We hiked down into the village. We had to go down steep steps through the jungle. It was interesting that people lived in these huts along the trial.

Here you can see some of the treacherous steps we had to climb. The indigenous people run up and down these steps all day long.

The village was at the bottom of the mountain. We walked along the edges of the rice terraces to get down to where the house are.

It is always fascinating to see how many people will climb into one Jeepney. These folks were riding along the winding, narrow, muddy road, all happy and contented. We were told they were going into town to the market (it being Saturday). The standing joke is: "How many Filipinos can ride in one Jeepney?" The answer is: "One more."

The houses are built right on the steep mountain side. The people work the paddies near where they live.

OLD MANILA ~~ THE INTRAMORUS ...

On the last day of 2008, we went with some other senior missionaries down to the Old Manila neighborhood. This is where the Spanish settled in the Philippines back in the 1500s. They built a fortress with high, thick walls. Inside they built up a city. Later, England tried to conquer the Philippines, and eventually, as part of the settlement of the Spanish-American War, the country was "sold" to the United States (in 1900 or so). The Intramorus was used as a military base by the Americans, and later the Japanese. and eventually, when the Americans were recapturing Manila, many of the buildings were destroyed by bombs. Today the area is reconstructed and used as a visitors' park. We spent perhaps two hours wandering through the beautiful, Old Spanish buildings and ruins.
This is one of the main gates into Fort Santiago. (Sister Roundy is with the Spencers, a new couple.) There are several similar gates from the Intramorus leading out to the river or to the streets. Originally these were guarded by soldiers.

Fort Santiago is built next to the Pasig River. This is one section that shows the contrast between the Old Manila and the new.

Many of the old buildings have been left in their dilapidated condition. With the jungle foliage, it makes an attractive scene.

This is the gate from the Pasig River into the main fort area. When the Japanese conquered Manila, they used this gate to bring American and Filipino prisoners from the boats in the river into the dungeons under the court yard.

Notice the brass footsteps in the pavement. These represent the path of Dr. José Protasio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda (the Filipino national hero) tracing his trail from his prison cell through the fort out into the outer court yard where he was publicly executed by the Japanese. It so happened that we were there the day after a national holiday celebrating Dr. Rizal.

After we left the Intramorus, we walked down the street a couple of blocks to the big Catholic cathedral. It was first built when the Spanish came to Manila, but has since been restored and repaired. Many places were damaged during World War II.


The cathedral inside was ornate and fascinating. It was rather dark inside, however, so some of the pictures we took did not turn out as well as we would have liked.

The doors were made of heavy wood with brass works mounted in them. The doors were large, probably 12 or 15 feet tall.

All along both sides were alcoves with stained glass windows, bright and beautiful.

Then, trying to find our way back, we went through a section known as "China Town." We just had to show you how thoroughly modern things were there. These are the electric lines that power everything. The whole city has much the same arrangement. You have to see it to believe it.

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It started to rain, so we went on our way to the Manila Hotel for lunch. We enjoyed the day and the good company we had.

We actually do work on our mission assignment. But there's nothing much exciting about reporting all that here, so we just enjoy sharing some of our adventures.

November Was Wonderful

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NOVEMBER was a busy month. Probably the grandest thing was the Mission Presidents' Fall Seminar where all 16 mission presidents and their wives come together to meet with the Area Presidency and visiting authorities. This year we had Elder Quentin Cook (of The Twelve) and Elder Jay Jensen (of the Seven Presidents of Seventy). We took a bus ride south of Manila to a place called Tagaytay (tah-GUY-tie). This is where the Taal Volcano is. The Area Presidency chose this place to be out and away from the busy bustle of Manila. It was quiet, cool, and beautiful.

We stayed at the Taal Vista Hotel overlooking the volcano. Taal is a small volcano in the middle of the lake. Last February Elder and Sister Roundy went there and rode horses to the top and looked in.

We held our meetings in the hotel and we dined there. We had rooms in the Taal Vist Hotel for our three night stay.

Elder Roundy's work for the seminar was mainly over when the meetings began. His work took place before the fact. He did run a few errands back and forth from room to room for Elder Cook and Elder Jensen.

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Sister Roundy enjoyed the company. She always enjoys visiting with Sister Millet, the wife of the Director of Temporal Affairs in the Philippines Area. (Elder Won Yong Ko is in the background.)

The seminar began with a session at the Manila Temple. Then a three hour bus ride (about 35 miles, but you have to understand the traffic conditions here) to Tagaytay. On Sunday we held a sacrament meeting there in the hotel, then enjoyed being instructed by Elder Cook and Elder Jensen. On Monday we had training all day. Elders Cook and Jensen held individual interviews with the mission presidents during the afternoon, and the Area Presidency conducted the training for the mission presidents. Elder Roundy took each president and his wife, one couple at a time, to meet with the Elders.

On Monday evening the whole seminar got into some vans (eight or so in each) and rode for about a half hour to the "Taal Highlands." From here we could overlook the lake and Taal Volcano. This is where we were having dinner -- and a Family Home Evening program.

We were pleased to have Elder Cook and his wife, Mary, with us. Here they are talking to Elder Keith R. Edwards, President of the Philippines Area.

.... Elder Jay Jensen was also there, with his wife. (The lady in this picture is not his wife; she just stepped into the picture as it was being taken.)

It was was starting to be dusk when we arrived at the highlands. We had a half hour or so to enjoy the vista lookout. The view was wonderful.

And when the sun dipped behind the western hills, it soon became dark at Tagagtay.

On Tuesday, all the mission presidents and their wives, along with the Area Presidency, took a day tour of Corregidor Island. We got up at 4:30 and rode a bus from Tagaytay back to the Manila pier. Elder Cook and Elder Jensen and their wives did not come on this trip. They were on their way to New Zeland, so Elder Edwards took them back to the airport in Manila.

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We had reservations on a ferry boat to take us across the Manila Bay to the small island.

We enjoyed being with President and Sister Hansen. He is the president of the Cebu Mission (where the new temple is being built). President and Sister Hansen are from Las Vegas, in fact, they live in our ward there. He was a member of the Tule Spring Stake Presidency. Brother Millet was sitting with us.

President and Sister Hansen were relatively new to the Philippines. Here you see them talking with President and Sister Ho Ching, from the Quezon City Mission. Incidentally, we live in the Quezon City mission, so President Ho Ching is our ecclestical leader, although we are not assigned to work in his mission. President Ho Ching is from Samoa.

We got there nearly an hour early, so we all had to wait for the ferry to leave.

Corregidor is a relatively small island. The scenry is spectacular. The day we were there it was overcast and cool.

These mountains are across the bay on the Bataan pennisula. Beyond the mountains is Subic Bay and the city of Olongapo.

From Corregidor you can see the Manila vicinity in the East.

The island opens to the southwest to the China Sea.

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Much of what is on Corregidor are the skeletons of destroyed military buildings. Most of these were built before WWII as housing for soldiers and officers and all the needs of a well entrenched millitary base. These were bombed by the Japanese and then again by the Americans when the US retook Corregidor.

There are dozens of monuments on Corregidor. This is the most impressive. It is under a large dome structure which has a single hole in the top. Each year on a certain day in May (the day the island was liberated) at noon the sun shines directly through the hole and lights up the top of this monument. You read the poem and then want to sit and think about it all. (Click on the picture to make it large enough to read the poem clearly.)

Along the wall there are panels which remember various "famous" battles in the Philippines during WWII.

The monument below was erected by the Philippine government to give tribute to the brave Japanese fighters. It is a Buddha, but if you notice, the Catholics carefully crafted it so Madonna is holding the Infant.

This monument is featured as the main point of the island.

This pillar is erected at the location of Japanese cemetery. This place was lost until about 25 or so years ago when the site where many Japanese soldiers had been buried was identified. (Japan then took the bodies back home and cremated them, as is their custom.) The site memorializes their valor. (Incidentally, our guide, Armond, explained to us that he gives an entirely different tour lecture when Japanese guests are on the tour.)

This monument is in a panorama of panels describing the struggles the Filipinos have had over the centuries -- being been conquered by other nations -- Spain, Japan, US, etc. This simple depiction is gripping.

There are all kinds of big guns. Some of these were brought here to defend the island from the Japanese. Others were installed way back in the early 1900s when the Philippines were given to the US as part of the settlement of the Spanish-American war.

We were impressed at the size of the big shells. These were set upright to show the various sizes.

Sister Roundy and a mission president's wife are standing at the back end of one of the gigantic guns. This gun could throw those enormous shells 15 miles or more out into the ocean. Corrigedor had been the main defensive island for the Philippines for Spain, then American, then Japan, then America. Now it is an historical momument.

These are anti-aircraft guns used in WWII. They probably weren't situated here during the battles; just here now on display.

This is one of the big guns installed back in the 1920s. Actually there were two similar guns. When one was fired, it would be lowered down one story to be reloaded and made ready. (That's what these missionaries are looking at, the counter weights used to raise and lower the gun.) Then while the one gun was down, the other was raised and fired.

There were guns all over the place. Some with pok marks where they had been hit by bombs and airplane fire.