Best part of the Philippines

The very best part of our visit to the Philippines was being able to see my parents.  They have been serving as missionaries in the Philippines for 15 months now. We were able to rent an apartment just a few floors above where they live so it was easy for us to run down and see them very often.

World War II and the Philippines

While in the Philippines I was able to learn quite a bit about the Pacific theater of World War II. Most of my world war II studies have been about the war in Europe so I must admit I didn't know a lot about the Pacific war. I knew the Philippines were part of the war, but didn't understand how or why. So here is a little history lesson about what I learned. The Philippines had been under US rule since 1898 and in 1935 became a commonwealth of the US and was on a 10 year plan to full independence.

Live Shells on Corregidor

While in Philippines we visited the island of Corregidor for a day tour. It was a really neat tour that included a stop at the Pacific War Memorial Museum. I think the neatest part of the museum was the artifacts displayed. Our guide told us an interesting story about one of the artifacts.

Beware of Extra Fees

Update: They got us again. See below for details. (2013-02-26)

We recently returned to Manila from a quick trip to Palawan, a Philippine island. We had talked ourselves into making the trip and are super glad we did. It was not an easy trip to coordinate and we felt like we were exceeding our budget we were therefore conscious of every expense.

Thrilla In Manilla

Muhammed Ali said it first, "Killa and a Thrilla and a Chilla, when I get that gorilla in Manila" in reference to his boxing match with Joe Frazier in 1975. There wasn't any boxing or gorillas but it was thrilling to be there.

The family at the Manila Temple.

Island Hopping in the Philippines

There is a local joke that the number of islands in the Philippines depends on whether the tide is in or out. There are about 7107 islands and we got to visit 2 of them during a one-day island hopping adventure.

Sam on one of the islands.

Underground River

Early in the morning our driver and tour guide came to the hotel to pick us up. Two other people got in and then we started the device. It was only two hours, but it felt like five. We were on a windy road through the mountains, it was impossible to do anything, partially because of the road and partially because of the driver. He made sure we got there on time, but it was at a price. He sped the whole way there and I was sure we were going to die. Before we went to the river we went to a cave. I think it was call ulong or something. We hiked up it and whenever you knocked on the stalactites the made a noise like you just hit a xylophone. The cave wasn't very safe, but they don't really care about that here. There were overhanging rocks tons of vines that could trip you, and the ladders felt like they were older than the cave. At one point in the cave they tied a rope to us and then we walked up a steeper part of the cave. When we got to the top there was almost a half kilometer. Jenna, Sam and I were the only ones to do it. It was so much fun and at the end, to stop you they had padding attached to the zip line and a rope came out of the pads. The employees put all of their weight on the ropes and when a person came down they slammed into the pads. That stopped most people , but some people hit the net behind the pads. The we headed for lunch. It was average I thought, but the rest of my family liked it.

My Baptism [BY JENNA]

I got baptized in the Philippines let me tell you about it!
The day before my baptism I got my interview.  We were in the Temple annex when the  Mission President came and said it was time.  He asked me if I was ready, If I wanted to be baptized and a few other questions.  When I came out of his office I raced to my dad and hugged him saying I passed!  I passed!