Transfer to Apartment

Thursday, March 13---------Started the day with a fully American breakfast--the only thing unusual was pumelo, a type of grapefruit.  We then drove to the Mission Office with one of the office missionaries, Elder Paine, from Grand Junction, CO, and Sister Stucki.  President Stucki was very ill and remained in bed.
          After meeting the office missionaries, Sister Paine and Elder and Sister Theler, we went with Elder Paine to obtain our Philippine driver's licenses. Miraculously finding a place to park (and an obliging Pilipino to "watch" it for us) we went first to have a physical to see whether we were fit to drive. We walked up two flights of winding, rickety steps to a little storefront about eight feet wide, inside of which was a girl behind a small desk, and two waiting benches, the rest obscured by a partition.  For 100 pesos, about $2.50, we were weighed, measured, had blood pressure taken, and our eyes checked for distance as well as color-blindness, and pronounced fit.
           Taking the prized piece of paper with the coveted box checked, we walked down two more blocks to the license bureau. David had brought his satchel, but after the fact was told that we should carry as little as possible because someone driving by in a jeepney (local bus) could reach out and grab it, with nothing to do about it.
          Inside the license bureau, we were surprised to walk across a Catholic church set up in the lobby thereof--full altar, icons, candles, etc., with chairs set up before it.  We just walked right across. Because Elder Paine has brought many missionaries in to get their licenses, he knew just when to bring us, and everything was perfect.  Earlier or later, we could have been swamped with others in line.  As it was, we both walked out with licenses in less than an hour, physical to finish.  This, of course, does not include driving time! Manila metro area has a population of about 20 million, with the traffic to go with it. As we drove, he talked and pointed out things, and it is pretty daunting to think that in the next day or two we will begin our driving experience here.
            Back to the office, lunch of leftover pizza (yummm?) (Yes, you can get pizza here), and we spent another hour getting a cell phone that worked. President and Sister Hiatt, outgoing Housing Missionaries and member of the Mission Presidency, picked us up to collect our luggage from the mission home and take us to our apartment. Actually, we are just trading places--we are getting their apartment, and they are staying at the MH until we are trained and they move over to Palawan, an island in the mission that has two districts Hiatts will help turn into stakes.
            We would like to be including pictures here, but, unfortunately, somewhere along the line we've lost our camera charger, extra battery, and connection cable, so, I'm working on that. Pictures later.