We were invited and attended a wedding last Saturday evening from a Chilean member of the Church that is here to marry his Filipina bride. He is visiting from Chile and plans to take his bride with him back to Chile if they can get her Visa. If they cannot get her Visa, he plans to return to Chile for a period (months) and then come back for her. Back to the wedding. We had set aside1.5 hours for the wedding because of other obligations. The wedding was to begin at 5:30P. Certainly like most events in the Philippines it started more than 45 minutes late. The main difference for this event is that all of the wedding goers were actually in their seats at 5:30P. So we could only stay for about 35 minutes of what I am certain lasted well into the evening with lots of karaoke. I am really sad that I missed that part of the evening. Karaoke has quickly become one of my favorite activities! (Hopefully you can sense the sarcasm).
Our Mission President (Filipino himself) realizes that the Philippines has a terrible time being punctual at any event. He is constantly stressing it at every District Conference, Stake Conference, Zone Conference and any meeting he has with the young missionaries. He has no problem stopping the meeting and letting everyone know how inconsiderate it is to be late. Even though he is kind about it, many have been embarrassed.
We spent a large part of our week on the island of Negros furnishing two new apartments and new appliances for several other existing apartments. There are a couple of good things about Negros Island and that is the roads are much better than on Cebu and a more rural feel to the environment. You can actually get up to highway speeds 80kph (50mph) for short bursts of up to 15 seconds! We had a lot of fun visiting with our batchies (batch mates or the other couple that came to the field with us), and the young missionaries. It is always a wonderful experience to be with these young people.
I cannot believe how good it is to be home, at our tiny little-marginally acceptable apartment, after a trip like that. At a minimum we have a comfortable bed and pillows and a warm shower. And acceptable water pressure. The hotel in San Carlos had intermittent warm water and the pressure was so low that the wand would not spray. The water simply ran out of the wand and straight down. Did I mention how much I love this experience and would never do it again (I hope you can sense the sarcasm...again).
This has been a wonderful experience for us. I joke about it a lot but this is where we are supposed to be. That is made clear to me nearly every day and sometimes multiple times per day. I can honestly recommend it.
Love to you all. We miss you.
Elder Epperson
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