One Week in October . . .

This last week was an especially busy week for Elder Roundy. First of all, this was the first week the Area Presidents were back from General Conference and full of ideas and answers to many questions they have had. One question was the pending event for the Philippines – the groundbreaking for the Cebu Temple (November 14th – more about that in another chapter).

The Presidents don’t come to the office on Monday because they usually are occupied each weekend at a stake conference or on a mission tour or something that keeps them busy through Saturday and Sunday. So Tuesday was a get-ready day for Wednesday which was when they held the first Area Presidency meeting since mid-September. And it was a long one (as most of them are. We go into a room and stay there from about 9:00 to 5:00. Sometimes they stop and go home for lunch, sometimes not. This week they did, but Elder Roundy went straight to his computer to catch up on the material they asked for or to prepare a letter or a report.

Because a Area Council was scheduled for Thursday the next day, we planned that. The Area Council is when all the Area Seventies come to meet with the three General Authorities (Area Presidents). There are seven Area Seventies in the Philippines. Because the presidency had not been together for nearly a month, we had to plan and prepare on Wednesday for the Area Council meeting on Thursday. This system ended up having Elder Roundy staying at the office putting things together (agenda, handouts, etc.) until nearly 8:00 pm. He emailed copies of all this to the Area Presidents for them to read on their Blackberries, and they in turn sent changes and additions back.

So Thursday morning bright and early the office lights were on and Elder Roundy finished up the preparations for the 8:00 am Area Council. It was a well designed meeting even if it ended at 4:30 in the afternoon. Those are powerful leaders – three General Authorities (Seventies) and seven Area Seventies. Lots of things happening in the Philippines.

On Friday, all the things talked about, planned, decided, and considered had to be finalized. So Elder Roundy spent the day doing that. He never did get the minutes for the two meetings typed up in the computer, so Monday will be the day for that.

Saturday the Roundys went shopping, as if we had never done that before, but we spent nearly the whole day doing it. We first started out to find some sort of special lotion (Clinque) that Sister Roundy uses, but after three trips back and forth, we still didn’t find it. That’s because neither one of us knew where she remembered (?) seeing the shop. Was it at the HyperMart, or the Eastland Mall, or at the ShopWise? She’s still needing to find it, but we did get a little computer desk. Our friends (the Fullers) left a printer for us (color, no less), and the laptop we have, so we needed a place to set it all up. Now we have a cute little tri-level computer desk and it only cost 1995.00 pesos ($42.87), but, don’t complain; the computer chair was free. So now we don’t have to hold the laptop on our lap or have it on a table where your knees won’t go under.

Sunday we were off to our assigned branch, Minuyen. We took the route we had explored last week and arrive just in time. (We took the new doctor and his wife with us because they have not yet figured out how to get to their assigned branch.) On the return trip right after the toll booth, somehow God (some more devious being) had move the world so instead of turning south back to Manila, we ended up going north to San Simeon. The compass clearly said we were going north, but Elder Roundy knew the compass must be stuck because he could easily tell we were going south because the sun was setting on the right (which he figured was West. He kept flicking the compass with his finger to make it work. But in his geographical analysis he didn’t calculate the fact the clouds could be hiding the setting sun sinking in the West (?) and he only considered the bright lights on the left (his East) were just a break in the clouds. So after it got dark and none of the landmarks showed up, and some 50 kilometers down the road, he decided (almost by himself, with almost no helpful persuasion) that he should stop and ask for direction. We were on the North Luzon Expressway, so you couldn’t just pull over and ask someone. You had to go and go until there was an exit. Well, those guys there said Manila was the other direction. (Huh? What do they know?) The compass was not fibbing. The darned thing was telling the truth. We were going north.

We learned how to find an overpass (1 more klm down the freeway). We paid another 72 pesos to cross the bridge to get back on the south-bound expressway and happily headed for Manila. When we got back to nearly the place were we made the wrong turn, we had to pay another 110 pesos toll to stay on the NLEX. The gate attendant kindly encouraged us to continue because we were sure to find Manila down there somewhere. Eventually we found another toll both for the South-bound travelers. The pretty girl there took our 110 pesos and said we were on the right road home.

Have we ever mentioned the EDSA? It is the busiest thoroughfare in Manila. We had to get on it and look for the Ortigas exit. We didn’t find it. No left turns off the EDSA. You gotta go until you find a U-turn slot. The rain decided to help out, so there we were, headed into Manila on the EDSA, bright lights glowing from every direction, buses honking and blocking lanes, rain pounding on the windshield, and us sweet young Mormon Missionaries looking for the U-turn slot to go home. Being an orphan isn’t fun.

We got home at 7:30. We probably could have been home and finished watching a good TV program in all the time we were lost.

Elder Roundy solemnly promises not to complain about the traffic in the Philippines. If he ever mentions it again, keep track and he’ll pay you a bright, new centimo (about 1 half penny) for each instance you find.

Thanks for caring.