December 25 - Merry Christmas

Dear Family and Friends,

We hope you all have a very nice Christmas.

We we've been pretty busy the past couple of weeks so we haven't written. Because our work in ICS is light right now, I've (Sister Tucker) started working in the dental clinic at the MTC a few hours each morning. It's nice to find more ways to contribute here.

Elder Tucker and I were blessed to be able to go to the MTC to do some caroling on Friday night. The new group of missionaries arrived on Tuesday instead of Friday last week. It was nice they could arrive a few days early and get settled before Christmas Day. The MTC president and his wife have planned some great activities this weekend to bring the spirit of Christmas to the elders and sisters. They have had special decorations in the cafeteria and special meals are planned. While caroling, we took a little gift and a special personal reading list for the missionaries. For Christmas Eve they had a special devotional with the Area Presidency and included music the elders and sisters prepared. Today, Christmas Day, they have arranged a service project (assembling hygiene kits) that we get to help with and a fun program and each missionary got a filled stocking. It has been sweet to be invited to help with the missionaries at this special time of year. Their light and enthusiasm warms our hearts.

During this past week there has been an increase in the number of children and families in the street (literally in the streets) asking for money. They come into the street between the lines of cars at stop lights and when traffic is heavy. We have been told that they are brought in from the country areas the week before Christmas and the ones who bring them get a cut of the money they bring in. We have also been cautioned not to give them money. We decided to do something a little different. We packed some ziploc bags with food - a drink, chips, vienna sausages, small pouches of cheez whiz, cookies and crackers - and we handed those out. It is fun to see their faces when they get food, we think they get to keep the food they get. One little boy did a happy dance as he left our car with his bag. It didn't feel right to take their pictures so I don't have a picture of that but I am including a picture of a stop light. If you look closely, you will see it is in the shape of a star. The green light is in the shape of a Christmas Tree but when the light is green, we do not slow down so no pic of that.

I've also included a picture of a nativity in a display in one of the shop windows near us. I thought the sign was sweet. you may have to enlarge the picture to read the sign.

"And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn." Luke 2:7. Like you, we have been reading more about Christ in the scriptures this month. It is hard to grasp the enormity of who our Savior is and all he has done for us. His time on earth began like all of our lives, as a baby. He was born in very humble circumstances. He learned line upon line. He loved and healed and served and taught. He felt our pains and our joys. He died that we might all live again. He is our light, our Redeemer, our brother, our friend. He made it possible for us to return to our heavenly home. Now it is up to us to do our part. May we each determine to become more like our Savior during the coming year. That will be our gift to Him...and to ourselves for we will be better for it.

Love,
The Tuckers

December 10 - Light the World

Dear Family and Friends,

We hope you are well and finding the joy this season can bring. "Light the World" is such a great way to help us remember Christ and all he is and was as well as encourage us to follow His example. I love the short videos and challenges on Mormon.org. The lights on the Philippine Temple grounds were lit on Friday (picture) - they are another light in our world this Christmas season.

We had a special Christmas devotional last week. The Area Presidency did a program with many beautiful musical numbers and Pres. Bowan shared an inspirational Christmas message. Each department was asked to prepare a song for the second part of the program. Our manager chose one that I love called,"Christmas in Our Hearts" I had never heard it before. It is a beautiful song with a beautiful message. Listen to it here:

Our assistant in Davao invited us to come and help with a training he had last week. Davao is in an area which hasn’t had non-native missionaries there for quite some time. The members there treated us so kindly. We could feel the power and responsibility that wearing the missionary name tag represents. The meetings there went well with a great turnout. 30 were expected and about 60 actually came. It was great to have so many there. Afterward we were able to drive around Davao with a driver and a few of our new friends. We stopped and had a drink of fresh young coconut water called “buko”. After the liquid is gone, the man cuts open the coconut and we ate some of the young coconut meat which is nothing like the dried coconut we get in the U. S. The next day we went to church and again were so warmly received. We both were able to teach and bear our testimonies at the training and in Sacrament meeting. The Lord truely does help us beyond our natural abilities when we are in His service. A member family invited us to their house for dinner after church. I have to say they served the best Filipino food I've tasted! The sister made a pork roast called Hamonada that was amazing - so good! She also served a chicken and vegetable dish called Afritada that was delicious. She had a lovely fresh salad and fresh fruit and of course there was rice. Everyone we met was so very kind - it is easy to love these wonderful people.

As we were reading the scriptures together last night in 2 Nephi 32:3- "....I cry unto my God in faith, and I know that he will hear my cry." I felt a sweet witness from the spirit that what Nephi wrote was true. God does hear our all of our prayers. There are so many things in this world that we individually have no control over. We cannot control others-their attitudes or actions or words- only ourselves and we can choose to have faith that God will take care of all of our loved ones (and us) in ways we may not even be able to imagine. He is a loving Heavenly Father and knows how to help and comfort us perfectly. Sometimes I want to fix things in my human way yet find that if I wait, God has a much better plan than I could imagine - it isn't aslways without pain but it is always right and sometimes a lovely surprise!

Much Love,
Elder and Sister Tucker

November 28 - Happy Thanksgiving

Dear Family and Friends,

Greetings! It seems so strange to be in a place so warm and green for the holidays - no freezing temperatures or snow. We love seeing all the decorations that are going up.

We have enjoyed being Pathway missionaries. There are gatherings every week that the students lead, we're just there to facilitate. This semester the lessons have all been about Life Skills. The students love having a religious basis to their learning. They have scriptures and a hymn that goes with every lesson and the lessons are filled with quotes from church leaders. It has been good to see how Pathway works. We recommend it to anyone who is considering it.

Thanksgiving was interesting this year. I think getting together with family on Thanksgiving has gotten into our DNA. :) It isn't a holiday they celebrate here so we were on our own. Actually the senior missionaries had a Thanksgiving dinner on Saturday but we were due to be at a meeting about 3 1/2 hours away on that day so we had our Thanksgiving dinner at Outback on Thursday night. Kent had ribs and coconut shrimp and I had salmon. It just wasn't the same but it was a celebration.:) We had a really good experience at our meeting. Kent did the presentation and I was able to bear my testimony. One sweet sister made us a plate of food after the Senior Thanksgiving meal and gave it to us the next day. When I opened it and saw the turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, vegetables and pie, I felt for a minute that we had been transported to the U.S for dinner. It was great.  Don't get me wrong, we have found food here that is really good but that holiday meal was special. 

On the last Senior Missionary outing, we went to a village south of Manila called Paete, where they are known for their many wood carvers. We saw some beautiful work. We were even able to see one family's workshop. It is an area outside their home that they have covered with tarps. They have only a couple of power tools that they use to cut the big logs, everything else is done by hand. (Pictures of his shop, him working and some finished products). We also had our first tricycle ride there (pic of me and the driver) - needless to say, they are made for smaller people than we are. We have seen 9 Filipinos on one of these but they also ride behind the driver so not all are inside. I've included a picture of a street corner church (there is a church inside the ironwork with an alter and benches) and a sarisari store (they have little stores here where the people go buy things they need that day. They don't go in the store, just buy what they need at the window. Most sarisari stores are about this size.)

While we were at our meeting on Saturday, the priesthood leader shared a thought about 1 Nephi 18:1. I've read it many times before but he pointed out the fact that Nephi was not a shipbuilder, he had been a hunter since leaving Jerusalem. The scripture says that'"the Lord did show me from time to time after what manner I should work the timbers of the ship." When I've read that part in the past, I've thought about how the Lord can show us how to do things we don't know how to do but this leader emphasized "from time to time". Nephi didn't know everything all at once but received guidance a little at a time. So many times I have wanted to know how things were going to turn out, I wanted the whole picture before I began but often, we need to get started and receive inspiration and guidance as we go along. It was a good lesson for me and has been confirmed many times as we have learned what we are supposed to do on our mission.

We love you. Your prayers and support have strengthened us many times.

Love,
The Tuckers

November 17 - Hello

Dear Family,

Hello!

We loved our trip to 100 Islands. The first day there we hired a boat for the day. The boatman would take us to different islands and wait for us while we explored. We ziplined between islands, snorkled, did a helmet dive, had a picnic (some places only sell Filipino food so we brought peanut butter and honey). The day was perfect! The water was just right for snorkeling - not cold at all! We saw a couple of giant fruit bats flying - they are as big as a good-sized hawk. There is a huge statue of Christ on one of the islands.

Our second day there, we went to a beautiful waterfall. The picture doesn't show all it's beauty. There were smaller pools cascading down the ravine that were so pretty but I wasn't able to get a picture of them. The really nice part was that the water is refreshing, not cold. The waterfall is on private land and was just opened to the public two weeks ago.

Now that our AATS Conference, we are settling into a schedule during our days.I am spending half of every day in the dental clinic while Dad works on our technology business. I have been organizing records and labeling/organizing the dental inventory. I'm learning about burs, paper points and all kinds of things. I help with panoramic x-rays on missionary intake days. Today I was asked if I would like to learn how to be a dental assistant. I figured I might as well, I enjoy all opportunities to learn. I just hope I can learn quickly and actually be of help to the dentists. I hear it's a pretty steep learning curve. :)

Just so you know, we won't be able to mail Christmas presents to you this year. We are buying some little treasures that we will bring for you when we come home. We have found a few things here that we haven't seen anywhere else so we have started a collection.

You are always in our thoughts. We hope you will call us on the holidays when you are available. Our Thanksgiving isn't celebrated here so it will just be another day in our schedule. I know we get Christmas and New Year's day off but we're not sure about any of the other days.

We love you and miss you.

Love,
Mom and Dad
XXXO

#1 Waterfall

#2 Zipline

#3Some islands

#4 The bat is flying above the tree

#5 that is Turtle Island on the left

November 16 - Thank You Pres. Trump

Dear Friends and Family,

Hello!

This past week the Area Office was closed for three days because of the ASEAN Summit (Association of South East Asian Nations). Almost all of Manila has the day off because of the traffic and security. There are really no "alternate routes" for some of the streets. So we went with two of the Area Office couples on an excursion to visit 100 Islands National Park. Our choices were to have an adventure outside Manila or sit in our apartments for 3 days. I couldn't decide whether I should admit that or just not write for two weeks. Not every missionary couple has this kind of opportunity and we are grateful to have a chance to see more of the Philippines. We have heard about how beautiful this country is but having spent most of our time in the city, we just haven't seen it. We saw some very beautiful places on this trip - the Philippines really is a land of many sights to inspire.

The beautiful things we saw reminded me of a truth that the world denies or tries to explain with a "Big Bang" theory or other theories. I am grateful to know that the heavens and earth were created by God and not a random happening. 3 Nephi 9:15 -"Behold, I am Jesus Christ the Son of God. I created the heavens and the earth, and all things that in them are..."

I will close with a scripture that I love and yet too often forget to heed. Philippians 4:8-"Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things." I love this reminder from Paul that we need to look at the good around us. I do not deny there are troubles and problems but I know if we focus on the good, we will be better, we will see the good in others and feel the peace of God.

Warmly,
The Tuckers

November 7 - Conference

Hello Family and Friends,

We had a really nice conference with 12 of our 15 AATS last week. We were very happy that so many could join us. It was great to have one of the Area Presidency as well as the DTA each give devotional talks for our conference. There were a few snafus but I learned a long time ago that when planning any activity from wedding receptions to conferences, if you plan on something going wrong, which it always does, you are better prepared to handle it because in your mind, you've allowed for it.

Pres. Haynie from the Area Presidency shared some statistics about the Philippines that I thought were very interesting. The Philippines ranks 4th in LDS population in the world. The U.S, Mexico and Brazil are 1,2,and 3. Out of 156 functioning temples, Manila is the 3rd highest for live sealings. 70% of the people in Asia who attend Sacrament Meeting are in the Philippines. That number does not include the Filipinos who are working in other countries (there are many families here whose primary income is from a family member working outside the Philippines). His main message however, was encouraging each of us to ask ourselves, "What can we do to help thr rising generation?" The younger generation today doesn't remember a time without electronic devices. He shared with us Elder Ballard's statement that we should "Make technology your servant, not your master." Technology is such a great blessing but it has many challenges associated with it. It can be both good and bad depending on how we use it but it seems to be the language of the rising generation so we need to help them to learn how to use it for good. The following quote was also shared with us. every time I hear it, I feel a witness that it is true and am grateful to live in such a time as this.

“I maintain that had there been no restoration of the gospel, and no organization of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, there would have been no radio; there would have been no airplane, and there would not have been the wonderful discoveries in medicine, chemistry, electricity, and the many other things wherein the world has been benefited by such discoveries. Under such conditions these blessings would have been withheld, for they belong to the Dispensation of the Fulness of Times." 

Joseph Fielding Smith Oct 1926

This time I am including a pictures from our AATS who attended the conference as well as pictures from a zoo we visited with two other missionary couples on our day off. The zoo is built in an area where there are bunkers from WWII. They have used the bunkers for shelters, exhibits, shops and storage.

A little explanation about the bunker picture - it includes some locals in front of the bunker. Yes, the woman just has a cloth on her head - they wear cloths on their heads a lot. Often they will tuck a cloth (small towel or washcloth or bandanna or whatever) into the back collar of their shirts. All just evidence of how hot it is here, sweating is a problem and they want to protect themselves from the sun.

The crocodiles are being fed pieces of chicken. You can buy a piece of chicken for $4, they give it to you attached to a string on a pole, then you dangle the chicken until you get it low enough that one of those bad boys will jump up and get it. The walkway above the crocs is made of a heavy metal with high mesh fence sides. :)...just don't lean over too far!

All our best to you,
The Tuckers

October 29 - Visitors

Dear Family and Friends,

Greetings!

We didn't write last week because we were blessed to have our daughter, Tiffani, and her family come to visit us. We spent all the time we could with them so our letter is delayed. All our pictures this week are taken during our time spent with them because those are the funnest things we did this week. We really enjoyed our visit to a place called "In Art Island" in Quezon City. I think that was our top rated activity, bowling was probably our next favorite. I won't label the pictures because you can tell the difference between the two. :)

This is the week we've been making final preparations for the conference we've been planning the past couple of months. Our AATS will be coming to the Area Office on Thursday and the conference will continues until Saturday. One of the things we've planned for them is a session at the temple. Most of them look forward to our conference so they can have time at the temple. Travel is so expensive that it prohibits them from attending very often. As we talked to our co-workers about some of the details for the conference, we found out that most Filipinos do not have temple clothes. The more I learn about life in the Philippines, the more I realize just how much I take for granted having lived in the U.S. all my life. Today I am especially grateful for temples within traveling distance, comfortable cars to travel in, and temple clothes that patrons can rent at the temple. Temple patron housing is across the street from the temple. What a blessing that is that the members can stay there during the time of their temple service. It provides a place to sleep, eat, change and bathe before going to the temple. It isn't air-conditioned but that doesn't matter at all to them.

2 Nephi 9:52 -"Behold, my beloved brethren, remember the words of your God: pray unto him continually by day and give thanks unto his holy name by night. Let your hearts rejoice.

Love, The Tuckers

ps. I just realized that I didn't send this last week as I planned - oops!