Saturday was the most interesting day - we started early (around 6:30am) planning on a full day of training with the Manila South Multi-Stake Public Affairs Council only to find our best layed plans were changed by the Area /70 (who presides over them.) He instructed us to abbreviate our plans to compress things into an half day and still over all of our items. After lunch we continued training but only for a few minutes, about an hour - and covered things much quicker than originally planned. In the early afternoon we re-loaded all of the supportive items and materials into our car and came home. After a full week of various tasks we just crashed for the evening and prepared for our normal Sunday (full of attending Church and other regular things.) No matter the assignment one should be prepared for changes, for that is the real life of Senior Missionaries - as they attempt to serve. Best of Love and Continued Support - Elder & Sister Morello

Dear Family & Friends,

One of the wonderful things of living here in an older nation is to see all of the “old buildings” in various states of use and repair. As most of you already know - we experience all types of natural disasters, from general flooding, to earthquakes, to typhoons – all of which take their toll on old structures over the years. Many of the oldest buildings were wood framed construction and have long since been replaced and/or lost. Of the oldest building still remaining many of them were constructed from corral stone mined from the bay waters neighboring their cities and towns. When an earthquake or bad storm hits these old buildings often they do not weather them very well and are generally destroyed. Nearly all of the existing structures built in the last fifty years or lately are of concrete – with reinforced steel. In Manila the buildings have gone from being one-to-three story structures in the past to now - they are thirty-to-forty plus story skyscrapers with businesses and apartments. This has caused many to say – that the Manila official bird is the crane (the type that erects buildings) – as you look out your windows like where we live on the ninth floor of an high rise, you can see building cranes, dozens of them in all directions. The economy of Manila seems to be very robust, strong and very active, but there are still many people whose home for the night is on cardboard, sleeping under one of the overpasses, bridges, or in their jeepney or tricycle. There are two types of people we live around either the super wealthy and the very poor, with very little of any middle class. Only the recent college grads and growing population of call center employees - seems to be of a middle class, and most of them are only in the late teens or twenties. Most of the people live (the vast masses) from meal-to-meal and day-to-day, as they hard work to just survive. In the past I have talked about our rolling seven-eleven stores, that is the many young and old men (mainly) or the blind with escorts - who work the streets as vendors - selling all kinds of things to cars, trucks, and other vehicles as you wait at the traffic lights or in slowed highway traffic. If you would - you could purchase soft drinks, water, cigarettes, towels, flags, cell phone chargers, sponges, snacks, peanuts, and a whole host of other assorted items. Since the traffic is often slowed to nearly a stop as we inch along - these vendors sell their goods between the ever changing lanes of traffic as we nudge down the street towards our eventual destinations. Although, I have tried to describe this strange situation - only being here – can one fully understand this daily unusual situation and enterprising endeavor. See pictures of some of the old buildings I have observed.

We are about the experience our first “independence day of the Philippines” tomorrow, and we are planning on traveling out of town for a few days of seeing the beautiful country side. We are thinking of driving up the coast way to the north and seeing the beaches, resorts, and whatsoever else maybe there overnighting somewhere and taking a day or two break from work. The more and more we see of the Philippines the more we love this great, beautiful, and wonderful country. May I suggest there should any of you have the resources and opportunity of serving as senior missionary couples, you should surely do it! It is great and you truly learn to love the people you serve around and with. Some of the couples who warmly greeted us - as we arrived nearly ten months ago are now leaving, and we miss them dearly, but new one come and fill their places with their friendship – which is equally as welcomed and enjoyable. 

Serving is made so much nicer serving among friends, where you share so much in common. May we each live our lives that we are entitled to the blessings of the Lord.

With Love Elder & Sister Morello

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Carabao

They have these work animals (a carabao or water buffalo) and riding a real one was out of the questions, but as for a cement ones - it was just up to my speed ! Michael

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Dear Family & friends,


It’s the first of June 2014 with just over one year to serve here in the Philippines. This past week was most interesting with the return of the Pyles’ to our Public affairs offices - it has come much easier. Their hearts and hands make the work load far more accomplishable. A General Authority (with his wife) from our Church has been traveling around the Philippines speaking, visiting, and observing the land and its’ peoples - for the past few weeks and this last week we had some 600 to 800 graduates from the Master Carpenters training in Tacloban and Ormoc complete their requirements and officially graduate. With their certificate of completion about 200 of them are going to work for Catholic Charities building homes for them in and around the areas most devastated by the Super Typhoon – Yolanda. This opportunity to change careers, purchase the necessary tools at a reduced cost, and start anew their lives is a great blessing for these individuals and their families – especially where so much lack of opportunity is apparent. This past weekends was very restful; we just cleaned around the apartment and went to a shopping mall called “Market ! Market!” on Saturday. This mall was over running with people, this week - most of the public schools in the Philippines – were to start their new school year, so many of these families were likely purchasing the new school supplies, uniforms, and those items to begin their new school year. We shopped for about two hours but with all the crowds it was time to return to the peace and quiet of Eastwood (the smaller, upscale mall – where we live) for dinner and rest. On Sunday it was Church followed by a nice dinner - provided and shared with the Pyles’. Sister Pyles had made Mexican food, just like at home, and it was wonderful. After visiting a bit it was home again to the apartment to prepare for our 6am start to a new week of visiting, greeting, hosting, promoting, and generally doing whatsoever our Director will ask of us to do! This week has been much slower paced, but our normal activities are always there to be completed. With this month being the time in 1847 when the Prophet Joseph Smith was martyred - I have included with my daily (week days) News Releases from local Filipinos Newspapers for the leadership (around the Area Offices) - to allow them to stay briefed on “what happening about the nation”, a special daily insert on Nauvoo, Illinois and the places and people of that era. It has been most interesting to research the places and people in preparation for this publication – with us living only about three hours away in St. Louis, Missouri (for the past several years and personally visiting numerous times) – the researching and inserting of these articles has brought many very fun and fond memories from our visits to that community and area. My thinking since nearly all of the Church members here in the Philippines have heard of these places but likely will never have the opportunity of visiting them personally – this might draw for them a better picture of the circumstances and surrounding of the 1840’s and the conditions which led up to the death of Joseph and his brother, Hyrum Smith. Their lost was most deeply felt by a growing church and community on the western plains (a frontier community at the time in the United States) as the people regrouped and moved on to the mountains of the Rockies in Utah and farther westward places. Understanding these events and the situations which lead up to their deaths, has once again testified to my soul of the greatness of their character and the truthfulness of the work they were involved in. As an extension of their service and testimonies we are doing much the same serving here in the Philippines, what a wonderful privilege it is to represent the work of the Lord and personally see the effort moving forward, ever progressing, growing and blessing the lives of so many. 
May the Lord bless, protect, guide, and direct you every righteous efforts as we - each o serve - in some small way in His Kingdom.


With Love Elder & Sister Morello