Sunday, December 29, 2013

We had the most amazing experience today as we attended church with the Baao Group.  So far, there are not enough members in Baao to warrant having a Branch, but it is growing rapidly, and before too long, they will be a Branch.  The members who attend there are so friendly and welcomed us there with great handshakes, smiles and just plain love.

The "meeting house" is an open structure which has been built onto the side of the home one of the members.  It is a very humble "chapel", but it has everything that is needed, including a sacrament table, podium, clock.  The Gospel Doctrine class is held in the chapel, so there's also a chalk board.

As we sat listening to the talks (given in Tagalog), we had a dog walk down the isle, a chicken with 2 little chicks following "mom", and a crowing rooster that sang out as we were singing the closing hymn. 

We were surrounded by coconut trees, banana trees,  many different flowers, and everything so beautiful and fresh looking.

Two Elders assigned to the Baao Area, Elder Watson and Elder Stowe -  arriving at the Baao group meeting house

 

Elder Watson, Elder Stowe, Sister Padong, Sister Andres, Carol & Jerry, Sister and Elder Gardner.  The two Sisters are also assigned to the Baao Area.

 



Baao Group "Meeting House".  Notice the thatched roof.  All other "lumber" is made from bamboo.

 

Outside area of the "Meeting House".  Sitting on the table is the "drinking fountain" - a 5 gallon water jug.

 

Members arriving for Sacrament Meeting

 

Group Presiding Elder walking down the aisle.  Note the roof rafters of the meeting house are made of bamboo.

 

Primary children carrying a table to the Primary "classroom"

 

"Classroom" for the Primary children.  If it rains, they bring out their umbrellas and continue as though nothing unusual is happening.

 

Video of the Primary children's "Classroom" area

 

We hope you enjoyed the pictures and the video.  It was an awesome experience to be able to attend Sacrament Meeting in an area that makes us feel like we're in a camping area.  It is simply beautiful. Although this is a very humble meeting house, the Spirit is very strong.

 

Wishing you all a very Happy New Year.

 

Elder and Sister Campbell

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

15 December, 2013

Getting close to Christmas and still NO SNOW!!!!!   One of the trees in our compound developed some blooms that look like ornaments on a Christmas tree. 

 

 

Such a pretty red among all of that green.  We'll take what we can get to get us in the holiday mood.

This is a coconut grove that was part of a plantation.  It is much smaller now as the adjacent land is being used for different purposes. We took a video of this area and have attached it below but we are still unsure about how our video efforts get processed.   At the end of the scene there is some highway noise but it gives a better view of the coconut grove.

 

 

At this time of year, our thoughts go to the birth of Jesus Christ and how the restoration of the Gospel affects each of us. 

 

We hope you are all well and happy and that you will take time to give thanks for all that you have.  

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of you!!

 

Elder and Sister Campbell

 

 

 

 

Addition to blog.  We're still having trouble uploading our videos, so we're giving it another try.

Have you EVER seen such a huge papaya?  This was so juicy and sweet.  It is lying on the tip of a banana tree leaf (which was wrapped around it) when it was given to us.  We're really going to miss all of the various fresh - home grown - fruit when we return to the United States. 

It is not unusual to see Jeepneys loaded with so many different things such as this one  Sometimes, they'll be totally filled with fresh harvested pineapple. 

Now, here's a "travelling Salesman" tricycle (tricee).  As you can see, it has fans, wash tubs, blue 5-gallon water jugs, brooms, stools, chairs, and much, much more.

As we were at one of our newest apartments, the children gathered to have their picture taken.  Elder Finley, one of Jerry's Supply Assistants, wanted to be in the picture, too.

 

Hopefully, you will be able to open the two videos below.  The first one was taken from our apartment window, which is above the Mission Office.  It shows how the wind was blowing the coconut trees, and also some of the rain.  The wind and rain weren't much to speak of since we were on the very fringes of the Super Typhoon - Haiyan.  It is also called Yolanda.  We had a better video, but for some reason we weren't able to upload it.

 

Jerry took this video where we stopped in the National Forest.  It was a breathtakingly beautiful area, and we thought you would enjoy seeing it.  The roadsides are "manicured" by hand.  You never see litter of any kind, and there are no visible homes.

Sunday, November 17, 2013

We have a few random pictures and a video we'd like to share with you.  Hope you enjoy them.

 

Just look at that happy face.  The Office Elders have found the way to Jerry's heart - Krispy Creme Donuts will do the trick every time, but they have to come all the way from Manila!

 

 

 

We followed this Tricee down the highway that has 3 pigs in the back along with it's human cargo. 

 

 

All highway markings are painted by hand.  Check out the bucket of white paint and the paint brush in the hand of the 2nd painter.

 

We attended a baptism of a 13 year old girl, who was converted by these two missionaries, Elder Davis and Elder Datu, who are Assistants to the Mission President.

 

 

 

This is the baptism, with Elder Datu performing the ordinance.

 

This is her bearing her testimony - in Tagalog, of course.  You can see the happy countenance in her face

 

 

 

Every chair in the Philippines that we have found in the chapels have this printed on the back.  Sometimes the translation loses or gains something.

 

 

Following is a video that Jerry took as we decided to stop along the road in the only National Forest that we get to drive through.  It's refreshing, in that there are no visible dwellings for at least 25 kilometers. 

 

 

 

Below is a video showing how the Super Typhoon, Haiyan (Yolanda - local name for it) and it's affect on us here in the Naga Mission. The video was taken from one of the windows in our apartment.  Needless to say, the typhoon missed us except for some wind and rain.  The missionaries were put on total "lockdown" on the 8th of November, when the brunt of the storm was to hit us.  Everyone survived very well.

 



 

We are keeping busy and the time is going quickly. 

 

Thanks for all your prayers and concerns at the time of the typhoon.

 

Love,

The Campbells

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



October 26, 2013

Stick with us here, we are trying something new.....VIDEOS!!!

We were invited to attend a Relief Society celebration where 4 Branches of the Pamplona District came together and shared the talents of the members of their Branch.  The church buildings are versatile.  This particular celebration was held in the chapel since they do not have a cultural hall.  These Sisters love to sing and dance and entertain. They are fun-loving people!

As we were travelling to Buhi, where one of our apartments for a companionship of Elders is located, we thought to take a short video of  what we saw as we traveled there.  The roads (I use the term loosely) are very narrow and made of concrete.  The Filipinos work very hard to have conveniences such as paved roads to their areas.  They mix the concrete using a small cement mixer, and then they shovel the mixture into the areas that they have prepared.  Everything in this area is done by hand, nothing like what we see in the States.

 

 

We hope you were able to view these two videos.  If we've been successful, we'll share more videos in upcoming blogs.  We have taken many, and would love to share them with you, and this is just an experiment to see how it works.

 

 

Thank you all for your encouragement and support as we continue to serve. 

 

 

Love,

 

Elder and Sister Campbell

Monday, October 21, 2013

 

 

Well, it's time to create another blog.  We love putting these blogs together.  We hope you will enjoy it. This time, we thought we'd show some pictures of some of the beautiful flowers that are in abundance.  No matter where we travel, the yards are surrounded in lots of greenery and flowers. 

 

Our granddaughter sent us a picture of a tree outside her apartment that had beautiful fall colors.  She said she thought we'd probably forgotten what the fall colors looked like.  This made us realize that we don't have any changing of the seasons, which we miss very much. 

 

This is part of a flowering tree outside our Mission Office Building.

 

These are flowers around the Mission Home

 

The blossoms on this plant are in the middle left, but look closely at the thorns on the main stem.  Don't think this would be a flower to cut to take inside for a flower arrangement

 

Potted plants lining the driveway of the Mission Home.

 

More potted plants.  The security guard at the Mission Home tells us that all you need to do is poke a stick in the ground and it'll take root and grow.  It rains often enough that these flowers don't need much special attention

 

This is a weird "flower", but quite colorful.

 

The green rice fields never change. There are three rice crops a year. As soon as they turn golden they  are harvested.

 

Another beautiful flowering tree.

 

 

This plant is as close as we get to fall colors but it is like this all of the time. 

 

As we were looking at a possible new apartment for some of our Elders, we noticed this plant that's approximately five feet tall.

 

We could count this as a Christmas tree.  Here in the Naga Mission, there are no traditional pine trees

 

 

Missionaries singing in Tagalog at a baptism.

 

It has been a wonderful blessing in our lives to have the opportunity to serve the Lord here in the Philippines. We love being of service to these wonderful missionaries.  They come here from many areas of the world, including India, Sri Lanka, Samoa, Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan, and oh, yes, the United States.  Of course, many of our missionaries are from different areas of the Philippines.  They are so dedicated and work so diligently to bring the gospel to these wonderful Filipinos.  They are having much success, which keeps Carol busy recording the baptisms and confirmations so that the newly baptized are officially on the roles of the Church.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 



14 September 2013

We had a request from our granddaughter, Michele, to show some of the foods that we eat here in the Philippines.

Eateries are plentiful.  This is just one of many that we saw on our way to one of the apartments we were setting up for new missionaries.  Notice the "outside seating".

Bakeries are also plentiful.  They bake their breads fresh every morning, so it's a real treat to stop and purchase breakfast rolls that have hard boiled eggs and a meat mixture inside.  They are yummy!!!

 

We do a lot of our food shopping at the Pure Gold Market.  The cashier who is smiling at us is Maribel.  She asked Carol to help her learn better English.  We gave her an English Book of Mormon and said if she had any questions, we'd try to answer them for her.

 

This is one of the many cashiers at the SM Market.  There are some of the items we purchase here that cannot be found in the other market, such as chicken broth, taco shells, sour cream, etc.

 

As we enter the SM Market, we see displays of oranges, as well as many other fruits.

 

This is how the majority of rice is sold - open bins of different kinds and grades of rice.

 

This is a selection of fresh meat that is not in an enclosed case.  Just out in the open air - sitting on beds of ice beneath the pans they are in.

 

How about some pigs feet.

 

Eggs - not in a cooler, just on the shelf in the market.

 

Don't know what the green vegetable is, but the long purple things are egg plant and then next to them are tiny - not quite ripe- tomatoes.  They seem to think that tomatoes are best when they are slightly green.  We do a lot of searching for those that are more red.

 

Here are a few of the veggies and fruit from our fridge.  "Big" tomatoes on left and small cherry tomatoes on right, next the big tomatoes is a green fruit - name not known, but it was good to eat.  Also, papaya, carrots, cukes, watermelon, Romaine & iceberg lettuce, cauliflower and the pink thing is a dragon fruit.

 

Milk in a carton (no refrigeration until opened), mayonnaise in a pouch, Ding Dongs (mixed dried nuts which includes p-nuts, peas, corn and broad beans), mango, watermelon, sweet melon (cantaloupe), bananas (one of the bigger ones - Carol is holding one in her hand), Bits (mini M&M's), and a turnip.

 

Here's a small banana called a Senorita, and some orange slices next to them.

 

These are frying bananas - not good to eat fresh, but very good when they are deep fried.  We DO have some American canned veggies such as corn, carrots & peas, diced and stewed tomatoes.

 

Dragon Fruit.  Very tasty!!

 

Some kind of a fruit, but it was so nasty we had to throw it away.  We try EVERYTHING!

 

Papaya, the nasty fruit and a watermelon.  See how large the watermelon is compared to the dinner fork.

 

This is the yellow watermelon cut in half.  It is so deliciously sweet and juicy.

 

This is a mango that Jerry cut in half with the seed next to the knife.  The mangos are so delicious and plentiful.  They are perfect to eat at any time of day and with any of the meals.

 

You can buy pineapples whole or buy them ready to eat.  We invited some Elders over for dinner one night and had fresh pineapple for dessert.  Elder Datu showed us how to cut them so that they look spiraled when they're done.  OH, SO DELICIOUS!!!

 

At the market we purchase coconuts and have them shave the "meat" out for us.  This is a bag of freshly shaved coconut.  It is naturally sweet.

 

Each time we have Transfer Planning, we are invited to the Mission Home and served a delicious meal.  This is the table setting for one of those meals.

 

 

There are lots of other things, but thought you might enjoy what we have posted here.  If you have any other requests for our blog, let us know and we'll be sure to try to accommodate you.