March 26, 2010

Dear Family and Friends, March 26,2010
Hope everyone is doing well! I’m guessing spring is starting to come to the Rockies! We had some rain a few days ago and very glad to have it. This area of the Philippines is experiencing a drought. We went to a barangay(subdivision) a few weeks ago and had to walk in to the balay(house) we were looking for. We noticed the ground had big cracks in it because of the lack of moisture. It is sad to see some of the sugar cane crops that haven’t been watered. I doubt they will make it. We haven’t had hardly any water for the past two weeks during the day. We have a small flow during the night, so I get got at 4:30am to do the laundry. I have found out by 6:30am there is no water. We have 5 gallon jugs we fill with water and try hard to keep them full. I can’t wash and fill the jugs at the same time so rotate days. Think of us when you go to complain about having to put the clothes in the washer to do your laundry and smile!. We wash all of our clothes by hand. We use a scrub tray and several buckets. We have found if we put the clothes to soak before we go to bed then they are easier to wash the next morning. We have several clothes lines we share with the sister missionaries. Oh that’s another condition as to whether we wash if the sisters are using the water then we don’t have any. Taking a shower is another story. We have buckets we fill when there is water. We have a small pan with a handle we fill with water out of the buckets, dump the water on our bodies, suds up with soap, and then rinse off. I remember wanting to go to Martin’s Cove on a mission so we could have a pioneer experience. The Philippines is providing that experience for us, so I can quit wishing for it. I told Elder Adams the other day while doing the dishes I felt like I was up at the “Property” camping. We had limited amount of water we could use to do the dishes up there and that holds true here! I am hoping there was enough snow during the winter so we aren’t coming home to a water shortage. Right now a soak in the tub with lots of bubbles, a good book, and some red licorice sound really good!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yesterday our investigator Charlie Libunao was baptized along with 3 others. I felt bad his wife didn’t come. We tried to talk her into coming on Tuesday, but she said she was busy. Rolondo Elan has been going to help teach. He has only been a member since November. It has been really cool because they are the same age and have become friends. Rolondo was the one to baptize Charlie. Rolondo isn’t very big built and Charlie is a big Filipino. It took Rolondo three times to get him totally immersed. Raymundo Bagahansol(our newest future missionary- waiting for his call anytime) helped teach and baptized his 84 year old grandfather Olympio Empenado. Bro Empenado is so cute! Alvin Escribano was baptized. He was really sick last wed and asked Elder Adams to give him a blessing with Raymundo. He said he was feeling much better. Arla Mapa was the last one. She is nine years old, so the missionaries had to teach her before she could get baptized. Bro Gilbert Ugbinada gave the talk on the Holy Ghost. He has only been a member since the first part of Feb. He has been helping teach with the missionaries since he has been called as a branch missionary. He is thinking about going on a mission in a couple of years. He is 18 years old. Last weekend we had a cluster training of all the Stake/District presidents in the Bacolod mission boundaries. Elder Edwards from the Seventy’s did the training. He is the Philippines Area president. Sister Edwards, Sister Tobias and I sat in the back of the chapel with all the priesthood holders. It was a very good meeting. I used several of my notes in my class I gave yesterday at the Relief Society Birthday Party Social. The first half of the day was a general meeting with the District R.S President and District President speaking and then three classes the members rotated to. My class was on Marriage and Family Relationships for 30 mins. We had lunch at noon and a program started at 1 pm. The branches in the San Carlos District each did a dance or musical number. Some of the branches really went to a lot of work with costumes and practicing the dance. San Carlos 2 did a Hawaiian Dance. They had plastic grass skirt and silk flower lais(?). The Canla-on members did a modern routline. They all wore black skirts with crepe paper ruffled around in different colors three time. It was fun to see the older ladies get out on the floor and dance a modern dance! I’m really glad we didn’t have to pick the winners of the dance performers! I was invited to dance with branch 2 but couldn’t find time to practice with them. It is Sunday night and while I was writing this email I was invited to taste a chicken foot cooked in sauce. San Carlos 2 sisters are both natives and like to invite us to try some native dishes they cook. A few weeks ago we tried some fish ball soup. It was easier to eat. Looking at 15 cooked chicken feet in a bowl with BBQ sauce on them was a little interesting. I did try one. They really don’t have much meat on them. The sisters bought them at the chicken plant. They clean them good, take the skin off and then cook them! Do remember our dog Beanie/Queenie( some of the Sister missionaries call her Queenie. Her name is Beanie)? She had some strange looking things on her a week ago. We asked Raymundo when he came to temple prep class if he knew what was wrong with her. He did know and told us she has lice and ticks. The lice had been sucking out her blood and were huge so they looked like tumors. We had to buy a special and spray her really well. Then try and get out as many as possible. Elder Adams and Raymundo put on gloves and pulled out a lot of them. They also used a comb and was able to get out a lot that way. We had to clean the area really well and spray. The ticks were all over the things in the area. It was a half a day job with 3 of us working. It is our landlady’s dog and part of our rent is taking care of the dog. The lice were gross looking and gave me the creepies. Then a week later we were sitting at our kitchen table and Elder Adams looked over at the cabinet were our canned food is stored and there was a spider about the diameter of a softball. We sprayed it and then took it outside. Was glad we had seen it on the cabinet and not in our bedroom!!! I am going to forward some pictures of the missionary we helped to on a mission back in July. He is doing so well and I am so glad to see his hand out in the open and not in his pocket. He always had it in his pocket before he left and I would ask him if he was protecting his money. Hope to be able to send this while we are in Bacolod on sat. Love to you all and God Bless!
Elder and Sister Adams