Call to Sue - April 18, 2009

Hi Family,

Mom and Dad called me yesterday and we had a great time chatting. They sounded really good, but were missing everyone and were eager to hear from all of you! They are still working on the internet. It was supposed to be connected yesterday, but nothing is really reliable there, so who knows when. They were at the temple all day, so they had no idea if the company tried to come by and get things hooked up. The company doesn't answer their phone calls either. FRUSTRATING! We had better use the pouch and send them some letters!
They are working from 5:30-2:00 at the temple every day except Sunday and Monday. Next month they will work afternoons. They have been walking the apartment stairs and the pathway under the road to the MTC and back for their exercise in the evenings. It is hot, but they stay nice and cool in their air conditioned apartment and the temple. Every Monday, they go to the Fresh Market and buy as much fruit (mangos, bananas, pineapple, oranges, watermelon, cantaloupe, strawberries) as they can eat for about $10-$20. The meat market there is very stinky and Mom says she tried to get a picture of it, but couldn't get close enough for a good one because of the smell. When they go out, they do not wear their missionary badges or nice clothing. The mission president said they are service missionaries and he doesn't want them to stand out when they go to the city.
They had just received haircuts from a Filipino gentleman that works at the temple, who is a barber. He cuts with just a comb and razor. Mom got very nervous when she saw all the hair falling to the ground during her haircut. I guess he cut it pretty short, but she says it is a good cut and Dad said it looks really good! That is not all, he also gave them a head massage and back massage, all for $2 each. (Where do I sign up?) They tipped him for the great service. They also have their nice maid who comes and cleans and irons, changes bedding, etc.!
One of the couples they work with in the temple are from Mountain Home. (by Bluebell) They know Mike's family and actually worked in the Vernal temple with his parents.
They were able to watch the Priesthood session of General Conference, live. (There is a 14 hour time difference) They saw Saturday's session of conference on conference Sunday and last Sunday they watched the Sunday session.
Manila is the most densely populated city in the world, and it is a crazy place to drive in. Mom said she will never get her license to drive there. Dad will probably need to, but he is not ready for it yet. Traffic is usually slow moving (35-40 mph), but cars move in and out of lanes very close and they have actually had their van mirrors clipped a couple of times. Also, when there is no traffic coming in the opposite direction, they use the lanes for counter flow. Streets are generally not labeled. Street signs are only seen about every ten miles, so a map is pretty useless. Much of the city looks the same, so it is tricky to learn your way around. Most streets don't allow left turns, so you have to do a U turn and then take a right. Interestingly, they haven't seen a lot of accidents.

They send their love to you all!!! SUE

Call to Chris - April 11, 2009

Mom and Dad called my family this morning to give us an update to pass on to the family. Dad said that they are starting to get used to the heat. They went to the farmers market again and dad was brave enough to go and check out the meat section of the market. He said that there were whole skinned goats hanging from stalls and one stall that sold just whole goat heads. They have been told that it may not be safe to eat the meat so they did not buy any. Mom did not even go over to the stalls because it stank so badly. They are able to get meat from a big Costco type store safely so they are still able to get what they need.

Dad explained how driving works over there. In order for mom and dad to drive they would have to get a Philippine drivers license. They are hesitant to do this however because the drivers there are crazy and dad is not comfortable driving the big mission van they would have to drive. First off the do not stick to the lanes. If there is a 3 lane each way road, there may be 5 lanes of traffic going each way. They also will drive on the wrong side of the road if it is not being used legally. They have had to put up concrete barriers in high accident area to cut down on this dangerous practice. Also big vehicles have the right of way. If a bus or Dump truck is coming you have to move or they will run you over going full speed.

Mom and Dad are enjoying the work and come home from the temple each day tired. As far as learning the language, they have not made much progress beyond learning the vowels so that they can say the native names. Dad has been having trouble understanding some of the people because they speak really softly and with a thick accent. He has to turn up his hearing aide as far as it goes and still has to ask people to repeat themselves often. He has discussed this with other missionaries and has found that even the couples with good hearing have trouble hearing everything.

They have not been able to get their internet set up. The contract that dad was going to have transferred to their name has not yet worked out. The companies over there are not consistent in the information they need each time they are able to go into the office. Dad thinks that they will have to set up a new account as the transfer is not working out as they have planned. The reliability and speed of the connection they will get from what they have been told will be poor. They are hoping that it will be good enough to keep us updated once they get it set up.

Dad says that they send their love to the family and love and miss each of you. It was 10:00 pm Saturday night their time when he called. I was going to ask them about Easter traditions and more about the culture but their calling card ran out before I could.

Thanks

Chris

Call to Julie - April 2, 2009

Hi Everyone!

Mom and Dad called me this morning at 6:30 a.m.!!!! (As if I would be up and going by then...ha...ha...ha!) It was so fun to talk to them and they sounded great! I think they are really enjoying their mission so far. They asked if I would e-mail all of you and tell you about the things we talked about. You guessed it.....they still do not have Internet access! Let me try to explain why. Dad said that when they arrived in the Philippines, there was a missionary that was going home early because of health problems. He had signed a contract for his Internet service, and had another 6 or more months before that contract was up that he would still have to pay for even if he wasn't using it. He asked Dad if they would be willing to take over his contract instead of signing up for a new one. Dad agreed. When Dad went in to change things over to his name, then they said he needed the other guys ID to do it. The other guy had already left to go hometo the states, and now they are in the process of getting a copy of his ID sent back to the Philippines so Dad can complete the transfer. It may take another week or so. So, they are doing fine, but probably won't be in touch with us for a while yet. (Dad is a great example of always keeping his word when he commits to something!)

Mom is starting to feel better. She said that she developed bronchitis when they first got there, but saw the mission doctor and started some new stronger antibiotics. (You can get antibiotics and other medicine all over-the-counter there--no prescription needed. You only have to have a prescription to get narcotics.) That could really come in handy at times.

It is the summer season there. Hot and very humid. They have had very little rain. The monsoons will start in about August. They don't see the blue sky much, however, due to the awful pollution in the air. Mom says that they don't have regulations to keep the air clean, so the people take the filters (?) off of their cars to get better gas mileage, and the exhaust from so many drivers makes the air very dirty. (Something like that.)

Throughout the month of April, their shift at the temple will be from 5:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tue-Sat. but Friday is even a little longer shift. The Temple President has made a goal to have the temple ran by the Filipino people. Mom and Dad are helping to oversee that transition and fill in where needed as they make this transition. They cover a lot first thing in the morning because some of the workers have to drive 2 hours to get there, and so they don't arrive till a little later.

They love the Filipino people! Mom says that they all come up to them in the temple and ask their names and hug and kiss them. They are so friendly and loving. She was amazed at the young women who came to do baptisms this week. They have beautiful dark skin and long dark hair.

Mom and Dad work all day and go home exhausted. They don't really have a place to go walk outside for exercise, but they do have a room in the basement of their apartment with a treadmill and a bike that they can use. The President does not like them to walk laps around the temple grounds. He is trying to keep a reverent atmosphere.

Luckily, they don't have to work much when they get home. They have hired a Filipino to come and clean their apartment for $10/ week, and she does a fabulous job!!! (Where do I sign up???)

They have a T.V. in their apartment--even watched "The Biggest Loser" this week!! They will have the opportunity to watch General Conference at the Mission home--This Sunday they will watch Saturday's sessions, and next Sunday they will watch Sunday's sessions.

The traffic is crazy. People swerve all over the roads, vendors come out to the cars when they stop and try to sell you things, the buses drop people off in the middle of the traffic, etc. Very crazy!

They have a grocery store across the street that they walk over to. Kirkland brand food is sold there, but costs more than in the states so they are paying a little more for groceries now. Except for the produce that they get at the open farmers market on Monday mornings. The Filipinos eat a ton of rice. All 3 meals! They fill up their plate with rice and then have a little of something else on the side. (They like the good sticky rice there better than the long grain rice we use here.) I'm pretty sure that mom and dad don't eat as much rice as the locals do.

They would LOVE to hear from everyone, especially right now while they don't have their e-mail. They miss everyone very much and are hoping that they will get some mail soon through the pouch. (Hint. Hint.) They said that you can put your letter in an envelope with the pouch, but only a single sheet of paper and no pictures are allowed that way. I sent them a letter yesterday through the post office and it cost $.94 They said I could send up to 5 sheets of paper for that same price. (Pretty sure the pouch is faster though.)

That is about all that I can remember. It was a little early though so who knows...I hope I got it right. If not mom and dad can correct me later.

Hope you are all doing good.

Love ya!

Julie

Call to Jan - March 24, 2009

Hi. Mom just called me from the Philippines and she wanted to give everyone an update. They had a wonderful trip over. No problems at all. Mom's legs felt good and they each had a nice reclining chair. She said she felt our prayers because things went really well. They have a nice apartment with good water that they can use straight from the tap (I guess most places, you either have to buy bottled water or do something to filter or clean it). She did find out though, that people are not allowed to stay at their apartment and they have no transportation other than a van that all the couples share. The president of the temple is from Salt Lake City and his name is President Monson (no relation to the prophet). Most of the other temple workers are also from the states, although President Monson is trying to turn things around so that the Filipinos are running things rather than others. It has been a slow process, but they are getting there. They had to cross a busy road to get to a small grocery store and she said traffic is terrible. You just put up your hand like a policeman and hope people stop to let you across. She said the mangos are delicious! They have also eaten at Chili's which is the only place they let you eat out because they have higher standards than most places. Mom and Dad have the afternoon shift at the temple and work until nine at night. They have been set apart and will do their first shift today (Wednesday for them). On Mondays, all of the couples load up in the van and go to the open market in the morning to buy fresh fruit and vegetables (which she said you still have to put in bleach water for one minute before you can eat it). Then later they all go to the regular grocery store and after that they all go to the mall. I guess that's the weekly routine. Mom and Dad will have internet in about a week, and they will fill in everyone more at that time. They say hello, and they send their love.

ps. They also found an orange ball in one of their suitcases. Mmmmmmm. Wonder how that got there! So strange. Anyways, they are having a great time!

We have Landed

Dear Family and Friends,

Yes, we are finally here. Every thing went fine. It was a long ride but it went better than we thought. It was very interesting along the way, but we'll send another e-mail as soon as we get a connection. We are at another couple's apartment now. Tonight we went out to dinner with all the missionary couples and I know we will enjoy knowing them. Hope all is fine at home. Yes it is hot here! More later.

Love.

Brother and Sister Barfuss

MTC - Sat 3/14/09

Dear Family and Friends,

It is Saturday morning and we finally got our heads off the pillow in time to catch the last of breakfast being served. It has been an exhausting week, but oh so wonderful. The Spirit here is so strong and the people so great, and the purpose so important that we are so glad we are having this experience. We have had the challenge of teaching three discussions to community volunteers, and role playing less active/teaching less active, and listening to instruction from wonderful returned missionary teachers. Another very meaningful part has been listening to senior couples who have served several missions tell their experiences as they served. We have really enjoyed meeting all the other couples and single sisters who are here to be trained, just as we are. In our group there are 11 couples and 2 single sisters. There are 6 couples going to serve in the temple, some will serve in the office, one in the Polynesian Cultural Center, one to Nauvoo, others to Australia, U.S. and other places.

When we taught our first discussion, we really didn't do too well. The second was better as we had prayed before for the help of the Spirit and we really felt it. We found it is best to just have an outline and talk from our hearts and experience and bear testimony. The "Preach My Gospel" lessons are designed to be given that way. It is so much better than the old discussions.

Next week we will be in the temple all week, being instructed by Elder Rex Pineger and his wife. We are looking forward to that time. Since we already know the verbage it will not be so pressured and we can really enjoy it.Last night we had our first 2 hour session with Sister Stacia Svedi, who just a year ago, returned from a mission in the Philippines. She is trying to teach us Tagalog. We spent part of the time asking questions about the country, food, customs, etc. The language will not be that hard to pronounce, but to remember, speak and understand is a whole new ballgame. Sis Svedi is so cute and patient with us and we are so glad. Please pray for us that we can remember what we are taught and start using it now or we will not get anywhere with it later.

We will be doing our laundry this morning, then after lunch, going to Janice's house and spending some time with her. We love all of you and appreciate your support of us serving this mission. We know you will be blessed.

Love, Brother and Sister Barfuss

PS The food here is always so good that I'm sure that we are gaining weight. They especially make great speciality salads. On Wednesdays and Sundays (we are told) are ice cream days. They serve these big bowls of BYU Dairy ice cream. Of course we have to enjoy that also. We walk alot between buildings and between sessions, but that is not enough.

- This Picture was taken the night before we left and the picture at the top of the post was taken the morning we left for the MTC

Just 5 Days before leaving!

This is a very busy time for us. We are starting to pack, work on our talks, talk to lots of people, and of course, income tax, pruning, more cleaning out etc. We hope we will remember all the important things. Becky is teaching us how to use this blog and if we can remember, we will update you on what we are doing when we get on our way.