Bayambang,

Pangasinan,

Philippines

11 May 2009

For those of you who have not heard, we in Luzon, Philippines have had Emong, a major Typhoon/ Cyclone/ Hurricane (depends where you live in the world) working us over for the better part of a week. We were not caught in the center of it but our friends up in Dagupan got hit hard with both wind and rain. In Tarlac we only got serious rain with some wind – when we say rain we mean rain. Your windshield wipers do not work fast enough, roads fill up with water, as you drive water is sprayed across the street, you just want to stay out of it because in less than one minute it is like standing in a swimming pool. We did have to drive a bit so we were able to see how the locals love to play in a lukewarm rain storm – they believe it is healthy. Note the tricycle drivers they have to put up with all kinds of weather with very little protection.

This last Sunday was Mother’s Day and we celebrated first thing in the morning because some of our children had sent greetings to MB. We had scheduled a fireside presentation in Bayambang in the afternoon so we drove an hour north to join them for their meeting schedule at 9 a.m. Their sacrament meeting program was put on by the Primary, Young Women and Young Men of the ward. It was sweet to hear the Primary songs about mother and hear the nice things they said about their own mothers. 90% of the meeting was in English so we felt almost at home. They passed out silk flowers to all the mothers as a gift on their day at the close of the meeting.

Sundays with faithful members make our week special.

Elder NB & Sister MB

Entrepreneurial Training

San Fernando,

La Union,

Philippines

27 April 2009

Monday we spent visiting four different mayor’s offices seeking training assistance for our members who want to improve their computer and other technical skills. We took our favorite Ward Employment Rep. from Victoria with us so we could communicate and see if we could duplicate what she was able to do in Victoria. We went to Paniqui and had reasonable success then on to Moncada , talked to the mayor and he was interested in helping his people. Over to the small city of Anao where they were very kind and willing to assist our members. An interesting product is produced by this city that is known around the world – they make perfumes, soap, laundry detergent and other things out of a tree blossom extract – Ylang Ylang. Sister MB bought some and it has a nice fragrance. The last stop was in Gerona where we visited with the vice mayor’s training coordinator and identified some opportunities. We really felt it was time well spent.

Thursday we left early to drive two hours to the ERC Volunteer Center in Dagupan to attend an Entrepreneurial training class for two days. We stopped for McDs breakfast in a small town but they didn’t serve breakfast so we had cheeseburgers and fries for breakfast. Yummy. The training was given by a non-member who started his own printing business after being a business professor for a number of years. He has grown his business into one of the largest printing shops in Dagupan. The training is for four days so next weekend we will be back.

Mr. Espiritu (the ex-professor) started with very business basics – by building the attendee up to increase self-confidence and then to motivate them to think about what their potential is to build their own business. He has taken this on as his own mission in life to help others become entrepreneurs. There are not a lot of job opportunities available to the people of the Philippines (even with a college degree) so building your own business takes on new meaning for them.

Sunday we were in San Fernando La Union (one hour north of Dagupan on the coast) to give a fireside on Prosperity. What great members were there (about 50), the fireside was well received and we enjoyed visiting with them afterwards. The country had the ocean on the west and beautiful mountains on the east. It was lush with rice, bananas, and coconuts.

Elder NB & Sister MB

The Hand of the Lord

Lapaz, Tarlac,

Philippines

20 April 2009

This week was a week for us to get caught up on things we haven’t been able to take care of for awhile. We have not been in the office for a couple weeks so we were able to spend two days with the volunteers this week. During our visit on Thursday we met a young man whose wife had just had their first child. She came back to Tarlac to be with family during the event. They were living and working in Manila and felt they wanted to live in Tarlac now that they have started a family. He needed a local job so they could set up their home here.

We offered to review his resume and help him develop his network of contacts as he looked for a job. There was a local job posted on our board in his field that we felt he could qualify for if he presented himself in a positive and confident way. On Saturday we met with him again and he informed us that on Friday he was registering his new daughter’s birth and saw a job opening like his current job with a company not far from where he is staying. He gave them a resume and had his initial interview and feels he has a very good chance at getting this job. How the Lord blesses his people and answers humble prayers.

During conference break last weekend we were asked to teach two sisters the Career Workshop so they could qualify for PEF assistance. On Tuesday we took the one sister from Tarlac and drove a half hour to Lapaz and found the other sister with all her Young Women and the branch president ready to be trained. We had a total of nine in the class and they did very well even on a very hot day (no A/C) in this branch building.

The rest of the month of April will be busy as we are assisting another Volunteer Center in Dagupan (central Luzon, west coast) with an entrepreneurial seminar for the next two weekends.

Elder NB & Sister MB

Holy Week and Easter

Tarlac, Tarlac

Philippines

13 April 2009

Here in the Philippines the country has just finished Holy Week – 90 percent Catholic. The week has three days where businesses are closed – Monday, Thursday and Friday and there is not much done the rest of the week. Needless to say it is a week long holiday and everyone wants to get out into the provinces and mountains so the main roads will be a mess all week with all the extra traffic this reminds us of holiday travel in the US.

Two other interesting things that take place in the communities – one is that people will be along the roads carrying crosses that are very heavy. We see more resting as we travel than moving in the heat of the day. But they are very impressive crosses made out of good sized trees. The second thing is you will see young men in groups walking along whipping themselves across their back and their backs are bleeding.

Interesting enough with the main religion – Catholicism they do not observe the Sabbath day – it is just another work day for the people including Easter.

Easter weekend in the Philippines. Saturday and Sunday we were able to watch the delayed broadcast of April General Conference in the stake and district centers. Saturday started with Priesthood Session at 8 a.m. then an hour break between each succeeding session. We loved being able to listen to the brethren and sisters as they instructed us just as if we were back home. Saturday sessions were not well attended but Sunday morning session was full to running over. We were touched by Elder Holland’s remarks about the Savior and were uplifted to a higher understanding of his sacrifice for us. What a special two days.

We had a real contrast between our Easter and the dominate religion.

Elder NB & Sister MB

Couple Missionary Gathering

Angeles, Pampanga,

Philippines

6 April 2009

Every six weeks in our mission we have a senior couples meeting with the mission president where all couples gather and have training and share experiences they have had over the last six weeks. There are three couples assigned to work full time in the branches, one in the office, the mission president and his wife and us. One of the discussions that take place is staying with in the area of assignment. When some of the branches take trips to the temple the assigned couple wants to go with their members but because the temple is three missions away a request for travel needs to be sent to the Area Presidency for approval – ‘Red Tape’. Then someone will say “but the Costleys can go anywhere they want without permission”. We act sheepishly until we are in the car and then say ‘YES!’

Time is drawing short for two of our couples who are preparing to return home between now and July. Only one replacement couple has been called so we will be short a couple in a branch. This will be rough because they are so helpful.

Our training at the couples meeting was for the Elders on the Philippines budget process for the stake/ district and ward/ branches. They operate on what is known as a JP Morgan card (visa) where funds are allocated and as they are needed the president withdraws funds in cash then accounts for them with receipts. The unit allocation is based on attendance at meetings.
After the meeting we returned the pickup truck to Manila and were glad to have our little Corolla back – it is more comfortable and easier to maneuver through traffic.

We taught a Career Workshop Saturday in a small ward called Capas in the Tarlac Stake and had seventeen participants in our class. Many of our members are hungry for anything that will help them to face life’s challenges.

Elder NB & Sister MB

Sunrise at Baler

Baler, Aurora,

Philippines

30 March 2009

Our assignment this week was to travel to Baler, a small community on the eastern coast of the Philippines. Baler is the furthest missionary outpost in the Angeles Mission and has four small branches in the area that report directly to the mission president. Four teams of missionaries and a missionary couple are assigned to the area and because of the beauty (the ocean) of the area , all missionaries want to be assigned there.

We had to exchange our car for a high clearance pick-up because we had to cross a mountain range on a gravel road that was steep, very rough and rocky. Our travel time from Tarlac to Baler was five hours of which three hours were in the mountains. Needless to say MB was bounced out of her seat a few times. As we entered the beautiful valley it was full of coconut groves and rice fields and everything was tropical green. They said it is the coconut capital of the Philippines.

We taught two Self Employment Workshops Thursday and Friday to the two out-laying branches and they generated some very good ideas for businesses. They need to now spend time doing the research and developing business plans so they can capitalize their businesses and get started. On Saturday we gave a Career Workshop in the Baler Branch and had a great time preparing them to job search and face to face interviewing. There were a lot of young people there and they are the ones who really need this workshop. The branch president who is working in a local government office said this was his first ever interview. We do all our teaching in English which is sometime a challenge for them to verbalize their thoughts which makes it fun for the whole class.

Sunday evening we presented a fireside on Prosperity which is directed at encouraging the members to save some of their income for their retirement. Filipinos are a very generous people and will give anything to their family to make them happy even at their own expense. It is their culture to celebrate even if they have to borrow money to celebrate – saving is not (part of their culture). As a result most do not have anything to live on when they retire and have to depend on their children.

We had no internet access while we were gone, so no communication for a week. Returned safely on Monday and enjoyed being in our little home after a week away.

Elder NB & Sister MB

Being Taught and Teaching

Tarlac, Tarlac,

Philippines

23 March 2009

On Wednesday this week we sat at the feet of a General Authority as missionaries and received instructions and challenges from him. ElderTeh, of the First Quorum of Seventy and second counselor in the Area Presidency, toured the Angeles Mission with President Puzey. He asked probing questions about our obedience then challenged us to make the necessary improvements to stay close to the Lord. During lunch we found out he has family in Davis County and even in our stake – small world in the church.

We spent some time with part of the Tarlac Stake Employment Committee (SEC) visiting the mayor’s office in Tarlac. Our objective, under direction of the stake president was to offer our church buildings as venues for training of our members in livelihood training. Of course it is open to non-members as well. The stake has interest in new technology – computer training and cell phone repair as well as skills in cosmetology – manicure and hair cutting. We established contacts, obtained the necessary forms and procedures to secure the training now the SEC will need to find the members who desire the training.

Two more Career Workshops were completed – the last one (total of 5) for Angeles University Foundation with over a hundred and twenty graduating students and a small ward were we taught twenty. Both had their challenges and rewards but the most rewarding is when we work with members. In the AUF session (a Catholic University) we had one member of the church come up to us and thank us for bringing the workshop there, her name was Sunshine, a great name for the Philippines! Seven members were in the ward training. A few were filling requirements for Perpetual Education Fund (PEF) – these were sharp kids.

We are traveling to Baler next week so we will be late posting our blog.

Elder NB & Sister MB