The Lord is Hastening His Work

I am attaching a map so you can get an idea of where we work and live.  We live on the island of Negros in the town of Valencia which is considered up the mountain from Dumaguete.  We serve in 5 branches, Sibulan, Dumaguete 1, 2, & 3, Valencia, and on the island of Siquijor with an informal group which is under the Priesthood leadership of Dumaguete 2 (D2).  In March of 2013, an informal group began meeting with our zone leaders going over each Sunday and usually once during the week to teach investigators.  Travel there is about 2 hours by ferry and costs about 3500 pesos roundtrip with a van/truck - about $81.  Elder A began going with the elders a couple of months after we arrived.  He loves it there.  The mountains come right down to the beach which are white sand and beautiful.  It is a quiet and laid back place.

In October 2013, the D2 branch presidency with the approval and support of our mission president and the Dumaguete District president, started what is known as the Siquijor project.  He developed a plan where RM's would rotate a month at a time accompanied by young men who were awaiting their calls to serve as branch missionaries there working full time teaching the gospel.  They attended our missionary district and zone meetings and worked with our zone leaders.  An apartment was rented and furnished with table, chairs, beds, water and lots of rice.  The local District supported the Project financially or in kind with food and supplies.  Cost was estimated to be about 10,000 pesos/month or $231.

 The group started with 5 in attendance in March and by October had as many as 10.                            On January 5, 2014 Siquijor was opened for full time missionary work with 4 incredible missionaries, Elder Wilding, Elder Magbaleta, Elder Villamater, and Elder Lawrence.  Two of these elders are brand new to the field and are amazing!! The other two are seasoned missionaries who know how to work hard, be obedient and are self starters.  Included in this picture is Brother Yano (a nickname) who did outstanding work in preaching the gospel to the elect and assisting the members.

The church meets on the open air third floor of an office and apartment building that is really noisy with all the motorcycles driving through town and a carpenter who lives downstairs sanding with a belt sander.  

This meeting on January 5, 2014 had 37 in attendance with 6 investigators, 3 of whom have baptismal dates set.  It is an exciting time for the members who have lived there for years with no church to attend, not having the opportunity each week to partake of the sacrament.

A sweet sister, Mary, who is about my age getting baptized this month.  She is the mother of 5 kids all of whom have a college education. 

Mary lives in one of these homes by the pier and sells small cupcakes out front.  She also makes the sacrament bread each week.   

Elder A and I had the opportunity to teach Bro. Elmer, whose wife and son are already members, on one of our previous trips to Siquijor.  They traveled to Dumaguete to be baptized in D2 at 7 a.m. on Sunday morning.  They have an inviting, well cared for home where the spirit is strong.

We visited with this sister who lives right on the most beautiful spot on the beach.  She is still taking the lessons but her husband is not interested right now so she will not join without him yet.  

This is the view from the rear of her home.  Their boats have bamboo outriggers.

Below is the home of one of her neighbors.

We are watching this flood of missionaries come during this time and seeing areas opened that have not had full time missionaries.  We currently have 232 missionaries in the Cebu mission.  The last transfer divided our zone into two zones giving us 32 missionaries that we work with directly.  Negros Oriental has 86 missionaries here which includes the 3 Senior Couples.  

We are privileged to see the Lord's hand in this work and experience the conversion process with those we teach and work.  The Gospel of Jesus Christ is true.  Making and keeping His covenants is the only way to happiness in this life and the only way to spend the eternities with our families.  I will always be eternally grateful for the missionaries who taught us and the joy, happiness, and peace it has brought us.

LECHON BABOY

Pigs are a staple food here and are available for purchase live "on the hoof" to be prepared as lechon baboy for special occasions.  As many know, Elder A and I are Kansas City certified BBQ judges so we were anxious to try this often eaten delicacy and Elder A wanted to try his hand at the cooking.  We found a member who is a meat inspector who assisted us in securing a pig - about 50 kgs - to be delivered to the slaughter house early the next morning and ready for our pick up at 8 am.
This is what we found when we arrived at the slaughterhouse.

As we were entering the slaughterhouse grounds, we drove through a pool of water which was supposed to disinfect our tires; however, the water was smelly and full of mud or "other debris".  We were met by a security guard who said, "Elder?" with us never introducing ourselves.  They pointed us in the direction to drive, made a turn and saw the above pig lying on a stainless table with an inspection stamp on him.  As you can see the flies were loving our pig, too.

The pig was marked with the word ELDER in all caps to make certain we would get the right pig.  The funny part was there were no another slaughtered animals there.  Oh a side note - it cost 87 pesos for slaughter and inspection - about $2

This man and the security guard immediately began washing the pig and scraping the extra hair off of him.  He was then thrown into the back of our truck for delivery to a member's home for cooking.

They carried him right into the kitchen and plopped him down on the table while they prepared the cooking frame and fires.  The sisters had requested that we make certain to bring the intestines and internal organs with us.

They also thought it would be a good experience for me to thoroughly clean the intestine and organs which I did with a smile using leaves we picked from outside.  This was quite the process as we went through three sets of leaves.  After the third cleaning, one sister picked up the stuff, putting it under my nose - literally almost touching my nose  - and saying,  "You did it.  No more smell!"

Now to cook lunch which consists of rice with intestines, thinly sliced, liver and heart.  Elder and I had somewhere we had to be at lunch time - very convenient!!!

Lechon baboy is usually cooked on a bamboo skewer but this pig was so large they used a pipe.  It is hand turned for 3-5 hours depending on the size of the pig.  The coveted portions of the pig are the skin, ears, and tail.  Because it is cooked over hot heat pretty quickly, it is tougher than I prefer.

The finished product and being prepared for eating at one of our branches' Christmas social which lasted from 6-10:30.  The social was held on the outside basketball court and people would have stayed all night, I think, but they finally took the music and turned out the lights.  We were able to attend 3 branch Christmas socials - all of which were well attended and people stayed until the lights went out!!