45th in May

May went by quickly and at the end of it, on May 30th, we celebrated our 45th wedding anniversary. I thought I would start out this blog post with the a tribute to my wife, Laurie.

She had the courage to say "yes" to my marriage proposal in late January 1980. We were married about 4 months later on May 30, 1980. What a blessing to have the opportunity to be married to her, and to have 45 years on this earth together these last 45 years.

I have had a few moments to ponder our life together and have found myself lacking. I want to be a better husband and father. Laurie patiently awaits my hopeful arrival of being that better person she has always known "is in there". Nevertheless, together we have been pretty darn happy all these years and have found a lot of joy in being with each other. Our children, grandchildren, faith, and friends are central to that happiness.

Here are just a couple of pictures of the past and the present to celebrate that joy. I will get to the rest of the month of May here in just a second.

Laurie and Bruce May 1980

Laurie and Bruce - about half-way into our marriage in 2003 (Rhode Island visit)

Bruce and Laurie, March 2025 - about 45 years later on a mission in Manila Philippines.

We never know what will be next for us while we have a chance to live on this earth. Many things I have hoped to have happen, have been realized. Some have not. As both Laurie and I would agree, these past 10 years have been some of the hardest, yet so very rewarding. We hope to have many more years together here on this earth, but I hope I can do a better job cherishing the time I have, and rising up to more of my potential that Laurie feels for me, and I have for myself. Happy 45th Anniversary Laurie!

Back to the Philippines

To one of the subject I love the most, food! (Back to the worldly things....)

Many of you may know of my history with cooking Betty Crocker yellow cakes. I would eat an ample part of the batter prior to it getting into the oven, so the cake would not be as full (high) as it should normally be. Well, this is the first yellow cake I made in Manila (I found a Betty Crocker yellow cake mix) and I cooked it for Mother's Day. Laurie had to make the chocolate frosting (they didn't have any Betty Crocker frosting in a container like I normally step up to). In the following picture you can see that the ratio of frosting to cake is just about right. :). I had to sacrifice the (my) coveted middle piece to Laurie since it was Mother's Day.

We also tried Durian this past month. Some good friends of ours in the temple were able to get their brother, on another island, to freeze it, after taking it out of the outer rind, and bringing it up to them in Manila. They subsequently brought it to us at the temple and we moved it quickly over to our apartment. Here is an AI generated definition of durian. I think it is worth looking up on the internet to see what it looks like in its natural state, and where it comes from. It seems to be a local treasure from down south in the Philippines.

"Durian is a spiny, tropical fruit known for its strong, often pungent smell and creamy, custard-like flesh. It's considered the "king of fruits" in Southeast Asia and is loved by some for its distinct flavor and texture. However, its strong odor can also be off-putting, leading to bans on some public transportation systems."

Laurie and I had heard much about this fruit prior to trying it. Let's just say it lived up to its hype. We took it outside our apartment on the back deck on a table to give it a try. The smell had started to become evident as it was thawing. Another one of our close Filipino friends said that they would happily take the leftovers if we didn't finish it. We didn't finish it. The smell was the big deterrent, but eating it while it was in a half-frozen, half-thawed state was a little premature I believe.

The picture below, while in a plastic container was as much photo time as I could give it. Once we opened the container, it was a "mad dash to the finish line" of quickly tasting it, then turning it over to someone who could really appreciate it.

 

Durian Fruit - if you can see it.

It was Mother's Day in May also. We got a call from the guard house at the front gate of the temple one day saying we had to pay some cash to a delivery person for a package for Sister Randall from Singapore. We had not ordered anything from Singapore, and I have yet to have had to pay any delivery fees in the last 14 months. I have been pretty careful not to have to do that. (I don't like to be a burden on the security officers at the guard house. We are in the temple a lot and they would have to track us down.) Nevertheless, we were in the temple and they did track me down. I went out to pay this fee and found that it was a "long lost gift" our daughter-in-law, Angelique had tried to send numerous times for Laurie. We were totally surprised. Please see the wonderful gift (straight from Singapore) Laurie received for Mother's Day. You will have to zoom in to see the names of the grandchildren though....

Mom, Grammy, and Sister Randall

As we may have said previously, Laurie and I team teach the 12-17 year old youth in Sunday School in our beloved Kapitolyo Ward. our normal 15-25 youth somehow blew up one Sunday in May to about 80 youth. They moved us into the cultural hall and took a picture of us before the class started. These youth are so wonderful to be with. We feel they are a little short-changed by having us teach in English, but we have such a deep love for each of them as they come and go. Here is the picture taken of that day. It took us another 5 minutes to get everyone in the classroom before we could start. It was such a great time and uplifting to both Laurie and I. These youth have so many hopes and dreams!

I snapped this picture while waiting at a stoplight in Manila. Just a regular day in Manila. The car alert signal goes on often when an object gets too close to you. It goes off all the time at a stop light as motorcycles weave their way on all four sides of you. The alarm went off with the guy next to me on the left, for example.

A typical day of driving in Manila

One last thing before I go. I wanted to reiterate the magnitude of the blessings of the Manila Temple in the lives of all of the people in the Philippines and in the countries all around it.

In the past three weeks, we have had numerous groups come from outside of the Philippines. Mostly these groups come from Pakistan, Cambodia, Kiribati, Vietnam, and Indonesia. There have also been numerous buses show up at the temple from far regions (mainly Bicol) south and a few from up north. 

Let me show you a couple of pictures of the parking lot, and the buses. It never ceases to amaze me. I will wrap up after that.

From Tabaco (Bicol) about 10-12 hours bus ride

Six buses here, and a 7th across the street in Patron Housing.

Brother Themise Maroket, one of the sealers I work with in the temple.

I am a believer in miracles. I feel like much of our time over here is made of of so many daily miracles that I often miss too many of them as they occur in my life. I am grateful for these miracles and plan on having greater faith to recognize the hand of Heavenly Father, and His Son, Jesus Christ in my life more often.

One thing that sparks these thoughts of miracles are the daily stream of loving people, both young and old, walking through the temple doors. Each of them has an individual story of faith in God, and a desire to either make covenants with God to draw nearer to him, or to make covenants on behalf of their ancestors (or even people they don't know). This participation in temple covenants and ordinances, along with all the learning in the temple about God's plan of salvation for all mankind, draws us nearer to our Savior. That is a wonderful and miraculous feeling. 

I stand in awe of the people who serve there as temple workers who come each day, in 4 shifts a day, to make sure this all happens. There are about 2,000 volunteer temple workers right now. Not all of them come each week, but so many come faithfully. The patron's who come, come with questions, concerns, prayers, love, and service in their hearts. I hope all can leave with burdens lifted and prayers answered. This life is not that easy sometimes (often?) but it can be so joyful too, as we rest our burdens at the feet of our Savior. I am so glad to have the gospel of Jesus Christ in my life!

I have used the words "on this earth" a couple of times in this post. I don't plan on dying anytime soon, but I have decided to use this verse the Savior shared with us in this gospel dispensation.

"Wherefore, fear not even unto death; for in this world your joy is not full, but in me your joy is full." Doctrine and Covenants 101:36

 I don't fear death, but I do fear that I need to pick up the pace at being a better husband, father, grandfather, and friend. I plan on turning more to the Savior so I can be more joyful along that worthwhile path of effort.