Seniors Serving in the Philippines Cauayan Mission: Mission Tour

Once a year we have a General Authority and his wife come and participate in a Mission Tour. It is like an extra special Zone Conference that includes: learning, singing, good food, visiting and a lot of photo-taking.

The mission was divided into two groups, that met on separate days. Gatherings of this size require a lot of advance preparation for caterers, facilities and so forth. After taking care of my assignments, it was nice to be able to sit and listen to the speakers and feel the Spirit. Elder Schmutz, the Area President, and his wife were our visitors. I was impressed by their loving kindness as they personally greeted each missionary.

Polka Dot Sister! - we didn't plan to dress alike

The day after the conferences, we had a great adventure with the Craigs, the Schmutz and the Allens. Leaving early in the morning we began our journey to visit the ancient rice terraces of Banaue. We had visited there twice before with departing missionaries, but this time we also visited other rice terraces in the province of Ifugao and dined in a fine hotel with a large picture window overlooking the terraces.

It was a beautiful overcast day that brought out the vivid colors of the lush terrain. Because of a recent tropical depression, there had been many mudslides that we had to maneuver around. We also passed by several waterfalls that were not present on our previous visits.

One of the many mudslides we passed on our journey.

At the rice terraces in Hungduan, we were able to get closer and have a better view without hiking. We may even traveled outside of the mission boundary, but we figured it was okay since we had a General Authority with us.

We were surrounded by magnificent beauty on all sides! I am amazed to think that they were built 2,000 years ago with primitive tools. We asked a man working nearby to take a picture of our group. We learned that his name was Dale and that he grew up in Manila. At some point, he moved to New Jersey where he retired from a supermarket chain five years previously. His wife was from Ifugao and so they decided to return to her place of birth. I asked him if he had ever heard of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. He replied that almost 50 years previously he had met some missionaries in Manila and he even remembered their names. One was Elder Chase, and I’m sorry to say after only two days, I have forgotten the other one’s name. I couldn’t believe he remembered the missionaries’ names after all those years! I said to him, “You must have felt something very special when you talked to them”. We may never know what impressions we leave on those we meet. - Sister Roberts