Witch Doctors, Snorkeling, and Avoiding the Law

Hello friends and family from the beautiful Philippines.

A lot has happened in the two weeks since we posted.

The Lord must exist and he loves us…because Nina and I have been with each other 24/7 since we arrived and we are both still alive. This is a miracle of "water into wine" or "calming of the seas" magnitude...absolute biblical proportions! This is old testament stuff I tell you!

We are currently at a resort in Dauin, Negros Island just southwest of Dumaguete, the Pura Vida Diving and Beach Resort. We left Cebu last Saturday (more than a week ago to enjoy a short relaxation period with some of the other senior missionaries. We first drove to the very southern tip of Cebu and then took a ferry to Dumaguete and then a ferry to Siquijor Island. We visited some of the young missionaries there to set up an apartment and saw some of the sites (the island is known for witchcraft and voodoo). It must be true because I put a dint in the top of the tailgate of my new pick-up from a pole in the middle of a small road on a mountain that should not have been there (or else I didn’t see it). There is no way I could have made a mistake like this, so it had to be strange and irresistible powers.

We also took the young missionaries to a very fancy restaurant on the island and ate under a bamboo cabana just a few feet away from the shore. Very good food and service with the ocean in the background. Most enjoyable. All of our senior missionary friends left on Wednesday, so Nina and I have been “stuck” here alone doing work from this magnificent resort with picturesque views in every direction and the ocean beach just 150ft away.

Photo

We spent a couple of days at a resort on Siquijor then back to Dumaguete and Dauin to the resort where we are currently staying. From here done several excursions to waterfalls and hot springs where we dove and swam. Then a day of snorkeling on Apo Island where we had a day in the water with beautiful coral, fish and turtles and did I mention sunburns?

Photo

Last week while traveling to Moalboal to see some young missionaries there, I nearly got a ticket again. Believe it or not, it was at the exact same intersection and doing the exact same thing as several weeks ago when I nearly got a ticket (perhaps you will remember me talking about switching from a “left turn only” lane intending to go straight and switched lanes in order to not violate the “left turn only” requirement)? Same intersection only this time I thought that I was not in the area designated for “left turn only” so I switched lanes and hit something soft. I thought that someone had softly hit us. I kept going until I got to the intersection and a street cop flagged me down (two of them to be more precise). They said I had a traffic cone stuck under the truck (which I was unable to hear dragging under the truck). The cop indicated that he was citing me, not for changing lanes (consistent with the last time I was nearly cited at this intersection) but with damage to government property (assuming he meant the traffic cone under the truck). He kept saying “damage to government property and 2000 pesos.” I told him to cite me so we could move on but he just kept saying the same thing over and over. Now, I have been around traffic cones my entire life and have seen them dragged and even turned inside out from large equipment with little damage so dragging a cone a few feet did not seem particularly damaging to me. Finally, it started to rain and he handed back all of our paper and let us go. I honestly believe he was thinking that I would bribe him to let us off, but I was too stupid to realize what was going on.

Back to where we are now in Dumaguete…so, from this beautiful spot we have been supplying the young missionaries with the furnishing items they need for their apartments in order to be semi-comfortable and semi-healthy. We were planning to spend some more time on the island as we move north, but the mission president was asking when we will be back in Cebu and the mission office. I think that he thinks we are spending too much of the mission funds and want to “discuss” it with us. So we are headed back to Cebu tomorrow after we Zoom in the mission office meeting. Another ferry ride back to Cebu Island and then a 4 hour drive north back to Cebu City.

I have included several photos of our adventures this past week. Hope all is well with each of you. Take care and as always love,

Roy and Nina

Elder and Sister Epperson