Oh, so much has happened lately. We had a very enjoyable stay at the MTC.  The classes awesome, the Spirit everywhere, the devotionals and Sunday meetings amazing. The food was very good, lots of food. We met people with connections everywhere. We met Lauren’s and Aaron’s next door neighbors on their way to their mission in California. Elder Rodgers met a father of a sister missionary in our mission. We spoke to a young man (Elder Nielson) from Myrle’s and Jackie’s ward. We met him in the cafeteria of the MTC. He loved Bishop Rodgers and enjoyed hiking with him. The week flew by so quickly. The last Sunday there Lauren, Aaron and the cute William drove down to visit us. It was fun to see them. It also brought back many memories of the MTC for Aaron. We left the MTC Monday night and landed in Manila on Wednesday am. It was a long, long flight. We tried to sleep and slept some but it’s not easy while you’re sitting up.  We went from to LA then on to Hong Kong and then to Manila. We amazingly found all our luggage there. We were picked up, after we came out of customs and immigration, by a driver who took us to meet an area office official to get our paper work completed. We got there a bit late and the staff had gone for lunch so the wait began. We were warned it may take 4 hours to have the documents completed which included finger printing.  After we finished that and were preparing to leave for the mission home, our driver accidentally locked the keys in the car. Shortly thereafter his boss arrived with a spare set. Then through unbelievable Manilla rush hour traffic we arrived at the mission home. We met President and Sister Bertin and ate and visited with them and then crashed in bed. We attended meetings with them Thursday and Friday, then were taken to our home in Baliwag.  We are assigned to the San Ildefonzo branch in the Baliwag District.  It takes us an hour to drive the 20 miles to our meeting house due to traffic. Saturday we got up at 3am (jet lag is only gradually getting better) to begin unpacking and getting settled. We shopped at the nearby SM mall for food etc. Another couple, the Bremners, are in our housing complex, she and Sister Rodgers were in school together in Cardston. They have been a huge help in getting us settled and showing us around. There was a baptism in our branch that night of a young woman (Irene Manio).  It was in San Ildefonzo and was Elder Rodgers 1^st attempt to drive these roads. We drove back the next morning for church. Surprisingly there were most seats filled.  We meet in the chapel with several huge ceiling fans to cool us from the heat. We sit on plastic stacking deck chairs. The meeting was spirit-filled and went from Tagalog to English and back including those bearing their testimonies. They enjoy the music and sing out even if it doesn’t match the notes on the page. After the meetings, which were more in Tagalog we met with the Branch President and the branch mission leader and the two sets of Elders in the branch.  After lunch and our planning meeting we had a nap. We didn’t wake up until the next morning. PDay we did laundry the old fashioned way in an washer/spin dryer and then hung the clothes out to dry. We got more groceries and household items and cleaned our home. In the afternoon we went to S & R, a Costco-like store, to further stock up. 

   So driving here is pretty much crazy. Any inch or rather cm. you give them and they will take it and now they are in front of you. There are Jeepnies which are old war jeeps which have been extended so they hold about 20 Filipino bodies or ten short American bodies, which you can hire to take you somewhere like a taxi. As well there are Tricycles which are basically mopeds or slightly larger motorbikes with side cars attached which are also used for hire to take you somewhere. For example we have district conference on Sunday and the branch has booked four jeepnies to transport members to the district centre. We met the missionaries yesterday at the chapel and made some visits. We saw Fernand, who we discussed in Sunday's missionary meeting as someone we could visit. His home was a 12x12 concrete box with a curtain door, and he was living with his parents and 3 other siblings. We found out that he will be made an Elder on Sunday at District Conference. We also saw an sweet, 83-year old lady, Sister Arelleano. She didn't speak much English.  sSe bore her testimony at church last Sunday. We drove over with the Elders to the Branch President's home and there haven't been many vehicles there judging by the looks we got driving in. We passed him on his motorbike on our way there.  He was also transporting four other members of his family on the same bike.   The Elders find their way around by just walking in the area. Many homes were cave-like, all lined up together on a so-called street, which really is a dilapidated alley. They're very poor but are such wonderful people.