THE QUEZON QUIBBLER: Meet the Parents

Dear Family,

Celeste's parents arrived Monday morning and we passed the interview -- the wedding is still on! They are very nice people, and excellent listeners. They confided that Celeste is their favorite daughter and they are concerned for her future and we reassured them with all Sam's good qualities, although Dad did retell the "Where do you keep your toys?" story and the account of him cutting up the harness Aunt Sharon lent me and escaping from his crib. We visited, had lunch together and went to visit the mission office and some missionary apartments. They love missionary work and they both served in southern Chile in the same mission. We spent about five-six hours together and then they headed to the airport. I was so relieved I ate a whole pint of ice cream to celebrate.

This morning Derrick and Julie made a surprise visit so we could meet Odessa!! It was wonderful to hold her and be together for a few hours. They came with us to an historic tri-stake conference where the 109th stake in the Philippines was created from two other stakes. (Our ward was moved to Novaliches stake, so we will still be in the mission boundaries.) Then we went back to the mission home and had lunch and talked until they had to go to the airport and Stewart had to go to baptismal interviews. It was so fun to have family here and hold my new granddaughter and just be together. I really appreciate their extra efforts to come so far to see me. And they hand- delivered two beautiful books full of notes and artwork from the family.

We attended the wedding of two of our missionaries who married each other in the Manila Temple and then rushed back to welcome a new missionary from Sri Lanka who came mid-transfer. And we had visits from three of our returned missionaries this week. Elder Ouabe came by on Tuesday and told about how the gospel has changed his life. He went to work in the rice fields at age ten because his father was drunk all the time and they only had enough food to eat once/day. He was the first in his family to join the Church, now all his siblings have joined and the day after he returned from his mission he baptized his mom and his cousin. His dad comes to church to observe and is down to one cigarette/day. Elder Ouabe, a very hard worker, studied for three months after his return from the mission to take the test to see if he can skip 7, 8, 9 and 10 grades and is really hoping he can go straight to 11th grade. Eventually he wants to go to culinary school -- we’ve heard he makes fantastic Bicol Express. (Stewart said lots of missionaries asked if he could be their companion.)

We started the training for getting smart phones with a two-hour conference call late one evening with Salt Lake City. It's going to be a longer process than we thought, and harder because the missionaries in the three zones who are going to Quezon City mission will not get new phones. Dad is getting letters and calls from missionaries pleading to stay in his mission! I'm thankful he has the keys for this inspiration, and I'm thankful for all your prayers in his behalf.

Stewart has four assistants right now to help prepare for the upcoming split, and they do so much good. They work hard in their areas in addition to all they do for the mission. (And they're willing to eat any leftovers we have.) They led a great discussion at our Mission Leadership Council on Friday about how to better involve the members in the missionary work. And our mission got over 3000 new investigators this week in preparation for the goal of 300 baptisms in June!

Last night we went to the baptism of this sister, who is a seamstress and has made dresses for the sisters who teach her. I joked that they were "buying" her baptism with all the clothes they had her make, but she is a very solid convert and clearly full of light and happiness.

Thanks for your prayers and support and Mothers Day wishes.

Love,

Mom

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