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.
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