Last Half of Friday

So we arrived back in Laoag from our speaking appointment at 4pm.  I immediately started making final preparations for a baby shower Bishop Catubay's wife and I were having for four young ladies. We were going to have the shower in our apartment, but decided we needed more room, so it was planned for the relief society room in the stake center. It's a good thing, too! We initially set up seventeen chairs, but kept adding more and more chairs as the evening progressed.  I have NO idea how many we ended up with, but the room was packed..... and a lot of pancit and two banana cakes were consumed.

This shower was the first shower the Laoag Second Ward has had.  While we were waiting for the shower to start, I passed a bag of diapers around. The sisters were to guess how many diapers were in the bag. A lot of the older sisters confessed they hadn't used diapers on their babies.

A priesthood holder started the "meeting". He announced the program and off we went: Opening song: "In Our Lovely Deseret", opening prayer, spiritual thought, and then games by Sister Eddington. Sister Catubay gave me the assignment of games, so they could see how an American shower was conducted. Too little, too late! But I LOVE games!  However, this created a few problems. Problem #1:  When I plan the games, I can't play them. Problem #2: Just TRY and explain the rules of a game when half of the audience doesn't understand English. (The younger ladies do well with English, but the older ones don't.) Problem #3: Filipinos are a fun-loving people.  They were having so much fun among themselves, it was hard for my voice to rise above the noise.  I had to use my whistle a few times...not very reverent.

The first game was an ice-breaker game.  They were to tell two things about themselves. One was a true statement and the other was a lie. It was hilarious to see these sisters try and lie! They would crack themselves up when they told the lie.  No one could lie with a straight face.  I was thinking I wouldn't have nearly enough prizes for all the winners of this game, since all the lies were so obvious.




Sister Catubay (Bishop's wife) in middle...writing what they think are the sisters' true statements.



Sister Domingo (Elders' Quorum President's wife) on left
Sister Daquioag (Relief Society President) on right

I passed out old issues of the Liahona so the sisters would have something to write on.  Apparently they thought they were gifts since I didn't receive any back! That's ok, Elder and I had read them. Obviously the sisters needed them worse than we did...even though most of them were the English version.

Sister Sylvia Arquillo in orange top and daughter Rachel (newly reactivated)

The next game was the guess-what-baby-item-is-inside-the-paper-bag game.  They did better with this game.



Three of the guests of honor: Ken, Hershelle, and Aubrey. (Romelyn couldn't make it.)
Hershelle is having the missionary lessons.... her fiance is a member.
 



"If I put the bag close to my forehead like Johnny Carson did as Carnak, I will know what's inside."

This time I gave the "booby prize" to the loser.  The sisters had NO idea what "booby prize" meant.  Explanations were in order.




The sister in the white top won with two of eleven correct answers.

The last game was to draw a picture of a baby... on top of their heads.  The best baby picture won. I wish I had taken pictures of the baby drawings.  They were hilarious!

Silly me! Of COURSE there was a closing to the meeting.  If there were opening exercises, why wouldn't there be closing remarks from the bishop, a closing hymn, and a prayer?  I was such a heathen.  I just started cutting and passing out the banana cake. Finally someone asked me: "Aren't we going to have a blessing on the food?"  Awkward! After the party, I apologized to Bishop Catubay for being so non-spiritual. After all, the party WAS held in the meetinghouse. Prayers should have been offered.  I took off my missionary badge and tried to turn it in to him, but being the nice bishop that he is, he wouldn't accept it. (In case you are wondering, we were just joking around.)

If you look closely, there is also pancit on the plates alongside the banana cake. I didn't want to embarrass Sister Catubay by asking her if she had made pancit like she said she would. I didn't see any signs of it in the kitchen, either, so I started dishing up the banana cake. Wrong! There was pancit, and plenty of it! No Filipino party is complete without pancit.  It's the ultimate party food. It's tastes like Top Ramen with cooked cabbage thrown in.

 

Young men came out of the woodwork like ants when the food was dished up. I don't know where they came from or how they knew food was being served, but they came in droves. They shoveled it in and then disappeared as quickly as they had appeared.

Everyone was so shocked when I admitted I had made the banana cake.  Elder has the reputation for being the great cookie baker.  All the members know by now that I don't like to spend any more time in the kitchen than I have to.




The clean-up crew.
 All the pregos had brooms and were sweeping the floor after the party.



Aubrey, Ken, Hershelle, and Sister Daquioag. I'm the fat one!

"Move it, Sister Eddington! My baby needs a lot of room...as well as the spotlight!"

 

Sister Catubay dropped her mop long enough to join the photo shoot.

 

After the shower was over, Bishop asked me how it went.  Me: "How do I know? I don't speak Tagalog." Bishop: "Well, what were the looks on the sisters' faces? Happy?"  Me: "I don't know. I was too busy and stressed to look at people's faces!  Ask your wife how it went." 

 

Actually, I think all the sisters had a good time.  And I think the bishop's goal of having the shower to help unite the sisters was accomplished. Sister Catubay's and my goal was to fellowship these young girls....helping them to come to baptism and reactivity.   We were both very impressed with the generous suppoort of the Relief Society sisters.

 

I'm sure some of the activities I had planned seemed a little strange to all the sisters. But since it was their first-ever shower, they had nothing to compare it with. :)   Hopefully the next shower will include gifts. Obviously we weren't successful in communicating to the sisters that a baby shower means you bring gifts! Baby steps!