Elder & Sister Ferney: Busy Week!

This week several events took place besides the two zone

conferences. Elder Ferney, Sister Lola and I did apartment checks in Quezon City South Zone. It’s like an Easter egg hunt all around the neighborhood! Winding up and down tiny one-way streets, searching behind metal gates that are locked between rows of little shops and tiny make-shift shacks that the Filipinos call home. However, we met nice people on the way and were treated by a daddy and his little 3 yr. old girl that sang a song for us. He was so proud of her! Finally, after finding all eight apartments we return to the office, work until 7:00, then return home completely exhausted. The days fly by and we always have plenty to do.

On Thursday, Sister Pfau left for home. She is President Koster’s sister that served as the missionary nurse working in our office. She is a 53 yr. old divorced woman who really helped us a lot while we were moving in and getting our phones and the apartment set up. We hit it off with her and we shall really miss her. Sister Koster brought taco salads to the office for lunch and we enjoyed eating with the missionaries in the office and having President and Sister Koster with us. Sister Lola is President Koster’s mother and Sister Pfau’s mother. At some point I plan to write all about Sister Lola. You could never describe all her wonderful qualities in one paragraph! She is an exceptional 79 year old Sister that Heavenly Father put here for me. If you have ever seen “The Magic Bus” cartoon on television, the character that Lily Tomlin narrates reminds me of her. She is one of a kind and I dearly love her!!

That evening, we had a lovely dinner at President Koster’s house. We all enjoyed another nice meal and good conversation. President Koster shared several funny stories about a particular Mauri missionary sister who he wanted to send home but the Sake President wouldn’t take her back. She told the President that all she wanted to do was smoke and drink. Ha! Ha! we laughed our heads off!

A new couple came to our mission, the Abrahams from Nampa Idaho. She will be the new nurse and he is helping with the fleet. He is a computer whiz so Sister Lola and I are making a list of computer things we want him to help us with. Can’t Wait! We had 67 baptisms last week so Elder Ferney has been extremely busy with the BCRs. Elder Finlayson has been training him. He is a young missionary from Utah. The other young Missionary in the office is Elder Mericadera. He is a native. They both speak fluent Tagalog and work their tails off. Elder Mericadera was born without feet and the bottom of his legs are twisted around. So it looks like his shoes are on backwards. He has no fingers but sort of two claws on each hand. You would not believe how fast he can type on the computer!!! He also plays the piano. He really is extraordinary. He has really got a cute sense of humor and we could not function in that office without him. He is always humming and smiling. When the President found out that the bottom of his legs were bleeding, he decided to have him work in the mission office. He has blest everyone’s lives. Before Sister Pfau left she took him to several hospitals to see what options he had for some surgery. There are very good doctors here and Elder Mericadera just needs to decide which one he wants to go with now. I hope he chooses to get it done.

On Friday, The Area has arranged for us to visit a maternity ward in a local hospital. They use left-over fabric from the Beehive Garment factory and make baby caps for the new born babies, spiff them up with a little crocheted flower & a button. We invite a few Tagalog speaking sisters to go with us and deliver the caps and sing to them. It was my first time riding on a trike. All four of us piled in and off we went. It was fun, we only had to go about four blocks. When we arrived, I nearly died. About a 100 people were seated outside under a canopy waiting to go in. We met two ladies from the area and went in. The walls were dirty and there was no air conditioning. It was like walking into a sauna. The women were all in one big room mostly two patients in one bed. A few of them smiled but a few looked away from us. I felt uncomfortable. You could see the sheets were dirty and everyone was crammed for space. There were three rooms like this, with doctors and nurses wearing little white nurses caps all over the place. I had no idea it would be this primitive in 2018. The women were holding their babies and some were crying. It only took about an hour to walk through and return back to the office in a jeepney. Also, my first time. I am going to have to muster up some guts for our next visit. They do this every other week. The Sisters told me they usually hand out three times more hats each time they visit and most the time there are three patients in one bed. So I guess it was a slow week for new babies.

We have been called to teach the Temple Prep class to the Teresa Branch in Morong. We start tomorrow. Isn’t it interesting that we taught that class in our home ward before we left? We hope we can make it work with us speaking English. We are all prepared and excited to teach. Let me tell you, I have underestimated the Filipino’s and their gospel knowledge. They are sharp! They have studied and they know their scriptures. We have been very impressed. They are dedicated, faithful, and diligent. They are humble and they are so loving. If there is anything that will help this country progress and improve their living conditions, it is the gospel. We are convinced 100% that the Lord can make more of your life that you could ever do it alone.