Craigs in Cauayan

Donna and I had our first District Conference yesterday and today (a large meeting of 7 congregations).  Donna and I spoke at it.  Many of the people at the conference had never met us so I introduced Donna.  I had her stand on the rostrum, and intended to say, in Tagalog "This is Sister Craig, she is very beautiful".  I got confused and changed the last word  from "Maganda" to "Mataba".  What I literally said was, "This is Sister Craig, she is very "FAT!"  The congregation was a little stunned as they did not know what to think...was I joking, confused or just a jerk? She looked at me funny, and said, "Mataba? Really?" Then I realized my mistake, and everyone laughed.   I am sure that I made many young missionaries' journals and letters home with that one. Other than publicly insulting the greatest person in my life it has been a great week.  After a long day of interviews on Thursday, we travelled two and a half hours n...

This is rainy season, but you wouldn't have known that by our first two weeks in Cauayan.  Although it has been cooler, it was dry every day.  This week we had rain.  On Tuesday we started to receive storm warnings of an approaching Tropical Depression, "Falcon", that was upgraded to a Tropical Storm.  I was uneasy, having never experienced this kind of weather.  We talked of preparedness at Zone Conference, showed the missionaries the approaching storm, and then the heavens opened!  Rain poured down as Zone Conference ended. Other than the Assistants and Senior Couples, none of the missionaries in our mission have cars.  They walk, and if they need transportation for longer distances, they use a tricycle or van or bus.  They watched for passing tricycles and started flagging them down.  The ones travelling to neighbouring towns would take a tricycle to the bus station, then board a bus for the trip home. How many Elders can yo...

We have spent a lot of this week in the car. Travelling in the Philippines is so different than North America.  So many motorcycles and tricycles (motorbike with a side-car). Tricycles are sometimes just used by families for their day to day travel, but most often they are also used as mini taxis.  Then there are vans and jeepneys and busses and bicycles.  Farmers riding caribaos, and a few tractors. And people everywhere beside the street!  Even little children!  There are also getting to be a lot of cars.  One thing different than when we were here 14 years ago, is that there are so many new cars.  We drive a van, but with the narrow roads, I think I would rather have an extra large tricycle.  We have had to do many 16 point turns to get turned around on a side street! I have only seen 1 stop sign, and 2 intersections with lights.  The traffic, however, moves along fairly well.  The speeds are much slow...

"Lift up your heart and rejoice, for the hour of your mission is come; and your tongue shall be loosed, and you shall declare glad tidings of great joy unto this generation..." D&C 31 After an inspiring Mission Leadership Seminar, it was time to get started! Ten couples were called  to preside over missions in the Philippines in 2019.  There are now 23 missions in the Philippines!  We flew from Salt Lake to Los Angeles to Manila. We arrived in Manila on June 28th, after a 14 hour flight from Los Angeles.  I fared better than the last time I flew to Manila, when I was prepared to end it all and jump off the plane a couple of hours before landing.  I was able to sleep a bit this time, but it is still a REALLY LONG TIME to spend on a plane. It was good to be back on the ground again, even if it was so unfamiliar and new.  There were 18 of us travelling together, and it was such a relief to be met by Elder Schmutz and his wife after we passed throug...