We've just begun a really great week in the mission. Yesterday morning, we were able to sit in on a devotional for all church employees with Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve, his wife, Kristin, Elder Lynn G. Robbins of the Presidency of the Seventy, Bishop Gerald Causse, and our Area President, Ian S. Ardern. The main message of that seemed to be being wise with the church's resources, working smart as well as hard, and, from Elder Oaks, paraphrased, Life is about Growth, and we only grow through challenge and adversity. There is no growth from prosperity. He also counselled us to expect belt-tightening in lots of areas.
Then last night there was a special broadcast to all of the Philippines which was filmed at our chapel and we were in the audience. It will be shown Sunday night to everyone else. The messages there were specific to the Philippines and the problems here, but, the answers were universal. To really know the Savior we must study the scriptures daily. We need to keep our baptismal covenants, fulfill our callings, pay our tithing, and be good parents. Elder Oaks also said that as the only Christian nation in Southeast Asia, the Philippines is key to carrying the gospel to China and the rest of Asia. When we were on our cruise to London last year, Mike Wilcox spoke of how grateful he was to the Catholic church for preserving Western Culture at a time when much was being destroyed. Here, also, we sometimes feel great antipathy toward the Spanish Catholics for their oppression of the gentle Filipinos. However, it was they that brought Christianity to the Philippines, and saw that it was so well entrenched. So while we might decry their methods, and the lack of any infrastructure left behind, we can be grateful that this is a believing nation. Nearly every jeepney has a Christian name, phrase, or picture on it, and there are many large billboards with scripture or scripture-based homilies.
Today we have a mission-wide meeting with Elder Robbins this afternoon, and then on Sunday, another stake-wide meeting with him instead of our regular Sunday schedule. This is all very special for missionaries, but especially for the Filipino people. To have the church recognize them in this special way is really wonderful.
We are leaving shortly this morning to go try to negotiate for a new apartment for some missionaries whose home was sold out from under them. We are really praying for success because our time runs short!
Thursday, October 30, 2014
Sunday, October 19, 2014
Learning Along the Way
For the last transfer (six-week period between arrival of new missionaries and general reshuffling of missionary assignments), my message to the missionaries as we visited their apartments was on the Word of Wisdom. This is a revelation given to Joseph Smith regarding health. (To read the scripture, go here.) Spending six weeks teaching and studying this revelation caused us to ponder more about how we were living it. Most members of the church focus on the "don'ts" of the Word of Wisdom: Don't use tobacco, coffee, tea, alcohol or drugs. These are, obviously, very important for physical, spiritual and mental health. However, fully half of the Word of Wisdom gives us things we should do. We are to eat meat sparingly, and eat every grain, and fruits and vegetables with prudence and thanksgiving. This is a great response to the Paleo trend that I just couldn't feel good about. The biggest discussion I'm aware of, with members of the church, is the meaning of sparingly. We have long felt that it meant less than we were eating, but we didn't feel it strongly enough to do anything about it. Then, again while teaching about this principle, I came across a post on Meridian Magazine about fully living the Word of Wisdom. I read the post, by Jane Birch, who works as the Assistant Director of the Brigham Young University Faculty Center. It linked to other posts by her, and to a book she has written, called Discovering the Word of Wisdom. We ordered and read the book, and then went on to other things she recommended, including The China Study by T. Colin Campbell (amazon), Forks Over Knives (a documentary available on Netflix), and the website of Dr. John A. McDougall, MD, (drmcdougall.com)
After much reading and pondering, we decided that we would seriously cut back our use of meat, and try to follow a Whole Foods Plant-Based diet. We do not want to label ourselves as vegetarian or vegan, or, indeed, anything at all but disciples who are trying to follow the diet the Lord prescribed, as well a secure the best health we can for the remainder of our lives.
We began this on October 1. We are not willing to throw lots of things away, so we continue to eat what we had on hand, though spaced much further apart. We won't be able to tell much in the way of blood work, etc., while here, so we'll have to go purely on feelings until we get home. The only thing I can say, so far, is that I haven't had any Tums since starting eating this way, and I was chugging them down pretty regularly just days before.
We would like to invite each of you to read the resources we did, and draw your own conclusions. We'd love to hear what you think (after you've done the reading/watching!)
After much reading and pondering, we decided that we would seriously cut back our use of meat, and try to follow a Whole Foods Plant-Based diet. We do not want to label ourselves as vegetarian or vegan, or, indeed, anything at all but disciples who are trying to follow the diet the Lord prescribed, as well a secure the best health we can for the remainder of our lives.
We began this on October 1. We are not willing to throw lots of things away, so we continue to eat what we had on hand, though spaced much further apart. We won't be able to tell much in the way of blood work, etc., while here, so we'll have to go purely on feelings until we get home. The only thing I can say, so far, is that I haven't had any Tums since starting eating this way, and I was chugging them down pretty regularly just days before.
We would like to invite each of you to read the resources we did, and draw your own conclusions. We'd love to hear what you think (after you've done the reading/watching!)
Wednesday, October 1, 2014
Just Plodding Along
We are nearly through with another transfer. We hope to visit our remaining seven apartments tomorrow and Friday, because next week is transfer week when it is very hard to visit. We are teaching them about the Word of Wisdom this transfer, specifically the part about eating meat sparingly and eating fruits and vegetables of every kind in their season. There is pretty much no excuse over here, as there is no winter and not famine here in this area, and the fruits and vegetables are abundant. We had a very nice Relief Society meeting on Saturday, where some of the seasoned expats taught us how to use many of the unfamiliar vegetables and fruits. For supper tonight, we tried sauteed garlic, onion, carrots and sayote, a funny green, pear-shaped vegetable, and garnished with malunggay, a tiny-leaved green plant that is a wonder food. It was quite tasty!
We are in the heart of the rainy season now, which means a rain almost every day, sometimes a shower and sometimes a downpour. I am still enough of a SE Colorado girl that I like to go watch it rain. It does cool off the air somewhat, but not as much as one might think. And the days without rain are still astonishingly hot!d All of those "rainy season" warmer clothes I brought hang unused in my closet. The only need I've ever had is to take a sweater because the air-conditioning at church is frigid!
Yesterday I figured out that we drove for 3 1/2 hours, had two, one-hour apartment visits, and a two-and-a-half hour shopping excursion. It's like driving to Denver every day! We don't like to spend an hour in an apartment, but I'm having the missionaries score themselves, with oversight, and they sometimes take a long time, and particularly so if the apartment is dirty. These were.
Our favorite mall has a grocery with flowers, and David pretty much keeps flowers on the table all the time. It is very nice, and helps a little with my surprised missing of my garden, and plants in the house.
One last thing. I've mentioned that there are traffic directors at every busy intersection. I love them! They really help to keep traffic flowing. We have a couple of favorites, though. I wish I had pictures, but so far we have been unable to take them. There is one woman who directs traffic, standing in the middle of a very busy intersection, wearing a moderately short-skirted uniform, with 4-5 inch-high heels! In keeping with Filipino custom, she also wears a towel on her head to protect herself from the sun. It's quite a cute sight. Our other favorite is a middle-aged man with a large mustache who wears a completely black uniform with black boots and a white cowboy hat. He is also lots of fun to watch. I'll still try to get pictures.
We are in the heart of the rainy season now, which means a rain almost every day, sometimes a shower and sometimes a downpour. I am still enough of a SE Colorado girl that I like to go watch it rain. It does cool off the air somewhat, but not as much as one might think. And the days without rain are still astonishingly hot!d All of those "rainy season" warmer clothes I brought hang unused in my closet. The only need I've ever had is to take a sweater because the air-conditioning at church is frigid!
Yesterday I figured out that we drove for 3 1/2 hours, had two, one-hour apartment visits, and a two-and-a-half hour shopping excursion. It's like driving to Denver every day! We don't like to spend an hour in an apartment, but I'm having the missionaries score themselves, with oversight, and they sometimes take a long time, and particularly so if the apartment is dirty. These were.
Our favorite mall has a grocery with flowers, and David pretty much keeps flowers on the table all the time. It is very nice, and helps a little with my surprised missing of my garden, and plants in the house.
One last thing. I've mentioned that there are traffic directors at every busy intersection. I love them! They really help to keep traffic flowing. We have a couple of favorites, though. I wish I had pictures, but so far we have been unable to take them. There is one woman who directs traffic, standing in the middle of a very busy intersection, wearing a moderately short-skirted uniform, with 4-5 inch-high heels! In keeping with Filipino custom, she also wears a towel on her head to protect herself from the sun. It's quite a cute sight. Our other favorite is a middle-aged man with a large mustache who wears a completely black uniform with black boots and a white cowboy hat. He is also lots of fun to watch. I'll still try to get pictures.
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