This is a typical rainfall that started just at the end of our district meeting last Tuesday.

This is another bug that Ken saw by our front door.  The picture is put here in honour of Debra and also Luke because they liked the other bug picture so much.  BUGGS!!! YUCK!!!

These are some photos that Ken took on his way to San Ildefonso on Saturday, June 24, 2017.  He went there early for an activity that started at 6 am.  These are rice fields.  They flood them before the rice is planted and by the time the rice is ready to be harvested the water has soaked into the soil.

 Wednesday June 21 we had a Senior Couple Activity -- we have one per transfer -- a service project planting trees for reclamation at the Quezon City Landfill. It serves a city of 4 million people. There are about 400 tons per day of solid waste added here. It was fascinating. The reclamation area is impressive.  Included were 8 young missionaries from the 2 wards that border this area.  

This is the garbage dump hill from where we were planting trees.  The hill had several hundred workers who were "picking".  The pickers sort through the garbage and pick out recyclables to sell to junk dealers.  This is not a job that we would want, partly because the hill smells like garbage, even from where we were standing.  You can see many umbrellas on the hill which were erected by the pickers for relief from the heat.  The hill on which we were planting trees has the same garbage dump underneath; soil and a layer of compost is added on top.

Ken went to the nearby hospital to have a PSA blood test, which he does every six months.  Much to our delight there was a parking place just for us.  (PWD is person with disabilities).

While Ken was at the hospital he saw a tempting advertisement.  We thought it was amusing.

For Fathers' Day (June 18) our branch set up a picture-taking corner.  They also handed out gifts to all the fathers who were there.  It was a nice handkerchief with a card attached.

This is us with Fernand Arellano.  He calls himself our "other son". He has helped Ken a lot with the YM program. He's been a member for a year and a half and is getting ready to go on a mission.

We have a sad driving story to tell.  For weeks, all along the highway we've seen signs, "Deep Excavations" that are set up along where they've dug huge ditches right beside the thousands of tires that move along the highways every day.  We've often remarked on how dangerous this is.

And sure enough on June 17 we were driving along a narrow road with deep excavations on each side and our front tire slipped off the road and our front bumper ended up on the road.  There were about twelve people who helped by trying to lift it back onto the road but the tire was in a narrow channel and was caught tightly.  Eventually a Meralco truck (the local electricity company) which was nearby  put a chain on the back of our car and pulled it back onto the road.  They are our heroes!

These are the results of the incident:

One of the elders who was with us and is a Filipino reported the incident to our mission president with his weekly report.  This is how he described it:

"last week we had a home teaching together with the couple Elder Rodger and Sister Rodger we visited three Families after we visit them there's some thing happened we stock at the street be cause the wheel was shot in the hole fortunately many people help us to get out from the stock."

This is where our tire was stuck.

And these are closeups of the hole.

This is a horse drawn wagon we saw on June 8, 2017.  Even more can be loaded onto a horse than a trike.  Except you have to feed the horse.

We had a baptism of four people on June 10. 2017.  Two sets of missionaries worked with these investigators.  At the baptisms they have the just-baptized members bear their testimonies.  It's very touching even though it's in another language.  Most women in the Philippines have long hair (even the older ones) and it's a challenge to immerse them.

We had a district meeting just before the party and we had all ordered t-shirts that say "Baliwag". That's the name of our church district and also our missionary district.  The next day transfers started and three of the people in this photo were moved.   Of course, we didn't get transferred and Elder and Sister West didn't get transferred.  No companionship changes among the Senior Missionaries.  President Bertin mentioned that his next transfer in three weeks will be to Utah.

This photo shows our zone leaders, Elders Shaw(r) and English(l) at the party for the Bertins.

The district had a farewell party for President and Sister Bertin (here it is pronounced "Berteen") on June 12, 2017.  The photo shows President and Sister Bertin in the middle and in front of them are the two counsellors in the mission presidency and their wives.  Behind them are President Chavez, the district president and one of his counsellors and their wives.  (The other counsellor was not there.)

We have made visits to several members of the branch.  We like to go with the missionaries because they can communicate with the members we visit.  We do home teaching and visiting teaching visits with the missionaries or the branch members.

                                 The Calderon family

The Arante family - they were just baptized last month.

Jocelyn del Rosario and her grandchildren

Alma Santa Maria and family (She's the other counsellor in the Branch primary organization).

Ken went hiking with the Young Men on Saturday, June 3, 2017.  The hike was to Mount Gola which was 160m above sea level.  It was about a 5 km hike.  Because of the high humidity and high temperature, it was a very sweaty experience.  Even the YM were happy to get in the water afterward.  As you can see in the first photo, they rode there in a jeepney.

Along the trail they crossed a river twice which required taking off shoes, etc.  Partway they came across a little hut where a family were selling drinks and snacks.  It reminded Elder Rodgers
 of Chez Monique on the West Coast Trail.