One thing we will miss about the Phillipines is the lushness of the growth.  There is so much rainfall that green things grow easily and they grow tall and big and wide.

On Sunday, July 29 we attended Don Antonio Ward.  We haven't been there since last November and it was nice to see all our friends and say goodbye.  We took photos with Brother Herman Mayo, the ward clerk who helped us lots and Skyped with us on a couple of occasions because he had better wifi at home than at the church.

This is a photo with Sister Farrah Mausisa on the far left and Shemaine Tuble on the far right.  Both of these sisters worked with us in finding homes of lesser-known members. The other two girls are also in YW with Farrah (16).  Shemaine is an RM and a counselor in the YW presidency.

This photo is of Jimson and Danica Baluyot.  Their baby boy, "Nemo",  (yes, named after a fish) was 1 week old.  Jimson is the second counselor in the bishopric. His father's name is Jimmy.

We were trying to make some bookings online for hiking the Taal volcano which is close to the city of Tagaytay.  These two comments that we ran across were rather amusing.  A person can rent a horse to ride to the top of the volcano, or it can be done on on foot.

 We were also looking at hotels to book for a night and to our delight, a toilet and toilet paper were available.  One would assume that these items were available without calling special attention to them. 

I know we've said a lot about the traffic, but that's because it has an enormous impact on our schedule.
This is a typical street that we drive through.  Usually there are no sidewalks so people walk on the street. There are also MANY motorcycles and trikes to wade through. Ken was driving the big mission van with 7 missionaries in it when I took this  photo out of the front window.

We took this photo of a house on the way home from church on the 22nd.  The walls are patchwork and are built to keep the rain out - but every critter that wants to come in has free access.

This little boy lived next door to the patchwork house and like all children here, accepted his life as normal and enjoyed his childhood.  He was learning about a pulley system as he played with his teddy bear.

We attended  church in Bagong Silang 1st Ward on July 22.  We worked in this ward a few months ago and have many friends there.  The Relief Society President, Sister Castro, is standing in front of Ken.  She helped us a lot.

Ken took this photo on July 21 in Caloocan.  This is an apartment building.  It is named after Noah and we thought that was ironic considering the second picture which was taken a block away.  The rain here is so torrential that this flooding happens after only a few minutes.

Brother Torres of Sampaguita Ward is the man who was baptized as a child by Mark Cahoon many years ago.  We saw him at church on July 1 and Ken was wearing his Canada Day tie, so he gave it to Brother Torres and wore an extra one home. The sister missionaries took this photo the next Sunday.

We saw this truck on the road on July 15.  It looked familiar to Leslie but Ken immediately recognized it as the Stampeders' logo.

We found the house of a Phillipine "hoarder".  

Sometimes there is a sign outside that says "Junk Shop"

There is also a dog laying in the middle of the road, which was rather inconvenient.

Speaking of inconvenient, goats sleeping on a major road are also in the way.

We went to the last zone conference of our mission yesterday, July 9.  

This is Novaliches Zone.  

The zone leaders are on the right next to Leslie: Elders Slade and Quilloy.

We've mentioned "towel-heads" before.  In this culture, it's acceptable to walk around with a towel on your head.  Some of the missionaries get used to this, even if they are from North America. 

This is Elder Every, from Washington State, at zone conference.  He is a hard-working, diligent missionary and is always the winner of the "Preach My Gospel chase" game that is played at every zone conference.  He must have the book memorized!

We are grouped with the next "departing batch", even though we depart two weeks later than transfers.  So we went to the temple with them on July 5.  The mission provides a witness couple for the sessions with missionaries.

On the left are two assistants, Elders Yates and Caya-os.  On the right are the ones who are leaving, Elders Absantra, Bulanon, Rasmussen and Lucana.

There is a dinner at the mission home for departing missionaries the night before they leave.  We took this photo on June 26.  These are all missionaries that we've worked with closely.  From the left, Elder Morris (from Las Vegas), Meyer (from Sandy, Utah) and Richards (from West Jordan).