We spent this past week in Metro Manila area. No long road trips, just trips to the heart of Manila- which means dealing with lots of traffic. I will just talk about the highlights of this past week. First of all, last Sunday, we met up with Dave Laureo and his family from Narra Palawan. They were here for a niece’s wedding and family adventure. I asked him if they had seen the American Cemetery- he came here with his family 20 years ago when they were sealed in the temple. His wife and kids hadn’t seen it, though. They were very impressed by it and we had a great visit with them. Since we were there near the end of the day, we got to hear taps and see them take the flags down. That was such a special experience!

Our next event was the turnover and MOA signing at Philippines General Hospital. This project was started a year ago and finally came through, after many legal issues and hassles that Elder Huff had to deal with. We were originally going to donate the baby mannequins and other neonatal equipment to the Philippine Society of Newborn Medicine. The equipment was sent to them, the MOA was made, we went to sign and their attorney dropped the bomb that we would have to pay the donor’s tax if we donated to them because their society isn’t a registered NGO. So that began the long process of figuring out who to donate to, how to word the MOA, etc. etc. We were relieved to finally get this taken care of. We donated over $80,000.00 of equipment, so it was a big project! The turnover was very low key. Basically, a bunch of doctors were there, they signed and we left. No speeches, no food….which was fine with us!

And now for a bit of fun! Since we had to head into Tondo on Saturday, I insisted that we do something fun and something we have wanted to do since we got here 16 months ago. We went to Intramuros, the old walled part of the city and went on a Bamboo Bicycle tour. The Meyers came with us, so that made it extra fun. They were also so excited to see Tondo, since they have heard us talk about it so much. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable and the weather was just right- not sunny and not too hot. We will have to go back and really tour the fort, since we didn’t have time to do that part.

After the bike tour, we headed into Tondo, where we were meeting with two contractors who were going to assess the drainage situation and give bids. We also met with Jane Walker and Tess from Upskills Foundation to take a look at the fire damage. I was so excited for Krystyn Meyer to meet Jane Walker, who is the founder and is usually in England. She is such a force for good! And of course, she fell in love with her! We felt such a mixture of emotions while walking through “Happyland” to see the damage from the fire. The fire occurred in December, two weeks before Christmas. As if the people here don’t have enough problems, already! But it was also amazing to see so many of the men working on rebuilding. It was a hub of activity and progress! This will be an emergency project for the church and we will donate some more building supplies as well as bedrolls, cooking pans, food kits, etc. When I saw all of the tents set up for their temporary housing, I felt such sorrow for the people here. You could hardly walk to get around the maze of tents. And think…no toilets, no way to cook any food, and of course, no privacy. But the kids still looked happy!

And finally, after our emotionally draining visit to Tondo, we headed to the Manila Hotel to eat and find a bit of respite before heading home. We are so grateful we can share this mission with so many wonderful missionary couples. We love spending time with the Meyers. They live here in our building and are a great support! We share joys, frustrations and cooking ingredients!