Happy Birthday Dear Taylor

Cutting young coconuts and getting the water and meat. MMMMM good!

Dear Taylor, here we are in a far-flung place, missing you, missing your family, musing on you and your birth, wondering if we can come up with a post to equal that of your wife (which was not only our most widely read post, thanks to Anne’s link form her blog to ours, but also I think our most powerful post because it linked her and her history with the culmination of our mission work up to that time), and it occurred to us how grateful we are that you and Tanner made the effort and sacrifice to come see us here, to make our experience here more real, more tangible. And so, for your birthday we will document the visit of you and your brother, remind you of some of the highlights and some of the lessons learned and the people you both connected with.

 

Wilbur, is that You??

First of all a caveat to those who are not the birthday boy:  It looks like we might just hang out all the time, since this blog is a ton about beaches, and waterfalls, and since the blog post a couple weeks ago had a beach p-day/b-day included, but remember, we have saved these pictures from way back last April, just after Tanner’s birthday actually. SO, though this blog is to Taylor, it records events long past, and it is a shout out to Tanner too, since they were here together.  Oh we loved having them here.

 

Sige (rhymes with figgy--it is likely the most used word in the Visayan Islands—it means “go ahead”, “ya I gotcha”, “all right then”, “continue” or a host of other affirmations. Often it is said really fast twice or thrice, like affirming what’s been said, as in “ya, ya, ya, got it”) Taylor, lets reminisce about the grand old time we had while you two were here. You and Tanner had that business trip to China, so decided a hop down here to our island was in order. You guys didn’t seem phased by the trip, though it is no small hop—even if you are just talking about the last few legs from China to here, but  . . .

Two generations of Nunezes and two of Croppers

You arrived!  We had no idea what you would want to do, but were very gratified when you were happy to spend most of the time here visiting and connecting with the people we have taught, worked with, and loved.  We wanted to enrich their lives, by having them meet you, and we wanted you to be lifted by knowing them, so that’s mostly what we did, fitting tons into every day, seeing people and places and doing things that we have loved and others we had never experienced.

Looking for seashells

 

We will let the pictures and the captions speak for themselves, but remember how great it felt to meet with the people we had been telling stories of—a branch president who has grown into a faithful and spiritual leader, a family preparing for the temple, a family strengthened by their return to participating together in the gospel, a cheerful man who regained the path to becoming worthy of advancing in the priesthood to the office of Elder, and several others.

Lost in the crab field.  Crabs love chicken legs!

 

Teacher's quorum president with his catch of fish!

Look closely, there are about 25 fish.

Sister R with newborn and the boys

Maybe the most profound object lesson Dad has learned while here was one you and Tanner experienced with him.  He told the story at Grandma Cropper’s funeral, but I will retell it here for the record.  Remember when you went out to the home of Brother and Sister R?  They are squatters on a spit of land between a tidal lagoon and the ocean.  Granted, the surf is not high here, but the tides vary greatly, hence their home is on stilts. As we walked up to their house, one of the sons walked in from fishing with their unique fishing contraption with a bucket, and Dad asked him what he had caught.  Then you all looked in the bucket and there was nothing visible except water, Dad said, oh, too bad, you got skunked.  But the son answered yes,, I caught fish.  He said there are about a hundred fish in the bucket.  You all looked at one another questioning his response, wondering if he had understood the question.  Dad looked again and there was nothing and stated the obvious, “but there is nothing in the bucket but water.”  That is when the lesson came.  The young man explained that he had been fishing for the tiny hatchlings that can only be seen by looking very closely with a trained eye.  “You have to look for the tiny black dots. Those are the eyes.”  Once he had explained and you understood what to look for, all of a sudden you could see that there were indeed dozens of sets of tiny eyes squiggling around.  They had always been there, but you had not seen them until you were taught to look with different perspective, and you were willing to look again.

Brother R catches these tiny baby fish, takes them to a man who has a tidal fish pond.  He sells them to the guy who will then raise them and sell them again when they are grown, about 12" long.  Brother R taught a great lesson that day, and Dad connected it to our missionary work.  We teach people every day, including brother R’s parents and siblings, about things they could not at first see.  But, if they are willing to be taught what to look for, if they are willing to look again, the gospel appears before their spiritual eyes—very real and quite evident.

Dinner by the pool at the end of the day.  MA is in Utah with Sara and Isabelle

 

We are so grateful that you and Tanner chose to come see us.  I know it’s a stretch, but for us, your visit made our work here more real.  We’ve been out fishing, day after day, and by your coming to look in our bucket for real, it made our work matter all the more. 

Thank you for your work at home that contributes to our ability to be here.  Thank you for coming to visit and share with us this amazing place and our amazing experience. Thank you for loving your wife and teaching your children and staying connected with your siblings and magnifying your calling and on and on.  Your life is a reflection of the blessings of the Gospel Jesus Christ when we choose to live it fully.

The Amlan branch president and his wife with us

Which one is Tarzan??

About an hour away from our house

This is really cool!!

On the way for a little fishing.  The teachers quorum president out fished us this day.

What if we sauteed this in butter with a little salt?

This is a jungle

Can I swing over the river???

Members and friends in the neighborhood

At the Taoist temple in Cebu City

Taoist temple having fun