First of all, let me talk about the farewell. Yes, it happens that our missionary friends eventually need to return home. Steve and Marilyn Leininger just left on Friday and their absence will be sorely felt. Steve was instrumental in many big initiatives here and has left some big shoes to fill (actually he split up his many projects amongst all of us, so maybe we can fill them by working together). Marilyn was so open and warm with everyone and brought her own energy to the humanitarian work. She will especially be missed for her work with Mabuhay House and scheduling all of our “Wednesday Thrills” craft/singing/lifting spirits of the patients and their caregivers who are staying at the house. They were our friends, our cheerleaders, our guides, and wonderful mentors. We were sad to see them leave, but are so happy for them. They have served for 22 months, so it’s time. They will continue to help from home until we wrap up all of Steve’s projects. You can’t really tell, but the picture she is holding is a caricature of them in a place they visited in the mountains with her riding a carabao. She wanted to ride one and was never able to do it here!
Now for the firsts! We took a little trip up north to the province of Bataan (as in the Bataan death march) with our supervisor, Jairus Parez and the two young service missionaries who help out in the Welfare department. We were going up to the town of Balanga to deliver over 60 computers that the church no longer needed, but are still in great condition. The two young elders worked hard to get them all ready to be used so it was great that they could go up there. We went because it is in our area and Jairus wanted us to meet the mayor and look into another project with him and at a high school in Olongapo. After about 3 hours of driving we arrived in the town of Balanga. They have such a nice town hall and square (sadly I didn’t ‘get any pictures). The mayor is a favorite of Jairus because when he was a mission president up there during COVID, the mayor would let them drive even though it technically wasn’t allowed. This mayor has been very proactive and has done so much good for his city. Early during his tenure, he made it a point to do as much for the schools as possible. In fact, these computers will be distributed to some schools in the district there. He also built some buildings in the Barangays for “Learning Hubs”. These are amazing places where students and families can go to use the internet and receive tutoring help. I was so impressed! Here are the pictures from our brief visit to Batanga. I almost forgot to mention one of my firsts! We also visited the police station so we could donate some laptops. then we had a police escort to the Barangay! Not sure why, except our escort used to be involved in breaking up gangs and rebels and has to have bodyguards wherever he goes now. He is also a church member.
Subic Bay and Olongapo– we have been here before, but a different purpose this time. We have a high school that is asking for equipment to enhance their “broadcasting” and video recording studio Fun visit! They were so proud to walk us around their arts department and to show us their studio They really do need more equipment. We had a lovely morning walk along Subic Bay and on our way out, we saw monkeys!!! That was my other first! We tried to see the bats in the evening, but they had already flown from their trees. This is the most northern part of our mission area and we love getting up there. One more thing! On our way home, on the expressway, Jairus suddenly pulled over next to two other cars. Out hops the member we met up with in Batanga with coolers for each of us. One cooler for the taro ice cream and the other with five large smoked fish. They are specialties from this area and they are really delicious. But really, who would do this? ? The people here never fail to amaze me with their generosity and desire to give back. And amazingly, the ice cream was still frozen solid three hours later when we got home.
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