A Lincoln County Friend . . .

....
On Wednesday, October 22, we were invited to join the Area Presidency at a dinner with Elder Richard G. Hinckley and Sister Hinckley. (Yes, he is the son of Gordon B. Hinckley, former president of the Church.) Elder Hinckley was in the Philippines to check on the Missionary Training Center (MTC), which needs to be enlarged, and to visit the Cebu Temple site.

The MTC receives new missionaries not only from the Philippines, but from much of Southern and Eastern Asia – Pakistan, Mongolia, India, some from Hong Kong, and on and on. It is barely large enough to handle the 60 or 70 missionaries from the Philippines, so when others come, extra room is scarce. A remodeling was contemplated even before we came. Now we think it will actually start.

Visitors always like to see what is happening at the Cebu Temple. We have not been there since the ground breaking a year ago, but we have heard that it is progressing nicely. The contractor runs two working shifts.

But, back to the dinner. It turned out that Elder Edwards, the president of the Philippines Area, didn’t come because Sister Edwards was not feeling well. That left our group to only four couples. Elder Ko took charge (as typical), assigning who would sit where. When all the places were assigned, it turned out that Sister Roundy was next to Elder Hinckley, on his left, Sister Hinckley on his right.

As the dinner went on, and as you would expect, Elder Hinckley politely asked Sister Roundy where she was from. When she told him Pioche his face lit up, and he said that he knew about Pioche. He said he had cousins in Panaca and that he would visit with them almost every summer. (We knew he had cousins there because her best friend in high school, Terry Wadsworth – now Bleak, is President Hinckley’s niece.)

Elder Hinckley talked all about Panaca, whom he knew there, whom he could remember, and asked about many of them. When she said her name was Horlacher, he said, “Oh, I know that name . . . let me think.” Then he remembered the Horlacher Stop and Shop in Pioche. He remembered going to the store. (All of this would have been back in the late ‘50s, when he was a teenager.) He and Sister Roundy talked all about the neighborhood and the neighbors he remembered, people they both knew. He said he could remember the name “Tommy Horlacher,” but, unfortunately, he couldn't remember the face. He seemed to be elated that he had found someone who could share some memories of his younger-day. He and Sister Roundy turned out to be the best of friends. Elder Roundy was pleased too because Elder Hinckley mentioned several times that he knew some Roundys who were descendants of Shadrach Roundy. (Shadrach Roundy, of early Mormom Church fame, is Elder Roundy's third great grandfather.)

Elder Hinckley and Sister Hinckley told us about his father and mother and how they raised the kids. They talked about how they met and how President Hinckley often told jokes, how he was constantly remodeling the house. Sister Hinckley said her own father was not a member when then got married, but eventually was baptized – when he was something like 87 years old. President Hinckley told her father, “Well, you eventually made it, but it took you nearly a hundred years to do it.”

They told us how Sister Hinckley, his mother, made Christmas so special for all the grandkids. They told us about the many travels his parents had made. He told us that he once accompanied his father to the Swiss Temple when they were preparing it for dedication. They talked about how lonesome his father was after his mother passed away. They shared with us about the day President Hinckley died.

The dinner was a pleasant two hours. Unfortunately, none of us brought a camera, so no pictures. We'll cherish the memories.

Volcanoes in the Neighborhood …

...

This blog is especially for Alexis, our 4-year old granddaughter who told us she was learning about volcanoes. We told her we would send some pictures of volcanoes that are in our country, the Philippines. Everyone is welcome to see it, but this blog is especially for Alexis

There is a big volcano named Mayon (my-OWN). Some people say it is the most beautiful volcano in the world. That is because it is so nicely shaped like a big cone. It looks really pretty against the blue sky. Usually is nice and quiet, almost like it is asleep. It's high up into the clouds. Sometimes the clouds look like smoke, but they are just clouds hugging the tops of the volcano. We haven't been to this volcano, but we did fly over it one day when we were in an airplane.

But years ago, probably 40 or more, it started to wake up. (That was even before your daddy was born.) Smoke started coming out of the top. The magma beneath was beginning to rise.

The smoke began to bellow out and the fire began to blaze at the top. The city was nearby and they could see that Mayon had awakened. Something big was going to happen.

Fire started to come out of the cone and hot lava began to flow down the sides of the volcano. Smoke was in the air everywhere.

The police came and told everyone to leave before the big eruption came.

More smoke came out. The wind began to blow the smoke across the country side.

It wasn’t long until the whole mountain was covered with thick smoke and grey ash which began to fall on the villages.

At night the fire was blazing from the top and the red-hot lava ran down the sides of the volcano.

The villages close by were in danger and the people had to hurry to leave. Some climbed into boats to get away from the land.

More and more fire and lava. More and more ash. It lasted for many days.

But … it finally fell asleep again. It is still sleeping, but every once in a while it give a cough and out comes a whiff of smoke. So by that you can tell it will wake up again some day, and it will fill the sky with smoke and fire. But don’t you worry about us. We’re safe and sound, and we’re a long way away from the volcano, so we’re in no danger at all.

One day we went to another old volcano, one that is asleep. It is just a small volcano, out in a lake. So we had to ride in some boats to get there. You can see in the picture that where the fire and lava came out is now peaceful and quiet.

This little volcano in the lake is called Taal (ta-All). It’s pretty to see. In November we are going to go there again, but this time we won’t go on the boats over to the volcano. We’ll just stay on the shore of the lake and look at the volcano across the water.

There are a lot of volcanoes in the Philippines, but Mayon and Taal are the volcanoes closest to us. But, really, they are not close at all, in fact, Mayon is on a whole different island from the one we are on, and Taal is fast asleep. Thanks for learning about volcanoes.

What ... Another Holiday?

...

We sometimes can’t get our work done because of all the holidays. Monday, August 25, was declared a city holiday by her excellency, the major of Quezon City. Because the PAO (our office) is in Quezon City, all the Filipino employees were entitled to the day off. The office was closed, The air conditioner was turned off. What should we do?

And another thing ... in Metro-Manila, there is a “color code” for cars. It is nothing to do with color, but that's what it's called. This is how it works: on Monday, cars with license plates that end in 0 or 1 cannot be on the streets; on Tuesday, those with 2 or 3; Wednesday 4 or 5, etc. through Friday. Our car ends in the number 171. Humph! Can’t go anywhere. But ... we knew this was coming and we made plans.

Some senior missionaries, four couples, and President and Sister Edwards took off on an adventure. We heard of the Pagsanjan (pahg-SAN-on) Falls. We headed there; off at 6:30. This place is about 60 miles south east of Quezon City. Took two hours to drive there. Two vans. (The top yellow punch pin on the map shows where we live; the one in the lower right shows where we went. Click on the map to make it larger.)

...

Can you believe it? Sister Roundy persuaded Elder Roundy (who is nearly 70 years old and can’t swim a stroke) to climb into one of these long, narrow canoes. He felt pretty safe, though, with his helmet on. (He didn't know that helmet had some sort of radio active brain penetrating diode in it that dulled his senses. Notice Sister Roundy is not wearing hers.) (The resort photographer took these next two pictures and then sold them to us when we returned down the river.)
...

Each canoe had two boatmen ... one in front and one in back. This is Ronald (we think). Donald was in the front. (Ronald said they were twins. They may have been, but it was obvisous they were not twins to one another.)

When everyone was load up, they linked us together in a long chain with a motor boat on the front hauling us upriver.
The river is wide and slow. Eventually the motor boats unhooked, and Ron and Don took over.

And the river took over, too. They told us there were 16 rapids on the river that we would have to cross.

The boat men had to get out and drag us over the rocks. (This isn't us, however.)

The Pagsanjan Gorge is long and deep.

Along the way there were lots of hanging vines. We could hear jungle sounds — birds and monkeys.

There were a lot of water falls tumbling down the sides of the canyon.

Some were short and loud. Others were long and lacy.

It took those two stripling Filipinos about an hour to take us up the river. Some of the time they could paddle along, but much of it was hard work, dodging rocks and dragging fat Americans over the rapids. Eventually we could see the Pagsanjan Falls up ahead. Notice how high the sides of the canyon are.

When we got closer it was loud. It had rained the night before, so there was a lot of water rushing through the rocks.

Part of the fun ... well, fun is not the right word ... say, part of the full experience when you arrived at the falls was then to exchange the canoe for a raft. This was one of the raft men.

So we climbed onto the raft and a couple of men pulled the raft hand over hand away from the comfort and certain safety of the slippery, jagged, moss-covered, wet, and slimy rocks into the chasm of the roaring waves.

Right across the river we went, directly to the falls.

There was no turning back. Elder Roundy said he was glad he had just recently renewed his life insurance so his family would have something to remember him by.

Under. Heavy water pounding on your head. A fierce updraft of wind blowing the water all around you.

Behind the falls, looking back. Loud, ringing, roaring din. But we're still alive. There's hope! But wait... Now we had to go right back through the dang thing to get out of there. We were wet from tip to toe, drenched.

Going back down the river was half of the journey, but was way less than half the experience. The boatmen easily paddled through the calms waters and expertly guided us across the rocks and rapids, gliding across the flowing river.

Luckily, our forward-looking plans had included some dry clothes to change into. This was way too much fun!

[We have to acknowledge that we did not take all these pictures. Some we borrowed from others, and some we found elsewhere.]

A Week Filled with Good ...

....

August 15 through 20 was a week of goodness. Good things happened. Mostly it was because Elder David A. Bednar of the Council of Twelve Apostles came to visit the Philippines. He was accompanied by his wife.

They came first to Cebu, where the new temple is being built. He presided at a stake conference there on Saturday and Sunday. Sunday evening he flew to Manila. And that’s where the whirlwind of good things began.

Sunday evening was a leadership meeting for the Church leaders in Manila and nearby. On Monday was a meeting with members from three stakes. (We really wanted to have all the members in Metro-Manila come, but we couldn't find a meeting place large enough.) Monday afternoon he held a meeting with missionaries from two missions, Manila and Angeles. (One of his friends from BYU-Idaho is the president of the Angeles Mission.)

Monday early evening there was a meeting at the Manila Temple for all temple workers. This was followed by a dinner at the Edwards’ apartment. Because Elder and Sister Edwards were accompanying Elder and Sister Bednar at the temple, Sister Roundy and Sister Millett (wife of the Philippines Area Director of Temporal Affairs) and their lazy husbands went to the Edwards’ apartment to prepare the dinner. Sister Edwards had it all planned out and laid out. The women cooked the food that she had ready. Sister Roundy had prepared and brought a salad (one requested by Sister Edwards). Sister Millet brought vegetables. Sister Teh was bringing the deserts. About 6:30, the Edwards and Bednars came. So did the Kos. They brought their daughter. The Tehs brought their four children. So we had a large group at the table. Elder Roundy had been instructed to carefully study the etiquette for serving food (serve with the right hand over the diner’s right shoulder; remove from the left). It was a splendid, easy, and special dinner.

..

Elder and Sister Bednar are easy to talk to, chatty and friendly. They told us some of the experiences they had as they traveled across the world. One particularly interesting report was about Slovakia. Elder Bednar’s grandparents came from there, and they met some of their relatives. He told us considerable and special information about this country, but he carefully asked us not to email it out (because, he said, most people who read it would think it should be spread out to their friends and family, and overnight it would be altogether a different version of the truth). So ... ask us when we come home.

...

The Group. Back row left: Elder Teh, Elder Ko, Elder Edwards, Elder Bednar, Brother Millett, Elder Roundy, Adam Teh. Second row left: Sister Kim (Ko), Sister Edwards, Sister Bednar, Sister Millett, Sister Roundy. Front row left: Hy Wong Ko, Colisa Teh, Alysium Teh, Sister Teh.

On Tuesday we held another missionary meeting with the missionaries in the Quezon City Mission (where we are assigned). Elder Ko and Sister Kim (husband and wife) took them on a tour of some historical places in Manila. Then a meeting at the Missionary Training Center where all the new missionaries were being taught.

On Wednesday there was a meeting with all the employees at the Philippines Area Office. The Bednars then came up to our office and wished us all good-bye. Off they went to Korea.

What’s next? Wait until November ..., just you wait.

You Probably Won't Believe It ... But You Should ...

...
We know you probably think we should be attending to more important duties, and we probably should, but ... We do spend a good deal of time at the office each day (often 9 or 10 hours). So sometimes we take a break and enjoy our friends here. The senior couples (we call ourselves the "Expatriates") frequently get together on Family Home Evening events, firesides, to watch the 24th of July Tab Choir show, and other fun things. Well ...

On Friday, August 1, Sister Roundy dragged Elder Roundy off to a stage show with the Expatriates. He was kickin' and screamin' all the way, moanin' and groanin'. First we stopped at an "American" steakhouse and had a swell dinner (she salmon, he prime rib -- he liked that). The restaurant is in the Asian Mall (said to be the world's largest) and near the Philippines Cultural Center (see below). After getting lost in the world's largest mall and ending up in the "north" parking lot rather than the "south," we finally caught up with our friends and rode in a van with them down to the Manila ocean front to the Philippines Cultural Center.

This place is a huge complex of theaters and pavilions. (We've been there a several times -- to an opera, to a symphony concert, to The Osmonds.) On Friday we went to a stage production of "Cinderella." We had balcony seats, which we decided suited us just fine because we could sort of look down on the whole stage and see perfectly.

The show was stunning! The staging was superb. The scenery was magnificent! The orchestra was ... slightly out of tune. The sound system was brilliant. The singing was fantastic.

The Fairy Godmother appeared out of a puff of smoke. The little rats (about the size of a pup) pranced and danced, and even sang a couple of songs.

The Ugly Stepsisters and the Wicked Stepmother stole the show. The costumes were topnotch.

The technical scenery was famous. Right before your eyes a pumpkin became this ornate gold coach. No lie ... a pumpkin morphed into a gold coach and Cinderella was driven to the ball by her pet mice (who became prancing steeds) with the rats as the coachman and driver.

The prince fell in love and they all lived happy ever after.

Then we drove home up the EDSA (a virtual parking lot), humming and singing all the way.

This production was excellent. We've seen a couple of Broadway shows and this was ever bit as well done. Elder Roundy is still moanin' and grumblin', but now it's about wondering when the next show will be in town.

Dr. C Owen Roundy Elementary's School Song

Hello! This is Carolyn - Elder and Sister Roundy's "favorite" daughter. Dad told me I could put this in their blog.

With Dad's elementary school just being dedicated, we thought it would be fun to post the lyrics and music of the school's song. Dad wrote and composed it all.

Travis (Elder Roundy's son) and Elder Roundy at the school dedication in June.

Here are the words and there is a link at the bottom of this post to open a media file of the music. You might like to open that up in a new window so you can read the words and listen to the music all at the same time.

We’re Roundy Racers

At C. Owen Roundy School.

We’re Roundy Racers, we use the Golden Rule.

We learn our lessons ‘cause we study hard;

Always fair when we are playing in the yard.

Roundy Racers, we’ll keep our standards high.

Work will always win the racer.

We are the C. Owen Roundy School.

.....

We’re Roundy Racers

Just watch our bright banners wave.

The Roundy Racers will win with time to save.

We have fine teachers and a principal.

All the Roundy Racers are invincible.

All you Racers, come join us in our song.

We’re a happy winning team.

We are the C. Owen Roundy School

Link for music

A View from the Window

On Sunday afternoon we looked out our terrace window. The sun was shining and the air was relatively clear. It seemed like a good time to show the scenes we see everyday.

We are situated on a hill that overlooks the surrounding valley. All of this habitation is called "Metro-Manila." The actual city of Manila is probably 15 kilometers away from where we live, but the entire area is one big place, so it's called Metro-Manila. We live in Quezon City, right by the Temple (as you probably all know). When we look out our south terrance, we see part of Pasig City and Makati City, as well as some of Quezon City. We have a panoramic view from Pasig City to the left clear across to Makati on the right. These show what we see from our terrace. What you see here stretches way down to Makati.
This is the central section of our view, panning from right to left.

This is essentially the same view as above.

To the left of our view is Pasig City. In the far distance (lost in the haze) are some mountains that rise on the east side of the valley. We have a gazeebo in our back yard (you see the roof here). Actually, we rarely go there.

This is a coconut tree in our back yard. Look closely in the center of the leaves. You'll see the green coconuts. About a month ago we had a typhoon and it tried to blow the nuts off the tree, but they held on.

This is another look at Makati. Notice the building cranes in the far distance. Wherever you look there is construction going on. Some of the buildings are never completed because, as we understand it, the property is not taxed until the construction is completed. Hence ... what's the rush?


Now this is from the end of the front walkway. This is Pasig City. See the cranes on the buildings. We go down in this section of town to get our groceries. We try to avoid going downtown very much anywhere else. It's a big place, this Metro-Manila.

Below is a front yard scene. The white wall you can barely see is along the stairs we climb as we go from our apartment to the Temple grounds. It is always kept green. Some months there is a lot of rain (May, June, July). Other times the grounds are watered with sprinklers.

Here you can see the walkways in the front of the apartment building. (Our actual room is on the top floor here, a couple of doors to the right, not shown in this shot.) The apartment building is three, three-storied rectangular structures, set next to each other like dominos placed half way down the side of the other piece, sort of a stair step arrangment. We live in the center building. It is from the far end of this walkway that the picture above of Pasig City was taken.