Elder & Sister Ferney: Morong became a Stake!

After a hectic Transfer on 31 Oct, 2018 which involved four Elders who extended their mission a month and flew out Saturday morning, 30 Oct., the regular group of eight, their workshops on Monday, the American cemetery and a temple session of Tuesday, and their departure on Wednesday morning, plus the two Elders that had medical issues and flew out on Tuesday! Yep. Confusing?? As far as I know they all made it home. And Elder Moffett has already emailed me asking if I could go find the scrapbook his mother made him which he left behind! He is also the one who’s dad sent him $250 and somehow it came up missing in the office before he ever received it. What we don’t do for our neighbors!!

The Saturday before, we had SEVEN baptisms out in the Teresa Branch! We took a van, picked up the Sister Missionaries on a corner and took them with us out to Ondoy to pick up a few of the baptism candidates and on to the Teresa chapel. It was quite a day. Just before the baptisms started, we had a 45 min. photo shoot —didn’t get home until 8:00 pm that night. Then, off to church Sunday morning. Afterwards we went out to Ondoy for Sacrament meeting. Each time we go, it seems different people attend - however the numbers are growing and we now have people sitting outside the house peering through the windows as well as packed inside. We are desperate to find a bigger place to hold our meetings.. A real challenge! (The temperature seems to be raising here)

This Saturday we attended the Cultural Celebration for the new 106th Stake in the Philippines. Teresa became a ward and Morong became a Stake!! Guess who the new Stake President is? Bro. Barrados. He served with Branch President Murillo as 1st Counselor in Teresa. He and his wife were the couple that invited us to dinner at their beautiful home shortly after we arrived here. He is going to be GREAT!! So Teresa and four other branches became wards. This is going to really make a difference for President Koster because until today, he held the keys for every temple , missionary, and disciplinary court interview involving this large district. We are wondering if he will keep us in Teresa or move us to another branch now.

The Morong Tabernacle Choir performed today, all decked out with new floor length, Mauve gowns - complete with a lilac colored silk rose pinned on each shoulder. For the Saturday afternoon session they all performed in a traditional Filipino fabric draped over their shoulder with pearl beads laid around their heads like halos. They sounded amazing - and of course the Brethren all had matching ties. You could feel the excitement in the air. President Schmutz, the Area President attended with his wife. They are a very friendly couple who have already served here as a Mission President.

We have a new missionary couple coming 20 Jan 2019, which we are looking forward to. They are 80 year olds from Ivans, Utah and have served in the Philippines before. Hay! Maybe I can get them to bring my lipstick over!! (It is illegal to send lipstick to the Philippines because the tube can contain a weapon). No Kidding!

Abrahams will be moving to the island of Mindoro in a few weeks. It is a large rural island about 70 miles away. It is part of our mission and divided into two zones. There have been several missionaries that have become ill and the decision has been made for Abraham’s to move down there for a few months to develop a relationship with some doctors and the hospital because there are times when the missionaries are too sick to return back to St. Lukes in Manila. We will really miss them in the office! They are pretty busy hauling missionaries here and there for doctor appointments, testing, and picking up meds at the pharmacy. During transfers they usually stay here at Eastwood instead of driving back and forth to Antipolo where their house is. We have fun dining out, shopping at Mega Mall and last night we saw the Nutcracker and the Four Realms. We enjoyed the music and the beautiful scenery at the beginning of the movie——especially the SNOW!!

We also found out there is a missionary couple from Missouri coming to replace US on 4 May 2019. Our release date is 26 May 2019. (It will probably be changed because that date is on a Sunday). That leaves FOUR more transfers. And the next two are going to be a breeze because there are only a few missionaries leaving. By the end of Dec. we will have 170 missionaries in our mission.

There is NEVER a dull moment in the office. The time is flying by and we cannot believe that this month we will have been gone a year. We want to thank you all for everything you are doing for us. If we didn’t have such self-sufficient children, we could not do our missionary work. We will miss seeing you all on Thanksgiving terribly but we are so happy you are getting together and celebrating all our blessings.

Please enjoy the turkey, potatoes & gravy, cranberry salad, pies, rolls, Jason’s dressing, and we will try to enjoy our rice and hotdogs. Hahahahaha!

Hugs & Kisses,
Mom

Church in Ondoy with Pres, Koster