Hi Everyone,
Well, our two week vacation is over and we are glad! There isn't too much to do when you don't spend 8 hours a day in the temple. Most of the couples took trips to different islands or places on this island and lot of the Philippine temple missionary couples went home.
We had to be out of our apartment several different days for a few hours at a time because they were working on different items. They scrubbed floors, cupboards, sinks, tubs, the oven, the hood fan, and then they took the air conditioner completely apart and cleaned it and put in a new filter; they also put new drapes on both the bedroom and living room windows. So it was like having a brand new apartment. They also repainted the hall walls on our floor.
Each day we'd take a list of things we wanted to get at a certain mall. So we would get a taxi to take us to that mall and we'd spend 3-4 hours wandering through it looking for our needed items. We got a lot of walking. Then we'd have lunch at some little restaurant in that mall. Well, after two weeks of that, we were tired of shopping--if that be possible!!
They have a lot of malls here, so we never ran out of options.
Lyman got some hand-out cards from the mission office, and we had several people ask about the church because of the name tags that we wear. We had fun talking to people and handing out the cards.
Pres. and Sis. Mortimer took us on a drive one day to a town about an hour's drive south of Cebu, called Carcar. It was a small town, but we had lunch at Jolibee's, which is like a McDonalds, and then went to a "farmer's type market" where they have all these booths manned by individuals who are trying to make a peso. Lyman bought a belt and I bought a DVD. We tried to bargain with them but no one came down in their price very much. I felt so sorry for those poor people. It really was pitiful and there we are trying to get them to take less. The place reeked badly of fish, body odor, and who knows what all They sell a lot of small fish with their heads still on--both dried and fresh. The booths were tiny and all connected and it was hot and muggy, but it was an interesting experience. We have been cautioned not to eat any food from these kind of booths and from street vendors because their foods sit out all day in the heat. Who knows what kind of germ you could pick up from them. Then on the outskirts of town they had a shoe mall. There were about 10 or so booths selling all kinds of shoes. Lyman bought a neat pair of sandals for the rainy season for about $11 or P480 (pesos).
Another day, the Mortimers took us to a store called "White Gold". I mean to tell you it had anything and everything you can imagine. We picked up a few things we needed there. The air conditioning was not very good and I was ready to go after about half an hour, but it was fun to see everything. They then took us to lunch at T.G.I.Fridays where we had some excellent Chicken fajitas.
I'm getting very tired of Fox News Channel, but it keeps Lyman entertained. Once in a while they show a good movie on HBO, but they are few and far between. We bought some good and some cute DVD's to help fill in some of the time, but I was really ready to return to the temple today.
Lyman and I finished reading the Book of Mormon for the 11th year in a row. So we decided to read the D&C for a change. We have really enjoyed that. What we do is we bought the B of M, the D&C and P of G.P., the New Testament, and the Old Testament on cd's and we let them do the reading and we follow along, mark passages, and discuss it. They have a distribution store right here in our building where we can buy garments, temple clothing and other materials. We didn't have the Old Testament on cd's yet, but Lyman found them down there for 40 pesos, which is equal to $1 here. They must have wanted to get rid of them, but we sure lucked out! We'll have to keep reading as much as we can!
We've enjoyed everyone's e-mails very much. Sorry, I don't get more personal notes written. I'll try to do better.
We're having such a wonderful experience and we love the people so much--they are just a delight and so friendly. They are teaching me so many things just by working with them in the temple.
They say we're in the typhoon season from now through December. However, they say we may get some wind and some rain, but Cebu usually misses the really bad part of it because of where it lies on the island. We'll see! We've had a lot of wind and cloudy, muggy weather but not much rain yet. It will be interesting to see.
Hope this finds everyone well. We're doing really well with all that exercise! We hope to keep it up.
The gospel is true and we are blessed to have so many family members and friends in our "circle of love." You all mean so much to us and we pray continually for your health and that life is good to you. The Lord really does love each of us and wants the best for us and wants us to always do his will so he can bless us even more--even to obtaining eternal life which gift is the greatest of all the gifts of God.
Our Love to one and all,
Elder and Sis Ward
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