September 25 - Planning

Dear Family and Friends,

Hello! We hope you are all doing well. We have heard about fires and storms and earthquakes in our country and hope you are safe.

We have had a busy week. We are in charge of an area wide conference for the Assistant Area Technology Specialists in the Philippines. That sounds really big but there are only about 14 attending so it won't be a huge gathering but big or small, there are a lot of details to be taken care of. Besides figuring out the hotel, conference room, travel and meals, there are also the workshops and speakers to arrange and prepare for. The past few weeks we have been working on our proposal but things got put on hold for a couple of weeks while Elder Anderson was here. Most of the management of the area office were involved in meeting with him. So we finally got our approval and we can move forward. Besides the obvious things, there are cultural things to remember. For instance, I was trying to figure out meals with a nearby caterer and had a Filipino employee who had a lot of experience with that caterer helping me choose the menu. After I sent the list to the caterers, I realized that I had forgotten to list rice on one of the lunches. I got teased by the Filipinos in our office about that because no matter what you have for a meal here, if it doesn't include rice, it's just a snack. Fortunately I haven't sent in the final request so I can still fix my error.

We have been meeting with some area seventies to help encourage them to encourage the stake presidents in their area to call technology assistants. We met with one on Thursday afternoon and he invited us to his council meeting in Legazpi (in southern Luzon) on Saturday morning. We were able to make arrangements and left on Friday. Kent did a great job presenting our purposes and how we can help. It really helps to meet face to face with the leaders to enlist their assistance and help them understand that what we are asking really will benefit their stakes and be a big help to them. One of Legazpi's "claims to fame" is the Myon Volcano, a huge volcano that just rises up out of the ground - no other mountains around it. It is famous because it is a perfect cone - symmetrical from every angle. I'm including a picture we took from the airport as we were waiting for our flight back to Manila. There seemed to be a little smoke coming out of the top but nothing to be worried about.:) The other picture is of the city of Legazpi. Isn't this a beautiful city?

Lately I've been thinking about how important hope is in our lives. It brings us joy, sheds light on dark days, and leads us to rejoice in the goodness of a loving Heavenly Father who has blessed us with the Plan of Happiness that anchors us to Him and His Son. Ether 12:4:"Wherefore, whoso believeth in God might with surety hope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God, which hope cometh of faith, maketh an anchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works, being let to glorify God." How very important it is to have this anchor to our souls! When our personal ships are tossed that anchor will hold us steady and keep us spiritually safe. I am so grateful for a loving God who watches over us, provides learning opportunities for us, helps us,cares for us, and blesses us.


Have a great week!

Love,
The Tuckers

September 15 - Philippines 100th Stake Celebration

Dear Family and Friends,

Hello!

Our news this week all centers around Elder Anderson's visit to the Philippines. It has been an honor to be here while he, Pres. Soares (President of the Seventies) and their wives have been here. They began their visit by attending the 100th Stake Celebration cultural performance on Saturday night. Elder Anderson gave closing remarks at the end of the performance. The next day, he presided at the multi stake conference where the 100th Stake was formed and the new stake presidency was sustained. We saw him again on Wednesday when both he and Pres. Soares spoke at a devotional for the Area Office Employees. Thursday night we were invited to a devotional for the missionaries at the MTC. Elder Anderson came to the meeting early and shook hands with every missionary. He spoke for a while,encouraging us to read the Book of Mormon (among other things). He then invited his wife to speak and he would address us again following her remarks. Usually the wives speak first then the apostle will speak last. It was so sweet to hear from his wife. She told us that she had heard him talk many times but this talk was different. She reviewed his talk and shared what she noticed that was different, what the spirit knew we needed to know, and she bore witness of her husband's apostolic calling. Elder Anderson followed with his witness of our Savior. It was such a great meeting. 

Elder Anderson was able to be more personal and relaxed with the missionaries and the area office. He has a fun way of relating to the crowd when it isn't a formal setting. We are amazed at his energy and ability to speak so many times in the course of his week here. Besides the meetings I already wrote about, he has had meetings with area managers,will dedicate the newly built addition to the MTC tomorrow, and preside at another stake conference on Sunday - and those are just the things we know about

Elder Anderson asked us all to make note and remember Alma 26:27" Now when our hearts were depressed, and we were about to turn back, behold, the Lord comforted us, and said: Go amongst thy brethren, the Lamanites, and bear with patience thine afflictions, and I will give unto you success." He told us that when, not if, things happen that make us take a deep breath and cause us to say "what have I gotten myself into?", we need to go to God in prayer and petition his help and then carry on and patiently wait for Him to help - and He will help.He talked about being a mission president in France and seeing some of the challenges the missionaries there faced. He said he prayed for them often,asking how he could help solve the problems. His answer was that he could not but God could. No one else can give you comfort like God can. (He said this much better than I just did).

What a blessing to have prophets and apostles in our midst today! They are witnesses of our Savior in our day. We are so very much grateful for all our leaders for their love and dedication to the Lord's service and for all their service to minister to us.

We love you all,
The Tuckers

The cultural performance grand finale. The children in yellow on the front row did a dance called Itik Itik - the duck dance. It was so cute!

Elder Anderson greeting the crowd.

Elder Anderson with the missionaries at the MTC

September 8 - Kent Had a Birthday Shout Hooray!

Dear Family and Friends,

We stayed in Manila all week so we don't have news from more far away places. Most of our office has been working very hard preparing for the coming celebration of the creation of the 100th stake in the Philippines. They are responsible for all the broadcasts to other buildings that will be happening during the week that our visiting general authorities will be here. There will be several meetings and devotionals but I'll tell you about them next week. I think for security purposes we aren't supposed to share all we know - besides, by next week, I'll be able to include pictures.

Last Saturday Kent and 2 other senior missionaries found a place to play a round of golf. It was a holiday weekend so the golf course was packed - 3 1/2 hours to play 9 holes! They had fun even though their clubs were made for Philipinos who are generally much shorter than Americans. And now they have a story to tell about their first round of golf in the Philippines. :)

One fun thing that we did this week was to attend the MTC Christmas Tree lighting on Wednesday. It was a day when almost all the missionaries in the MTC had gone to their missions and they were preparing for the next group to come in on Friday. We always enjoy opportunities to get together with the other senior missionaries so it was good. We even sang a few Christmas songs to kick off the season. Christmas decorations are showing up in more stores now and we think it's so cute that they decorate with snowmen even though it doesn't snow here.

It was Kent's birthday this week. I made a cake to share with our office-mates It was fun to hear them sing Happy Birthday with a Philippine accent - it is really sweet. We enjoyed having cake with them and they gave Kent the traditional empty box (an office joke) for his birthday. After work, some other couples joined us for dinner at a place that serves very delicious hamburgers and good fries - two of Kent's favorites (generally beef in the Philippines doesn't taste like beef we are used to eating but this hamburger is delicious - and from Australia).

I'm including a picture of one aisle in the a grocery store here. We generally have more choices of most thing, in U.S grocery stores. This is a picture of the noodle aisle. Their noodles are like our packs of ramen but there are different ways to cook them. I had no idea there even could be that many choices of ramen noodles nor that you could cook them in different ways. I guess I'll have to find out how to cook each kind and see if they taste different too.

This past week we have seen beautiful answers to prayers - not just our prayers but many prayers in behalf of a dear family member. We know those answers came from a loving Heavenly Father who loves us always. We also join with so many in praying for those suffering the effects of disasters happening. Galatians 1:3 "Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ,"

With Love,

The Tuckers

This past week anothre senior missionary had a birthday and his wife invited the rest of us to come bowling. One sister came but took pictures instead of bowling. We thought you would like these...

August 31 - Another Trip

Dear Family and Friends,

Hello! We hope you are all having a happy day.

This past week we visited our assistant in Lingayen and the Facilities Manager in Dagupan (both on the west coast of this island of Luzon). It was a nice drive. There is an expressway most of the way there that even has rest stops with a gas station and restaurants. There are no jeepneys or tricycles on the expressway so driving is more 'normal' for us. Driving through the towns is like having bees swarm around you with all the tricycles and motorcycles. Most people in the provinces can't afford cars so they use the small vehicles. I realized I write about the traffic a lot but that's because it's so much 'fun'! Kent is becoming a pro at navigating in the traffic here.

We arrived for our meeting early so we were able to do a little sightseeing. Lingayen is the place where the U.S. launched its assault against the Japanese to retake the Philippines in 1945. There is a beautiful little park there to commemorate the action with an old tank, an old airplane, other memorabilia, pictures and history. The capital building is across the street and there are beautiful parks around the whole complex. Our photos this week are from this area except for one.

When we arrived, we were told that the Christmas begins in September here in the Philippines. During the 'ber' months (September, October, etc), Christmas decorations come out and Christmas songs are played on the radio and in the stores. I'm sending a photo of the beginning of the Christmas season that I took a week ago - Merry Christmas! :)

Kent and I have been reading the Pearl of Great Price. I have not read that book of scripture very often and have felt the Spirit testify of the truth of that book and especially certain verses we have read. Today I want to share a scripture about Christ that felt so good and true to me as we read. I hope it will do the same for you.

"...I am Messiah, the King of Zion, the Rock of Heaven, which is broad as eternity; whoso cometh in at the gate and climbeth up by me shall never fall; wherefore, blessed are they of whom I have spoken, for they shall come forth with songs of everlasting joy." Moses 7:53

I am so grateful for our Savior who is steady and strong when I am not. In my mind I picture Christ offering His hand to help us climb up where he is and holding us so we do not slip or fall. I am grateful for a perfect older brother who, through the atonement, provided us with a way home. I hope we can each find the way to climb up by our Savior.

Love,
The Tuckers

August 24 - Trip North

Dear Family and Friends,

Hello!

We send you greetings from this beautiful island! This past week, we were able to meet with assistants and leaders in the north. We started out flying to Tuguegarao (too-gig-a-rouw). One of our meetings was for dinner. I had to take a couple of pictures of the menu to share with you. I've heard of fish lips but didn't think they were a real thing until now. The restaurant wasn't very fancy to look at so I didn't know what to expect. We ordered lemon chicken. When the waiter brought it, I was pleasantly surprise by the presentation and how delicious the food was. Our plate had two vegetable flowers on it but I didn't think to take a picture of both before one was eaten. :)

On Sunday we went to a District conference in Ballesteros on the very northern shore of the Philippines. The church yard has a wall around it and just beyond that wall is the beach but the beach isn't visible from the church. It was so nice to be in church with the local people. They were so excited to shake our hands. I know they came because of our missionary name tags and what they represent. We were actually in Luke Anderson's mission (a friend from our former ward). He is assigned to a different district so we didn't get to see him but we saw elders who knew him well. I had a few minutes to talk to the mission president's wife who also attended the conference. We told her we knew an Elder in her district. She said Elder Anderson works very hard and they know they can count on him to do whatever they ask. It's awesome to get good missionary reports.

We had a bit of an adventure getting home. There is only one flight a day into and out of Tuguegarao on Philippine Airlines. Our flight was cancelled because of weather. When Kent changed our ticket,the agent told him they couldn't guarantee a flight the next day because a typhoon was headed that way. Kent checked the weather and it was supposed to rain there all week. We had no idea how long it might be before we could get a flight out. One of the airport security men told us a driver could take 6 passengers in a van to Manila for $50 each. We took the offer and started out for Manila. It wasn't until we were well on our way that we started thinking about all the things that could happen but Kent and I both felt at peace about the choice so we tried to enjoy the ride. I thought when we decided to fly, we would miss seeing the country on the way. We did get to see the country after all. It was pretty and green with many little villages and winding mountain roads. We arrived home safely about 12 hours after we set off. We know we were blessed with peace and safety and an honest driver.

While on our travels there are times when we don't always feel safe but in my heart, I know we are always in God's care no matter where we are. Of course we must be wise in what we do and where we go but sometimes we find ourselves in situations we don't expect. It is during those times that one of my favorite scriptures gives me courage: "Fear not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am they God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness." Isaiah 41:10.This scripture and the hymn "How Firm a Foundation" have given me courage during many stressful and uncertain times in my life. I cannot count how many times I have sung at least the first 3 and 7th verses. Each time I would read or sing these words, they would help me choose to trust in God and He has never let me down.

May we each be blessed with the courage to choose faith in God.

Love,
The Tuckers



Just a quick note from dad… the mentioned 12 hour van ride back to Manila was full of small tender mercies. Our driver was bent of getting to the front of every line of traffic we encountered and so was a little on the aggressive side. Well, in all honesty he was more like a lunatic. Passing lines of cars and truck on blind curves like we were the only vehicle on the road. Many times I found myself sending a heavenward request reminding Father that we were in some perilous conditions and needed his protection. We spoke with one other passenger about this one of our stops and he said he stopped watching… too frightened to watch. All in all we saw some wonderful areas and the scenery was spectacular…other than 6 souls pleading for safety all the while our driver pushed on with a determined zeal to be first.

We are loving the experiences, learning our duties and acting in accordance with what is needed. I taught in the Area Office Devotional this past week and it was recorded and broadcast to all the Philippine Employees. One in our group sent me a link to the talk just today and it was kind of fun watching myself do my thing.

All is well. I sure love my missionary companion. 😉

Diddy, Poppi, Padre, etc.

Dear Family,

Just a bit more....

We had an appointment on Saturday but the brother we were supposed to meet with sent us a text to let us know he was sick. So we ended up with an extra day. We had a local driver and asked him what we should see. He took us to a sanctuary (park) in Illagan. It was a beautiful place in the mountains. They had a cable car, zip line(a short one), obstacle course, pony rides, a small zoo, swimming pools, caves and a waterfall. We opted to see the caves and hike to the waterfall. It was a great place for families.

On our way to Cauyan from Tuguegarao we had a little extra time so our driver suggested we visit a cave nearby. To get to the cave, which was discovered by Theodore Roosevelt, we had to take a boat across a river. Our guide told us that the little village where we got on the boat was inhabited by native Philipino people. There is quite a contrast in the village. We saw a beautiful people - the man who took us across the river in the boat (picture) and the cute little girls who let us take their picture (it was ok with their mother for us to take their picture). There are several openings in the tops of the cave and a catholic church was located there.

The last picture is of the grand opening of the McDonald's fries and sundae stand outside our hotel. :) All they serve there is ice cream, fries and I think you can get a soda (there were floats on the menu).

We are so much grateful (that's a Philipino phrase we like) for each of you. We love that you take care of each other and us.

Love,

Mom and Dad
xxxo

Part of our menu

Our vegetable flower

A view of the beautiful countryside

August 16 - Mid-August

Hello!

We are on our way to visit a couple of our assistants so today's letter will be short.

I think I mentioned in an earlier letter that Kent and I have been called with another couple to serve as Pathways missionaries for the area office group. We have spent much of our time the past week or so preparing to start our group. We have needed to do some encouraging and explaining to help them understand the benefits of the program. There has been a great response from the group at Beehive clothing (They have a factory here where they make garments) group. They seem eager to take advantage of this opportunity to learn. Many at the area office already have degrees but part of the advantage of this program is to help them learn to communicate in English better. It seems if the people here know English pretty well, they can advance more quickly and even get better jobs. Our role will be to facilitate and support the members of the group. I'm sure we will learn more about what we need to do as we start our group. The deadline for application is August 22 so that is why we have been doing more encouraging as of late.

I love to share scriptures so I will close with one:

"And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins." 2 Nephi 25:26

Love for and faith in our Savior is the answer to many of our challenges and will be so for our children as well. How grateful we are to know He lived and still lives to help us return to Father.

Have a great day,
The Tuckers

My picture this week is of a local that I saw on my walk outside one day. :)

August 9 - A Visit to Angeles

Dear Friends and Family,

Hello! I put the subject of this letter as 'A visit to Angeles" but just so you don't get it mixed up with Los Angeles, this one is pronounced ang hel ees.

Kent and I drove to Angeles one rainy day. We had a great meeting with an assistant and the FM group there. Driving back wasn't so bad until we got near Manila. We were on a highway, using Waze, and it took us off and on the highway trying to get around traffic. We were in neighborhoods and drove down streets too narrow for 2 cars to pass. It is impossible to describe the traffic but just imagine yourself in Mario Cart with the most possible number of players and they are shooting bombs, or whatever they shoot, at you. It was the most crazy so far but Kent did great. It took us almost 2 hours to go less than 10 miles. I guess the upside is that we got to see more of the neighborhoods in the city. :) Picture 4 is of the Angeles City sign and picture 5 is of the Angeles city streets.

On the amusing side - Each weekend for a month the mall around us has a theme. This month's theme is rainbows and unicorns (see picture 1). In the center of the mall, they have vendors selling many things related to rainbows and unicorns and they were playing a cake decorating video on the big screen (see picture 3) For instance they sell fancy cotton candy of multiple colors(see the girl in the foerground of the picture of the cake video), Krispy Kreme (yes, the Philippines has Krispy Kreme) has special doughnuts for the theme, someone selling unicorn headbands - you get the idea. On Saturday afternoon they have a show for children. The MC was dressed up in pink and a rainbow long tutu type skirt. Three girls also dressed up and videoke (see picture 2). They even had a volunteer get her hair colored rainbow colors. It was quite entertaining to see what they did but I don't think we'll go again next week.:)

As we work to get technology specialists throughout the Philippines, we find there really are few places with consistent internet connections. I've wondered about us getting the specialists in place before the internet is. I was reading in 1 Nephi 3 about Nephi's reaction when Lehi told him about going back to get the brass plates and a new meaning came into my heart. Nephi states, 

"for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them."

I feel if we do all we can to prepare, the internet will become available and the people will be ready for all the wonderful media and other things the church has to offer through the internet. What a blessing it can be for all to be gathered in through this technology no matter where we are on earth!

Have a good week.

Love,
The Tuckers