The Time is Far Spent

Manila Airport, June 2023

Philippines Air, June 2023

And we're off! We're on our flight back to the US! We've bookended our adventure in the Philippines with our last night's stay at the Manila Marriott. Our first night in the Philippines almost three years ago was at the same hotel. The circumstances, however, were completely different. 

Three years ago we arrived in the middle of a worldwide pandemic and the Manila Marriott was a quarantine facility. It was eerily empty and quiet. We were legally not allowed to leave our room. Our meals were left outside our door. We had a medical team come to our room in hazmat suits and administer Covid swab tests, after we'd just had the very same test at the airport. We could see from our hotel room window that there were no cars on the highways in Manila. When we headed to Olongapo, we wore masks and face shields and we carried documentation that allowed us to pass through the various checkpoints.  

Philippines Air, August 2020

Philippines Air, August 2020

Manila Marriott, August 2020

Manila Marriott, August 2020

Now three years later, post pandemic, we are back at the same hotel and life is back to normal. The checkpoints are gone and the only documentation I have is my passport. The hotel is bustling. The restaurants and spa are open, room service is available, and the lobby is full of guests. No more quarantine, no more Covid tests, no more masks, face shields or hazmat suits. The change is incredible.  

We have loved serving in the Philippines Olongapo Mission. We LOVE our missionaries and we will miss them. At the same time, three years is a long time and we are ready to be home and spend time with our children and grandchildren. Our last few weeks in the mission field have been wonderfully tender. I'll start with this week and work backward. 

Our missionaries planned a tender and thoughtful farewell for us this week. We gathered with our senior missionaries, our office sisters, and our assistants, and we started with the traditional farewell pictures at the mission office. 

We then moved to the mission home for a presentation that our missionaries had put together. I've come to love the song "Miracles" by Sally DeFord and the opening song of the program was this song. Our missionaries knew that I would be touched and I was. Here are the lyrics to this song, which are deeply meaningful to me:

Amid the countless blessings the Lord has given me

The light of truth and goodness

The Holy Spirit's peace

I see the many sorrows that his children must endure

So much hurt I long to heal

How can I change the world?

There are hands I cannot hold

Hearts I cannot comfort

Tears that only miracles can stay

So let me love and serve and teach

Those who come within my reach

For miracles begin that way

The Savior walked in Galilee

Unknown in many lands

Yet touching every nation by the labors of his hands

Giving light to all the world by teaching but the few

He is my example in the work that I must do

There are hands I cannot hold

Hearts I cannot comfort

Tears that only miracles can stay

So let me love and serve and teach

Those who come within my reach

For miracles begin that way

I will bear the burdens of my neighbor in his need

I will share my Savior's love in every kindly deed

He will magnify my effort, and I'll understand at last

That by these small and simple things 

Are great things brought to pass

There are hands I cannot hold

Hearts I cannot comfort

Tears that only miracles can stay

So let me love and serve and teach

Those who come within my reach

For miracles begin that way

Another highlight of our farewell was the banner that our office secretary, Sister Davis, surprised us with. There's a great backstory to this banner. At all of the farewells that we've done for our young missionaries over the past three years, I've shared a poster that lists the memorable and heart-warming quotes of my father-in-law. I make the point that if Heavenly Father could be with us, he would say the same thing to our missionaries. "You are amazing." "You know what? I love you." "Remember who you are and what you can become." "We are so proud of you." After our last farewell in May, I decided that the poster didn't need to come back to the US with us and I threw it away in the dumpster in our parking lot. At our farewell, Elder Davis shared with us that Sister Davis saw the tip of the poster in the dumpster and decided to retrieve it. She then recreated a new banner, copying the original, but with a picture of us in place of my in-laws. For our farewell, our missionaries recreated my presentation, each taking turns reciting one of the quotes, repeating the commentary I've said so many times. It was all quite delightful, including the dumpster diving story, and we loved it.   

We love our young missionaries.

We love our senior missionaries.

We love and appreciate our caterers, who have prepared meals for far too many occasions to count.

I have especially loved serving with our office sisters and acknowledge the blessing of having office sisters the entire time we've been here. 

Our farewell evening was a delightful celebration of our three years as mission leaders. We appreciate all of the effort that went into making this gathering memorable, tender and meaningful.

This past Sunday, we had the unique experience of being interviewed for a book that is being written about the LDS church in the Philippines. The interviewers were especially interested in our Covid experiences as mission leaders. Just before our interview, some of our prior missionaries were visiting and we realized that they were all Covid missionaries. The interviewers ended up interviewing these five missionaries, also.

Over the past few weeks, we've said goodbye to people and places that have become meaningful to us. My friends at Nails Glow have treated me to manicures and pedicures for the past three years. Thankfully Nails Glow was open all during Covid.

My friends at David's Hair Salon, despite my initial concerns about getting a good haircut and color here, have done a fabulous job. I will miss the shoulder massage that comes with a haircut. 

And our local spa, which was closed when we arrived and re-opened post Covid, has been a wonderful haven for us. If you're ever in the Philippines, I highly recommend the traditional Filipino Hilot massage.

We've recently revisited some of our favorite restaurants in our mission. Sumo Sam's, a Japanese restaurant in Balanga, is top of the charts for us. Since we've been here, it was open, then closed for Covid, then open again. When it reopened, we were ecstatic. Not exaggerating. Really good food.

Another favorite has been the Gourmet Garage, an Italian restaurant in SBMA, where we've become friends with the servers. Their charcuterie and raclette are now soul food for me. 

I've said goodbye to the West Philippine Sea.

And I've said goodbye to Subic Bay.

We've said goodbye to our housekeeper, Sister Mercy, who has been wonderful; to our two guards, who have also been wonderful and who alternate 12 hour shifts, 7 days a week, 365 days a year; and to the gardener, who keeps the grounds of the mission compound clean and beautiful. 

And I've said goodbye, hopefully, to the biggest bugs I've ever seen.

We've recently said farewell to Elder and Sister Brown, senior missionaries who have served in one of our northern branches since October. They did a remarkable job working with the members and missionaries in the Bulawen branch.

We've been here long enough that one of our missionaries has had a baby. Sister Juarez was one of our Covid missionaries who served in her home mission and we had the privilege recently of meeting her precious three week-old baby girl. 

For a variety of unusual reasons, our last transfer cycle here was an 8 week cycle instead of a 6 week cycle and we had three different groups of missionaries arrive during this longer cycle ... a group of Filipino missionaries, a group of foreign missionaries, and a group of visa waiters. We welcomed all three groups with an orientation and brunch and sent them on their way to their new areas. Welcoming new missionaries has been a highlight for me.

We said goodbye last month to our last group of departing missionaries, well, last for us. 

For our last set of zone conferences, our missionaries surprised us with thoughtful and creative banners, decorations and treats.

And, of course, I need to include our last set of zone conference pictures.

Balanga Zone

Iba Zone

Lubao Zone

Olongapo Zone

Orion Zone

San Antonio Zone

Santa Cruz Zone

One of the fun traditions for our missionaries is to take a picture of their district on "transfer chairs." Each chair represents the number of transfers that a missionary has left on their mission.

I recently did my last round of immunizations with our amazing immunization team, which includes our mission nurse, two local nurses, and our driver. It took us two days to visit every zone in our mission and administer immunizations, including flu shots for all of our missionaries and vaccines for our Filipino missionaries who may not have received all of their childhood immunizations.

Over the past few weeks, we've had visits from prior missionaries, which is always a highlight for us.

And we've connected with prior missionaries as we've attended our last round of stake conferences. 

And we always love when we connect with our current missionaries at stake conferences. 

We attended our last baptismal service in the beautiful town of Morong, where baptisms are either held in the ocean or in this outdoor baptismal font in this beautiful setting.

Our last mission leader seminar was in Manila, where we said hello and goodbye to our fellow mission leaders, including the four couples we arrived with during the pandemic almost three years. It's been a wild ride and if I hadn't experienced it myself, I might think it was all fiction. We had the opportunity on our last day of the mission leader seminar to share our testimonies with our fellow mission leaders.

Our friends Terry and Marianne Roberts visited us in early May and we had a delightful time with them. 

When we picked up the Roberts in Manila, it happened to be the same day as the wedding of two of our prior missionaries. We were so happy that the stars aligned so that we could attend their wedding.

We took our friends to some of the places that we've come to love, including the American Cemetery in Manila.

We visited the Zero Kilometer Death March markers in Mariveles and Bagac, with the picture below from the marker in Bagac. 

We took our senior missionaries with us on our visit with the Roberts to Corregidor Island.

At our hotel in Mariveles, we were treated to a unique outdoor dinner buffet, which included foods that I ate simply to impress our grandsons, including liver, intestine and chicken feet. 

At our hotel in Bagac, we were lucky to be there the day of the carabou races. Not kidding. Carabou races. On the beach. For real. It was awesome, including the pictures after the races with the decorated carabou.

God dazzled us again with his handiwork. 

We will miss these magnificent views from throughout our mission.

Lest you think we've been on vacation because of these stunning pictures, we haven't. We've been missionaries and mission leaders and we've taken our stewardship seriously. We have loved serving here and we will cherish our three years here in this magnificent mission. 

We are grateful for the new mission leaders, President and Sister Albrecht, from Cedar City, Utah. We have passed the torch to them and are confident that they will move the work forward in this remarkable mission. We love them and wish them the best as they move into their new roles.

Stay tuned for one more post, with pictures of our reunion in CA with our children and grandchildren and our official "homecoming" in GA on July 16. We will speak in our home ward, the Berkeley Lake Ward, at 10:30am on July 16, and our friends the Millers are hosting an open house for us that evening at their home from 6-8pm. For anyone who would like to join us virtually for our talks in church, please message me privately and I'll send you a Zoom link.

Thank you to all who have followed us our journey. Sending much love to all of you.