February 23
Well,…hum…I guess Seniors can dance while on a mission. Would you agree? We attended a banquet last Saturday night hosted as a fund raiser by local businessmen with a focus on cleaning up the evil plastic bags that litter the landscape and pollute the landfills. As we ate our dinner of halibut we watched a video on garbage dumps and plastic bags as litter on roadsides, with intense portent loaded music, etc.
I wondered what impact it might have if the attached photos found their way into the local newspapers …”Mormon Missionaries break the rules and dance on their mission.” Like Adam (in Genesis), I can honestly say that Sister Luke forcefully compelled me onto the dance floor as I protested, and the Pecks followed with glee. She (Sister Luke) regretted that little diversion after we got home when I jumped her case on that. In case you look at the photos and are wondering, I stuck the red evening’s program in the back of my pants, not knowing that a local photographer would record our transgression. This photo op was at the end of the evening and the Asian Troubadours were playing their last music sets. This event was at the Marriott Hotel with a beautiful, romantic post-Valentine setting, a very nice evening. We were guests along with two Filipino couples, with husbands that are counselors to our Stake President. One of the wives is on the local committee that sponsored the event and invited us to join them.
A somewhat humorous thing, they had a drawing, giving away gifts based on whether your ticket number was pulled out of a hat. One member of the Stake Presidency won a very nice silver Swiss Pocket knife. Pretty soon they announce the giving away of a bottle of wine. I immediately prophetically commented: “I bet someone in our group’s likely to win this one.” Earlier we had to wave off the waiter with an alcoholic toasting beverage and tea. Of course, a few got their caffeine fix from pepsi. But sure enough, very quickly, my number, 350 was pulled out of the hat…laughing, I thought, hum, do I go get the bottle of wine in front of everyone? I fetched the bottle, smiling all the way, brought the bottle back to our table and gave it to Elder Peck. Being the Public Affairs Senior Couple guy, he took it over and presented it as a gift to the publisher, Eileen Mangubat, publisher of the Cebu Daily Newspaper. Elder Peck, a really funny guy, with a big smile, kneeled at her side and said: “You know us Mormons, we don’t like this stuff.” She received it graciously.
Loving our mission
P.S. I know. Such events noted above are not the highlight of our mission experience this week. But hey, things happen.
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