Bacolod

Dear Family and Friends,

Another busy week as senior missionaries in Public Affairs here in the Philippines, this past weekend we traveled to Bacolod (an island central to the chain.)  After arriving via an airplane (about an hour flight) we visit some old ruins from a sugar cane plantation owners’ home (called the Ruins) built in the 1920‘s – with the entire superstructure made of a continuous pour of more than a week of concrete.  To make the concrete smooth to the touch, while making a more than twenty plus room mansion, they added egg whites, to their mixture.  All that remains today - after the American Army (during WWII) burnt the wooden substructure with the permission of the owners, is the concrete beams with very detailed cravings in it. The reason for burning the home was so that the Japanese could not use it for their troops and/or headquarters in the area.  Bacolod and the surrounding area is full if fields of sugar cane, everywhere you look.  Fields, truck full of cut cane and processing plants.  In fact, the island is called the Sugar capital of the islands.  After our short stop at this former plantation - on our way to the hotel, on Friday (in the late afternoon) we met with the Multi-Stake Public Affairs Director and rehearsed/reviewed the agenda for an all-day training planned and scheduled for her Multi-Stake Public Affairs Team plus a few other Stake Public Affairs Directors outside the City.  There are three (3) Stakes (like dioceses) of about 2000 to 3000 members each in this city of Bacolod, which numbers around 500,000 people in total.  A very clean, well kept, vital city near the ocean.  After resting a bit before dinner we ventured out of our hotel - into the City with our Director for Dinner.  We found a nice Restaurant called Bob’s with a Pizza service called the Brick Oven.  Reminded us of Provo and the sweet, nice pizza parlor near the campus of BYU.  The pizza was wonderful, the best we have had while in the Philippines (so far) and very reasonably priced as well.  We (the three of us) had two medium sized, flat crested pizzas and then top it off with gelato with cake for dessert.  The food was very good and the setting was very refreshing after the busyness and heavy crowds of Manila.  Our hotel was the best bed I’ve slept in since arriving, with a real king sized bed and great aircon (air conditioning.)  On Saturday it was up early for training starting at 9am at a nearby church building.  There were more than thirty in attendance most of the day, with much learning, interaction and great fun.  We had lunch and snacks during the training of rice with meat fixings, like nearly every Filipino meal we have eaten.  After the training the Multi-Stake Director and her husband entertained both Sister Morello and me for dinner – again it was totally Filipino style, even eating rice and chicken with no utensils – with only your washed fingers.  Following this great meal, we stopped at a Cake/Pie shop for desserts – to complete a near perfect evening and outstanding ending for the day.  On Sunday Sister Morello and I were asked to speak in Sacrament Meeting for ten minutes each.  Did I forget, the husband of the Director, is the Bishop of the Ward (of the congregation), so asking us was very natural.  Early again we traveled to another of the some twenty buildings in Bacolod, to speak.  Following our speaking assignments and the balance of church (remember there are three hours in total) we ate another Filipino meal, but this time mainly seafood and fish.  Following our eating we were hosted, again by this same great couple to a nearby (about twenty or thirty kilometers away) volcano.  At the foot of the volcano, about half way up the 5,000 mountain, there was the nicest resort.  The resort was made up of hot water springs where people soak and rest from the volcanic activity, plus thousands of flying bats in the trees, a butter-flies museum, nice large and small cabins, tent camping, canoeing in the dammed lake, and fresh air up and down this beautiful canyon. The place was indescribably beautiful and wonderful and our host couple were outstanding, they have three teenage children themselves, who apparently cared for themselves while they entertained us for a day and a half.  About mid-afternoon we shuttled back to the airport for a return flight back to Manila.  The plane was scheduled to leave at 8:30pm, but with serious mechanic problems it - delayed our flight more than two hours, while sitting on their plane for more than two hours and a half, we finally departed Bacolod about 11pm.  Arriving back in Manila around mid-night and then back to the apartment around 1am, made for a very long and busy day.  Monday I have to admit we didn’t go into the office until near noon and slept in.  A great weekend of working with other committed people with our same assignment (of Public affairs) and focus plus adding another island to our list, was just unspeakably wonderful and exciting.  We have three more of these type of weekends planned of training elsewhere in the Philippines with our counterparts in the Multi-Stakes and Stakes.   I will attempt to post the results of those visits in the next month or so as they occur.  I hope everyone is found well, we love and appreciate each of you, for your support and prayers (we can feel them.)   May the Lord bless, protect, and guide each of you – with only a small portion of the goodness we feel from Him each day.  You are in our prayers as well and we rest assured His love will bless you daily.

With love, support, and His protect - may we each live our lives as he has asked.

Elder Morello