THE QUEZON QUIBBLER: President Hughes is getting younger.

Dear Family,

We loved all the photos we got from the pool and Wolf Creek this week as you got together with the Cutler family -- thank you for being there and supporting the activities. I hope you didn't get too much rain! I thought of you being together and was happy to hear that Coy was there, too. And we hope the coming week together will be fun and memorable.

Our zone conferences went well this week. The missionaries have become very reverent and are in their seats before the meeting begins now. I taught about getting power and began with a photo of superman and discussed his powers, then Jesus Christ and discussed his. Then I asked the missionaries, "What is the difference?" The first day I got many enumerations on Superman's exact powers and finally Dad had to raise his had and remind them "Superman is not real. He will never save you!" The other days they caught on a little sooner and I taught about how obedience brings power into our lives. Dad taught about companionship unity and whatever else he was prompted each day. The last day we got off to a rough start when Dennis took a "shortcut" that delayed us an hour, but when we arrived the missionaries were reverently practice teaching and everything went smoothly in the end.

We have a sister in the hospital with dengue, whose platelets have been dropping for almost a week. The area now requires mosquito nets for all the missionaries and Dad admonished them to sleep in their "Cinderella beds" every night! They're also given bug spray and mosquito repellant but hardly anyone ever uses it, unfortunately. With the rainy season in full swing, there are more mosquitoes than ever. After I visited her Friday afternoon, I stood in front of the hospital for about ten minutes waiting for Dennis to come pick me up. I was approached by the security guard (almost every building has security) and asked, "Are you a Mormon?" I responded that I was, and he said, "About three months ago two tall Americans saw me on the street outside my house and gave me something to read and said if I like it I should come to their Church. I liked it, but I don't know where their church us." I assured him I would find some missionaries to teach him and immediately texted his name and number to the zone leaders.

I had a quiet day yesterday while Dad met with all the stake presidents, district president and area authority in CCM. We always provide a lunch afterward (the key to member-missionary relations is feeding the leaders) and Dad suggested I arrange to have it catered, which was a huge blessing for me. I stayed home and took a nap and rested, trying to get rid of an annoying twitch in my eye. He met with a couple of zone leaders, one of whom took off in the middle of the night for a few hours and we had a visit from one of very favorite returned missionaries, Elder Gurtiza.

Tomorrow our new office couple arrives, Bob and Diane Ogden--they are on the flight to Manila! Sister Cole spent the week cleaning the tiny, cockroach infested apartment they will live in, and all the other local couples contributed to the work. We are very excited to have their steady, calming influence in the mission office and hope they have a smooth adjustment to their new lifestyle. Sister Cole's companion, Sister Morris, has been assigned to be the mission recorder, a position we didn't know existed. We wondered why the baptisms we reported were not showing up in the Church report, and found that the missionaries aren't turning in all the baptismal records. So far she has tracked down over 100 records.

Quotes of the week:

Elder Abbarientos, a dark Filipino with an American companion, in answer to the question, "What does D&C 4 tell us about the field that is ready to be harvested? " he replied, "It's white, just like my companion!"

To Stewart from Elder Gurtiza: "You are looking much younger than when I served here!"

Office Elder admonishing missionaries to turn in their baptismal records: "...or Sister Morris, our hound dog, will hunt you down!"

Most investigators one companionship had at church: 20 (and they baptized three yesterday!)

Favorite food: New Zealand Ice Cream (The Cutler calendar identified today as National Ice Cream Day) and a giant avocado a member gave me at church.

Most Interesting Newsletter Article: From our subdivision HOA newsletter: "Please make sure to build your house on the lot you actually own. We've had several instances of houses being built on the wrong lots, which can cause serious problems."

This was a l-o-n-g week between zone conference, several problems with less-obedient missionaries, and waiting for Sister Calapini's blood platelets to stop dropping (tonight they went up for the first time!) We have felt the Lord's help and seen miracles as our hearts have been softened and led to decisions and actions in the mission. We appreciate you helping each other. We feel so blessed by our family --all of you. Thank you for your prayers, emails, texts, photos and phone calls.

Love,

Mom

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