Our Mission: A Growing Experience

I guess we're not above the missionary law after all.  Before our mission we'd heard stories of how missionaries are asked to do things with no advance notice.  I kind of on purpose ignored that little bit of information, thinking, or at least hoping, it would never happen to us. However:

1.  Four Sundays ago I was met at the meetinghouse door by the Young Women's President asking if I would accompany a YW sister who was going to sing in sacrament meeting.  I dutifully accepted the assignment.  I didn't worry too much about my lack of preparation, thinking the piece would be an easy YW rendition.  WRONG!  With only Sunday School time to practice with the sister, I realized I had a problem.  She was professionally trained and had chosen a very advanced piece to sing, with a challenging accompaniment.  I immediately became ill and then started praying like crazy.  I definitely had a tender mercy for the day in the form of a sweet young sister I had asked to turn pages for me.  During the performance, I kept losing my place. I'd keep whispering to her: "Where are we?  I'm lost!" Thankfully she'd point me in the right direction.  Elder Eddington said I did very well.  I hope he wasn't just trying to be nice.

2.  Three Sundays ago we visited a small branch in the rural town  of Piddig.  The members there meet in a converted home.  It had such a warm, welcoming spirit.  While enjoying the Spirit, waiting for sacrament meeting to begin,  some kind soul asked me if I would be the accompanist for sacrament meeting.  No problem, except that their instrument was a rickety keyboard that literally swayed to the music!  The chorister adjusted the settings so it sounded pretty much like an organ.  So far, so good...except for the fact that the chair was too short.  My hands were positioned at about the same height as my ears.  And not to mention that every time I pressed a key it glowed red. The worst of it all was the rest hymn (or standing hymn, as they call it) was one of the most challenging hymns for me.  But again, through a lot of frantic praying, I survived.  Elder Eddington had it worse, however.  He was asked to be one of the sacrament meeting speakers, so I was grateful for my assignment.

3.  Two Sundays ago in Laoag Ward 3,  again enjoying the Spirit while waiting for sacrament meeting to start, we saw the bishop approach.  Uh oh!  Not good! You guessed it: "Elder and Sister Eddington, would you be our speakers in sacrament meeting today? Take about ten minutes each."  My worst nightmare come true.  I don't know which is worse, to sweat bullets for two weeks prior to giving a talk, or sweat bullets ten minutes before giving a talk.  It was the weirdest feeling to approach the pulpit without any notes.....to rely only on the scriptures for support.  But with a lot of praying and a lot of help from the Holy Ghost, we both survived.  It was definitely a growing experience for me.  Elder Eddington did much better.  He's a natural-born speaker.

We have learned so much while being on our mission.  We have learned to study the scriptures in a more meaningful and more consistent way.  We have learned to recognize the whisperings of the Spirit more fully.....and obey the whisperings.  We have learned to rely on the Spirit for help and guidance as to what to say in teaching situations.  We have developed more charitable hearts.  We have learned a deeper love, both for each other as well as for the members, missionaries, and investigators we have met.  We have learned to appreciate the love our family at home has for us....as well as their sacrifices in our behalf.  We have learned to more fully show love and appreciation for our family. We have learned to more fully appreciate the many blessings that have and are daily being showered on us and our family.  We have learned to appreciate and love the Gospel of Jesus Christ so much more. 

Stay strong in the faith, Elder and Sister Eddington

Hip-Hip-Hore, It's Finished

The Hore (rhymes with "Norway") home has been finished and moved into.

Previous Hore home

New Hore home

Another view of the new Hore home

Sister Hore holding Baby Jared, sisters Angel and Princess

The Hore Family was only borrowing the use of their old home.  The owners wanted the materials from their old home to be used elsewhere.  So......

All that's left of the old Hore home

Apparently the owners of the old Hore home also owned a piece of the two-log bridge because it's now a one-log bridge! I was almost a goner this time. The elders and Elder Eddington saved me from the muddy stream.  I came out of it unscathed except for a pair of now muddy shoes.

Lots of love,  Elder and Sister Eddington

Eensy Weensy

I've been working on creating this post for not a small while!

 

WELCOME TO LAOAG



Can you see the "Laoag" sign on the hill?

Laoag City is just one miniature city among many Filipino cities of miniatures:

 

It is a city of compact homes.....

diminuative stores.....



miniature "taxis" (called tricycles)

tiny roads......

 

even tinier horses......

 

teensy dogs (Rufus here leaves not-so-teensy "gifts" on our porch).....

dwarfed, one-eyed cats......

 doll-sized, short, and low-to-the-ground beds not fit for a 6'3" elder....

and cute, petite people.

But watch out for.......

the humongous snails.....





and gigantic city buses.



Back end of another enormous bus.

"And that's all I have to say about that!"

For Doug

Doug, here are some pictures of the Marcos University you requested. This athletic complex is next door to the College of Education.  We walk/jog here almost every morning.  It's a good thing mission rules encourage us to exercise 30 minutes each morning, otherwise we probably wouldn't.



Basketball court in foreground.  Brownish-red exercise oval in background. Pool at far end of the exercise track.

More of the exercise track with bleachers and dorms in background

Olympic-sized pool next to the far end of exercise track

Marcos University has a lot of colleges scattered all across the Ilocos Norte Province.  The college located next door to the exercise track etc. is the Mariano Marcos State University-College of Education.

It's hard to read, but the sign designates this as "Mariano Marcos State University-College of Education".



A few scenes of what we see on the way back from the University to our apartment.

A broken-down wall with the remains of a hand-painted mural.

What a shame. Whoever painted it was very talented.

The blue fencing is the remains of WWII temporary airplane landing strips.

Noisy and smelly neighbors down the street from our apartment.

So there you have it, Doug.  I'm sure it's not what you wanted, but we tried.

Hugs and "Misses",  Elder and Sister Eddington

A Great Day In The Philippines

Our day began at 5:35am yesterday.  We walked 1 1/2 miles on the Marcos University Stadium exercise track.  Sister Eddington even jogged a few laps! (Sorry Doug, no pictures of the University yet.  The closest we can come is this picture taken a few days ago just down the street from the University.)



Very unusual flowers growing near Marcos Stadium

 Then off to attend the 8am baptism of Garlene Lazaro Melchor.  We have been involved with the sister missionaries in her teaching for quite a few weeks. What a sweet young thing.



Sister Reyes, Sister Garlene, and Sister Serrano - in front of the Laoag Stake Center

Before the baptism

Some of the baptism attendees

Garlene's baptism being over, we then went down the hall to the relief sociaty room to join the single adults who were having a family history activity.  We had previously been invited to attend, so we loaned them our laptops and helped out.

Next, up the stairs to the chapel to give Sister Michelle her weekly piano lesson.  She is a dedicated soul, practicing every day. 

Sister Michelle posing by a HUGE marigold plant

Sister Sariah's lesson came next. I had told Michelle she (Michelle) was my star student, so she wanted to stick around to hear how Sariah was progressing.  If Sariah was ahead of Michelle, then Michelle was going to practice harder.  Michelle laughed at her folly, and immediately repented. What a cutie!

After finishing Sariah's lesson, we raced off to Bacarra, being late for another baptism. Half way there, we realized we had left the camera back at the stake center, but didn't have time to return to retrieve it.  Sorry. 

We arrived late for the baptism of Mikko Castillo, a great 12-year-old young man.  Previously we were able to accompany the elders for two of his lessons.  He was baptized the same time two other eight-year-old girls were baptized.  One of the baptized girl's name was Princess Ramones. 

Then back to the Laoag Stake Center for another piano lesson---which was canceled, but we didn't check our cell phone messages to know that.  But it turned out well.  While waiting for the non-existent lesson, the elders introduced me to an investigator who would like piano lessons. So it was a profitable wait. 

We returned to our apartment in the middle of a torrential rainstorm to face our uneaten breakfast still sitting on the table.

 At 7pm, we worked on member records for a while. It was a great day.



Elder Eddington working on member records

Hugs and "Misses", Elder and Sister Eddington

Every Street Has A Story

Almost every morning we walk a few blocks to the Marcos University Stadium to exercise on their running track.  The other morning as we passed by one of our neighbor's houses, we noticed the most gorgeous colors of, I'm assuming, hibiscus flowers. So after our exercise, I walked back with my camera to capture their beauty (which, by the way, the camera didn't capture.)



There is a delicate, light salmon border on this flower.

This one is more true-to-color. 

Anyway, while I had camera in hand, I took the opportunity to capture the flavor of our street: Natalio del Castillo. I love that name.

Dogs rule the streets.....

.........as do the goats. We make frequent stops, waiting for a spacey goat to wander out of the street.

Young boys are always fishing over the fence into the field across from our apartment. We assumed they were fishing for fish.  Wrong!

The spoils of a "fishing" expedition: a fat, juicy frog!

We should have known what the boys are fishing for. On evenings when it has just rained, the field comes alive with the sounds of the noisiest frogs imaginable!

My next field trip is to follow the sounds of the pigs we hear squealing each morning.  Every evening we leave scraps on our porch for the pig lady to collect. I'm curious to see the results of our charitable donations.

Mahal,  Elder and Sister Eddington

The Bacarra Elders Baptize!

We attended our first baptism on Saturday.  Pretty awesome! We were like proud grandparents: not doing any of the hard stuff but reaping the end rewards.  It was a joyful experience. Your dad & I had been in the Magbayani home twice before Rowell's baptism.  The first time for a fun family home evening the elders planned.  The second time to participate in a lesson the elders taught.  Hence the analogy: Grandparents are to grandchildren as senior couples are to investigators.

Rowell is the last man standing.  His whole family joined the Church in 2009.  One of the sons, Sherman, is already an RM.  He is actively involved in Institute.  In fact, he teaches one of the classes there.  He was the one who baptized Rowell.  And is he ever gawapo! I was testing the waters to see if one of my adorable piano students might be interested in Sherman, but she said he' s taken.  Darn! Another son is now on his mission.  The mother is the current relief society president.  Don't ask us why Rowell has held out so long, but all's well that ends well.



Back row (left to rt) Bro Agbayani (father), Rowell, Sister Agbayani (mother), Sherman
Front row (left to rt) Elders Samalpong and Atazan

The baptism crew

This baptism almost made up for the baptism we missed in July: namely Taylor's....but not quite.  The key word being "almost".

Ingot,  Elder & Sister Eddington

Another Dirt-Floor Home Bites The Dust

We are on a roll! The Marcello family will now be the recipient of a cement-floored home. Not only will they have a cement floor, but they will have walls that actually go to the ceiling.  No more umbrella stuffed in part of the gap in an attempt to keep water from pouring on their beds when it rains.  The plastic poster doesn't do a much better job than the umbrella.  (See pictures).

This time the members of the Bontay Ward are the great workers helping improve the living conditions.  Of course it has been raining all week during the work project.  But  today has been a great day for working: overcast, breezy, and with no rain......but it's Sunday. (Just to clarify, no one worked today.)

By the way, the first picture shows our car.  Yes, we're driving foreign.  Hard to swallow!

Elders Eddington, Felila, and Smith mixing cement

.....and mixing

.......and mixing

......and mixing.

Brother Mercello working on the new addition. The 1/2-wall behind him will come out.

Notice the umbrella and plastic poster that are attempts at keeping their home dry.

Given Grace Revisited

The missionary sisters, your dad, and I visited Sister Michelle again last week.  They gave an awesome lesson while Given Grace slept.

Given Grace says, "Homemade baby hammocks are the best for sleeping....

....even when bothersome people take pictures."

"I especially like it when Mom rocks me. I hope the knots hold!"

"I'm awake now......

.....and smiling."

"I'm famous! I even have a car named after me!"