The Bowens came for a mission tour

Dear Family and Friends,

It's preparation day again! This day gets here lightening fast each week, but that's because each day dissolves into thin air and it's bedtime again! Being engaged in much fun work must be the reason.  Each day has something to look forward to.

Last week we looked forward to having Elder Shayne M. Bowen and Sister Bowen coming for a mission tour. They walked through the door on Tuesday in time for lunch. They taught us while we drove through driving rain, over ice cream at our kitchen table, and at every other available moment, along with two big zone conference meetings and a mission leadership meeting. What a gift! The timing and content were, as you would expect, ideal. We are newly inspired and guided in our overall view, and the missionaries have been given improved vision for their possibilities! Did you know that you can train fleas to stay in a bottle with no real lid? If they believe there is a ceiling they don't even try to jump out of the jar.  Elder Bowen helped expose our false ceilings and encouraged more ambitious goals! The sky is the limit!

Elder and Sister Bowen with our lovely senior couples

Remember our cultural event from a few weeks ago? These four boys who participated all now have mission calls! (2 to the Philippines, 1 to Hong Kong, 1 to Redlands CA!) We will be here still when they return we are excited to see them when they get back!

We enjoyed the Bowens thoroughly and the experience was 100% lifting. Heavenly Father is so kind.

I've been playing our extensive playlist of Mormon Tabernacle Choir music. We have their patriotic album, and God Bless America came on. I asked Sister Mercy if she knew what they were saying.  When I told her she laughed that they would sing for God to bless only America.

With Sister Bowen

The kids playing in a "swap safari" after the storm.

I explained the best I could, then invited her to sing something patriotic from here, which she did with her characteristic smile and a fist pump at the end.

We have been 'dampened' by the edge of tropical storm Kalmaegi (Luis). It should be worn out by tomorrow in time for three days straight of road tripping. See what I mean by fun work? We are going out to visit our latest batch of missionaries, look them in the eyes, see where they live, interview and teach. And probably learn plenty from them and their trainers.

Merry Christmas! I mentioned the -ber months earlier, and sure enough! It's happening! There are trees and decorations for sale in The National Bookstore. Lighted figures and hanging designs that resemble stained glass windows are at roadside and just waiting to be taken home by any early enthusiast! I don't think there is Halloween as we know it, of course no Thanksgiving, so why not just go for the biggie?

This is a Christian country and make no mistake. There are references to Deity at every turn, from the sides of jeepneys to road signs to t-shirts. So the early celebrations are not just for the sake of retailers; we are not expecting to see too many Christmas Shoppers. One guess would be its for the fun of it (everything is more fun in the Philippines!), and from a sincere belief in Christ.

Have a wonderful week!

With love,
President and Sister Dahle

P.S. This little doll sat by me in Relief Society a couple weeks ago. She was confirmed today. We entertained ourselves by taking selfies with my iPad. Don't judge us...the scriptures refused to come up. :-/ ...plus I couldn't understand the lesson and she couldn't hear it. (She is deaf). Isn't she cute?!?

I don't want to be a pie!!! (Anyone see Chicken Run?)

Following this truck full of chickens...made me think of Chicken Run ;)

Little Green Men...

Dear All,

Two notable notes, in chronological order:

1. I have finally spent an afternoon out with the sister missionaries! Sister Winters (remember this is my sister!) and I offered our service to the four sisters who's area we live in, and they kindly formed two threesomes. It was an experience we had both been hoping for! It was raining cats and dogs, literally, so my companions voted for me to drive us around instead of using the jeepneys and trikes. Sister Winters got to do both and was completely delighted! I was slightly disappointed, but dry is also good! Three homes, four lessons, and a variety of investigators and less actives returning! Again the language barrier was in the way, but when invited to give my testimony or share a scripture (in English) they understood me just fine. And I did have an idea of what to share. Miracle. The Sisters were calm and sweet and brought a loving spirit with them to each brother and sister that we saw. One was a first lesson that they had ITL'd (invited to learn) just a few days before. She was touched and receptive, especially soft hearted because her husband had recently passed away. Her son was home and her best friend dropped by just then. Nice!

2. Yesterday morning there was a knock on our bedroom door. President was out in the house so I just called out to 'come in', thinking it would be Sister Winters. There was instead another knock and when I went to the door there was a nice Filipino man in a green t-shirt asking to come in and clean our CR. CR is the acronym for comfort room, which is a delicate way to say bathroom. The fact that there was not only one green-shirted man in my house, but SEVERAL was extremely surprising! They were all in different poses here on our upstairs landing engaged in some serious deep cleaning! This is our gym area, too. Undeterred! Under, around, behind, inside, outside every moveable and non-moveable thing. It was like that scrubbing bubbles commercial where each little bubble whirls and swirls all over leaving sparkling cleanliness in its path! I declined the kind offer for our bedroom and cr to be cleaned in this manner out of a sense of privacy, and because Sister Mercy had just spent an hour and a half the day before giving it the business. I retreated back into the bedroom only to see two green t-shirted men cleaning the outside of our window and the wide ledge that is a nice landing zone for little birds. This is a two story house! Later there was a long handled broom waving around cleaning off the underside of the eves?! Red alert! When I ventured out of the bedroom a little later they had shined every corner of every room of this huge place and left the floors slick and the whole place smelling just wonderful. And then just disappeared! Is anyone jealous?

We have learned since that the FM group sends this crew out every six months to give our compound a going over! The timing is probably not a coincidence since Elder and Sister Bowen of our area presidency will be here on Tuesday to do a mission tour. They will stay in our spare room that we have named The General Authority Room. Handy, right? We are excited to have them come, and admittedly a little nervous too. Two and a half days to keep my ridiculous inside. I'll let President Dahle be the one.

This is a phrase I have picked up from Sister Mercy. Whenever I try to clean something or wash a dish when she is here she smiles big, takes whatever it is away from me and says, "I'm the one!"

Upon rereading this I realize that it looks like I spend a great deal of time in the bedroom, which is easily explained. It's also the home office where I sit and read medical helper books and try to solve the variety of rash and fever mysteries while President Dahle spends time doing some of his official president stuff, making endless phone calls and producing official documents, and reading the weekly letters...which he thoroughly enjoys!

Another note on the English speaking, for those considering a mission here or who is even just curious: one SundayPresident Dahle was giving a talk and he came to a part that he really wanted the congregation to understand so he asked one of the branch presidency counselors to come and translate for him. The translator struggled around many of the phrases, until he finally stopped and said,"President, they understand you just fine!" Everyone laughed and was relieved for the sake of the brother. So, it's all good with the English speaking! No worries!

Tomorrow we are on the road again!

Sending this early because our P-day will be taken up with wild preparations. My kingdom for Costco and Kohlers! :)

With love to each one,
President and Sister Dahle

What a great week! One for the record books!

Dear All!

What a great week! One for the record books.

Don't worry, you won't get a novel. Just the inside flap.

Elder and Sister Winters are here! This is a very special Senior Missionary Couple from Glendale, Arizona serving their third mission! And Sister Winters is my sister! It's funny to explain it to our Filipino friends because everyone is Sister- not just the missionaries- so we have to add the phrase 'same mother and father'. They are shocked! Try to imagine how it feels to be halfway around the world and suddenly, there is your little big sister and her sweetheart there for the sole purpose of missionary service, however they can, in whatever way they can...and to be a sister. (I hope she realizes this will be part of her work). It definitely calls for high kicks! They are living just up the road for the month of September and will be coming here serving as right and left hand to get some organizational projects completed. Heavenly Father is so very kind!

When we first walked through this house and saw the china cabinet, complete with all the fancy dishes and some stemware, Downton Abby came to mind. But alas, no Downstairs! Friday night the newly formed presidency of the Olongapo mission and their wives came for dinner, and it all came to life at the expert hands of Brother Barangan! What fun! What did we eat? I'm not totally sure, but it was so delicious. We foreigners sat across from the Filipinos and were able to watch and learn how to properly eat each beautiful thing!

Then came Saturday! We had all our Senior Missionaries for a meeting! We have so every much to learn, and their collective wisdom and experience is rich. Again, more is going on than we knew, and they are doing so much good! There was definitely more room at our large table...

And finally, in the evening, we attended a baptism that was long awaited! Along with four others, Sister Mercy's husband, brother Jerry was baptized! Happiest day ever! We have invited ourselves to their temple sealing in approximately one year! They have four children that will join them there. Wahoo!

On Sunday we met Xyk. He is eight and brings himself to church since he lives nearly next door. His baptism is in two weeks. At the end of the meeting block he came to the bench in front of us and got on his knees looking back right into my eyes. He wanted to meet. Then, he saw that I had gum and asked about some 'chiclet'. I shared. We were instant and fast friends. He took my hand and we went in search of my asawa/kasama. It will be fun to watch him for the next three years! Missionary secret: always carry chiclet.

I can't end without a lizard update. As bad as they are at hide and seek, they excel at playing dead. There was one in the kitchen sink that I felt sure was a goner...we were staring at him from inches away! He did not flinch. I don't touch lizards under any circumstances, so we tactfully left the room to give him leave to escape if he was indeed still alive. And he was gone. Wow! That is mature composure!

With love,
President and Sister Dahle

Presidency Dinner

Catching Our Breath

Dear Family and Friends,

We have had a week without a major mission event and so have been working hard and fast at getting the rest of the foundation laid for the three year plan. President Dahle has this pouring out of him as fast as he can put it to paper. It's remarkable. He works from the cornerstones that the Area has given, then arranges the rest of the footings with precision. One overall goal is to really get the local leadership and the missionaries unified in the work. This is critical to retention and bringing back and keeping the less actives. It's also critical for the long term everything, since missionaries come and go and the ball is easy to drop amidst our constant changes. Families lost. This is not breaking news to anyone, I realize. It underscores the fact that the same concerns spread worldwide, but maybe at differing levels of intensity.

Another darling sister missionary applicant interview! Her nonmember brother will be supporting her. Do you feel the tenderness in that?

We also caught our breath by going on a drive down to the sea side! We haven't paused in these eight weeks to look at where we live. We are in the tuck and curve of Subic Bay just in from the South China Sea. The tide might have been out because we were able to walk on a dry sand bar way out into the water. There were three huge ships in the water to the right and a docking area straight across where container ships could be loaded. Between them, the inlet or outlet straight to China!

There were three fishermen sorting their nets, which they carried out into the shallow water, spreading it far between them as they went. Nets lowered, they made their way back to shore. We waited to see what would be their catch! A school of tuna? Nemo? A nice little shark? It looked mostly empty except for a sandal or three, and a picture frame (with good humor, one held it up and posed behind it). But not to be disappointed altogether! There was a ray and a squid! Creative, right?! They were on the small side...definitely not man eating. The captors carried both away without saying much, at least that we could understand. My best guess is they were served over rice within the hour. Fresh!

And I won't be wading gleefully out into the ocean anytime soon! :-/

We finished off our local culture expansion evening by eating at Texas Joes. :) YEEHAW!!

Early Wednesday we will race to Manilla to get our newest Senior Couple, Elder and Sister Winters, aka my sister and her husband!! We are overjoyed to have them! I will be doing high kicks and cart wheels if you want to have the truth of it! You can see why I struggle with the mature composure thing. :)

Signing off... 

With much love,
President and Sister Dahle

Caribou in a cart!

It's illegal to carry anything on top of a vehicle...except people!

Mt. Pinatubo eruption ash flow to the sea

Soy Sauce Heaven! Gives you a sense of it's "high" place here ;)

Seven Weeks

Look at that sky!

Dear Family and Friends,

It really has been seven weeks! We have come to the point where we can't blame our newness for our faux pas. I have decided to try to shed the crazy-lady-being-bulldozed-image for the I-am-a-competent-person-somewhere-deep-inside-image. I hope it goes better than the time just after President Dahle was called to be the Stake President down at BYU. I made a similar commitment thinking the wife of the Stake President should have a more composed mature image, until the opening social luau where we were invited to the stage to do the hula. I blew that one from the get go. :-/

Last Saturday the Olongapo District held a cultural night that was partly to welcome the new mission president and his wife. They are so kind and gracious to us! It was over the top fun! There were Filipino costumed dances performed by the Relief Society Sisters, the young adults, the youth and the primary! There was a short video clip touting the attractions of the Philippine Islands. There is a popular saying: "Everything is more fun in the Philippines!" After Saturday night's event I would definitely want to come if I wasn't here already! At the end we got to stand and give extemporaneous closing remarks (President Dahle is SO GOOD at this!) then have our picture taken repeatedly with various members/performers. A meal of two kinds of rice noodles with mix-ins and toppings and a rice based dessert was served. It was delicious!

President Dahle has called counselors and a clerk, bringing a great sense of relief for him. He has been packing a great burden, and feels enormous gratitude for the prepared and steady men that will carry the load with him. He has really relied on inspiration for these callings. They are all Filipino leaders.

We shouldn't tailgate this guy!

Two nights ago our phone rang at 3:30 am with the anxious news that one of our Sister missionaries was probably having an appendicitis attack. Our completely competent STLs (sister training leaders) up in that area had already taken her by way of jeepney to an urgent care type facility. They were over an hour away from us, and needed to go to a real hospital quickly. How blessed we were that our wonderful Senior Couple, the Whites, were close-by. They brought her and her companion down to our hospital here at the base, then stayed with her through the whole process of getting a diagnosis and a plan in place for her care. I cannot overstate the blessing our senior couples are to us and our missionaries in a huge variety of ways! Thank you in advance to all of you who are preparing to join us here or to serve in other missions. You will be a GREAT blessing wherever you go.

There was loud and wild rustling in the garbage can last night! Lilly or Larry, whichever it is, is terrible at hide and seek.

FHE here tonight for one family and their missionaries, the assistants to the president. We won't be needing the bathtub rice cooker this time. :) We hope this will help them feel the spirit and give a chance to resolve some of their concerns.

We are doing well! Thank you for your constant prayers for us. We know you include our missionaries, their investigators and the saints as well. It is making a difference! The church is growing here as we all try to do our part.

With so much love,

President and Sister Dahle

Sister Mercy had just organized the missionary linen closet...including the extra drapes on the top!

Youth Cultural Show