It could have been worse

On our flight from Dallas to Hong Kong the pilot told us he needed to make an unexpected landing in Seoul South Korea to repair some restroom issues. At that point, we had been on that plane for fourteen hours so the last thing we wanted was more delays.

After a couple of hours, the plane was good to go, and two hours later we landed in Hong Kong. Luckily, we didn’t miss our connection because we had a long lay over in Hong Kong anticipating this sort of thing happening again since once we missed our connection on New Year’s Day and had to spend it at the airport. 

We boarded the plane one last time to come to Manila when we learned that there was a Tropical storm so the pilot needed to wait and wait and wait for what it seemed like forever.  I had not showered for almost two days and had not slept either. (We fly economy) I wanted to come home to my bed and feel clean again. I had changed into new clothes but that wasn’t enough. Finally, we made it home! Here we are, safe and sound.

The first thing I did was to give thanks to my Heavenly Father for all the many blessings and promised him I wouldn’t complain. Imagine if the plane had landed in North Korea and not South Korea and taken us hostage? Or if the malfunction was more than just those two bathrooms? Imagine if a Yolanda type typhoon had hit the Philippines and especially, Manila the way those Typhoons have done before etc. So many variables that could potentially have gone wrong that didn’t and not only that but everything on our trip was perfect!

These are some examples:

The highlight of our home leave this year was to meet the two newest members of our family. Baby Nico born to Lexi and Ale and we knew that while we were in town Sydney would most likely give birth to grandbaby number 17 which made this past trip extra special. It is wonderful to think that two new members were added to the grandchildren list this year, a boy and a girl and it doesn’t get better than that! We are so grateful that both deliveries went well and those babies are Perfect!

Another highlight of our trip was to do four mini family reunions in four different cities: Salt Lake, Miami, Rocha, Uruguay and Denver. We could see 8 out of 10 children and 16 out of 17 grandchildren. When we planned our home leave, we knew that we would make two extra trips to Miami and Denver.

We were not sure if we would make it to Uruguay to attend Nico’s wedding but we are glad we did. Daniel saw his mom who has been having health challenges and his siblings. They went to the cemetery to put a special plaque on Daniel’s father’s grave site. Daniel got to spend one more Father’s Day since in Uruguay it was on July 16^th and he got to see old friends too at Nico’s wedding which considering that it was winter and it could get very cold, that Saturday felt like Summer, there was sunshine and the whole wedding from start to finish was perfect!

This time Herni and family couldn’t make it to Utah in July but they are coming in December. Yay! FYI, we got plane tickets leaving Manila on Dec. 9^th and returning on the 29^th We wished we had time to make it to Ireland which was the original plan for 2017 but we will figure something out next time. Other than missing Hernan, Rachael, Owen and Gabe and Danae, we got to see everyone else including my mom and sisters and nephews who drove from Orlando to Miami and for that we are so grateful. We got so much done while we were on home leave, it was like running a marathon!

People say, you guys need a vacation after your vacation but I must remind everyone that home leave is not meant to be a vacation. It is meat to take care of business and doctors and taxes, and so many other appointments that we don’t do for a whole year while we live over seas. That is why it’s call a “home leave” If there were some things we didn’t do on this home leave they would have to wait for next time.

For next year, we are saving our $$ to do something special as a family so start saving your $$ and for 2019 it will be even more amazing because it’s going to be our 10^th wedding anniversary but wait, for 2020 abuela Nela turns 90 and mami Gloria turen 80 and that will be even more epic!!! No matter what, the next three years are just simply going to be wonderful. I can feel it!

Con amor,

Vero

Teaching Primary about faith

I was asked to teach a cute Primary class today of three and four year olds who are simply darling! The topic was from the story of the Jeredites found in the Book of Mormon and so very simple but so profound. I hope they somehow got the message of Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

The children up to that point have been learning about the Nephites and the Laminates in the Book of Mormon but now they are going to be introduced to another group of people who also came to the same continent. They were called the Jeredites and had come much earlier than Lehi's family.  Their leader was a man named Jared and Jared had a brother who had great faith.

In class the children were given paper and crayons to build barges like a boat or ship like the ones the Jeredites built to travel the ocean waters. We also discussed in the lesson how the brother of Jared went to a mountain to pray so that the Lord would touch the sixteen stones he had melted into small clear stones out of a rock. The miracle happened when those stones were touched by the Lord's finger to give light. This way, they could have light as they sailed across the sea. The brother of Jared knew that if Jesus touched the stone, they would give light inside the eight barges and they did. Two stones were placed in each barge to give light and it did.

The story continues saying that when the brother of Jared saw Jesus Christ's finger touch the stones, he was so surprised that he fell to the ground because he didn't know the Lord had a finger like a man. Then Jesus asked the brother of Jared if he believed all the words the Lord had spoken and when the replied yes, the Lord told him that because of his great faith, the Lord could show himself to him. Then Jesus showed himself to the brother of Jared and told him that never had a man shown as much faith as he had.

The point of the lesson is to be like the brother of Jared who had so much faith that he saw the Lord. Faith is believing and trusting in Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. We show our faith by being obedient and prayerful. We have been promised that he will answer if we ask in faith for what is right and he will answer our prayers in the way that is best for us.

Con amor,
Vero

Back home to face reality

Oh my goodness, when you are gone for three weeks there is so much to do and to get caught up. Landry, getting groceries, paying bills, answering emails and so on and so forth. Our lives are so busy even when we don't have little kids so I can only imagine what life is like for you young mothers but I commend you for doing all what you do, we love you!

The highlight of our trip was to meet Nico in Miami and Amalia in Denver and to hold mini family reunions. Daniel got a chance to see his mom, his older sister Estella and his two younger brothers, Roberto and Miguel Angel. He also got to renew his passport that had expired. It was fathers day in Uruguay so that was very special too.

We don't know when we'll be back but we are so glad we went. We don't think we could buy a condo in the Trump Tower of Punta del Este because the smallest unit there is over $700K and we determined that as much as we love Punta del Este, Uruguay, it's too far from the rest of the family.

Besides the beautiful wedding and celebration another special day was going to the cemetery where Daniels father Hermes is buried to place a special plaque on his grave site. Hermes must have been so happy that day to see his sons remembering him.

Con amor,
Vero

Returning from our "home leave"

As much as I love visiting family and enjoying traveling for the past three weeks, nothing feels better than taking a long hot shower and sleeping in our very own bed.  Traveling to and from Manila is tedious and so hard because it takes two days but so worth it!

I miss my grandkids so much and feel blessed I got a chance to see them. The highlight of this trip was to meet two new grand-babies, Nico and Amelia. This trip was a little crazy because we did so much including attending Nico's wedding in Uruguay, celebrating father's day one more time while we were there, visiting several cities and holding mini family reunions in Salt Lake, Miami, Uruguay, and Denver. We even took a morning to visit Matias in Idaho. Amazing to think that each Sunday we went to a different Church in a different city: Miami, Rocha and Denver.

We stayed in Andres and Jami's home, with Alejandro and Lexi in Miami, at la Paloma in Uruguay, The Belmont Hotel in Montevideo and the home in Mill circle with Bianca. Joseph and Bianca are there while they decide where to move next. Mandy and Spencer have already moved out and left room for us to move in the basement while we were there visiting.

We had plenty of going out to eat almost daily so we both came back a lot heavier. We went to see a nice play at Hale Theater and to the movies, the zoo, This is the Place, and Discovery Children's museum at the Gateway Mall in Utah and the Frost Children Museum in Miami.  Even though the three week vacation took a deep hole in our pockets, in exchange, we are left with so many wonderful memories. And life is about making memories!

This year we got to see 8 out of ten children. and 16 out of 17 grandchildren. In December we will get to see Hernan and family for Christmas   Next year we hope to visit Gabriel in Ireland. Daniel also got to see his mom and his brothers and sister and I got to see my mom and two sisters and nephews. We were able to visit with a couple of friends and attended an Ice Cream Social with people from the old ward including Kevin Cameron who is going to help us sell our home.

When we come to Utah we also visit doctors, this time it was our Dentist and Dermatologist. We needed to buy things we don't find in the Philippines and run errands related to our homes. I also met with the people who are doing our taxes. We went to see Karen and Paul Rose to check on the plumbing issues and buying wood chips of our home in Lehi,  today, I should call him back.

 We also drove by the Bountiful home which it is kept very nice and I even took photos and we went to take care of some issues the Mill Circle home is having. The biggest issue with that house is the front yard. The last day we went to see Consuelo Fierro to help my mom with her visa papers and to submit the petition for Gabriel. People are always saying that we do too much when we are on our home leave but that is why it's call a home leave and not a vacation.

The home leave is the time expats use to take care of business besides visiting family and we took care of a lot of business. Now, it's time again to plan our next get away in October. Yay!!

Time is up!

My dad used to have a saying "Se acabo el jabon" translated from Spanish to English that would say "the soap is gone" in other words we have run out of time.

If there were some things that didn't get done while we were on our home leave they would have to wait for next time. Our home leave was from July 3 to July 26. We took our flight on July 3 getting there the same day so we could be there for the 4th of July celebration and stay through the 24th of July, Pioneer day as well leaving one day to catch up and return home on the 26th. I think next time I would go on July 2nd because we needed that extra day to catch up to really enjoy the fireworks on July 4th. I was so tired that night that I went to bed at 8:00 pm when it was still daylight.

We had a to do list that was almost all done except for a few items that could always wait.
Here are a few things we didn't have time to do:
Take Book to a friend
Pay our bills
Finish our taxes
Prepare a primary lesson
Invite a friend to have lunch (pupusas)
Get the training for Pathway
Write a letter to a friend who is retiring
Look into available units at City Creek
Etc. However, most things on the list got done!

While we were out, we became nomads staying at the homes of our sons, brother and daughter in Farmington with Andres family, in Miami with Alejandro's family, in Rocha with Roberto,'s family, in Denver with Pablo's family and in Salt Lake with Bianca and family. It was good because we got to know our grandchildren so much better this way. They got too know us a little better. I love our family! What a blessing it is for us to have 37 members of the finest humans on this planet that we call ours. All of our children and grandchildren are exceptional. We feel so blessed for each and everyone of them.

Now we are back home and it is time to unpack and continue our journey in Manila getting ready for a special visit from two General Authorities.  This is the time the whole office is very busy with every detail of the visit. Daniel is ultimately the person in charge responsible that it all goes well. I anticipate Daniel to be very busy for the next six weeks and I will be busy too helping with the Pathway program. I still need to get the training for that and as much as I loved being away on vacation I missed having a place to call my own. I missed my own bed and bathroom. It is nice to have a place to finally call home!

Con amor,
Vero

Orientation

Friday and Saturday was the orientation for the eight new Mission Presidents and their wives. It was a good reminder of how special the Philippines is with over twenty Missions. Every year new ones come in to replace those who have finished. We Knew four of the couples because they are from the Philippines. The other four, are from the United States.

Daniel was invited to present to them the work he does at the Area office with over 400 employees. He had a flow chart to explain who does what. He also told them how important is for them to keep in mind safety measures and to be ready for any disaster. The first thing people want to know after a disaster is if all the missionaries are accounted for. He has a team in place that can resolve just about any issue that could arise. We hope that nothing of major devastation will hit this land. People here are very resilient considering all the natural disasters they had been exposed to.

Missionaries in the Philippines are lucky to have a Dental Clinic available to them, a MRC which is a place with 20 beds if there is ever a need for a missionary to be ill and would need to have their care and also a 24-7 hot line with Medical, Mental and infield Missionary couple who they can talk to about any issues. Amazing.

Now we are on our way to Salt Lake City, Miami, and Uruguay for the wedding and back to Salt Lake and Denver.

I should be back on the 27th.

Love,
Vero