February 11
Okay, maybe a few more pictures of our visit to Shangri-La, a very nice, beautifully set Chinese owned resort on the Island of Lapu Lapu contiguous to Cebu City. The Reeds (the Senior Couple in the picture from Boise, Idaho...they are not very senior but are here for 18 months) who run the mission office took us there for dinner.
February 11
We live on the third floor, so Momma-mio gets a little work out twice per day.
This is the hallway leading to our apartment. Notice the oil painting of our Chinese landlady, Jen. We pay 30,000 peso per month rent, or about $600.
February 11
Yesterday I told a lie. Here is our real kitchen, shot this morning. Now you can see the contrast in the standard of living.
P.S. The kitchen I sent along yesterday is owned by Francisco Pedrosa, gate keeper for the compound of the Pecks, our office mates at the ERC, a senior couple over public affairs. Bro. Pedrosa has five sons, three of which have served missions. The majority of the Filipinos have kitchens like that shown yesterday.
February 10
In case ya'll are wondering, here's a peak into our life in Cebu...our
kitchen.
February 10
A few weeks ago Julie Beck the Gen Board RS Pres was supposed to come with the Gen Board Pres Cheryl Lant to speak in our Stake. There was a scheduling conflict so Julie sent Sister Allred her 1st Counselor. The Stake Pres. is also the Manager of the ERC (Employment Resource Center) here and since they would be here at lunch time, just before she conducted a Leadership Meeting, it was requested that we prepare some American Sandwiches. So………..I was asked to do so. There were only 5 in the party but we prepared enough for 2 each and some extra for the Stake RS Pres, Stake Presidency, etc. Actually a total of 15 sandwiches. I also made Macaroni Salad and a small relish tray. It was set up in a small room with 2 long rectangular tables, which is the High Council room, and with a green and white t’cloth, white dishes, clear sparkly glasses, and a big plate of bananas and grapes, boxes of Lays chips, several bottles of juice and bottled water, and some delish bars with chocolate filling between a oatmeal/crumbly mixture on the top and bottom. They insisted that we eat with them and Sylvia (Allred!) and I bonded as we chatted! They were blown away; they expected something very simple and small and couldn’t stop commenting on how lovely everything looked. It WAS very nice, the set up, etc. I was a little concerned about the sandwiches since Deli Meats (I thought) were non-existent. And the bread is not like ours – not much substance to it; it’s tasty enough but it’s all the squishy soft texture. BUT…..I found some Deli Meats like we have – all packaged and clean looking and VERY expensive. I found Cajun and Peppered Turkey, Turkey Pastrami, about 3 different kinds of ham i.e. Black Forest, Virginia, and an European type, and Oven baked turkey. So……….it turned out pretty nice if I must say so myself.
February 4
This is a report on my Rotary Club speech given last Thursday, Jan. 28th, that I feel was effective.
After my intro I showed President Monson’s picture, explaining the call letter that Beverly and I received from him, then a picture of the Cebu Temple and how President Monson would visit Cebu in June 14-15 for the Cultural Celebration and to dedicate this sacred facility.
After this luncheon engagement it was reported that Mr. Edward Gaisano, part owner (family owned) of Metro Gaisano Malls, present at the Rotary meeting, mention that he wanted to hire me. I told the group that I was not available to perform appraisals but that I would make myself available as an unpaid coach and advisor. However, I did mention to our Stake Pres., John Balledos, that I would be willing to tutor LDS accountants in Cebu Province on how to complete business appraisals, and this could possibly happen. My gut feel is that the appraisal science/art is not well understood in the Philippines, at least not in Cebu. While our LDS accountants likely would not be paid near what U.S. business appraisers are paid, I believe this kind of consulting work could add significant additional income to their practices.
The “preamble quote” noted in the attachment is:
“It has always been a cardinal teaching with the Latter-day Saints that a religion which has not the power to save people temporally and make them prosperous and happy here, cannot be depended upon to save them spiritually, to exalt them in the life to come.”
President Joseph F. Smith
This quote and the following quote I shared in my PowerPoint presentation:
— “A man out of work is of special moment to the Church because, deprived of his inheritance, he is on trial as Job was on trial-for his integrity….
— Continued economic dependence breaks him…
— He soon becomes the seedbed of discontent…
— The Church cannot hope to save a man on Sunday if during the week it is a complacent witness to the crucifixion of his soul.” -Gordon B. Hinckley
Had a pretty strong impact on the group and I found several coming up afterward and effectively telling me that they agreed with the principle, as confirmed in the attached. Pretty cool.
The man in the picture in the attachment is Boni Belen, Pres. Of the Rotary Club. I sat at the head table to the left of Boni, with Elder Peck to my left. Boni told me that he is Covey (Steve) trained and uses Covey principles in his business, which is “Estate Property Management & Technopreneurship.” I hadn’t expected to find the Covey tentacles reaching into this location but was favorably impressed. J Boni has been to Utah and is acquainted with the church and the Covey Institute by direct contact, but not a member.
A second strong impact was made in my presentation (points shared as follows) regarding the out-reach of the church-wide Employment Resource Center:
— A global non-profit NGO with 312 offices in 53 countries
— Over 70 years experience
— 300,000 people served each year for free
— Serving Corporate partners free of charge (bolding and underline added)
— Professionally staffed
— Sponsored by the LDS Church
As you can see in the attached, they liked the “FREE OF CHARGE” point. Some that came up after my talk, I perceived were looking for some underlying pretext for our doing this at no charge. There was a little unbelief written on their faces. I stated that there were no direct proselyting intentions behind this, which is true. However, at the end of the Career Workshops, we do invite the attendees to fill out a Missionary Referral car, if they are interested in receiving contact from the church. We tell them they will receive a visit if they complete the card. But we don’t go beyond that. And I think extending this opportunity for church contact is only fair as they have received a very useful training booklet and free instruction, sponsored by the LDS Church.
After the discussion of our Employment Resource Center assignment, I talked about the appraisal business and had fun sharing the story of the law suit between Vickie Lynn Marshall vs. E. Pierce Marshall
I told the Rotary group a fact not known by the U.S. media, that two LDS appraisers (Mike Hill, former employer, and Paul Shields, CFA, CPA, CIRA, from Salt Lake) were on opposite sides of the litigation, representing Pierce and Anna Nicole. Mike and Paul discovered this in the court room, on break, in small chit-chat.
The punch line came with the following: Both don’t take it with them! Pierce dies in 2006 and Anna dies in 2007.
I quite enjoyed this little adventure in speaking and hope some good can come out of this for the church and persons we hope to bless in Cebu.
February 1
Bought Sister Luke a dozen red roses and the new Chanel No. 5. At 5:30 p.m., Elder and Sister Reed took us to the La Tegola Italian Restaurant just down from the top of Mt Busay, with a 2,100 feet view over the city, 15 min west from the city. Service was “okay,” we had minestrone soup and pizza, actually “real pizza”, fine, but the night view was wonderful, “approaches” Twin Peaks in San Francisco. In route we drove up into the mountains to the west of the city in time for a lovely sunset. So all in all, we had a great anniversary.
This morning, in 20 minutes I will teach “My Goals” as the first of four modules in the church’s Career Workshop. I very much enjoy this, it being an important part of our mission.
Jan 21 - 8:05pm
Walking on a mountain road north of Cebu with some other Senior Couples we stopped and spoke to a man jogging along. Turns out he was a retired boxer and showed us his style with his clenched fists, jabs, punches and foot work. I invited him to come down to Cebu for the Temple open house. Opps, he said he didn’t have any transportation to get there…meaning, no money. :-(
Jan 21 - 7:55pm
Beverly and I are here in Cebu City to help residents learn how to find successful employment (including self-employment).
Please let me introduce you to Sandy Jayme (early 30’s) from Balamban, Asturias, on the west coast of the Cebu Island, about 70 KM west of us, see map below:
She was in attendance this week at our Career Workshop and shared with us her portfolio of original handcrafted greeting cards (see samples attached) and I was very impressed.
http://www.maplandia.com/philippines/region-7/cebu/asturias/
Here is her story
Locally she is currently selling her cards for maybe 50 pesos (about $1, i.e., 1 peso=$.02) and delivers the original artwork card to the buyer. She does custom type work for friends, e.g., wedding cards, Christmas, etc. I particularly like the one attached card of a boat with very colorful sails. We recently attended a concert including the Children’s Choir and reviewed a display of Sinulog photos placed in a contest at a local mall.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kD4F7WN0H8
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jonsiu/3792482582/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinulog
http://mycebuphotoblog.wordpress.com/sinulog/sinulog-2009/sinulog-festival-queen-2009/
http://www.sinulog.ph/index.php/general-guidelines/festival-queen/
January 20
We’re okay but have our heads down, still trying to get our feet on the ground. My big challenge is to learn the four, two hours each, Career Workshops. Teaching this week started on Tuesday morning as I taught Module I on “My Goals” (a two hour session), followed by sitting in on Module II in the afternoon as an observer to see how it is done. Then yesterday I sat in on two, two hour sessions (Modules III-IV). Noami Ortega (a non-member volunteer) taught Module II, LA Dionaldo (Human Resources person with Xlibris*, I believe she is a non-member) taught Module III, then Bishop Eurwin Abanggan taught Module IV. I continue to be impressed by the quality of persons at teaching stations, both at the Ward Level, but also at the ERC.
Maybe this is no big deal or overkill, but I’m pushing to use PowerPoint, and I have a pretty credible presentation so far for Module I and draft form Modules II-IV. I plan to do the same thing for the Self-Employment workshop. I have also been working on my 15 minute presentation (using PowerPoint) to the Rotary Club next week (Thursday) at noon time, title “The Colorful World of Business Appraisal.” I will tell the story about Anna Nicole Smith v. Pierce Marshall court case where I worked with HSSK (Houston appraisal firm) on this. Apparently the shakers and movers, business owners, of Cebu belong to this forum, so it is a unique opportunity. I also may be speaking to the Toastmasters Club, referred by Bishop Abanggan sometime in the future if he will follow-up on a discussion I had with him yesterday.
Later this morning we will be attending a Zone Conference with the Mission President (Parke Hansen and wife Barbara) and full-time missionaries. From other senior couple missionaries, this is basically a chat session with the missionaries about keeping the mission rules.
We have sort of settled down to dealing okay with driving and have not yet been tested to drive to some unfamiliar location…probably will soon. I continue each day to do my 3 mile walk. There is a “reasonably” nice gated community close by our apartment or I go the Fitness First and do 53 minutes on the tread mill.
This weekend, Cebu will be visited by Sister Silvia H. Allred, first counselor in the Relief Society general presidency from Salt Lake. Bev has been asked to prepare “American” sandwiches for this traveling party. That actually is not that easy to do as the prepared meats here are not exactly U.S. standard for taste and appearance.
January 9
Sorry that I don’t have any substantive missionary stuff to report yet. We did pickup a pile of pamphlets tonight from the mission office and will start using them when talking to folks. On Thursday I, with Ann and Bro. John (office manager), taught six return missionaries the Career Workshop (9-noon, 1-3pm), required before they depart for home, and it was a challenge for me as they speak, sort of English, don’t talk very loud, and they all speak Cebuano. I did build a PowerPoint presentation for the part that I gave and felt it really helped. My next Career Workshop teaching assignment will be a week from next Tuesday and Wednesday.
Thursday was our/my first day on the streets of Cebu behind the wheel and it's a whole new experience. There are a few traffic lights at major intersections. The rest is a free for all. The U.S. veterans of driving describe it as like fish in an aquarium that move around in a circle, just dodging each other, and moving purposefully along. You have foot traffic, Jeepneys of all kinds, bicycles, carts, trucks, buses, cars, taxis, motorcycles of all kinds, etc. Pretty much anything can appear on the street at any time. J
Today we shopped for office supplies and a cool hat for my bald head. The Running GPS that you (the kids) gave me for my birthday has been a life saver! Many streets don't have signs or Route 66 type signs, nada, nothing. Fortunately the streets we mostly travel are sort of traveled enough and sort of straight, so we can make it to and from work, the Ayala Mall, which is across from the office.
Today we traveled to the Gaisano Mall, which is straight along a fairly major road, on the way to Pres. (Mission) Hansen's home, so no problem. I studied the map carefully and we also made it to the SM Mall. You know, you Mother’s here and Malls are important. :-) Coming out of the parking garage from the SM Mall I had no clue what direction to go, EXCEPT, the GPS draws a directional line on the little screen, and from there, I guess what street to take in that direction. When the line starts to get horizontal to the car, I know that I must soon turn right or left.
When you are at a destination you set a GPS coordinate marker and give it a name, e.g., home. Later you can select that named marker, move the car forward so that the GPS can get the car's coordinate. Then it draws the line between your current coordinate and the pre-set marker. Perfect for Cebu. Forget the conventional GPS with voice saying..."turn left..." Probably 70-80% of the streets are not in the GPS map memory for this city nor on the normal city maps available for sale.
The real challenge will be when we travel maybe 20-40 miles out of Cebu to visit small remote branches on Sunday. This we will do probably 2-3 times per month. The mission home elders will drive us the first time, I will set a GPS coordinate, then we will return, on our own, with fingers crossed, prayers said, a map well studied and GPS on my left wrist.
SO, THANKS KIDS FOR THE GPS…it is saving our lives and sanity.
P.S. Thanks to the GPS, we also found the Cebu Temple at about 6 p.m. this evening (see attached file). It is in a completely walled in compound surrounded by streets filled with Japanese Comocosy Pilots. The high gates were closed but there was the wonderful princely gold Angel Moroni mounted on the high tower with trumpet pointed heaven-ward, and is still surrounded by scaffolding. Within the compound is a new near completion Stake Center and other support buildings (for welfare and family history, mission office etc.) and patron residences for out of town guests. I’m sure this sacred place will play a central role in our stay here. We are loving our experience and having a great time.
P.S.S. Next Thursday, or some time thereafter, our Senior Couple Public Relations guy, Elder Peck, is trying to set me up to speak to the local Rotary Club about the Business Appraisal business. Presumably I will “raise the credibility of the church here” by such a speech. If this does get approved and I get the chance to do this, ought to be a real interesting experience. This club includes doctors, dentists, men who own construction companies and malls, IT consultants, local leaders of Insurance companies, etc. I’ve already borrowed an introductory PowerPoint presentation on the biz appraisal business from Mike Hill in Houston that I used to work for. I’ll let ya’ll know how it comes out and if this happens. I don’t think Cebu has any business appraisers. Probably just accountants who think they can do biz appraisals. J In the U.S., only 4% of CPAs are qualified to do business appraisals. It is an advanced type of skill that most accountants don’t possess.
P.S.S.S. Here are dates for the Cebu Temple:
The public is invited to visit the temple beginning on Friday, 21 May 2010, and continuing through Saturday, 5 June 2010, excluding Sundays.
A Cultural celebration of music and dance is scheduled for Saturday, 12 June 2010 at the Cebu Coliseum.
Temple will be formally dedicated on Sunday, 13 June 2010. Three dedicatory sessions will be held to accommodate Latter-day Saints in the area served by the temple.
Formal temple work will commence at the Cebu City Philippines Temple on Monday, 14 June 2010.
I also need this email including pics of the place they stayed at so please search your trash or inbox!
I’ve yet to find this email so any of my siblings (or mom) are reading this please check your emails for this one sent by mom sometime shortly after Dec 22nd. The drama definitely needs to be told so please search for me!
My parents ( Noel and Beverly) are finally on their LDS mission in Cebu, Philippines! They’ve sent us emails about their experience thus far and I’ll be the one making posts for them on this blog. Since the posts will be emails they’ll be in a little different format than if they were posting straight to the blog. Even so hopefully you’ll be able to get a little taste of their experience on the other side of the world!
