August - Winding Down?
OK, I am way off the mark. This post started a week ago "As I write this blog Laurie and I have under two weeks left to serve as full time missionaries in the Manila Philippines Temple." but I am just getting back to it. Things just seem to be going crazy right now. We are struggling with our departure but we know it is time. I titled this as "Winding Down" with a "?". There is nothing going slow right now, I can assure you :).
Nevertheless, let me share with you a few bits of our life in the month of August that might shed a little understanding on why we will miss the Philippines.
Two Weeks Off In August
Yes, the first two full weeks in August finds the Manila temple shutting down for routine maintenance, as it does pretty much every 6 months. During that shutdown, we spent some time working, exploring, and getting sick.
For those who might have forgotten, I still have a small business and I saved up a few things to do work-wise, during the maintenance shutdown. I will share more with you about that on my final mission blog posting next month. This part of my mission has been really quite different than I thought it would be when I left.
I spent some of the days at the first, during the middle, and at the last of the two weeks doing work projects and talking to people.
The exploring part was pretty good. I did my first car rental in the Philippines. Funny thing though, I didn't drive it. Laurie and I went with Lyte Gaviola and his wife Golden. Lyte said he would drive so I could enjoy the scenery better. We went up to a city called Baguio. It was the coolest place (temperature-wise) I had been to while in the Philippines. Laurie loved it. For the first time since Laurie arrived in the Philippines, Laurie wore a sweater outside. Ahhh, days never to be forgotten :).
Baguio is a place where it also rains a lot more than I am used to. It is one of the hilliest cities I have ever been to. I am hard-pressed to think of a community where the whole town sits on the side of so many hillsides. The roads were fairly narrow and wound around the mountains all over the place. I was so thankful Lyte was driving. Reciprocally, I would expect he was also grateful I was not driving.
Baguio Pics
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| LtoR: Bruce, Laurie, Golden, Lyte - "Mines View" |
I got some new prescription glasses since I came. They are light-sensitive. I continue not to like that feature and for the life of me cannot figure out how our language interpretation was so bad that I ended up with this feature....
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| Urdaneta Philippines Temple - we had a wonderful time there. |
I am not sure how this picutre got taken this way, but for those of you who remember the "keep on truckin" image where the legs were stretched out towards you in an "extended way", my right leg seems to look a lot like that with the top half of my body looking like "beaker".
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| Baguio - Central Jeepney location just outside our hotel. |
Cebu City
We also were able to go for a few (ended up being 2) days to Cebu. We were supposed to stay two nights but at the end of the first full and long day, Laurie was pretty sick. In fact, the next day she woke up and we decided to fly back to Manila a day early. Not a cheap choice, but the right choice. Who really likes to be sick in a hotel room (many of us have been there but it is not a choice we would normally make)
That first day was a full one though.
Here are a few pictures of that eventful day. I walked over to the Cebu temple the next morning to keep an appointment. We felt that at least I should go. Laurie went back to sleep after I had made arrangements for a flight in the early afternoon.
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| "Tops" - In Cebu City |
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| Cebu City Temple - a beautiful experience |
John 21:3-6
3 Simon Peter saith unto them, I go a fishing. They say unto him, We also go with thee. They went forth, and entered into a ship immediately; and that night they caught nothing.
4 But when the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore: but the disciples knew not that it was Jesus.
5 Then Jesus saith unto them, Children, have ye any meat? They answered him, No.
6 And he said unto them, Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find. They cast therefore, and now they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes.
Sometimes when we come up with nothing as we try to figure out what to do next, do as the Savior asks, and cast your net on the other (right) side of the ship. Have a little faith to do something different, as asked. We sure feel the multitude of blessings by being here. Now, what will we do when we get home?
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