Dear Family & Friends,
The time is so fast and quickly coming – that we are fast reaching only eight months until we both return to the United States and conclude our missionary experience - which means only one third of our overall time left to serve. We have so many tasks and projects requiring our immediate attention to get them either started and/or fully underway and far less time than what we really need to effectively accomplish them. Workers regret might best describe what we are thinking and where we are - right now, but we will do our best and our follow-on couple will see the success. After all we are NOT doing what we are doing for ourselves but to benefit the people and lift / strengthen their spirits. I have to constantly remind myself our real brand is: “I Follow Jesus Christ – what would HE do for the people or help to improve their situation.” 

Now moving on with updates on our current pending projects – Let me first state is that Sister Morello is very passionate whenever an infant or child may be involved in the outcome. One of the projects that she was in hopes of doing, was to develop a loaner bank of infant breathing “home care” devices at one of the local hospitals, but had to reduced and changed this effort into only funding through “fast offering” the providing for one newborn, pre-mature child with an oxygen concentrator and nebulizer. This project will allow this one child to now leave the hospital care (which is very expensive) and go home. By providing these items would allow the family to return back to normal and focus on their day-to-day issues and not just, solely on this infant care. In the final analyze we have now helped one needy and deserving child and each and every child is of value to all of us, including the Lord.
We are ever grateful for the loving support of all of our family, and each of our friends. We sure love everyone, we fully appreciate your continued support and ongoing comments (I read each of them and am often mused by them), and may the Lord bless all of us.

Well its’ been a few weeks without finding time to write a message but many, many things have transpired. We are still very much learning our job and vast responsibilities in working with LDS Charities, but a number of pending projects we have been developing are beginning to come to futurity. 
Since I last wrote we have visited several proposed clean water projects: in Nagcarlan (St. Lucia), in Sagada (Northern Mountainous Area of Luzon) ; have completed the National Mass Measles/Polio Campaign with DOH; started and conducted the launch of the Infant Polio Injectable Vaccination Campaign with DOH in both Paranaque (a Suburb of Manila) and Guimbal (a Neighboring Community to Iloilo City - on Iloilo Island); have conducted several Medical Screening in the Communities of Legaspi & Naga; have visited several Meetinghouses (Chapels) in screening them as future evacuation or operational centers during natural disasters and/or emergencies; have visited our ongoing Benson Personal/Elementary School Gardening Project with one of our Church Service Missionary Couple monitoring this project – so in short we one-the-road and been busy! See several picture files…
Our assignment in LDS Charities continues to mature, many of the new projects and/or initiatives we have started since we have joined this department is now beginning to roll forth and others which had stalled and needed energized, to re-started are now in fully operation. Never any time to look around much, for the telephone keeps ringing and door keeps swinging wide open and we are in full in forward motion. Time goes far faster when you are very, very busy and fully engaged. Our transition between Public Affairs (where we formerly served) to the Humanitarian Department with LDS Charities (our new assignment) is finally becoming our new real home. We love this new work - especially we enjoy seeing the impact and value on the personal lives and futures for so many young people and children as we help them in so many differing ways. Offering a helping hand to lift and improve their lives of others is very rewarding and satisfying. We are so grateful for the loving support of our family, friends and wonderful management of this effort.
We sure love everyone, we fully appreciate your continued support and ongoing comment, and may the Lord bless each of you.

Senior Missionary Conference

Oh yes, we are awesome!

This past Monday Afternoon/Evening we held our FIRST Senior ONLY Missionary Couple Zone Conference at our Mission President's Home. Among those attending were nearly all of the thirty plus senior missionary couples, the Zone Leader Couple, the Mission President & Wife, the Area/70 & Wife, and Both Counselor's in Mission Presidency & Wives. Time was allowed for both several speakers with ending our meeting with personal missionary testimonies. Follow our official meeting we ate together on the patio of their home. Very enjoyable and enriching are the best words to describe our gathering.

Halloween

Kristi and I designed this backdrop for pictures at the Ward Halloween party.  Happy Trick or Treat.  

Btw, Our costumes were P day clothes!

Legazpi

This is a picture of the famous Mayon Volcano.  It has been acting funny.  But for now it is perfectly shaped and beautiful. Bonus is the double rainbow.  We had a great trip to Legazpi.

We did a medical screening and then the missionaries drove us more than two hours to our next screening in Naga.  We didn't see anything cool in Naga.

***

Well its’ nearly the middle of October and slightly more than only nine months to enjoy our service as missionaries here in the Philippines – working with LDS Charities. Not that our Public Affairs time wasn’t fun, but we have learned so much new as we have served in this new assignment and things are really beginning to come together. Many of the stalled projects of the past and new one we have inputted are getting up to full stream and our schedules are filling up really fast. As an example, this past weekend we traveled on official business to a small, remote village of Sagada, in the mountains of Luzon. This little village had started a clean water project well over a year ago, but for many reasons the project was put “on hold” and we are just now re-starting it. It will serve over a hundred people who otherwise must walk many challenging roads and kilometers with water buckets and other types of containers to get drinkable (potable) water for their cooking and for other human usages. Having to haul water is a great additional burden to these people – who live only on the edge of existence - they have often in the past have drunken water which was either very impure and may have caused them to have - all sorts of health and other physical disorders and problems. Children are generally small in the Philippines (much smaller than in the US for example), but these children of this village were particularly smaller and have experienced much poorer health than the normal, in part – due to the lack of clean (potable) water for their households. The trip there was over twelve hours by van (we had a driver), over some roads which were near to impassable – through the mountains of this large island – formed by volcanic activity over the centuries. One certainly might say – that this community is “off the main drag – way off the main drag” and extremely isolated from any major population center or area. Several hours by any type of vehicle to see “what one might call – real civilization. Most towns have a SM Superstore (all in one store) nearby in a neighboring community or at least in their town square, but I’m not sure - I even saw a “town square.” We traveled most of the day Friday, starting around 1am, arriving around 11am, checked into what you might call a motel (of sorts), ate dinner, prepared for visited all day on Saturday, and returned late Saturday (really early Sunday morning around am) Long weekend but very enjoyable.
We have planned to travel to Legaspi and Naga in southeast Luzon, this is where the famous, classic and now active volcano is located for some medical screening at some of our meetinghouses. One of our NGO partners (Mabuhay Deseret) is conducting these screening with one of the nearby Hospitals. The hospital provides staffers to look at the people, we provide (MDF) the oversight, and the Church provides funding and a place to gather (our meetinghouse) The Church host the event, provides a cool, comfort place to gather and smiling “Mormon Helping Hands” volunteers to assists. These screening are in very remote areas - where these type medical services would not otherwise be available to these generally very poor and extremely needy people. Any advanced medical treatment is often not sought until much too late, in many of their cases – which results in early loss of life – far too early for many of these people or at least a reduced quality of life – most of their lives. This project is an Area Initiative – which means the Church is underwriting (funding) the travel and housing of our staff - to these remote areas – so the communities can receive help that often is just not available to them - otherwise.
With love for – may the Lord bless each of you.

An exciting start to this week – Monday was a National Holiday and the National Department of Health in hopes of having some mothers and children attend – who would not otherwise be able to attend – staged a “kick-off of the infant injected polio campaign” in Paranaque (a southern Suburb of Manila) who has had a very successful record of getting their children immunized on-time – in the past. We attended this event with both our Service Missionary Couple (the Soleta’s) and the Area Public Affairs Couple (the Pyles’.) The Director of National DOH, the Mayor, Other National Legislative Members, & City Council hosted the event. The Church (LDS Charities) and Other NGO’s (World Health, UNICEP, Rotary International, REACT, etc.) were invited to attend, make remarks of support, and help where possible. Our little stuffed (blue bear/dogs with Mormon Helping Hands vests) toys were given to the children as they were immunized – the toys seems to comfort them when nothing else seems to. Others of the toys were given to all of the children under the age of five - in showing our support - of making the Philippines Polio Free – NOW! The Mayor was wonderful and the DOH Leadership continues to show us their full support and friendship as we help them in their efforts to protect the citizens of the Philippines from avoidable diseases like Measles and Polio. We have won their trust and convenience as we have met every commitment that we have made to them – as we would honor the covenants of gospel – with fullness and completeness. This building relationship with DOH - should help as we attempt to re-instate the Neo-natal Resuscitation Training throughout the Philippines which was stopped a few years ago - because of a whole host of challenges between LDS Charities and DOH in the past, but mainly the root problems was a lack or poor communications as to each’s intentions. We have been invited to attend the provincial version of this same infant polio kick-off in a few weeks in Iloilo (an island south of Luzon / the one Manila is housed on) and we plan on attended that event as well at this point.
In celebration of closing out a very successful month of support (from LDS Charities & Public Affairs) of the National Mass Immunization Measles/Polio Campaign with the National DOH during all of the month of September – throughout all of the Philippines with hundreds of volunteer hours having been provided and given by members of the Church – as Mormon Helping Hands projects – so following the event listed above- we had a very nice, sit down, business lunch. Nearly 10 million children (or about 70% of the goal of 12 million children) all over the country were immunized already in September through the four week - against these preventable diseases. Local management at all levels of the Church in terms of our support has made all the difference in making this campaign better and assisted us in building an improved relationship towards success. Think global but act local!!! Only when people know you really care, does success seem to come…no one really cares if you don’t first. 
Love you all, we appreciate your continued support, and may the Lord bless each of you.

Another great week has started again – nice in early and very busy, we had our normal Area Office Devotional at 7:30am (on Monday) followed by us attempting to determine the status of any of the many displaced families as a result of the extended weekend of heavy rains and isolated flooding. Much of the flooding was reserved for Luzon (the largest island – we live on). Most of the Church members, as of this morning have been able to return home, but some few are still displaced and living at our Chapels – because of flooding at their homes or around their neighborhood.. Since there are so many natural disasters here, throughout – in one way or in another part of the Philippines, I marvel that the church members and their leaders are NOT better prepared than in fact - they are? A 72 Hour Emergency Kits, would be a MUST if you think about it for a minute or two, in fact we have one in the trunk of our car, just in case. Every missionary and every church member (should know better) and needs one readily available, because its’ not a case of IF but rather WHEN! Every Month in one place or another - one way or another – disasters regularly occur - for the year plus of us being here – you could almost set your watch by their regularity. One need NOT fear, if one is PREPARED, but if one is NOT PREPARED, than fear will reign. 
A volcano in southern Luzon (our big island) is acting up again; reports are that we might see a major eruption within days or a month. Lava is slowly flowing down the side of the mountain, but it is only affecting the nearby farming in the area and not any major population area, yet. But everyone is carefully watching to warn others should it grow worse or endanger greater life. If it isn’t a flood, or an earthquake, than now it’s a volcano erupting -, regular natural disasters “are a way of life” among these people.
The National Mass Measles Immunization Campaign is progressing very well, our status so far is just short of a majority (at 48%) of the children (of the 13 million) targeted have been immunized in the first two weeks of September for both German Measles, Rubella, & Orally for Polio. Chances are the campaign will bleed over into October before coming to a conclusion or a real ending, but more importantly the target is being met. The highest risk area of Manila, is still the most challenging to cover the children – many of the children needing this shot live in the streets, under bridges, or out in the environment and are very challenging to reach. All in an attempt to look good to the National DOH & WHO people - No barangay (a neighborhood within the city) really want to take full responsibility in their counts for these children or will honestly attempt cover these migrant/street people (or their children.) After all, what we want and what is our real goal is to “Protect the children” from these unwanted and avoidable diseases. Join us and be prayerful that the 90% goal can be reached throughout all of the Philippines, including Greater Manila. 
On Thursday, for the third time - we were fingerprinted for our permanent visas, but this time it was at the National Immigration offices. Rather than with all of the former times - it having been done with ink & pads – this time it was electronically recorded. Hopefully for the last, and final time! We went with about thirty (30) other missionaries, mainly the youthful variety of elders and sisters. We left the Mission Offices are about 12:30 and return home about 5pm – although it is only about 25 kilometer each way, the heavy late morning rains flooding many of the city streets and normal crazy city traffic made the going and the coming more than an hour each way. Oh how we love going to Downtown (old) Manila, we have to go there almost weekly with on event or another and travel to and from is always such a joy.
Love you all, we appreciate your continued support, and may the Lord bless each of you.