Now We Are On our Own

On Saturday morning the 26th we took President and Sister Hiatt to the airport for their flight to Manila where they stayed until Monday, then flew home to Idaho. The week we spent together was filled with training, travel, visits and sharing over twenty years of memories serving together in the Sandpoint Idaho Stake of Zion.  It was a blessing for us to have such great trainers who worked hard to fill our minds with all the necessary things we would need to know for the future. We will be eternally grateful for all their help.  It was fun, spiritual and exciting.

Some of the highlights of last week:

On Sunday after a good day of meeting members in the four local branches we went to Family Home Evening at the Duking family. The evening was filled with family time, a great lesson from the Old Testament and wonderful food. Sister Duking is the District Relief Society President and is a stalwart leader in the area.

Sister Wolcott feeding the carabao
on her morning walk

Within our walled community there is a domestic Carabao. He is always eager to see us everyday because we bring our fruit scraps to him. (The mango's and banana's here are extraordinary)

Filipino Cowboy along the road to Narra

On Monday we drove to Narra which is about 90 Kilometers Southwest of Puerto Princessa, there we met Elder and Sister Wirthlin and took care of some mission business. We all took a short side trip to Estralla Falls, it a beautiful spot to visit.

Elder and Sister Wirthlin,
Elder and Sister Wolcott,
Elder and Sister Hiatt

Tuesday was a special family activity at the Malvar chapel with couples from throughout the district invited. Sister Wolcott and I were invited to answer questions about family relations, it was an interesting hour or so! The questions varied from how to manage finances to how should a husband conduct himself.

On Wednesday we had dinner with the Maraneta family, it was a special time as we were treated with Filipino hospitality. They are a middle class family with a great home, as is a frequent custom they had dinner place settings for their guests and waited until we had eaten before they had dinner.

Thursday evening we visited with the Santos family and heard his incredible story of survival, baptism and bringing his family from poverty and a Nipa Hut to a managerial position and a comfortable situation. One can escape the crushing poverty, but many do not. Sister Santos can prepare a meal for a large group, take it to the church and serve it hot, with a two burner gas stove and a small outside charcoal BBQ, it is amazing.

Sister Hiatt signing the Conch at Tay Tay

On Friday we drove about 90 Km NW to Roxas and then another 90 Km to Tay Tay, in Tay Tay President and Sister Hiatt signed the conch alongside Elder Durfee's name. Elder Durfee was from Sandpoint, Idaho Stake and served part of his mission in Tay Tay.




Of interest this past week was a national celebration of the family in the Philippines, it was a great opportunity for conversation as the church participated in the events and had several activities including showing the movie Meet The Mormons and other family activities.


Our resident gecko is telling us it's bedtime! I've seen him a couple of times, Sister Wolcott hasn't looked for him...