Mother's Day in Pangasinan

May 12, 2013

The rains are early this year. They usually start in June and get hard in July.  They started in April and are hard some days now.  Most mornings are clear and sunny. Later the clouds build to thunderheads. When it comes down, it can rain an inch in an hour.  The afternoons are quiet. Just cloudy and muggy.

With the seasonal rains, it has cooled about ten degrees F to about 85.  We don’t run the aircon so much.

The farmers are quickly plowing and planting rice. They had just harvested the last of the corn. Maybe they can get one harvest in before the floods. It is hot and subtropical here. The soil is rich. Two to three crops each year are normal.  Those who have land can prosper quite well.

I don’t need to wash the car any more.. I wish I could get the scratches and dings in the paint fixed. They want too much money for that.  When I drive on narrow roads in rural areas, sometimes I get hit. The worst dents happened in the cities by tricycle drivers who cut me off.  Some of the scrapes happened when I turned in a close place or two.

We are busy  trying to train leadership here and helping some families.  It is hard when the best talent is abroad.  The people are great.  We have sent out 4 young missionaries in the last six months.

We had chocolate bars for the sisters on mother’s day. The kids were jealous.  Oh well.

We might get a better building in the next three months.  The old building is so sad. It is too small, in poor shape, and noisy from the road outside. When it rains the water coming off the road above here runs right through the outside classroom.  It is hard to invite people to come to worship in this dump.

The missionaries serving here are from Utah and Alabama.  We have had a lot of elders from the Philippines.  They are each individuals. Some are really great. 

Rose has been working with her sister Jeanna to find some cousins.  She has found some in Dagupan. They were surprised when she showed up.

We sure like this new house better than the other one before.  It is a lot closer to Urbiztondo and is a nicer place.  I just installed a triple water filter by the pump and tank. The water smells better now.

Today was election day locally. Most people stayed off the streets when not voting.  The polling places at the schools were heavily guarded.   We will be glad to have an end to political rallies, and cars driving around blaring music and ads for someone.  There are many political parties here and it is big business. 

The internet was down for much of the day. Rose did not get to skype.  Bummer.

We will pick her sister up in Urdaneta early tomorrow. 

Take care for now