Earthquake . . . and Sights and Smells

Earthquake?  Yes, earthquake.  I was having a nap on Monday afternoon, April 6 (the only day of the week, other than Sunday, that we are not working in the temple, and also the day our latter-day church was organized in 1830, and the birthday of Yael, our good friend from Israel), and I felt the bed shake for a few seconds.  Then our Filipino phones alerted us to a 5.2 earthquake, centered in Bogo City, which is about 100 kms north of Cebu City.  A senior couple, the Bartons, who live in Bogo City, said, "It was pretty exciting. We were rocking and rolling for about 10 seconds."  The last major earthquake was in October 2025 (actually two earthquakes -- 7.4 followed by 6.8).  Between earthquakes and typhoons, we may be in for some crazy times.

Here are some things I've noticed in the three months we have been here:

• Supply chain management seems to be an issue.  If you find something you want, you need to buy it because it may be gone the next time you shop.  (I remember how many times the clerks in Nairobi, Kenya, would tell me, "Out of stock."  Supply management is an issue in many countries.)
• Filipinos seem to like to have matching outfits, or at least matching colors.  In our stake, the stake choir always has matching outfits.  And we've noticed that weddings also bring out the matching phenomenon and not just for the bridal party, but for everyone who comes to the wedding.
• Some (quite a few) Filipino ladies have tattooed eyebrows and some even have tattooed lips.  Google says tattooing can cost between 5,000 and 30,000 pesos, depending on what is done.  That's a lot of money for people who struggle on 500 pesos per day.
• And talking of tattooing, I haven't seen a lot of tattooing here, at least compared to the west.  Again, it costs money.
• I was worried that I wouldn't be able to find fresh milk here.  I love milk.  I have found long-life milk that actually tastes not too bad.  Yeah!!  It comes in cartons and you can store it for up to a year just on the shelf.  I am surprised how good it tastes.  My first experience with "cardboard milk" as I called it, was when we visited LeRon's cousin, Ellen, in Turkey.  I didn't like the taste of that milk, but the milk here is pretty good.  It comes from Australia or New Zealand.  I can also get Almond Milk here.

Someone asked about our schedule:

• Sunday: Church, and in the evening, a potluck supper and a Family Home Evening lesson with the temple presidency, the temple missionaries, and Filipino temple volunteers. 

• Monday: Temple is closed so we grocery shop at a Costco-type store with the other two couples; do laundry; clean house; work on genealogy; write my blog; LeRon plays the piano and organ and reads. 

• Tuesday: Work in the temple baptistry from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., helping youth or adults do baptisms for their deceased ancestors.  We sometimes have up to 60 youth come, especially now that school is out and summer holidays have started (April and May).

• Wednesday: Work in the temple from 6:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.  LeRon teaches piano lessons in the afternoon and I go along as a chaperone.

• Thursday through Saturday: Work in the temple as temple worker trainers from 6:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.  Then do our own temple work or go shopping or have naps.  We are tired after getting up at 5 a.m. and working till 1 p.m.  We are getting old!!  And . . . it is very hot to be outside.

Now for some photos:

Love the beautiful hibiscus flowers.  But . . . seems that as soon as they flower, the gardeners cut them down and start new plants.

Filipinos seem to be, almost without exception, very musical.  They love to sing and they love to dance.  We stopped into our neighbors who live across the hall to join in the music.  Elder Torrie is in there somewhere, playing on his keyboard.

New friends from Canada.  Yeah!  They work in the temple with us. Ted Brown actually has connections to what we've always called "The Island", north of where we live in Grassy Lake, Alberta.  His grandfather was born on "The Island" at the forks of the Oldman River.  He's also related to the famous Jerry Potts who helped found the Northwest Mounted Police in Alberta.  Ted married a lovely Filipino, Maricel, and they lived for many years in B.C but are now permanently in the Philippines.  So fun to discover new friends.

Filipino people love their cats and dogs.  This food and water station is set up outside a restaurant in the big Ayla Mall here in Cebu.  More fun dog pictures to come . . . 

Stray dogs frequent the entrances to many of the shopping centers, sleeping in the heat of the day.  People just step around them and they never stir.

Here's a close-up of the dog in the previous picture.  At first we thought he was dead.  He didn't move for a very long time.  How in the world can he sleep, in the heat, with people everywhere, and in a very uncomfortable-looking position???

Dogs sleeping everywhere, even on the stairs.

Another day . . . another mall . . . more dogs.  They have collars, so we wonder if they belong to someone, but they seem to be strays.  Maybe the city puts collars on them.  Just a thought.  And here's another thought . . . see photo below . . .

We have seen many "Animal Bite Centers" in Cebu as well as in Manila.  Rabies is a serious thing here.  As missionaries, we are instructed to never even pet a dog or a cat.  Many Animal Bite Centers are open 24/7.  Yes, it costs to get a rabies shot, but better that than to get rabies.  Thank you, Louis Pasteur!  Some clinics offer free government-funded rabies shots; private clinics have a cost.  According to google, who knows everything, over 1 million cases of rabies are handled each year in the Philippines.

Can't get over the sleeping dogs.  I have a hard time breathing in the heat, let alone sleeping.  It's been around 30 C, which isn't that hot, but with 60% to 80% humidity, it feels very hot and muggy.  Thankfully our apartment is air conditioned, as is the temple, the taxis, and some of the stores.

We have eaten street food in many countries, but not here.  Food places on the streets are open 24/7, so if you want a midnight snack, you can easily get it, and for a cheap price too.

While we don't eat out on the street, we have tried many restaurants and once in a while, we go to the old faithfuls, such as KFC.  Who knew that KFC in the Philippines comes with French fries AND rice.  The square package is a brick of cooked rice, which actually tastes good with the gravy.  They also serve coleslaw.  Yeah!

For our 51st wedding anniversary on March 6, we worked in the temple and then went to La Parisienne for supper.

We have enjoyed the pizza here at La Parisienne . . . until we discovered . . . Pizza Hut at the Ayala Mall.  That pizza is so good.

La Parisienne has gorgeous looking gelato but we prefer the real Italian gelato.

We went with the other couples to the Texas Roadhouse for my 74th birthday celebration.  They made me ride a saddle, which I did side saddle because of my crazy hips, and wear a hat and wave a bandana while they sang Happy Birthday to me and performed a line dance.  Fun!  See very short clip below.

Singing with some fun temple workers.  They love Beatles music and have very nice voices.  I've been telling LeRon for a long time that he needs to learn more Beatles music.  I mean, he knows it, but he doesn't normally play it.

And here is our resident gecko.  He scurries very fast when he wants to.  Some of the other women scream when they see a gecko, but I think they're cute.  And I would much rather have a resident gecko than a resident mouse.  At least geckos eat bugs and are not as dirty as mice.  I can't live with mice.

So thankful for our de-humidifier.  We have to dump it about 3 times in 24 hours and each dump is about 5 1/2 liters.  It's keeping our humidity between 45% and 65%.  Our clothes are no longer molding and the paper no longer feels limp.  We still can't understand why only 2 of the 11 apartments have this humidity problem.

And we're thankful for the new kitchen faucet.  The old one was corroded and it leaked under the sink, which is probably why our apartment has a unique odor.  The tap on the right is the filtered water tap. We drink the filtered water.  We also fill the water jug from this tap for the water cooler.   The tap on the left is hot and cold. 

We are lucky to live in temple housing because we have many of the comforts of home.  Our biggest issue is that the hot water is inconsistent.  Sometimes no hot water for a couple of days.  Sometimes hot water in the mornings.  Sometimes hot water in the evenings.  Sometimes lukewarm water.  Sometimes cold.  Cold showers are not fun.  Most Filipinos only have cold showers.  One told me that hot water makes your hair fall out!!

The water cooler is fun.  Very cold water on the right, room temperature water in the middle, and boiling water on the left.  So nice for cooking things that need hot water.

Can you see the white square in the upper right of the back window of this car?  Click to enlarge so you can see the words, "Caution: New Lady Driver".  Can you believe that???  I think most women are much better drivers than men.

A "red button ginger", also known as a "scarlet spiral flag", or "Costus woodsonii" if you want to know the real name, on the temple grounds.  Interesting, but not beautiful.  Its roots and shoots are used in traditional medicine for everything from digestive issues to inflammation.

More flowers on the temple grounds.  This one is a "desert rose," a succulent that does well in dry African regions.  Its roots rot easily so maybe that is why it's planted in a bed of rocks.

The rocks are so white, we wondered if they were painted.  But no.  They are white rocks.

I love the bougainvillea.  But every time, just as they are blossoming beautifully, the gardeners prune them down.  So sad.

The bougainvillea blossoms are actually those tiny white flowers.  The beautiful colors are bracts, or small colored leaves just below the flowers.

Umbrellas are everywhere, and not just for the rain.  Even on the two-minute walk from the temple to the patron housing, Filipinos use umbrellas to keep the sun off.  And the sun IS really hot.

We sometimes shop at the Metro, a huge grocery store in the Ayala mall.  I came across an aisle filled with dried fish.  So interesting.

I asked google what Filipinos do with dried fish.  This is the answer:  they eat it for breakfast, along with garlic rice, eggs, tomatoes, and a vinegar dip.  Now I know why we sometimes smell very pungent smells in the hallway outside our apartment!

In Kenya, we saw aisles full of cooking oil.  In Sweden, we saw aisles and whole stores full of candy.  In Philippines, it's aisles of dried fish.

And then there is the fresh fish!  Nauseating to me!  And yet I loved the fish dishes we ate in the Canadian Maritimes last summer.  We learned that if cooked fish tastes fishy, it's not fresh.  And I remember eating "St. Peter's fish" on the Sea of Galilee in Israel one year.  The fish even had a shekel in its mouth.

Ah . . . that fishy smell.  LeRon says that it reminds him of his mission in Japan (1972-1974).

My kids know that I can't go anywhere without buying a painting or two.  I've never seen any I've really liked here, though I did see some "maybes" in Manila.  But this sister, who works in the temple, helps sell her husband's paintings.  We were hooked.  A painting of a farmer working in his rice fields with his carabao (pronounced care-ah-bow, as in the dog says bow-wow).  Not caribou.  The carabao is the national animal of the Philippines and is still used as a work animal.  But many farmers are turning to tractors and other machines, even small swathers and combines.

Here's an internet picture of a carabao.  I have only seen them from a distance.

A great Easter evening at the home of the mission president, President & Sister Clarke.  Our nephew, Darren Torrie's wife is good friends with the Clarke's daughter.  And President Clarke served a mission in his youth in Japan, as did LeRon.  Small world.  Fun to eat delicious western food that we all helped prepare and to visit with other senior missionaries.

Now for my benefit: 
Back row L-R: Elder Joe Andreasen; Elder LeRon Torrie with Sister Colleen Torrie in front and President Clarke behind; Elder Krey Stirland, Elder & Sister Holt (mission office), Elder & Sister Barton (of the Bogo City earthquake); Elder Palmer (LDS Charities), Elder _____ (BYU Pathways missionary).
Sitting in middle L-R: Elder & Sister Evans (MLS missionaries); Sister Wilhelm (mission secretary), Sister _____. (BYU Pathways missionary).
Front L-R: Sister Beth Andreasen, Sister Wendy Stirland, Sister Clarke (mission president companion), Sister Bringhurst (finance, mission office), Sister Palmer (LDS Charities), Sister C (hard name to remember -- she's the wonderful mission nurse).  

We temple missionaries go to a different restaurant every Saturday evening.  We're here at an Italian restaurant tonight.

We're at the temple president's home after a morning of training for Shift Coordinators.  They asked LeRon to bring his keyboard and make some music.  So fun.  We sang and danced.  Most had already left when this picture was taken.

Saturday evening at a new-to-us restaurant.  Open to the air on the top floor of a hotel.  You can see the Cebu City temple between Sister Andreasen and me.

The stake Primary children sang "I will Walk with Jesus" one Sunday evening.  I love the words to this song, especially the chorus:

As I walk with Jesus to my home above,
He will bless me with His Spirit and fill me with his love.
Change my heart forever and help me clearly see.
I will walk with Jesus, and He will walk with me.

He is Risen! Easter in the Philippines

After 10 days of fighting pneumonia, I'm back in the land of the living.  Thank you to those who offered prayers for me.  It was brutal.  LeRon reminded me that his mother often said that pneumonia is an old person's best friend (in that it helps them pass on when it's their time).  Thanks LeRon!  I don't think I'm that old, nor in need yet.  Our daughter Heather said that if I would have been born in pioneer days, I would probably have died from pneumonia.  So true!  Thank you, God, for inspiring scientific research that produced life-saving antibiotics.  And thank you for good doctors here in the Philippines.

I recovered just in time to enjoy some Palm Sunday activities -- a 2 a.m. zoom into our Taber ward's special sacrament meeting in which our son Craig gave the address about the significance of Palm Sunday.  Then a beautiful cantata that evening (our Monday morning) about the life of the Savior, composed by former Taberite, Jenny Francis and led by Barnweller (is that a thing?), Jane Porter.  

The cantata can be viewed at  <https://www.youtube.com/live/VPMERN1HOAs>.  The actual program starts at 22 minutes but before that, our son Craig plays 20 minutes of beautiful prelude music on the organ.  The cantata was well attended by members and community friends.  What a nice way to start the Holy Week.

Now about Easter . . . Palm Sunday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday are most important days for all Christians.  On Palm Sunday, Jesus entered Jerusalem riding a donkey, as kings often did, and was greeted by hundreds of people waving palm branches and dropping their garments on the ground to make a royal passage.  By Friday, He would be crucified with the approval of many of those same people.

Good Friday -- the day Jesus was crucified -- is a somber day.  We were in Salzburg, Austria, one year on Good Friday.  It was a cold, cloudy, dreary day.  Usually church bells ring out daily in Salzburg, echoing lovely chimes across the city, but today, Good Friday, the bells were silent.  Silent too on Saturday.

Then on Easter Sunday morning, we were awakened to the sound of hundreds of church bells pealing throughout the valley, sounding on and on and on:  He Is Risen!!!  People greeted each other joyously, not with the usual "Guten Morgan" (Good morning), but with the words, "Er ist auferstanden!" (He has Risen!!)

We understand that Easter Sunday here in Cebu will be quiet.  On the Easter weekend, many people go home to their families on other islands.  There will be almost no traffic, partly because of Easter but also because of the high price of fuel.  Many buses, jeepnies, and ferries are already not running or have cut back on their routes.  But the malls may be busy, as they sponsor games and treats for the children while their parents shop.  But hopefully many will attend church services, as will we.

We will be missing Easter traditions with the grandchildren who live near us, and not just Easter eggs and bunny rabbits and good food. . . .

We have had a tradition for several years of making palm branches by tracing the palms of our hands and attaching them to construction paper branches.  Then we enact the Triumphal Entry as we shout, "Hosanna!  Hosanna!"

Our sons, Michael and Eric each spent a semester in Jerusalem (at the BYU Jerusalem Center) and both were able to participate in Easter celebrations, including the Palm Sunday procession, waving palm branches and singing with thousands of Christians as they entered Jerusalem and commemorated the beginning of Holy Week.  This picture shows us in 2024 with our palm branches, with a picture on the TV of us in 2023 with our palm branches and the picture in the background is of Michael with his very tall palm branch as he joined the Palm Sunday procession in Jerusalem in 1998.  A picture of a picture of a picture.  Click to enlarge so you can see how tall Michael's palm branch is. 

And here is Eric and his family with Eric in the back picture having joined the throngs entering Jerusalem in 2010.  What an amazing opportunity to be in Jerusalem at Easter time.  Walking where Jesus surely walked is a never-to-be-forgotten experience.  LeRon and I and our family have been to Israel five or six times (can't remember how many), and each time, it has been an amazing experience.  We love Jerusalem and the land of Israel and both the Jewish and Muslim friends we have made there.

The Jerusalem Palm Sunday Procession was cancelled in 2026 due to unrest and war, but this photo from the internet shows what it looked like in 2025.  Such a joyous occasion.

Because Jesus rose again, He lives today, and we too will live again after we die.  What joy it will be to be with our loved ones and with our Heavenly Father and our brother and Savior, Jesus Christ!  

                       So from us in the Philippines to you wherever you may be . . . 

                                                      Happy Easter!  He is Risen!!

Finishing up February: Culture, History, and a Walk in the Cemetery

March is a good month.  We celebrated 51 years of marriage, my 74th birthday, and LeRon's 73rd in the past 10 days.  Nice to get the celebrating done all at once.  Here in the Philippines, it's not a faux pas to ask anyone's age.  They do it all the time.  And really, why not?  We should be proud that we've made it this far!  According to google (who knows everything), Filipino women live to be 72.8 and men live to be 66.9.  Average age is 26 (meaning that half the population is under 26 and half is over).  So, so far, we are beating the odds, at least here in the Philippines.  (LeRon's Aunt Barbara from B.C., Canada, is 99!!)

Many of the sisters I work with in the temple are widows, even the younger sisters.  (We call the female temple workers "sisters" and the male temple workers "brothers.")  Life is hard here and if you can't afford medical treatment and nutritious food, or if a typhoon or earthquake hits you, you die.  So sad.

Now . . . trying to finish up the February pictures from our trip to Manila. 

And we've learned a new Filipino phrase:  "salamat po."  Salamat (pronounced sah-lah'-mit with the accent on the second syllable) means "thank you."  Po doesn't mean anything particular.  It's just an honorific-type word, probably like "thank you sir" or "thank you ma'am."  Sometimes it seems that they say "po" after every phrase.  We've heard it more in Manila than in Cebu, but we hear it here also.  Sometimes they say "Thank you" in English and then end with Po.  They get a kick out of it when we say "salamat po" to them.  They think we have arrived!

Pictures follow of a wonderful cultural show, a historic walk, and white crosses in the cemetery.

A delicious buffet at Barbara's Heritage Restaurant was followed by a 45-minute cultural show.  Fun music and colorful dancing.  A few very short video clips follow.  I keep the clips short (only seconds long) so I can send them to my grandkids on Voxer, which only supports very short videos.  The three musicians were very good and the music very Spanish-sounding, as you will see.

This was the most fascinating dance of them all.  Each girl had a cup of colored water on her head and cups of water in her hands.  They twirled and danced and even lay on the floor for a few moves.  I took a video (which follows) but my phone camera couldn't keep focusing on the motion, so the last few seconds are blurry.  At the end of the dance, they took the cups off their heads to prove they weren't attached to their hair.  I was sure they had been glued on.

Pretty impressive.  Dancing on a very short, narrow table, held sturdy by two of the performers.

The show went on and on.  So good.

Final hurrah at Barbara's Heritage Restaurant and cultural show.  We're traveling with L-R: Elder & Sister Stirland, Elder & Sister Andreasen, and us, Elder & Sister Torrie.  Fun times.

My hat is on and I am ready to head out into the heat.  Next stop: Fort Santiago in Intramuros.  I feel that I am looking more and more like my mother!  Scary thought: my mother, Pearl (Hancock) Conrad, passed away at age 75.  I am 74.  I need to make the most of each day and each year.

Fort Santiago was built by the Spanish in 1571 to protect the newly built city of Intramuros.  It became a notorious prison for the Spanish, then American, and then later, Japanese forces.  Its most famous prisoner was José Rizal, the Filipino National Hero, who was a political activist, using words instead of guns.  Rizal was executed here in 1896.

American and Filipino troops fought against the Japanese occupation in the month-long Battle of Manila (Feb-Mar 1945). This is all that remains of the American barracks.  100,000 civilians were murdered by Japanese forces, or were caught in cross fire as they holed up in churches, universities, and other public buildings.  So brutal.  

The walls of Fort Santiago now enclose a beautiful public park.  Such a stark difference between then and now.

We learned a lot from our Fort Santiago guide, Ed, who specializes in tours for seniors.  He was excited when we told him that we were living in the Philippines for one year as missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  He hadn't thought of it for many years, but now he remembered that he had had LDS friends in his youth.  In fact, he had been studying about our church, but then life got in the way.  He was excited to reconnect with the feelings he had had and we were happy to share a little about the joy the gospel brings us.

Ed had been an excellent tour guide and he was happy to know a little more about our church and to receive some generous tips from everyone.  Tips that he certainly deserved.  We plan to check back on him and be sure the missionaries in Manila contact him. 

The reconstructed main gate of Fort Santiago.  The fort was named for St. James, the patron saint of Spain.  For some unknown reason (to me), James is "Santiago" in Spanish.

Last day in Manila was spent at the Manila American Cemetery of WWII.  There are 17,206 graves, including graves of Americans, Filipinos, and other allies.  36,300 missing soldiers are also honored in the "Tablets of the Missing."

So sobering.  So many young lives lost.

Freedom comes at such a cost.

The largest WWII Japanese internment camp for civilians was at the University of Santo Tomas in Manila.  From 1942 to 1945, 3,000 to 5,000 enemy civilians (mostly American and British) lived in crowded and unsanitary conditions.  They did their best to survive and help each other.  Filipinos often threw food and other supplies over the walls to help the prisoners.  Read about the above young girl who was 8 years old when she was first interned.  And she was just one of many.

Students on a field trip to the American Cemetery.  Their lives are so very different from the lives of children interned in Santo Tomas.  The young boy in the white shirt wanted me to take him to Canada in my suitcase.  Life is still not easy here in the Philippines for the majority of people.

Back at our hotel in the Manila Galleria Mall.  Everyone is gearing up for the Chinese New Year.

We're back home in Cebu City and tonight, the Chinese New Year gets loud and the fireworks beautiful.  February 17, 2026.

Nice that we have a perfect view out our bedroom window.

I was pretty proud of my fireworks pictures.  Am learning how to take night photos.

The END for now!