Jack's birthday, baptism, and Filipino Legos

Dear Jack, Happy Birthday Grandson!!

We miss you and think about you often while we are here serving our mission. I am so glad we get to see you on Skype sometimes and to hear how well you are doing. We are sad to be missing your baptism, but we can hopefully talk to you and hear about it. We are so proud of you for making the decision to be baptized, for preparing by learning about the gospel in your family and at Primary, and especially proud of you for interviewing with the Bishop so that you could say to the Lord’s servant that you are ready to make the promises of baptism. In the mission we remember what those promises are by using the word T-A-K-E. We promise to:

Take his name upon us, to

Always remember him, to

Keep his commandments, and to

Endure to the end

We are grateful that, though you are young, you are ready to make covenants with Heavenly Father. Good job Jack.

There is one thing we thought of here in the Philippines that reminds us especially of you and that we think you would like to learn about and maybe other folks would think it is interesting too.

We know you like Legos. You have built so many things with Legos and you see how they should go together like you should be a Lego engineer or something!! Well in the Philippines we have seen no Legos in anybody’s house so far, although I’m sure some kids have them ‘cause we saw them in a store here. But what we do see everywhere is the building blocks of the Philippines. I guess you’d say they are more like Linkin Logs than Legos, but for sure the people here make everything imaginable from them--and that is Bamboo plants.

Bamboo grows so fast, it can grow 39 inches in 1 day!! But it normally grows about 1-4 inches in a day, which is still really fast. There are lots of kinds, from not too big to giant, It is very strong, even the not so big variety, and very versatile. Here we see it growing all over the place, and we see things made from it in almost every home and building. Many of the homes and buildings themselves are made from bamboo as the main structure. We thought you would like to see some of the things that can be made from bamboo. Look for the example in the pictures below.

One cool thing about bamboo is the sound it makes. We can’t show you but I’ll try to describe it. Because the bamboo is hollow, when the wind blows, and the stalks knock against each other, it sounds sort of like those wind chimes made from bamboo that you see hanging on a porch sometimes. Only in a bamboo grove the sound is louder and deeper and many, many more knockings. It can get very loud and even a little scary until you picture that it is just the bamboo stalks greeting each other when the wind allows them to lean over and say hi to a neighbor. Then it becomes a friendly sound, like, “knock, knock, who’s there?”

We know that if you lived here, your tree house would be made of bamboo, and that you would think of all sorts of other cool things to make from bamboo. Who needs Lego if you have bamboo? And, if you have Legos in a house with a bamboo floor, the tiny Legos would fall through the floor. Maybe that’s why most kids here don’t have them. We made 2 birthday signs from Bamboo. It wasn’t easy finding pieces we could use. It is everywhere, but it isn’t ours to use, so we had to find some that no one was using, Some was behind a school we were helping to paint. Of course the first one is easy, but see if you can see your name in another picture too.

For a family activity, for Family Home Evening, maybe each family who reads this could count all the things we have shown in the blog that you can make from bamboo. See how many you can count.

Love you Jack. Happy birthday!!

These are the bamboo trees that talk to each other.






































This is a family where we had a family home evening. We built a temple in their yard out of bamboo so they could imagine going to the temple together. Can you see the spire behind them at the top?









This caribau is a bamboo delivery service. He was hauling long, long bamboo on the highway--just draggin them along. The man is un-doing them from the harness.






















































Can you see what these two bamboo poles are doing?



































This family painted the bamboo poles on their house pink and white stripes. Yes, I'm holding a new born baby.

Easter in the P.I. and forgiveness all over

Dear loved ones,

We are sorry there are no pictures; you just have to use your imagination.

We are just coming to the close of Easter Sunday, which you have yet to enjoy. As we read of the family fast Sunday dinner plans for the Oregonians, we were reminded that it’s Easter, but here in the Philippines the Easter traditions are very different. As far as our observations allow, the tradition is to struggle through Lent (not easy to give up meat, when pork is the number one source of protein), then celebrate different parts of certain days of Holy Week, starting last Sunday which was Palm Sunday, when everyone attended church carrying different formations of woven coconut palm fronds. Some were rolled back onto the stem in fanciful and lovely ways, some were cut short and formed into crosses. Every pedestrian and every passenger in every conveyance had one, waving on motorcycles or out of bus windows. Some had dozens stacked together for sale to those who had none. They take these palms and the priest blesses them with holy water and then they can take them home to bless the sick and such. On Good Friday there are small booths set up along neighborhood roads and national highways that represent different Stations of the Cross. The booths are decorated with statues and candles and flowers and such on a small altar-like table, with a colorful fabric backdrop draped on a makeshift bamboo structure. People walk these routes during the day, stopping to worship at each, then they attend mass or church. When Easter Sunday finally arrives, it is a day for family celebration. Church is not even part of the mix--all the religious stuff is behind them. EVERYONE goes to the beach!! Or they go to a pool/resort for the day for P100 per person ($2.40, or most of one day’s wage for a laborer). Today as we drove home from the District center where we watched conference, it seemed every person was out and about, and the parking areas for any place even close to the ocean or to a pool were packed. Instead of palm fronds and Sunday dress like last Sunday, they had towels and wore swim suit coverups

If we were a really good missionary couple we would have figured out some way to celebrate Easter with the missionaries in the zone, especially since, for the first time, we have more than 1 American missionary, so they might have really appreciated the effort. We have 3!!! But, we did not pull it off. Didn’t really think about it. Holidays here are sort of surreal. Like what is Easter again? The resurrection aspect of it we have been teaching all week to anyone who would listen, but the celebration part we got a little blurry on. Today, when we greeted the missionaries at conference, we said Happy Easter to the Americans and then we all laughed at how none of us had really thought about it—at least not about the Easter bunny part or the lamb roast or asparagus part. It will be hard to get back into those things, I think.

Conference was so great, and because ours was broadcast a week late, and so fell on Easter, we felt we were doubly blessed. What a perfect way to spend Easter Sunday other than with you.

There were many talks, and, interestingly enough, a couple of songs that I felt were aimed just at me—as we all often experience. What a miracle that is in itself. My plan is to spend time tonight compiling a plan of action to resolve some of the concerns I’ve had and the areas that need strengthening. We both feel very richly blessed, strengthened, chastened, admonished and commended through listening to conference.

I have had one personal concern that I have been praying about for years. I think today, I got a glimpse into the resolution of that concern. I can’t wait to go back over the talks and see if I can put Elder Scott’s process into effect to receive the fleshing out details of what I heard from parts of several talks, and, like I said, songs. Don’t you hate when speakers refer to some great trial they faced, but then we don’t get to hear any details—like Elder Eyring? I feel like saying, “come on, tell me the details and I’ll be the one to determine if it was really all that bad or not.” Well, I won’t tell you details of my epiphany either—at least not yet—and, no, I’m not comparing myself to a conference speaker, but the idea is the same. Suffice it to say it has to do with receiving guidance/comfort/revelation/direction from the Holy Ghost.

The one talk I had no trouble understanding, was the one on family contention. Pres. Uchtdorf. said, “Stop it.”

And so I feel compelled to offer a blanket apology. Now, blanket apologies may seem too vague to be valid. They may seem in the same category as another blanket statement we were warned of, namely, “let me know if I can help.” But I can think of one blanket apology (and I’m sure there are others) that was very effective. Pres. Woodley, as his first act as Stake President over a decade ago, stood in Stake Conference and asked forgiveness of anyone he’d ever offended. Then he asked fervently for our prayers to help him make his weaknesses into strengths. We did pray for him. And he became a most beloved Stake President, at least in part because he asked for our prayers and forgiveness, and we were willing to comply with his request

With all that said, please, if there are any of you who bristle about something I’ve said or done; If there are things we’ve talked about that you felt I didn’t take seriously enough; if you think I behaved unfairly between you and another family member; if I failed to follow through on something I said I’d do or even just a precedent I set that I didn’t follow through with; if you think I crossed the line of propriety when I counseled with you; or if I failed to be there when you needed me, please forgive me. Please exercise the process spoken of in conference, and find it in your heart to know that I am a loving, caring sometimes even inspired person, and I am also a self-centered bungler. Please love both parts of me. I am NOT, NOT asking for validation, as in, “oh no, don’t worry, you could never have hurt my feelings.” Nor am I asking for a litany of my evils (unless you feel you need to voice them, so I can desist, in which case fire away). I am just asking for what Pres. Uchtdorf suggested—that you find it in your heart to think lovingly of me and forgive me as needed.

I am doing the same for all of you and your many infractions :) Through the grace of God, and the nudge of Pres. U. may we each and every one find love and forgiveness for every other one of us on this Easter Sunday, and leave no more contention within our midst. Can We?

God bless us all on this day we celebrate the seminal act of divinity and humanity, the Resurrection of Ginoo, ug Manluluwas—Lord and Savior—Jesus Christ.

Love always,

Elder and Sister Cropper, forever altered but still not there