I am behind schedule, so I am going to do my best to keep this one short and write again in just a few days. The title is telling! Several of us senior missionaries decided to take a couple of days and have some fun. On the southern part of our Island of Cebu is a well-known place called Moalboal. Elder and Sister Hansen work there with the local missionaries and members of the church. It is also known as quite the tourist destination and for those of you that are not familiar with the Philippines, it is one of the last best places to visit an incredible country and do it CHEAP! Many, many people come and travel through the Philippines like folks used to do in Europe. It is common to see an entire family complete with baby in tow that are backpacking and Moalboal is a must-see destination. Anyway - long story short we have wanted to see Kawason Falls and the snorkeling around that area for a while and finally got to it. Several stops along the way revealed fun things. Below is a picture of Jackfruit growing on someone's yard. This is a popular fruit here and our family was introduced to it via our adventurous grandson Jeffrey! In some areas I understand that it is called "bread fruit" and is delicious! These folks were proud of their tree, and we had fun visiting with them. They can grow to be pretty darned big and come in several varieties and all are yummy (or lami kaayo in Cebuano)!
We met our fellow missionaries and our snorkeling folks in the City of Moalboal and this is a picture of a lovely park close to where we met! Having a beautiful park area close to the center of town is very common for even the smallest towns here in Philippines.
Another thing we get to see quite often are beautiful old, Spanish Catholic churches. Although some of the history along those lines is NOT happy and involves enslaving indigenous people, most came to terms with Christianity and many churches, parishes, and Catholic missions and schools were the result. This particular church was across the street from the park and was clearly undergoing renovations. We caught them right at lunchtime when the workers were all sitting under an enormous tree having their lunches and waving at us. I LOVED this old bell and clock tower. Another interesting thing was the sign on the picture below this. It is common to see many posters and billboards encouraging marriage and families. I can't say that I completely agree with a blanket "no divorce" policy and this presents quite a problem for the average citizen. Annulments in the Catholic Church here are pretty much forbidden and cost hundreds of thousands of pesos to complete. That blanket policy results in many families "cohabitating" instead of getting remarried and presents unique challenges in most religious settings. BUT... with all of that said, these people truly value family and marriage. It is common for three to four generations to live under the same roof. I have yet to see an "old folks' home" as family members are cared for by other family members no matter what the challenges.... and with a nation still plagued by poverty, those challenges abound! I love to see how they come together to help one another and there is MUCH Christian love and kindness!
OK... here comes the "humility" and "health" part! We are tough old folks that have a long history of walking, working out, hiking, farming etc. etc. From left to right are Steve and Therese Heath (mission doctor/wife), Larry Hansen (farmer, rancher, do everything extraordinaire!), Wendy Beesley (mission secretary), and Roy and I. Although there is a lot of strength and experience in this group, our ages range from 66-77 and our average is 69.5! This hike is 4.5 to 5 miles long and is mostly downhill which sounds really easy! BUT... most of that mileage is done IN THE WATER! We get to backslide, zipline, and jump off small cliffs throughout the hike but most of it is slogging through gorgeous, turquoise water while slipping and sliding AND falling off slippery rocks. The picture is all of us feeling all cool, and "froggy" and that "bring it on" attitude! We all did a kilometer zipline that was a blast! Then we walked down about a MILLLION stairs that felt like hiking down into the Grand Canyon! Downhill.... sooooo nuttin to it! We hiked and "canyoneered" through 3-4 levels of the falls swimming and showing off and having a blast.... BUT.... about half way through our legs were like rubber and we were falling more than "hopping" those rocks! I'll say more next Sunday about it.... but needless to say the griping about "getting fat and lazy" in the Philippines was humbling to say the least. We have been healthy and active all of our married lives and doing hardcore backpacking and even climbing 14,000 ft mountains. But a year away from our 7,500 altitude in Los Alamos WITHOUT hiking and working out on a regular basis was a REAL wakeup call! I was so sore the next day... I was absolutely ashamed! The Lord tells us to treat our bodies like Temples and I have gotten WAY to lax on that point! I will NEVER allow myself to be this weak again!
The picture below was toward the end of the hike and was really fun trying to stay upright at the bottom of the final dam.
This picture is typical of the Philippines; anywhere there is an ugly overpass, or an ugly concrete wall... there is always an artist willing to paint it pretty! This was very close to the end of the hike and I'm glad I was upright enough to enjoy it!
This final picture (above) is us as we finished the hike! It is one of the coolest hikes I have ever done. It honestly rivals the Grand Canyon and things we have done in Hawaii and is a "destination" as far as waterfalls go. People come from all over Southeast Asia for this experience. We were personally guided ... and sometimes dragged by our life vests.... by our WONDERFUL guides. Those tough little guys weighed about half of what most of us weighed and they are the reason we survived! Wendy was a complete STUD MUFFIN.... I am still in awe that our feisty little 77-year-old mission secretary (and retired schoolteacher) did as well as she did! Our guides were SO precious with her!! Moral to this story; take care of your body! Do NOT abuse it and keep it strong and healthy and you will not only be healthier BUT be a better missionary than if you are sick and weak all of the time! AND.. we are paying better attention to this humbling wakeup call!
LOVE to all and we will send more messages next week.
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