The Last Days

Last week was the final transfer where we will actually meet arriving missionaries. This past week was the final Mission Leadership Council (MLC) that we will see. As we meet with and talk to missionaries we wonder if it will be for the last time.  

Elder Cirunay, Elder Clark doing leadership training at MLC

The urgency of the last days are upon us. Sometimes the preparation for returning home feels as strange as it felt when we prepared to come. There are times when minutes drag even as the days fly by. We think there is still a lot of time left to wrap things up but then look at the calendar and see that there may not be enough days to do everything we think needs to be done.  We did have time this week, however, to take a batch picture.

Batch

Sister Cook, Sister Osumo and Elder Crapo were in the Provo MTC with us and now come to MLC. It was good to see Sister Cook looking healthy again after her stay in the hospital.  The sisters will be going home with us in March. Elder Crapo returns in September, the same time as our grandson, Zach.

On Monday we had a chance to take Elder and Sister Wilding to a mall in Cebu and then to S&R (Costco) so that they could stock up before heading back north to Bogo. We enjoy these kinds of opportunities to get to know the other couples serving here.

We have been using our good friend, Elerie, as a resource for special assignments. This week he was asked to find material for making 50 white shirts. This picture shows he and his mother getting ready to ride a motor bike with 75 meters (about 38 lbs.) of material to take to the tailor.

Elerie and his mother.

Thought for the Week

"A pebble held close to the eye appears to be a gigantic obstacle. Cast on the ground, it is seen in perspective. Likewise, problems or trials in our lives need to be viewed in the perspective of scriptural doctrine. Otherwise they can easily overtake our vision, absorb our energy, and deprive us of the joy and beauty the Lord intends us to receive here on earth."
Richard G. Scott