Well another whirlwind week with fun in the sun. I am going to start with Rice 103 because thats just what I do. I analyze all building, roads and processes that take place because thats just one of the jobs I do here is keep us from getting lost and that kind of thing.
RICE 103
So as I left you in Rice 102 with hand cut rice stalks that are put through portable thrashing machines and dried on plastic tarps on the side of the road for 1 or 2 days depending upon the drying process.
Then buyers purchases all the rice from the individuals that is for sale. The rice then is put in large bags similar to 100 lbs potato bags but much stronger and placed on the side of the road.
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| Rice Truck |
This is a loaded truck. Each one of those bags weighs 100 to 150 pounds and there is mountain of them on the truck. They make these trucks much sturdier than the truck in the states. I would hate to even try and guess what that truck loaded weighs.
Some of the people just grow rice for there own use and and sell what is left over. A regular Philippine house hold will eat 12 to 15 bags per year of rice.
From there the rice is taken to a mill for processing and preparing for the market.
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| Rice Mill |
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| Rice Mill |
After the rice is processed and cleaned it is sent to market. Some rice goes to local markets in each town and is sold according the area of the grower. For example Sagbayan rice may sell for more than Ubay rice. There is also red rice and white rice and both are grown on the same farm. The local people store their rice throughout the year and take it a sack at a time to be processed at the mill.
All Philippine people eat rice 3 to 5 times a day. They do not fell like they have had a full meal unless rice was part of it.
Stairway to Heaven (or might I say the chicken coop):
We helped with a CSP (community service project) this week building a stairway to our precious Sister Segovia's chicken coop in Loon. The missionaries all pitched in and it was great time for all.
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| Sister Segovia |
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These are our Loon missionaries, Sisters Broughton and Huxtable and Elders Singsam and Esconton helping us with the stairway.
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Well I will wrap up my part with telling you how much we love the people we serve. It is truly inspiring to see people have so few material possessions but yet they have such room in their hearts for the Lord and all people they meet. It is truly humbling sometimes to be around such spiritual giants! I love the Lord and I Love His work.
Salamat Gyud (very passionate thanks) to all my family and friends that I dearly Love.
Elder Bell Tatay, LoLo and Amigo
Ayo Family and Friends!
It has been a busy work week! Everyday was packed from morning until late at night with work. But, most nights we fell into bed thinking, "Wow! We got a lot accomplished today." I wish I could name all of those things for you but honestly, the days become a blur by the end of the week. I try to make little notes on my calendar so I can remember what to tell you at weeks end but this week I was too tired at the end of the day to make a note and so here we are here at the blog and I can only remember what we did this weekend. So, I will start there….
Saturday was a fun, fun, long but fun day. We had promised our Seminary kids that when we got halfway through our course, (that is 16 weeks) that we would have a party. So we planned a trip to Ubay at the northern most tip of the island. This is where we go to watch the ocean baptisms. So we told them to come ready to get wet and everything else was a surprise. We headed out about 11:00 yesterday morning for Ubay. None of the kids had ever been there! Now, this is only a 90 minute drive for us and none of the kids had ever been there! They all lack the means to pay for public transportation and none of their families have a vehicle, so this was a big deal for them. We had a picnic of peanut butter sandwiches and cookies and then we all jumped in the 'bathtub warm' water.
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| Our Seminary kids enjoying lunch! |
We had 16 Seminary kids come to the party! What a great time. Now here is something I wanted to talk about. They had a little restroom that we could change in to our swimsuits. So I wandered over to change in to my suit just as the girls were finishing up. Every single one of them had on shorts that covered their knees and t-shirts that covered their shoulders. One girl had shorts that were a couple of inches above her knee and asked me if they were modest enough! Needless to say, I did not change into my swimming suit because by my standards it is a pretty modest old-lady suit but it was shameless next to these modest Filipinas. There is no immodesty at the beach even among those not in our party. Filipinos are very modest people in their dress and their actions. Can I just tell you how refreshing and freeing that is. We all had such a good time in the water and playing with each other and none of us had to tug a bottom up or down. Wow! I learn so much from these kids.
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| Floating Waiting House |
I put this picture in because I want you to look at the floating 'waiting house' behind us. There are little huts like this all along the roadways. They are called 'waiting houses' and almost every purok of every barangay builds one. They are a place to wait for buses or jeepneys. They are also a gathering place for neighbors and friends. They seem to be used as a place to take a mid-day nap. Mind you, most of them are not floating, they are on solid ground but they look just like this one. Some are quite elaborate with second stories. There are three of them in Gatafee that are built way up in big trees. They are very unique to the Philippines.
So, I don't have a picture for my next story but I wish I did! We went to the basement of the church in Ubay today to get primary started right after Sacrament Meeting (we don't get to see conference until next week via recorded DVD) and all of the children were squealing and chasing a big mouse! We had heard the loud noises while we were in the meeting but did not go down to see what all the commotion was about. But they had been chasing two mice for quite awhile. The mice could hardly run any more as this had been going on for such a long time. So when two priesthood brethren came down to help, they easily captured the mice by throwing a rug over them and picking them up and taking them outside! The mice were squealing but I think they were saying "thank you for getting us away from these kids!" They are very active!
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| Who Needs a Truck Anyway? |
I have no story to go with this picture. It just never ceases to amaze me to see how much and what Filipinos can carry on their trikes! Who needs a truck anyway?
We are very anxiously engaged in the work here. Every day is new. Every day is different. Every day is rewarding and tiring and challenging and good! We are so happy to be here at this time serving this mission. We love you and appreciate every single word you write to us. You have no idea how we love to hear from you. I hope you are having a great Spring Conference Weekend!
Love you forever,
Sister Bell (Nanay, Lola, Amigo)
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