Boys and Brothers

Dear family and friends, Elder Cropper wrote the blog post this week, adding to it through out the week, but I just wanted to preface it by saying that things are feeling much better. As so many of you have assured me, it gets easier, day by day. I am tired, but not so sad, unless I think too much about any of you. Thank you for all your encouragement.
We still have limited and slow internet, so Elder Cropper found a way to reduce the picture size so uploading them isn't quite so lengthy. But even that process takes time, so the pictures are still few, and random. Sorry.
And now, Elder Cropper:


This is such a great experience! It is not easy but it is great. Yesterday we took the zone out for lunch after the district meeting. There was one sister going home and there will probably be about 3-4 elders transferred. We went to a place that served pancit (rice noodles) and wow was it good. We also had rice and chicken. Sister Cropper really got into it! Yes! This is Sister Cropper eating the Filipino way...with her hands! She is really good at it. Must have come from her childhood training.
The Filipino way of eating is hands and fingers only. She did it! Tearing the chicken apart and scooping up the rice in her fingers and just looking like she was born in the Philippines. Tutabang Sister! Sorry wrong language, nindot Sister!

Sometimes you find serious mischief in four year olds. (Sister Cropper and I decided it best if we did not use names in our posts so this is an edit). This mischevious boy has one regular arm and his left arm has no hand. I think Heavenly Father in his wisdom felt that this little boy should only have one hand, so he could only do half the mischief. I have never seen one little boy’s hand move so fast into so many places. My first meeting with this little boy was two Sundays ago. He felt my pocket to see if there was anything in it and feeling a few things his hand did a quick dive into the pocket. The next thing I knew his hand had my cell phone, a few coins and a pocket knife I carry. This child felt as though what is mine is his and vice versa. Although he has nothing except a perfectly white shirt and tie, he looks like a million bucks. He is all over the place. Today he found a roll of paper towels for drying hands and unrolled it all over the parking lot during primary. Think of a parking lot with no cars in it and the church is full. I spoke in church today and he sat on the stand with me, he feeling quite important sitting on the stand. The next moment he sat next to the Branch president then he was off to the back of the chapel so he could sit by the back door of the chapel and be the usher. I wonder about the shortage of one hand but I think the mischief that other hand does makes up for it.
Mangos!!
More Mangos!!!!
Teaching a wonderful family. Getting there was a bit dangerous but we had a great discussion.
I have never lived on a farm but if you could hear the sounds that start at 2 am and end usually about 10pm it would make ol’ McDonald feel right at home. I am sure there is a water buffalo next door! It is kind of a symphony of sounds. Chickens, dogs, water buffalo, cows, people, birds that I have never heard before coming from the beach area. At 6 am every morning the guy that lives next to us outside our bedroom window gets his tricycle (a Honda 50 motorcycle with a side car that literally will carry 10 people or 3-4 balboys (pigs) whatever the need) warmed up by revving it up to top RPM’s for about 3-4 minutes. Quite an alarm clock. Luckily Sister and I are up by then.

It gets dark surprisingly early here. Much earlier than I remember. Driving is a real trip. Sister Cropper described it a bit but let me give it to you from the driver’s perspective. I remember 40 years ago people driving without headlights on. Over the years I thought I was just remembering something that was skewed. Well no, I was right on. Half the people drive with headlights on and the other half with no headlights. If you are not watching the road 100% of the time you will run someone over. Sister Cropper is so amazingly calm while we are driving. In fact she at times will say almost under her breath, “come on, get out of the way”. Today Sister looked at me and said, “it is quite an adrenalin rush to drive here isn’t it”. I nodded fearing to take my eyes off the road. Every road here is a two lane road. They are typically only 1 ½ car widths wide but it is a real test of courage to hold the road while passing a jeepney and seeing a bus coming the other way in your lane also passing a jeepney. The bus and I are both doing about 45mph and neither one gives the road away to the other. We pass each other with the jeepneys on the outside of each of us. For a split second there are about 80 people in four vehicles that are within a hand span of death. Every one smiles and gives a gentle beep beep and life moves on. There is a rhythm on the road that actually feels very natural. Everyone moves and anticipates as if all the vehicles are part of one living creature. Weaving in and out, buses, cars, tricylcles, bikes, and people moving like blood cells in an artery. Everything coming close but never bumping into anything else. It is a truly unique experience. I thought driving here would be crazy and dangerous. Well, it kind of is but if you let yourself move to the rhythm of the road it just feels natural. I will try to post a video on the blog to show some of the traffic flow.

Sister Cropper and I went to Tanjay today to buy two desks for studying. We have seen a shop that makes furniture so we stopped in there. Sister found a desk that was just right. Their first was P1300 for one. We finally finished the negotiating at P1800 for two desks and they would also refinish them and stain them in a different color. $1 =P43. The finishing job turned out pretty bad, sticky always in this climate, but oh well.

There is a constant hummm of life here. It never goes away. We are far away from a real city but there is always movement and you can hear it. The buses, motorcycles, chickens, cows and the wind and rain. Life is hard here but the earth is bounteous. The homeless are never cold. Maybe wet but not cold. The hungry can eat from the land. Mangos, papaya, coconut, jack fruit, fish from the ocean, etc. The land is full yet there is so much poverty. One consistent thing we have seen is that members of the church who are faithful are blessed with more. President Hinckley made a promise to these people some years ago. If they would pay their tithing they would always have rice in their bowls. When you see how much rice these people eat at each meal you would be surprised.

The gospel adds a new dimension to the rhythm and flow in the lives of these faithful saints. They embrace the gospel and a new community opens to them. A community of caring and loving people who gather several times a week to worship, learn and have fun. Their hearts (mga kasing kasing- in Visayan) are huge and their love of the Savior is a lesson for all of us to learn from.


Let’s talk about another item on the road. Family transportation. Public transportation is chiefly bus, jeepney (a converted jeep with a covered long bed with benches that will seat approx. 10 people), tricycles (described above), also tricycles that are peddled bicycles not motor cycles. Motorcycles seem to be the vehicle of choice for family transportation. Small ones about 150 CC. It is very common to see four to six people on a single motorcycle. Rarely are helmets seen. It is also very common to see a father driving with the mother in the very back with two children between them and the mother holding an infant off to the side. I can’t imagine the balance it takes for all the family to stay seated while the motorcycle is weaving in and out of traffic and also negotiating the many parts of the roads that are under construction with the mud and bumps. These are miracles on two wheels. Just think of it, Tan and Melis, if you ever come here to visit with your whole family you would only need to rent one motorcycle for an experience of a lifetime, well it might be a short lifetime if you try it.

Remember the old movies with Elizabeth Taylor playing Cleopatra. She is always having someone fan her. Well in her case she is dealing with the hot desert. Humidity is an interesting thing when mixed with heat and no AC. Air movement of any kind is a blessing. God bless the person who developed AC. I believe AC must be part of the Restoration in the latter days. When we come into our house or get into the car and feel the AC, at that point in time, everything gets better. Fans and AC must be part of the gospel.


One last item, teaching a good brother. This man is about 40, sometimes it is really hard to tell how old people are since life is so hard on some. This brother is being taught by the missionaries. He is the last in his family to join the church. He has been a real hold out but when his only son left on a mission a few weeks ago he felt that it was time to take a good look at the gospel and the church. Sister Cropper and I went with the Elders to teach him last Thursday. First of all let me tell you there are no house addresses unless you have a big house and are quite rich. You would never be able to find this little neepa hut without a guide. Here is just a brief description about the walk in. We park off a side street then through a grass field then there were broken up asphalt pieces as footsteps thru a real muddy area that was full of holes about the size of golf balls. These are where the crabs live. The holes were everywhere! We saw a few crabs scurry into their holes. When that area is covered with water evidently the crabs are out in full force! You have to watch your toes, snip snip. About 80 yards of the crab field. Then we find ourselves at the house/hut. We can show pictures, write descriptions but they always fall short when it comes to describing the smells. They were going to be butchering one of the pigs about ten feet away from us and would occasionally add a snort to the lesson Sister Cropper was trying to teach. This brother is a great humble man. More to tell on the next blog. We did make it out without any crab attacks.
Love you all.