Interesting Trip From Paoay

Elder Eddington and I are branching out with our Member Records Project.  We have pretty much finished phase one in the Laoag Stake, so on to other areas.  Yesterday we attended a district meeting of elders and sisters in one of the Paoay Districts.  Because of Elder Eddington's knowledge and expertise of spread sheets and computers, he is a perfect fit for this project.  He has organized member records by address to make it easier for the missionaries to find and reactivate members. His reputation is spreading.  Whenever we meet missionaries we don't know, one of the first things they ask us is, "When are you going to fix the member records in our area?"

We are also traveling around so Elder Eddington can give mini-classes in district meetings.  He is educating the missionaries as to the different types of member record reports that can be generated.  These various member record reports will help the missionary cause. My job is to be Elder Eddington's travel companion and executive secretary. Hard job, but someone has to do it!

Here are a few of the interesting sights we saw coming back from our half-hour trip to Paoay. Actually, this first picture was taken on a previous trip, but I had to include it.  It is SO gorgeous!

Calendar perfect!

Not a very artistic view, but these authentic houses are so quaint. The roofs are palm leaves. The walls are either bamboo or woven palm leaves. I can't tell what the walls are made of in these homes.
 

It is rice-and-corn harvest season. After manually cutting the rice stalks, which is hot and back-breaking work, the rice goes into a rice thrasher, which separates the rice kernels from the stalks.  The rice is then spread along the shoulders of the roads to dry.  Sometimes the rice is spread into the lanes of traffic and is driven over. 

After the grains are dry, they are scooped into large bags.  This is a community affair: women, men, chickens, dogs, and children help. The drying process seems very unsanitary, but the rice is still in its husks.

Grain being scooped into bags

Bags being put into trucks

More bags being loaded onto a truck.

I have wanted to create a post: "Strange Things We Find In The Streets", but it would be too hard to capture everything.  The best one so far was when we encountered a litter of puppies owning the road.  Some were sunning themselves in the middle of the street.  Others were kind of on the side of the road, getting their nightly nip, if you know what I mean. We had to wait for mother dog and puppies to reluctantly toddle to the shoulder.

But I did capture this picture that can go under the category of: "Strange Things We Find In The Streets".

What a bad mother to let her babies play in the street! OK, so they aren't playing. So adorable!

This next series of pictures is priceless! Absolutely priceless.  I tried taking a picture from my open window as we passed.  This is all I managed to capture:

A hard-working carabao (a subspecies of the water buffalo)

So we pulled over to get a better shot.  I tried taking the picture from a distance so the gentleman wouldn't see me, but this is all I got:

Still an inferior shot.  At this point the old fellow saw what was going on and stopped to pose for the next pictures.

He was so gracious to let me have this photo op!  Your dad gave me p10 to give to him for being so cooperative. He was very confused when I offered him the money, but put out his hard-working, calloused hand and smiled an almost toothless grin.  What a wonderful moment! "National Geographic", eat your heart out!

By the way, I have picked up a service project.  Your dad has his Member Records Cause, which I help him with when I can. But sometimes your dad is working on computer projects that I can't help with, therefore I have nothing to do. I read the scriptures as much as I can during these down moments, but I can only read so much in one sitting.  So yesterday before we got back to our apartment we stopped at a hospital to offer my services. It's a new hospital, therefore they are very appreciative to accept any charitable assistance.  So I bought some flannel, crochet thread, and a crochet hook.  I'm on my way to making baby blankets to be given to poorer families when they leave the hospital with their newborns. I questioned whether blankets are needed in a tropical climate, but the hospital staff we talked with assured me they are used.....as well as hats, mittens, and booties.  Prickly heat waiting to happen, as far as I'm concerned.

Love, Elder and Sister Eddington

Blood Letting Drive Scheduled

Elder and Sister DeMars, the only other senior couple in the Laoag Philippines Mission came from Vigan to attend a two-day meeting.  They stayed with us on Friday night.  Your dad and Elder DeMars went together to the meetings on both Friday night and Saturday morning.....leaving Sister DeMars and myself to our own devices. So what do any real women do on a Saturday morning when left without men folk? Of course....go shopping!

President Odgers, Sister Odgers, (who are the ex-mission president and wife),  Sister DeMars, and Elder DeMars



It became my responsibility to lead out and get Sister DeMars and myself to Laoag's shopping area.  What a nose bleed! (Filipino expression meaning "stressful".) For the past 2 1/2 months I have relied on Elder Eddington for almost everything.  I am so comfortable sitting back while your dad finds his way to places both in Laoag as well as outlying towns.  I am so used to your dad paying for everything. It is also very comfortable having your dad as my sole companion, pretty much knowing how he will respond to any given situation.  So I was very anemic by the end of the morning!

Nose bleed number one.  Sister DeMars and I hadn't even walked twenty feet past our apartment gate, when a young girl came speeding past us on her bike.  Behind her ran a little crying boy, trying to catch up with Girl-On-Bike.  He was naked as the day he was born, large rock in hand.  My instinct was to ignore the whole situation for two reasons. The main reason was: Naked boy! The second reason was, "I don't want no trouble, Man!" Not Sister DeMars!  With hands on hips, she kept yelling at Girl-On-Bike:  "Hey! Come back here!" The girl stopped pedaling, but didn't return.  By now the whole neighborhood was staring at the spectical. That didn't deter Sister DeMars.  Meanwhile while counseling with Naked Boy to put his rock down, a third child ran to Bike Girl, grabbed a plastic basket from her sidecar, and delivered it to Naked Boy. Everyone was then happy, and we walked on to hail a tricycle.

Not the same Girl-On-Bike as in story, but a similar bike

Nose bleed number two. We hailed a tricycle, stuffed ourselves into the sidecar, told the driver, "Enrico's", and off we went. With hair blowing out of control and much bouncing, I kept trying to recognize and count out the amount of pesos I thought we needed to pay for the tricycle ride.  I don't know a peso from a centavo during the best of times, much less during a wild tricycle ride.

Enrico's: the best import grocery store in Laoag. The only store that sells molasses. Notice the artistic sidewalk. It is made of small rocks set in cement.

                                                             
Nose bleed number three. We finished shopping at Enrico's.  Panic quickly set in while standing on the curb outside the store.  At that point I realized it was up to me to find all the other stores in which Sister DeMars wanted to shop.  But I didn't do too badly.  I was able to find all the stores that filled Sister DeMars' needs.  We only had to backtrack one time during the whole shopping expedition.

Nose bleed number four. A few hours of shopping later, and my being only five pesos poorer, (about 12.5 cents) it started to rain, so we decided to call the trip.  Finding a tricycle was no problem, but staying dry during the trip was.  We arrived back at the apartment literally dripping wet.

Nose bleed number five.  After changing into dry clothes and recurling my hair, I realized I needed to venture out into the world....ALONE!  Elder Eddington hadn't returned from his morning meeting yet.  He was my ride to the stake center where I was to give piano lessons.  GULP! Leaving Sister DeMars and a homemade pot of chicken noodle soup, I rode in a tricycle ALL ALONE to the stake center. It felt so very strange being in a foreign country, traveling down a busy road....did I mention, ALL ALONE?

No more nose bleeds the rest of the day....except when we arrived in Bacarra for Glydel's baptism later that afternoon....without a camera....again!  We attended her ward today so we could take an after-the-fact picture.  So instead of a baptism picture, it's a confirmation picture.  Just as good!

Another darling young lady joins the Ranks!

By the way: When the Filipinos announce they're having a "blood letting", they're announcing a "blood drive".


Love, Elder and Sister Eddington

Not Just Endure, But Endure Well

"After much tribulation comes the blessings."  However, we're not a tribulation-kind-of-a couple.

Two weeks ago we gave up our car to have a minor repair job. The trim on one of the back doors was catching on the front door when opened, causing the trim to come off.  The mission office elders told us: "You'll have your car back in four days".  "Four days just to fix some trim? Kind of a long time, but no problem...well, kind of  'no problem'. We'll try to endure".  We anxiously waited for the said Friday when our car would be returned.  "Sorry, no car until Tuesday."  You've got to be kidding! It's just a little trim adjustment.  Meanwhile without a car, we were holed up in our apartment working on member records. When we did get brave and venture out into the hot, humid world, we would always arrive at our destination literally soaked in sweat....even when using umbrellas. Not a pretty picture. But the fact that we arrived safely was a blessing:  1) There are no sidewalks anywhere.  2) The streets are very narrow and crowded.  3) Pedestrians are at the bottom of the "traffic food chain".  4) There are roaming dogs everywhere.  One morning one was trotting down the street towards me.  He didn't look very menacing, so I wasn't worried.  Wrong! He lunged towards me, growled, and then innocently continued trotting on.  I began sweating twice as much.

We needed transportation to the rural town of "Piddig" to give piano lessons on Saturday night, so the mission office elders loaned us their diesel pickup for the evening.  Not very dignified for a senior couple, but it got us there and back.

With much tribulation, we made it to Tuesday.  "Whew, we made it!"  Not quite! "Sorry no car until Friday." Again, "You've got to be kidding!" Like we said, we're not a tribulation-kind-of-a couple.  I have a feeling where there's murmuring during the tribulation, the blessings don't come. At this point, we stopped anxiously looking forward to Friday and said, "We'll believe it when we see it". So when Friday arrived and the word from the mission office was, "Your car will be ready tomorrow," we just thought, "Whatever!"  But our car was finally returned to us on Saturday.  Elder Eddington and I couldn't get enough of our blessed car!  Between piano lessons, we just sat in it, enjoying the air conditioning while eating our favorite pandesal treat. We bought them hot at a little bakery two doors down from the stake center.

Lessons learned:
1) Appreciate what you have.

We love our car!

2) Appreciate what the young elders and sisters do every day: missionary work without cars.
3) Continue to recognize that going on splits with the young missionaries is a blessing to us as well as them.  They appreciate having transportation.....especially air conditioned transportation.
4) Have a food storage program in place.  We filled our cupboards with a week's worth of food before we gave up our car....not dreaming we would need a two-week's supply.  It's almost impossible to fit two huge Americans into a tricycle, much less two huge Americans plus even one bag of groceries.

Food, glorious food!

4) Recognize that all tribulations do eventually come to an end.  If we endure tribulation well, we will be better off than complaining all the way.  But that's a lesson yet to be learned.  The mission office elders can attest to that.  I'm sure they were tired of hearing my complaints....especially since I wouldn't let it drop.  The other day the mission office elders and Elder Eddington were discussing whether or not the car needed an oil change. I piped up saying, "Oh sure, so we can be without a car for another two weeks?"

Love, Elder and Sister Eddington

I Did It!

Since Elder Eddington and I have been walking around the Marcos Stadium exercise track, I have gotten brave and upped the exercise to a jog.  Elder Eddington still walks, but briskly. My jogging speed is a tad faster than his walking speed. But my goal has been to lap Elder Eddington.  It has been a total pipe dream until today!  I did it!  (Actually, it parallels with the 2nd-place victory in the 5k Orem Firemen's Race I "ran" with Jeff and Natalie.  It sounded good that I came in second!  Wahoo!  Minor details: 1) There were only three entries in my class of old foggies.  2) One of the entrants dropped out.  End result: Second Place!  Hey, they gave me a medal, so my win was legit'.)


Anyway, back to the details of lapping Elder Eddington.  A very friendly 78-year-old gentleman joined us while we were walking.  I soon got antsy, so I started jogging, leaving Elder Eddington and new-found friend in my dust. This time things were different.  Elder Eddington had slowed his pace to match the 78-year-old's pace, which opened wide the "Door Of Opportunity".  It took about four times around the track, but I lapped them.   I was so proud!



Me, enjoying my short-lived victory!

 

On the way home from the stadium, Elder Eddington filled me in on the conversation he and the older gentleman had had.  People at the track called this older man, "Father".  He was an ex-Catholic priest who had resigned years ago and gotten married.  The gentleman asked a few questions about the structure of the Church.  He was also interested to learn that none of the positions in the Church are paid positions....including the fact that missionaries pay their own way. The comment by another walker who had meanwhile joined them was, "Well, we all worship the same God, right?"  Elder Eddington's response was, "Well, kind of" ....which led into a mini-lesson on the Godhead.

So even though I lapped Elder Eddington this morning on the Marcos Stadium Exercise Track in Laoag, Elder Eddington lapped me on the Eternal Heavenly Stadium Exercise Track in the Sky. Way to go, Elder Eddington!

Love, Sister Eddington

New Post Is Buried!

I finally finished "Eensy Weensy"post and published it.  Trouble is, it's published on the date I started creating it, not on today's date.  So look at Tuesday, August 21st for our newest post. Sorry 'bout that!

Elder & Sister Eddington