Three months! Wow, we are not getting enough done. Time is flying . . .

Sunday was fast Sunday and we took dinner to our neighbors whose husband and father just died.  They keep his body in the living room in a glass top casket.  He looked really great, but I was surprised to see him there.  He will stay until they bury him Dec 27th.  They put out a temporary porch cover and that signals that someone has died and people stop by.
After this, we picked up the young men's president and the ward mission leader to give them a ride to the San Miguel group where Geraldine was confirmed a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  Only sacrament meeting was held today because of the typhoon threat.  Everyone is quite anxious.  Last year was a bad surprise so everyone is overly cautious.  The typhoon landed north of our island on Samar.  We have a missionary serving here who is from there and he felt some concern.  We understand 23 people have died.  But we had a very little light rain---no wind and very peaceful.  We feel The Lord has answered prayers and He has tempered the elements.
Christine Maximo came to the Center on Monday and we did Job Search lesson 3.  We came home and listened to what we thought was the First Presidency Christmas Message but it was last years', I guess.  Anyway, we enjoyed it.  We see this years' next week sometime.  We also lit our candle and had our scripture advent reading time.
Tuesday was district meeting.  Each set of missionaries took turns having a problem and another set helping the mock investigator, another set of missionaries work through the challenge.  The challenges were about chastity, the word of wisdom, tithing, and keeping the Sabbath day holy.  It was really great!  This was Sister Walton's last meeting.  She returns to Texas next Tuesday.  After meeting, we had the truck washed, ate lunch and went to the Center. We had our meeting but mostly there was a lot of work to be done, three people wanted help doing resumes and one man was asking about getting a PEF loan for a masters program.
Wednesday we went to Arevalo, the mission office to test missionary for English, but we couldn't get the computers to work.  In the afternoon was a Mission Christmas Conference with four of the zones. We played games, did zone skits, had dinner, had a gift exchange, had some solos and duets from different missionaries, and watched parts of the David Archuleta Christmas Show of three years ago and the President gave us all mission t shirts( we can wear on p day or when we get home), and then the office elders did a "fire show"!  It was all very fun.
Thursday am was another community service project but we spent an hour and a half trying to find it and had to give up.  We went to the Center and waited for Johnny, a return missionary who served in Tacloban and did not get his English test and wanted to take it.  Our internet was down so we took him to the mission office where he was tested along with three others and then we gave him a ride back to his college.  We went to our bungalow for lunch and then to the Mission Christmas Conference with the other three zones.  This one was the missionaries from Roxas, Iloilo south, and Antique.  Their skits and singing was all very spiritual.  We left early at 7:30pm to get ready for our trip to Bacolod tomorrow.
Friday we took the truck to Jalandoni so it would be under security behind locked gates and then we caught a taxi to the wharf where we boarded a fast catamaran boat to Bacolod.  Boiser picked us up after an hour and took us to the Center where we learned how to do PEF loans, and some other things.  Then Boiser took us and his staff to lunch after which we had some more training and then Elder and Sister Green took us to their beach front home with warm water, regular taps, three kitchen sinks plus a dummy kitchen behind a door off the pretty kitchen.  Wow and big glass windows looking out over the ocean with all the little fishing boats.  This house was amazing!  That night we met another member/leadership office couple missionaries who have been here 23 months and are leaving next week to return to Wellsville, UT.
It was very interesting but I guess neither couple that are leaving have a replacement.
Anyway, we had dinner at a Hotel Restaurant.  It was the best I have eaten here.  We had a real lettuce salad with apples and fruit and a honey mustard vinaigrette dressing.  We don't usually eat fresh vegetables unless they can be peeled but the couples we were with knew it was safe.  So it tasted so good.
Friday am we had breakfast and enjoyed the Greens company and amazing ocean view and prepared for a self reliance family party.  I helped make a seven layer bean dip, and fresh cut up vegetables and a dill dip.  They swam from 10 am until 1 pm and then came in and ate grilled hamburgers and hot dogs, potato salad...  At three pm Greens took us to the boat wharf and off we were back to Iloilo.  When we arrived we were not able to get a taxi, so we started walking until we found a motorized tricycle.  We had a way fun ride to Jalandoni!  It was so fun!  The street view is so good from those tricycles.  Anyway, we picked up the truck and stopped at McDonald's for Apple pie a la mode with caramel sauce and then to our bungalow.  Another great week!
Love Mom, Sister Robinson III. :)