Designated Route, Stupid

This is Mali. As you can see she is very interested in irritating me. She is succeeding!

Without exception, when I walk without Nina each morning, I walk a planned route that I am familiar with and can time each "lap" in order to track progress and/or make sure I am getting the proper amount of exercise. When Nina goes with me, we must try different routes in order to see what can be discovered...very annoying! Last Monday was one of the Nina walking days and as expected we were forced to walk some strange/unfamiliar place. Our sense of "adventure" took us to the ocean side and a walkable/drivable sea wall. At the end of the sea wall we discovered a tiny kitten that had been abandoned but looked to be in pretty good shape (probably abandoned earlier that morning). Naturally, it followed us and would not leave me alone (even though I tried to ignore it). It continued to follow us (actually it was walking in front of us in an effort to not be ignored) and Nina picked it up and put it in her shirt. It appeared to be a couple of weeks old and way too young to be alone near the ocean. The story ends with us adopting the animal and it is now on the coffee table making it nearly impossible to type this message. She keeps jumping on the keyboard and touching the screen (cute but very annoying). We took her to the Vet in Argao just an hour or so after we got her off the sea wall. She is in remarkably good health for being abandoned so young. She has to be held all of the time (or so she thinks). Anyway, she fits right in and has not had even one accident (used litter box from beginning). See photos

As group leader for the Alcoy unit and the Santander unit we attend church twice on Sundays. In Alcoy at 9:00A and then in Santander at 3:00P with lunch for the young missionaries in between. There have been several baptisms since we arrived here for our new assignment. Last week two of the brethren (ages 45 and 55) were ordained Priests in Aaronic Priesthood. It was so incredible because after the first was ordained, at my insistence, he turned and was in the circle for the ordination of the second brother. This is something I had not experienced for some while and it made a big impact on me and was a testament of the immediate conveyance of authority, It was a privilege to be there.

Note: The Santander unit has received approval to become a branch. We are just waiting for the letter from the Area Presidency before we announce and organize the branch. This is rather compelling because this area was just opened in September with missionaries. Several families just waiting for this opportunity. Some were attending in Dumaguete which requires a ferry ride to get to and on another island of course.

This morning, I experienced the first real home sickness since we arrived. For the first time since we arrived I actually felt like I wanted to go home. I have had feelings about missing family and missing out...but this morning it felt like I could actually return home without any regrets. Hopefully this goes away! Anyway, I am missing everyone...even with our new kitty reluctantly sitting in my lap trying to jump on the keyboard or screen and claws digging into my leg.

Loving and missing everyone.

Photos:

Office missionaries we were "forced" into taking to Mc Donalds (McDo's in the Philippines) on New Year's morning!

House of one of the members of the Alcoy group that invited us to lunch and FHE the day after Christmas. Mondero family.

Coconuts on the porch and from the trees on the property. Notice the knife that he cuts the coconuts with and the grinder they use for other food grown on the property. Brother Mondero kept disappearing and bringing us other things he was growing. It felt like we were taking from their poverty and our abundance,,,but they were happy to do it and would not take a hard no!

Brother Mondero cutting the coconuts on the porch. Notice bamboo flooring on the porch. It was also the flooring in the house.

President and Sister Monterde (our district president and his wife). Elder Smith who has been on his mission less than one cycle (6 weeks)

Elder Alcobedos teaching the FHE on the Mondero's porch. Elder Alcobedos is one of the missionaries I sent a photo of pointing in the group on Christmas day indicating the two American missionaries pointing are 6-8 and 6-5 and one New Zealander 6-3. And then there is Elder Alcobedos at 5-2 (or so I thought). I actually asked him just prior to this FHE how tall he actually and is he reluctantly admitted 5-0!