Christmas Day 2008

Tarlac Province, West of Tarlac City

Merry Christmas to all – We have had a great day and a fun Christmas eve listening to Christmas songs we found on the internet. We had two packages from home to open and little presents from each other.

The past two days were spent with the missionaries in half mission conferences which were up lifting and fun. There were talks and testimonies and good Filipino food for lunch each day then a presentation from each zone – some were skits and other just songs. The Samoans and Tongans had the most fun and made everyone join in the action.

Today we took a drive into the country west of Tarlac and drove into the mountains and saw some beautiful country and rice paddies. As part of the harvest process they dry the rice crop on the road to get it ready for market. This process only leaves one lane open to traffic or else you have to drive over the piles of rice to avoid a crash. The first picture is of one lane covered and the second is the pickup method on Christmas Day 2008.

This evening we are having four sister missionaries from the Tarlac district over for a late dinner so they can celebrate Christmas – they had to work today. Sister MB will fuss over them and make sure they get what they want before returning home by 9:30 p.m.

We hope you had a wonderful day with family – we were able to talk to our family which made it a special day.

Elder NB and Sister MB

Merry Christmas

22 December 2008

Tarlac, Tarlac, Philippines

We are struggling trying to get in the mood for Christmas. We love this time of year but it is 80+

degrees and sunny with humidity – where is the snow (from what we are reading you guys are

getting it bad). We have a little 18” Christmas tree the previous missionaries left and Sister MB decorated it last week but it is still a little short – no pun intended.

The pictures this week are of a poinsettia tree on the way out to a little Branch of the church – Anao with Sister MB and Elder NB standing under it. The second is of a Christmas tree made of lights which stands about 20 feet tall in one of the Barangays (hamlets) on the major highway into town. As we drive through the Barangays we see many of the houses with the lights of Christmas and some decorations. These are the closest thing to Christmas we have here. Oh yes the people all wish us a Merry Christmas and that helps.

We do know the meaning of this time of year and being with each other busily working on our assignment keeps our focus where it should be. We hope the true meaning of Christmas finds you and yours this season – we love and miss you and wish you the very best.

Peace and love to you, Elder NB and Sister MB

Wheelchairs for Gerona

15 December 2008

Gerona, Tarlac, Philippines

We had a great Sunday in a little branch in the community of Anao. They have a rented house where they hold their meetings with attendance at about 40 to 50 souls. We both had to speak and answer a lot of questions during the rest of the block meetings. They believe we have all the answers so we have to continually say we are not perfect and make mistakes but we give them an opinion and then they talk about it in Tagalog. In the evening we attended the First Presidency’s Devotional, which was delayed broadcast across the Philippines and were up lifted by what they said about our Savior. We also saw and visited with one of our sister missionaries from the Provo MTC.

We spent some time last week in Manila making arrangements for a computer for Tarlac and purchasing a power point projector and support equipment. We will use the equipment as we travel to put on our training sessions. We will be in some remote areas and will need it all. While we were in Manila we attended a temple session with a small group of saints and had the reassurance one gets from attendance.

Today we went with a Humanitarian missionary couple from Manila to Gerona, a town in our District of Paniqui. They were to present the community seven new sturdy wheelchairs built to with stand a lot of abuse to needy individuals. The word they received was the ceremony was to happen early in the day but it didn’t happen until about 2:30 p.m. There was a large crowd that came and the mayor spoke and made very positive comment about the church and the wheelchairs and the Christmas season. Our local leaders – district president and branch president were both in attendance and were recognized and thanked by all. They had food for us but MB & NB were reluctant to dig in but only took small samples.
We finally got DSL into our residence so we will now be able to communicate better with all.

Be good, Elder NB & Sister MB

Out in the Sugarcane Country

8 December 2008

Ramos, Tarlac, Philippines

Monday and Tuesday of this week we were in Angeles at the Mission home. We were training six missionaries in the Career Workshop. Four Sisters – two from Tonga and two from the Philippines and two Elders from the Philippines. They all were returning home last week. What an emotional time in their lives. This workshop training is to help them recognize their talents and abilities as they return home and look for work. We team taught with another couple who have been here for one year and as we taught and bore our testimonies we had some very special moments. It was a learning experience for us because it was the first two day training we have been involved with.

The month of December in the Philippines is spent celebrating Christmas with fiestas and parades going on in each Barangay (neighborhood community). We live in Delores Barangay and there have been three parades that we have seen since the first. They are little parades with people in two or three decorated little pick-up trucks driving around tooting their horns.

We spent Sunday in a small branch at Ramos, Paniqui District – their building is very new and best building in the community and they are very humble people. They have strong testimonies of the gospel of Jesus Christ and love to bear them. This is a picture of their building out in sugarcane country.

Elder NB and Sister MB

Big Weekend in Paniqui

1 December 2008

Paniqui, Tarlac, Philippines

We had a super weekend with speaking assignments and other meetings on Saturday and Sunday, 29 and 30 November. District President Nadado, Paniqui District asked Elder NB to take a half hour Saturday morning to teach home teaching principles and its importance. We found out the first counselor was ill and would not attend so the discussion went for 40 minutes. Brethern in attendance numbered about 200 and they nodded agreement during the presentation. After the meeting the brethern above left for home on this field tractor and cart to travel 4.5 miles back to Ramos Branch and their homes. Later in the day that same tractor/cart brought the Young Women back to celebrate the Young Women's program.

Sunday was a long day with us talking in the two branches and attending the whole block schedule of each then attending the missionary correlation meeting for each - that is a minimum of eight hours of church. Elder NB had to take the priesthood hour in each branch and discuss the Home Teaching that some of the brethern missed on Saturday. We are really blessed because of it. After all the meetings we had to inspect the missionary sister's apartment before going back to our house. They are living in a humble apartment and are doing ok. We then had to drive back home in the dark - the second night in a row. Now driving on these streets is a treat but at night it is a nightmare with some vehicles without lights, pedestrians and bicycles still on the road - WOW!

We were tired when we got home made a light dinner and hit the hay early.

The Lord is blessing us each and every day by the people we meet and the commitment they make to be active members of the church of Christ. May the Lord bless you.

Love, Elder NB & MB

Welfare Field Trip

27 November 2008

Calamba - south of Manila

We have been in meetings since Tuesday with all the Welfare department located in the PAO by the temple in Manila. The three areas of the Philippines are represented beside the main office and they are Mendano, big island to the south, Cebu in the middle and Luzon to the north. Each has an ERC office with staff and great leadership. They reported the status of their areas and gave us insight of their goals for next year. We have been instructed on our callings by Elder Misalucha of the 8th quorum of the seventy who has charge of the PAO welfare office. We have also been instructed by our Area Seventy - Elder Edwards.

Today was a field trip where we visited four different places to get input for jobs and opportunities - the government fish research for preparing fish for export, the government mint, a bread factory and the IRRI (International Rice Research Institute). Each had great opportunities for our people. The ERC managers and VC Managers identified the applications right away - we are too young in the program to pick up on what will apply.

We are staying over night in a resort by a volcano in Calamba with a nice swimming pool but you know we are not going in the water.

This is a short report because we did find an Internet hook up - up in Tarlac we are still looking for our hook up.

See ya, Elder NB & Sister MB

Arrived Tarlac

Saturday, 22 November 2008

We had a virus problem with our computer as we were getting ready to transfer to Tarlac on the 19th. We finally went to a computer shop in Angeles and reformatted the hard drive to get it working again. We had to buy software – Norton and Office in order to make this old beast usable. We can use our computer but now it is hard trying to get hooked up on the internet at the church – we will get there soon.

This is an update of our activities. Wednesday we received our car a little Toyota Carrola sized car ate a Taco Bell lunch and hit the road after Sister MB was taken short at PAO. We drove north through some tough traffic then got onto a very nice limited access highway and drove to the mission home behind another couple that were returning. Spent the night getting instructions and direction from President Puzey then slept there that night. Up on Thursday and drove up the highway to Tarlac and found our house. It is a very nice place out in the country secured by high walls and a guard (about 14 years old) who mans the gate. We signed all the papers so this will be our house for the next two years.
We visited with a district President in the Paniqui District to see what he wants us to do and got two speaking assignments for tomorrow and next Saturday. We also talked with the stake president in Tarlac and got another invitation to talk but the other engagement over rode this request.

We have found most of the foods and personal things we know and like from home but we have to go the old Air Force Base in Angeles – about an hour away on a very nice road for most of the trip. The rest of the trip looks like the picture above.

We are doing great, the people live very simple lives and enjoy life. The church buildings are very nice and air conditioned so where we work and attend church is nice.

Elder NB & Sister MB

Still in Metro Manila

Today is Monday, 17 November 2008.

We have been in Manila for five days and have had a spiritual weekend after finally getting our jet lag behind us - we hope. Our welfare boss has spent time with us to explain our area of responsibility, charged us with helping four missions - Angeles, Baguio, Laoag and Cauayan - all north of Manila, training volunteer center managers and giving firesides. We have been trained by Elder and Sister Johnson from Ammon, Idaho who work out of the ERC in Makati. They took us for the weekend - on Saturday we went to Taytay - an hour to the east - to train the stake trainers in the Career Workshop and spent the day there. What a treat being with these fine people and feeling of their spirits. Then Sunday we attended the Makati 3rd Ward in the oldest church building in the Philippines. It was built many years ago in the middle of a field with a spire that is about 30 to 40 feet tall that required a special permit to build it. Now it is surrounded by 30 and 40 story office and apartment buildings. The classes we attended were taught by great young native people with strong testimonies. For the evening we drove an hour north to the Velenzuela Stake for a fireside on prosperity - both spiritual and economic. Sister MB and I both participated in the training and fireside - minor rolls.

Today was a very different day - we drove to the Philippine Area Office (the church office building) in Quezon City to have them help us in securing our driver's licenses. Let me tell you it was an ordeal, we will have to tell you about some other time.

We took a picture of the Manila Temple across the street in the afternoon - what a pretty picture. Also, located nearby is the local MTC. Needless to say today was not as good as the weekend.

We will sign off for today with love Elder NB and Sister MB

Arrived Manila

Arrived on a hot and muggy Wednesday about noon with seven other missionaries assigned to the missions. The brethren picked us up and we had our introduction to the traffic of Manila. They drive like they have some place to go and they will move from one lane to the next with no warning - you give way or they give way - who ever has the nerve wins. We watched a truck with five guys move from the left lane in slow moving traffic through four lanes to make a right hand turn in three car lengths. We were impressed. The vehicle at the top is a 'Jeepny' (private bus - cheap transportation) some are plain and others are all fancied up and they are all over. The first ones were built of old Jeep parts after the war but now they make them out of anything that will run.

After we arrived and spent the afternoon in the Employment Resource Center (ERC) getting a little acquainted we settled in and rested through the next day. Still a little jet lag today but doing better. By tomorrow, Saturday, we should be in tune with the time change.

We have met a very nice missionary couple, the Johnsons, who will help train us over the next couple weeks. Tomorrow we travel to Taytay about an hour east of the city for our first meeting and training with the district leadership. The local people we have met so far are very nice and at the end of the day there are thousands who walk to the train and bus stations and it is like a river of people.

We are feeling well after the long travel day.

Elder NB and Sister MB

On our way - This report to Taiwan

Today, Monday, 10 November 2008 is the start of our long trip to the Philippines. Raining in Utah today and most of last night – we need it bad. Part Camille’s family and Holly took us to the airport early and we visited with them before boarding our flight to San Francisco. The flight off a little late because of weather in SF and then when we got there they put us into a holding pattern over SF. We waited until we were low on fuel so into Sacramento for some gas we went and they cleaned our windshield as well. No one was allowed off the plane so we could get back into the air quickly but our spot into SF was delayed – in total it took almost three hours for us to get to SF. Our original layover between flights was to be four hours but you can see the layover was cut short.
No problem with our connection to Taipei, Taiwan – just a long walk. We were off on time about 4:30p and had a 14 hour ride in decent seats. We had our own reclining seats (not complete lay back) with a monitor and controls for movies, sports, games and we could check on the flight progress. They gave blankets, pillows and food so they took good care of us. We landed at 10p Tuesday, 11 November local time and had an 11 hour layover so the church had arranged a hotel off airport so we could rest. Getting out of the airport took some time trying to figure out how to do it but it worked. We got into the Holiday Inn Express about midnight.
You will remember that the flight crossed the International Date Line so as I write the last part of this note it is the middle of the night (Nov. 12) here in Taipei while back home in the US it is the afternoon of 11 November.

Visit to Welfare Square and More

We have had two field trips in the past week to SLC - Thursday for Perpetual Education Fund (PEF) and today to visit Welfare Square and the Humanitarian Center.

Thursday was a great day being instructed by the leaders of the program Elders Carmack and Cook and Rex Allen. The work they are doing in the third world is fantastic in removing young men and women (it is about 50/50) from the cycle of poverty. There are currently about 32,000 young people participating in the program with a third of them in Brazil. Other countries include Peru, Mexico, South Africa, etc. Some of the stories really touch your heart.

Today we were up early and beat most of the workers to Welfare Square - what a place to visit. If you ever have a couple hours you should go to the Square and take the tour of the Bishop's Storehouse, Bakery, Employment Center, Wet Cannery, Deseret Industries and the Dairy. The impact this little square has on the world is impressive. One thing they make and send to the starving third world is ATMIT made from powdered milk, oat flour, vitamins and minerals and packaged in a little envelope. The recipient adds oil, water and cooks it like a soup and serves it in a cup. In a matter of a few weeks it can change a starving - bones sticking through the skin child to a healthy child. The cost per envelope is $0.50 and the church ships it for free.

We had lunch with Elder Rudd who ran the Square for many years and has written a book" Pure Religion" about the Welfare Program. We have received training from his department today and as he closed his instructions to us to told us senior missionaries that we had to take a nap everyday. We all supported that direction.

The balance of this week will be spent on our missionary job of learning how the Career Center works and the training we will need to run it.

We have had a great experience this last week and look forward to being instructed this week. We also have a devotional tomorrow evening which will be very good.

Thanks for your comments - it is so good to hear from you.

Love ya, Elder NB and Sister MB

Progress at the MTC

We are moving forward in the lessons giving the first yesterday and second today to two different local members who came to our room and acted like investigators. It is challenging but Sister MB has done a very good job on both lessons so we will be able to give them if we have the opportunity while in the Philippines.

Last night they held a devotional where all the missionaries attended filling the auditorium with 2,200 and also an overflow area with the balance. The seniors where right down front and our seats were on the fourth row. Elder L. Tom Perry talked to us about being good missionaries and using Preach My Gospel properly. The whole body of missionaries sang the prelude songs - WOW what a treat!

We got word this afternoon that we will be traveling tomorrow, 30 October, to the Church Office Building (COB) in SLC for training in the Perpetual Education Fund (PEF). It is going to take most of the day. Our training will include a session with Elder Carmack who is in charge of the program. The group traveling to SLC include couples going to Chile, Albania, New Zealand, Thailand, Mongolia, Mexico, Europe and of course Philippines.

Monday it is back to SLC for the day and a visit to Welfare Square for an overview of the programs and procedures they use there. We do not have a lot of details on this trip but it should be good.

I have attached another picture of us by the big world map in the front hall of the MTC. It is right outside our main training room. You can see the Philippines over Sister MB's shoulder.

We are having a great time working with the training elders and sister (RMs that are going to BYU) they challenge us every day to do better and work harder. They do allow us time for a nap after lunch - another perk.

See you later Sister MB and Elder NB

Arrived at the MTC

We had a great day yesterday and want to thank everyone for coming to the farewell and luncheon. Thanks to those who brought stuff - it was all yummy and we want to thank Melissa and Brady for hosting the gathering at their house. It was so good to have you join us and it was so good to see you again.

Today is our first day in the MTC in Provo. We arrived after 10a and signed in, paid our two week bill and found our room. It is comfortable, cozy, place for everything and even has a computer wireless hook up so we can keep in touch.

We had a good lunch - you should see the size of this cafeteria - it has three different entree serving areas each serving different meals. They also have a soup/salad bar with good stuff so you can pick and choose what you want to eat. Plenty of good food.

Our orientation meeting started at 1:00 and lasted the until 4p where they explained the approach to our training this week which is to learn Preach My Gospel and how to stay healthy while out of the country. Next week we will spend our time on Welfare Services.

We were able to get unpacked and get everything stowed away then relaxed a minute before we had a very good dinner. We have to study tonight so we can present the restoration tomorrow. Wish us luck because our learning skills are OLD!!

Last Week of Preparation

We are in our last week of preparation before going into the MTC in Provo. It has been almost four months since we received our call to serve. This is an exciting time in our lives - going to a place we have never been, working with the people of the Philippines, hopefully teaching them how to improve their lives, preparing our thoughts for our farewell talks, leaving our family and friends for almost two years. WOW!

Our mission president has been in contact and has sent pictures of a home they have found for us to rent. It is located in a gated, private resort type community in Tarlac. Our office is located in a chapel in the same city.

We plan to update our site weekly and are excited to arrive in the Philippines. We fly out on Nov. 10th (it is a 22 hr. flight).

First Entry

This is to test the system and start our blog.