as well.

The Philippines are known for their wood carvings.

MacArthurs bedroom as restored to original design.

Famous MacArthur photo framed in the suite.

The Kitchen

Our friends the Ayres

Some decor in the MacArthur Suite

Decor in the MacArthur Suite

Decor in the MacArthur Suite

Replicas of MacArthur's decorations donated by his wife.

Our guide to the suite, Makina. The chairs were salvaged when the Manila Hotel was bombed during WWII

Sitting Room in the MacArthur's suite.

Dining Table

Bedroom Suite
After another long week we had an evening out with the Senior Missionary couples. Its a break for all of us.

July 29th, Update on duties.

This is just an update of what we are doing. Security issues of the office here have been as result of an investigation that was stopped. However it opened the doors to presenting avenues of improvement for the security of the office. We will see what the outcome of that after next weeks presentation.

Also the outsource agency is now preparing to sign the contract delivered to them as of yesterday. We moved three guards to Cebu and that left an empty slots here. The supervisor asked to have an outsource agency to help us with our staff. We have full time church employees here which allows them time off for illness, leave and vacation. During their times off we need to double up on time and sometimes that is a problem. So as an experiment we will hire an outsource to see if that alleviates the problem. Our new MTC expansion will open up later this year which will mean more security guard posts. Getting the contract together and looked over by church attorneys' took longer than thought. Thus the guards have had to do a lot of overtime. Not tha they mind but it will be an issue as time goes on. So some progress has been made.

Kids swimming in the street flooded by rain water.

Thought you would like to see what the locals look like when it rains alot. This video was taken by Elder and Sister Durfey on their way back from a province branch that they were assigned to. It had rained alot and the traffic is always heavy but more so when it rains. When there is a pool of water the kids are in it.

July 26th, Dinner with the Senior Missionaries

I am just documenting this as one of the activities we did. Last night we attended a Senior Missionary function that included a catered dinner from one of the good restaurants nearby. There were about 50 in attendance which also included the Quezon Mission President, his wife and two of his children that came with them. It was good to socialize with them all.

We then enjoyed a DVD that was sent to us on a program that the Mormon Tabernacle Choir which was in celebration of 100 years of broadcasting. It was wonderful...and my cousin Ryan Murphy who is the Assistant Choir Director for the Mormon Tabernacle Choir led the choir in several songs. Elder and I kept nudging each other when we saw Ryan lead the choir. He was awesome. It was beautiful and gave us chills. Nothing beats the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. And since they have performed all over the world, it is now known as the "World's Choir".

The choir performed not only hymns but folk songs and Broadway show tunes. It was awesome. Several performers who had performed in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas concerts made a special appearance in the DVD expressing their joy in performing with the choir. We attended several Christmas concerts and hope to do that again when we return to the states. No performance is quite like that.

July 24, 2010 sightseeing including the Manila Hotel

Inside the historic Manila Hotel
Inside the Manila Hotel lobby

The weekend July 24th, 2010

It has been a long week with security matters and because they are of security, they cannot be published. At least not for now. We visited a place in Manila called Intramuros that is surrounded by a block wall that encloses old Cathedrals dating back to the 1500's and other things like shops, hotels and restaurants. Of course the churches have been rebuilt several times due to hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, typhoons and fires. The Manila Cathedral is the oldest which will be pictured here. It is very ornate. There were rooms surrounding the chapel with exhibits of history and explanations of the organization of a diocese and how the front of the church is arranged and where the organ is at the top back where the choir sings. There were also explanations of the Virgin Mary and about their views of Immaculate conception. It was very interesting.

More pictures of Little John's birthday party

All Filippinos pose this way. Two fingers up on each hand. Good clown performance I thought
Our Security Officer Bary with his son "Little John"

July 20, 2010 Invited to a 1st Birthday party of one of our Security guard's son

Party guests eating spaghetti
The Clown hosting the Birthday Party of Little John

Little John and his Mom

We were invited to a 1st birthday party of the son of one of our Security Staff, Bary Tamparia. His son is name "Little John" and had quite a big crowd for a one year old. His parents invited the neighborhood and had a clown to entertain them. They fed the children spaghetti and rice cookies and drink. They also fed us also. Hope our systems can respond favorably to the food we ate. A Year old party is quite the celebration here and the parents will go to great lengths to put it on.

Sunday July 18th - Visited an Ex-Pat Branch

We decided not to go out to the provinces which turned out to be a good move since it rained and there was road construction out there. We visited instead the newly formed Ex-Pat Branch. In case you are wondering, the Expat's are American people living and working abroad. There are serveral Ex Pats that work for the American Embassy and also LDS people working to help establish businesses in the Philippines.

I have become friends with several of the women and enjoy talking to them and finding out where there are neat places to visit. The meetings are in English and that makes for a better spirit. The building which we met in has air conditioning and that is far more comfortable. The foilage around the building is neatly manicured and very green now that the rains have arrived.

Another time out. Movie day

On Saturday the 17th of July we went to a movie called the Sorcerer's Apprentice with another Missionary Couple, The Ayres. We started out to see Toy Story 3 but the theatre stopped showing it. Here is the interesting thing about the theatre, they sell assigned seats and there is someone inside that shows you your seat. Pretty amazing. And they don't want food inside the theatre so if you want some snacks you eat outside of the theatre, which is inside a mall, at tables supplied for you. The seating inside is stadium so you always have a good view. Also the sound is really loud so no problem hearing the dialogue. Or the action. Ha. We then went to an Italian restaurant which was very good and very reasonable. It was our second time there and the first for the other couple. They remarked favorably to it also.