August 1, 2010
Some of the 1960 Cebu pioneer families in the Church continue to provide strength in the wards and stakes. The Abanggan family are stalwarts: Flora, who we met in Hong Kong and who directs a Foundation designed to help Filipinos become self-sufficient through educating the youth and teaching skills to adults, is one of the daughters in the family. Flora’s eldest sister, Sister Rabanas, has a son who is a counselor in one of the stake presidencies and her daughter Gladys, who was with Flora in Hong Kong when we came, is married to Bishop Tranate, and is a seminary teacher. Flora’s brother’s son, Bishop Abanggan, is one of the youngest bishops in the area. Others in the family are temple workers. The family has a large white enclosed, air-conditioned jeepney which several wards borrow for outings. Flora invited the temple missionary couples to go on a sight-seeing tour last Monday in the jeepney. She told me it would hold 15 easily; I’m sure she was thinking 15 Filipinos. Twelve of us Americans were packed in tight along the two benches running the length of the jeepney but it was the only way all of us would fit in one vehicle. Some of the other couples had not gone out of the Temple compound other than to go shopping for groceries, so they were delighted for the experience.
Our first stop was in Lapulapu on the island of Mactan. Ferdinand Magellan was killed by Chief Lapulapu and his people here in the 1500’s. He had befriended the natives in Cebu and wanted to gain control of their neighbors also, but was unsuccessful. The grounds were lovely adorned with giant yellow hibiscus bushes, bougenvillia trees with pink blooms, numerous other tropical trees and flowers that I was unfamiliar with and an impressive statue erected to commemorate the historical occasion. My grandchildren would have been delighted with the 10 inch green lizard I discovered on one of the tree branches; I would not have seen it at all if its tail hadn’t been hanging down, it was so well camouflaged. We also visited the very old, triangular rock Fort San Pedro, built by the Spaniards, Magellan’s Cross erected supposedly in the spot Magellan placed the first Spanish flag to claim the Philippines for Spain, the beach outside Cebu, and a very old and ornate Catholic Cathedral which was filled with worshippers, many of whom were laying flowers and candles at the altar of the patron saint of Cebu. Interestingly, in contrast, the courtyard outside the cathedral, was a noisy, bustling market with dozens of people selling colorful character balloons, candles, snacks, flowers, and religious baubles to the visiting crowds. Inside the Cathedral, people knelt on benches in prayer and there was a decidedly different atmosphere from the outside. Some people were holding their children up to touch the statues, others placed handkerchiefs against the glass cabinets holding figures of Mary, and then placed their foreheads on the handkerchiefs. President Rabanas was with us and commented how the Filipinos are tied so tightly to ceremony and traditions. I replied that were these people converted to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, they would likely be very devoted members also because they are already very religious.
The thing that affected me the very most was when we were walking in the courtyard of the Cathedral, President Rabanas saw an old woman bundled up in a warm but very worn jacket walking slowly through the crowds. She appeared to be cold. He greeted her warmly and invited her to come with us. When we got back to the jeepney, Flora also greeted her and took a bill from her wallet and placed it in the woman’s hands, giving her a hug. She told us afterwards that she had gone to school with the woman (who looked twice Flora’s age) and that she was “touched in the head”. The people here often pray that we will remember the poor and the needy; the Rabanas/Abanggan family showed me that they do that.
WE were taken to Flora’s Cebu home complex for a lovely luncheon. President Rabanas is a caterer and had been the one providing food for the Temple workers last month; he knew that many of the Americans did not eat Filipino food, and so the family had fixed a beautifully laid out buffet with a fancy macaroni and cheese casserole and tacos with several chopped foods to fill the tacos (including Dutch cheese). I was most impressed with the way Flora had folded the paper napkins and placed them in a bowl so they looked like a pineapple! (Very Martha Stewartish!) They had thoughtfully tried to meet our every need. They are a gracious and wonderful family.
Flora lives in Holland but visits her family here twice a year; she comes to work on Foundation matters. Her brother and his family live in her home which is a lovely home, especially by Filipino standards. It is comparable to our apartments. Her brother is a song writer and hopes to record his music. He has made a CD that I listened to, with Stanish, a Filipino convert who sang on cruise ships before his conversion, singing the lyrics. The family is building a large four story apartment building behind her home part of which will be student dormitory rooms. It will have a swimming pool in the courtyard eventually. Their building methods are a little different from ours. They have finished the first level and have people living in the apartments while they are working on the second and third levels. When those are completed, they will build the fourth level. They have a large cement mixer where they mix the cement by hand and then carry the buckets of cement up to pour the walls of the level they are working on. There is a large room on the street level floor which is used for teaching skills for their foundation. We spent a wonderful, informative and exhausting, day with wonderful people.
August 2, 2010
Our preparation day today was more the norm than last week: we washed three batches of clothes; I cut Larry’s hair; he went for a 2 ½ hour walk through the open markets with our missionary friend, Wilson Ganir; I washed the fruits and vegetables that one of our Filipino brothers picks up for us—it gives him a chance to earn a little extra and we love the quality he finds in the open market; I Skyped some of our children—thanks to Jeff for fixing our computer so I could use the computer again; we shopped for groceries, a new map of Cebu (Larry has worn out his first one!), a new book for me and three DVD’s (One was Sound of Music for 100 p which is a little more than $2—two weeks ago we bought 4 Disney movies (Cinderella, Jungle Book, Tarzan and Lady and the Tramp for 100p each; Sister Gale told us the children who come with their parents to do temple work had nothing to do while they were here so we took a dozen children’s books and the DVDs down to help entertain them.) (It’s too bad the DVDs here don’t play in the US; we’d send some home.)
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