MLC - Missionary Leader Conference

These missionaries are the mature young leaders of our mission. The Elders are the Zone Leaders - the Sisters are the Sister Leader Trainers.
This group travels to Cebu from Negros Island and all the Zones on Cebu Isalnd. Today was probably the last time we will see many of them. That is always kind of a bitter-sweet experience.

 This is Sister Bishun and me. She is from Toronto Canada.

Forty plus years ago, I sewed this temple dress for myself. Originally I had a cute white belt to wear with it - that I also made. This sister loved the old-fashioned style and was commenting on it. Well, the dress will be hers when I leave. I told her to add a 2 or 3 inch belt.

 We enjoyed the zone reports and President Schmutz' training in the morning, then met at the mission home for a homemade burrito lunch, provided by Sister Schmutz. She is a wonderful cook and loves to pamper the missionaries. Cake and ice-cream for dessert. All so good!

 Elder Sommerfeldt loves to visit with the Elders and Sisters, and they love him.

 This is Sister Passey. She was good enough to go around and take pictures for me with my camera. I'm in the dishpan in the background. That's my normal place at lunches, and I'm delighted to be there. Sister Schmutz certainly doesn't need to do dishes after making all the good food. 

 Within the next short three months, all of us will be on our way home. 

Elder Sommerfeldt and I leave on April 18th, Ernstroms are on their way home on May 4th, 

and Sister and President Schmutz will have served their three years in the mission in July. 

 The Elder and Sisters wanted to give us a going-away gift.
They sang "God Be With You Til We Meet Again" a cappella - with beautiful harmony. 

A very tender hymn that touched our hearts. 

". . . when we meet at Jesus feet . . ."

We have learned to love each missionary so very much!

 The group of us, minus Sister Ernstrom and Sister Schmutz. 

They were trying to take a video clip to send to President McCurdy who will 

be taking over the President's duties in July.

 Sister and President Schmutz!

Elder Sommerfeldt and Elder Enmace -

the American and the Filipino!

Interesting Signage

The signs kind of speak for themselves. I will add to these as I find more pictures we have taken.

This sign is on Mactan Island.

Christ Is Coming

Sunday, Wednesday and Friday - and the times!

We see this sign from our apartment window.

We hear ads on the radio about Grand Cement - 

Superior Japanese Quality

One T-shirt we saw (I didn't take a picture of it) said: 

I am not an alcoholic,

I am a drunk,

Alcoholic's attend meetings.

Transfer Week - 40 missionaries to San Carlos & Escalante on Negros

The adventure continues!

What a royal army!

This past week, President Schmutz invited us to travel to San Carlos and Escalante in the northern part of Negros Island. The Cebu Mission is incorporating those two areas of the Bacolod Mission into our mission because the population there speaks mostly Cebuano - as do our missionaries. The Bacolod Mission speaks Ilongon.

The journey began at 6:30 in Cebu. From there the 40 missionaries being transferred to this new area rode a bus to Toledo, to catch the ferry to San Carlos on Negros.

Dock workers were playing a version of Checkers while they awaited for the arrival of the ferry.

Our missionaries boarding the ferry.

Backing the bus onto the ferry. It was the last vehicle on and was sandwiched in between the other vehicles. For a time, we weren't sure the bus was going to fit.

This is San Carlos. There are lots of trikes here, but no Jeepneys. The surprising thing was the wide streets. We joked that Brigham Young must have laid out the town.

The LDS Church in San Carlos.

 President Lopez had arranged a spaghetti lunch for our missionaries. That also gave them an opportunity to begin meeting the Bacolod missionaries who would be turning over their areas to us.

Sister Anderson, from Cedar City, arrived yesterday to begin her mission. Her first assignment will be to work in an area far from the mission home.   

After lunch, President Schmutz asked us to deliver Elder Diamese and Elder Consigna, and two of the Bacolod missionaries to their area about an hour and a half drive from San Carlos.
We started on a good highway, but about an hour into our trip, we were into the bukid. The roads were narrow, not paved, and muddy.

A house on the way.

The town of Cabagtasan was actually not too much more than a few residences in the turn of the road.

This building is the "church" - the sign at the top says: Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The bottom floor is used for the church meetings, and the upstairs is the apartment for the Elders.

 This is the chapel. It was nice and clean and even had a pulpit. The "Group" in Cabagtasan is about 40 strong, with about 20 people attending on a good Sunday.
Right behind the white board is the kitchen below.

The Bacolod missionaries were scheduled to be with our Elders for the rest of the afternoon, and overnight, then leave the next day to travel back inside their new mission boundaries.
Being so far away from the city, and without a knowledge of how to move around in a brand new area, it was kind of hard to leave our Elders behind as we left. They assured us they would be fine.

Our drive back gave us an opportunity to enjoy the beautiful land through which we were traveling.
We loved seeing the incredible rice fields, and seeing the process of growing rice.

 Preparing the soil.

Working in flooded rice patty.

 Families are planting the rice.

 The fields are huge, and are terraced to make the best use of the mountainous land.

 These pictures have not been retouched.
This is actually the color of green that you see.

More incredible rice patties.

Drying the rice on tarps on the highway.

The the rice has to be threshed to remove the outer hull.

 A mother caraboa and her calf.

Chocolate Hills of Negros.
There are also Chocolate Hills on Bohol.

At the end of the day, we met President and Sister Schmutz, the AP's - Elder Peck and Elder Glines, and Elder Ernstrom back in San Carlos to eat dinner and stay overnight in the YM Business Inn.

Early the following morning, we again rode on the ferry to Toledo, and then drove back to Cebu in our very muddy truck.