One Year

Dearest Family and Friends,

It's so amazing that this year has passed! I hardly know what to say about it, for fear of characterizing it in the wrong way, or rather, not characterizing it in the right way. Maybe to be simple and concise...What An Amazing Year!!!

We have learned some life lessons at a higher level, because our need has been so great. One that stands out as I write today, is the power of united prayer. Through the years, Dennis and I have generally ended the day with couple prayer, and since the children flew the coop we have more often added a morning couple prayer. This has been standard business and has done our family and marriage a world of good over the years. Here, we have discovered a greater power behind it that we hadn't realized before, and we have come to rely on it heavily. I think it's wrong to call it magic, but you get the drift. 

Happy Anniversary to us!

We have learned another heightened lesson about the grand design in all of this and the incredible potential for good embodied in the youth of the church. Gratitude for their preparedness and willingness to serve. Praises to mothers and fathers who are striving to raise their children in happy, gospel homes, where the Book of Mormon is regularly read, and teaching hard work as a prized commodity, because it is. Missions and life evermore are made better by these. Mountains will be moved. We see so clearly that missions are also an MTC for life. I think I am paraphrasing Sister Hinckley when I say that what you are doing today is preparing you for what you will need to do tomorrow. Corrections/clarifications welcomed. :)

Lest we appear all wise and having arrived at some wondrous place, let it be known that we are striving, knocking our shins and tripping over self made stumbling blocks regularly. I don't think it's possible to arrive! Do you?

If you haven't added us on your weather app I will give the news that it is the rainy season! And how! Torrents off and on all day long! And we try to tell the missionaries not to walk through standing water!! Ha! Just how big are those clouds that can hold this much wet? The loudest frogs in the world have returned to singing in and around our newly refilled pond out back. Sounds like a herd of newly weaned yearlings taken down an octave! The highest heat is gone and all of the green is back! Loving it!

Serenaders

The machinery of mission life is revving back up to high gear after a tiny bit slower month, unless you count four hospitalizations (President Dahle has joined the elite club of those who have seen a freshly removed appendix!), and all the other surprises that come our way! :-) Almost always joyous surprises! Looking forward to mission president interviews again right after Mission Leadership Council tomorrow and the transfer on Monday - Wednesday. Any day spent with missionaries is a good day!

Olongapo East Zone

Calapacuan

Follow up training for June 3 transfer. 

I won't let this letter end without kudos to our not-even-close-to-over-the-hill Senior Couples. We would sink so fast without them! They are making a difference at every turn. We love them with all of our hearts, and so do our young missionaries! For any of their family members who may be seeing this, thank you for your sacrifice!

Elder and Sister Wright live here locally, and were the hosts. 

Sister Wright is known for her awesome cooking!!

Elder and Sister White

Elder and Sister Wood

Elder and Sister Gardner

Sisters! Our companions came later. 

With all of our love,

President and Sister Dahle 

aka Dennis and Sheralyn

aka Dad and Mom

aka Grandpa and Grandma! :-D

Thinking about bringing one of these home!! Bike the grand kids around the neighborhood!! :)

Recycling! It really is!

See?? I told you! It should be a puzzle or an I Spy picture! 

The watched pot has boiled

Dear Family and Friends,

The old adage about the watched pot has probably been proven false many times before now, but this year it has been pressed to its highest limits! I have tried not to look at or even think about the calendar that reaches into 2017 because it is just too ridiculously far away. Admittedly, there has been a lot of peeking anyway. And now, without being sure how it happened, we are approaching our one year mark! Yes! On June 21, 2014 we entered the MTC. Amazingly, our missionary Elders who are receiving their calls now will actually still be here finishing their service when we leave to go home. Wild stuff! Wild!!

And away they go! June 1, 2015.

Another transfer has occurred. There are nine new missionaries here wading through their first days. It can be pretty tough! For foreigners, add culture shock (including change of diet and cool water bucket showers), to jet lag and a completely different language, in addition to and on top of the new lifestyle and the homesickness that all new missionaries face to one degree or another. Many just enjoy the bundle of challenges and embrace finally getting to be a full time missionary. Either way, missions raise up men and women who know themselves in new ways. Who learn unselfishness and give up namby-pamby altogether! We are so proud of them.

Spotting his trainee was easy for Elder Fa. He got Elder Wilcox, the only foreigner this transfer. 

And here they are! June 3, 2015.

One of my biggest fears was what to do here about tooth trouble! Oh the stories!!! Thanks to Sister Winters' real tooth troubles (most courageous sister award) and my suspected ones occurring at once, we have successfully navigated together the choppy waters of questionable dentistry, finding a professional, trusted one, and have come out high and dry! Her issues are nearly resolved and mine are exposed as fraudulent, with the added bonus of a thorough teeth cleaning and no need to worry for another year! I've never had the stubborn stuff removed with a pointy drill, causing a few jerks and jumps, but hey, it was fast! :-! 

She gets ice cream for lunch! Numb mouth from a root canal. Isn't she the cutest, bravest sister?!

Yesterday was notable! Grandpa Juco, age 92, was baptized! He has been holding out forever! His matching wife has been an endowed member for years. His son is the branch president. His grandchildren are serving missions in droves! He has been living in this loving household, and still somehow, holding out! We visited their home a few months back after 'Baby' Juco's blessing (Not his real name. I can't remember it.) President Dahle challenged Grandpa to be baptized by May 31. He finally, finally decided to read the Book of Mormon with real intent. You will want to see the picture! I asked Sister Juco, the daughter in law, about their health and if she thought they would make it another year so they could be sealed in the temple. Her answer? "Yes, they are strong! He still rides his bike!!!!!" 

There were also two young children, brother and sister baptized, ages 9 and 8. So lovely to have both ends of the spectrum. Notable!

Grandpa Juco, and his happy family along with the young brother and sister and their mother,

standing to the left of Brother Grandpa Juco. The terrific missionaries are Sisters Ayala and Sister Curitana. 

This is the returned missionary grandson that baptized his grandpa.

Remember Xyk? My young friend from the Cabalan Branch who asked for chiclet on our first meeting many months ago? I see him from time to time and we are regular pals. This morning, at the Area Broadcast held in the Olongapo District Center, he came up to where we were sitting with his usual big grin. He slowly opened his ball cap that he clutched with extra care to his chest, revealing the baby kitten he had smuggled into the meeting! Don't you just want to meet him?! Don't you?! 

The lizards are taking over! I caught one nibbling on the exposed end of a banana! Stealth Man got his head caught in the garbage can lid and was stuck! He has been photographed at leisure. He should get a less impressive name for that lame stunt, but we are giving him another chance. 

I still haven't seen one eat a terrible bug that they supposedly are saving us from to earn their keep. But then again, we don't see many terrible bugs. Fine.

Stealth Man! Looks a little uncomfortable. 

It was a photo shoot night!

With all our love!

President and Sister Dahle

Mission Leadership Council

Note the row of exquisite Senior Couples!

Back to school

Dear Family and Friends,

School starts up again tomorrow morning!  The beautiful children in bright uniforms will reappear early on the streets and things will be quieter through the day in the neighborhoods. At lunch time, they emerge for a quick trip home for lunch, then it's back again until late afternoon. There is a small road between our house and the church and mission office that leads back to several homes that have sprung up, most of which are hidden in the trees and up the mountain behind us. Their many children have converged out here throughout the summer for games that look like red light green light, tag, and rolling bicycle tubes with sticks as they run beside it. I sort of wanted to try that one. 

Off to school with fresh uniforms and matching Avengers backpacks. 

Tomorrow will also bring a dozen missionaries here for the stopover on their way to their homes and families! Oh happiness! Wednesday there will be nine new ones arriving. Oh happiness! The cycle continues! 

A glimpse into the high points of the last ten days:

Last last (not a typo) Thursday and Friday we completed the mission president interviews in the north, followed by speaking at a youth conference on Saturday morning, then District Conference meetings throughout Saturday and finishing on Sunday. We stayed in Iba the first night at a beach hotel and actually got up early enough Friday morning for a walk out there! Then the following two nights enjoyed Elder and Sister Gardner's spare bedroom and fantastic hospitality, since the drive back and forth to the mission home is prohibitive! What a blessing that was! Spending steady time with our missionaries, the leadership of the district and the members was incredibly enjoyable and fruitful.

Early morning on the beach. 6:30 am early:

Our hotel. 

CTI. The Lucky Boy has been out fishing and is now available for carrying snorkelers out to the reef. 

President getting in a run. 

Early risers!

Catching the little crabs as the wave goes out. 

Selling flower starts I think. 

Dad and kids. 

Interesting plant life!

Just before the wave breaks. 

The fishermen are done for the day. 

Monday: basketball for President and the office elders and tennis for Sister Winters and me. Then preparation!

They let me play!

The team. Farewell game for Elder Albano. He is holding the ball and is a great player 

and missionary. He has been an assistant to the president. We will miss him!

Tuesday: zone/district meetings in Lubao. We love love love going to these! (Not a typo)

Wednesday morning the text went out for all Elders' companionships to guess a number between 1 and 100. The number was 87. The winners, Elders Lobitana and Gernale chose 88 and won 24 hours with the mission president as a third companion! On Thursday morning he drove the nearly two hours to Candelaria in time for planning, then out to work! He used the time to give extra training and learned a whole lot from them and the experience as well. He came home Friday afternoon a little worn and a lot excited. There are pictures of some of their teaching appointments on the blog. Yes, we have wondered if there are some missionaries who are more worried than hopeful about 'winning'. We laugh about that one.

President's companions for 24 hours Elders Gernale and Lobitania

And on his way back to his real companion!

They had a great time!

Our Friday night date was to the triangle outdoor plaza in Olongapo where the sister missionaries had arranged with the city to show a free movie for the public! The feature? Joseph Smith and the Restoration! The members brought friends and work associates. Little flyers had been passed along the street. The set of beautiful tarpaulin signs made by Elder Winters for chapel open houses teaching about the many aspects of the church, lined the front of the stage. The missionaries milled through the crowd taking down names and phone numbers while greeting each person. There was an introduction to the film by an American elder speaking Tagolog, and closing remarks by Olongapo Branch 3 president, Dennis Mongroban. Treats followed! What a concept! And what amazing Sisters for arranging for it all! 

Movie night: Joseph Smith and the Restoration. 

Saturday, while President Dahle was at a four hour meeting with our area seventy, Elder Vicencio, and all the district presidents in our mission, I went teaching with the amazing Sisters Laguerta and Patalita, ending the day by attending a baptism! 

My companions for the afternoon. 

She is ten. Her mother and older sister are members. After she was baptized she 

stood at the front and bore her testimony with confidence. 

Today, after visiting three different branches along with their district president, President Soquila, we came home, ate tuna on toast with fresh mangos and Hint of Lime chips, a spoonful of Mango Graham ice cream each, and took a nap. :-) 

There you have it! 

With all our love,

President and Sister Dahle

Dinalupihan Zone 

Formerly Elder Penano and Sister Minoza, newly engaged and knocked on the door

to share the good news! How fun is that!!

The teacher!

Sometimes the sunset is just too spectacular!

The heat is on!

Dear Family and Friends,

Our summer is halfway over, and in fact, school is about to start again! It is hot, but for us old folks, not as unbearable as we feared. So gratefully, we are spoiled with air conditioning most of the time, and rarely do we spend large chunks of time outside. However, we earned a point by making it through an entire day at a church during mission president interviews when there was an 8 to 5 brown out. That's Filipino for 'the electricity is off!' No electric fans, no breezes except the man/woman made ones. We have first hand understanding of the value of a hand held fan that you can wave, and the little handkerchief or hand cloth that we all carry for mopping at the sweat! Once again, our hats are off to our missionaries that are out in the heat each and every day, relying on an umbrella to temper the intemperate temperatures. They are amazing!

The interviews take about three weeks to complete, and happen every three months. We have eight zones, so it's a full day eight times. It is thoroughly enjoyable to have those hours with our vibrant and shiny Elders and Sisters. There is some wait time, so they bring their area books and 12 week training books to be worked on and checked by zone leaders. We have English pronunciation practice. Some go out to tract through the surrounding neighborhoods to use part of the afternoon. And we talk, all while President Dahle interviews one by one. It's a huge treat to have them face to face!

Just for a change of pace, two weeks ago we had a phone call asking about our availability to fill in the very next day for a last minute cancellation on the program for a youth conference. It was being held down south at a resort in our mission. It was a two hour time slot! President Dahle said yes! He called his counselor who lives near that venue, and he joined us for a fun morning with a couple hundred teenagers ready to learn about missionary work. And they got it!

Youth conference - testifying and inviting to learn. Practice!

Mothers Day wishes went on and on. Sweet! 

Mothers Day remembrances at the Olongapo 1st branch. 

The roses came from a member's garden. 

We try to get out teaching with our missionaries each week now, and that always provides experiences we need:

  I have taught, even preached, with great energy against drinking soda because it's somewhat counterproductive when it comes to hydration, and that's a very big deal here. I tell them its poison! It's also hard on missionary budgets. I have given tips on how to politely refuse when members and investigators offer them! They struggle to not offend by refusing. I have given more tips! So, because life can be like that, one warm evening recently we were visiting a part member couple with two sister missionaries, when the nonmember wife walks away up the road. Momentarily she returns with four Pepsi's, ice cold with condensation dripping off the newly opened bottles and straws poking out of the top of each one! (A double whammy because we never have gone for the caffeinated ones!) She graciously sets them down in front of each of us. I know Sister Aggasid and Sister Hansen were watching with high interest to see how we would deal with this one!!  Oh we felt the awkwardness! A new layer of sweat broke out as the president and I stammered that we don't drink soda, but thank you so very much for your exceeding great kindness, and how generous of you! Nothing like walking a mile in their shoes! Painful! Then it was the Sister's turn to squirm under my more understanding glances as they meekly sipped away at theirs. I keep forgetting to talk to them about that! It will make a good laugh for us.

 Then, just last Sunday Sister Mercy's husband, Jerry, was given the Melchizedek Priesthood. Within the week, we asked the office Elders if we could go out teaching with them, and they were planning to visit at their home to teach him more about the priesthood. When we arrived, Mercy was really sick. The Elders taught Jerry how to give a priesthood blessing and he proceeded to give her one, most tender and complete. 

How blessed we are!

If you, or anyone you know, is thinking about serving a senior couples mission, we would so welcome you here! It is a wonderful experience. Put out the message as you feel to. Thanks!

Have a wonderful end of May! Thanks for the continuing prayers in our behalf! 

Love,

President and Sister Dahle

Anyone want to guess what crop they are proud of in San Marcelino? 

Not marshmallows. :-)

Beauty pageants for children on up are a popular pastime. And parades for the winners are a regular summer event. 

Two nights ago traffic was held up for this version. Beauty knows no age limits!!

Sunset view from an evening walk near our home.