Tuesday, August 9, 2016

Sorry. We have not written much. O.K. has it been a crazy time!  Today is the day we welcome Brother Revillo as the new Area Welfare Manager.  He seems great, knows what he wants and is ready to jump in with both feet.  It will take some time to train him but he has great experience and will pick things up with little trouble. 

As for Elder Webb and me?  We are so happy to have a leader.  It’s been kind of fun to be managers. We  were able to attend meetings with the Area Authorities and watch the decision process, which is inspired.  We got to attend the managers’ conference and were welcomed soundly. I was asked by HR to teach a water color class to the wives.  We were at Pico De Lora Resort for 4 nights and it was business during the day and fun at night.  The Filipinos love a good time and they do not hold back; singing, dancing, karaoke, bowling whatever they do is filled with laughter and high performance. 
These are some of the people who came to the screening at Mabuhay Deseret.  They will have vision surgery
Sister Webb works with Mabuhay and was visiting last week where she met these new friends 

The managers are a great group of people.  It was a wonderful way to introduce us to the workings of the Philippine Area Organization.  Brother de Almeida, our DTA, was helpful for the first couple of weeks, then he took his vacation and once again we were left feeling a little lost.  So we just started doing whatever we could to move the work forward. We did a cold call at GMA Kapuso in April; they were a partner years ago and also do wheelchairs. Roger expressed his dismay that LDS Charities does not follow through with its partners.  We apologized and said we would make sure to introduce our replacements before we left.  Two months later he called us about providing school chairs for the schools they were rebuilding in Bohol.  They asked for 700 for October.   



The first of July they called and asked us to change that to 700 chairs  to Tacloban by the middle of August -- a very short lead-time when you haven't even settled on a supplier yet!  We set about finding a builder of chairs.  Danny Soleta, our church service missionary, was in China on business and while there he located a  chair company.  We found another company here in town that is a subsidiary of a Korean Company manufacturer.  The Korean Company was relocating its warehouse and didn’t answer our calls so we ordered from China who said they would meet the delivery date. The date is important.  The solar lamps we got in China were great and there were no problems with delivery.   We ordered the China chairs went to finance for the down payment, which they sent.   Then China said they didn’t have the wood for the chairs, and added that they would not be ready until the first of September.  Elder Webb sat in the office ready to cut his wrists while he and Danny talked about what we should do.  I suggested they call the company that would not return their call earlier, saying "maybe they have completed their move and have their act together". They answered the phone, said yes they could make the delivery date so we went to the DTA to tell him we had a second deal.  Elder Webb did some kind of juggling act. (It’s what he has done all his working life)  We have 3 orders for 700 chairs each but not all are rush so we got the last one approved, moved the Tacloban chairs back to Bohol and ordered the Tacloban chairs from the Korean company who sends parts and then an assembly team to the site then puts the chairs together.  Funny!  They shipped the chairs on Friday to arrive on Tuesday (today, the 9th of Aug) but they arrived yesterday! Some scrambling, but the assembly is on-going.  Big Sigh.
 
We were invited to attend the World Health Organization's Conference on Immunization.  Immunization is a major initiative of LDS Charities
Sister Webb preparing newborn kits














There was so much drama in this office we could have made a TV series.  We called finance and asked them to make the final payment so the chairs could be shipped.  They said they could not do it, that we were out of money.   What they meant was that they were out of dollars and have no way to replenish.  We told them to try the ATM.  They said they are not set up to make payments from here.  In the middle of all this the new controller, David Bowman, showed up.  We know him from South Africa; he arrived there about 6 month before we left.  He cut through the fog and solved the problem. Then he was able to get a hold of the 2016 project budget we had requested in May.  He informed us we had over spent the budget by $70,000.  He didn’t know we had another $120,000 worth of project approvals we had presented to the Area President before his arrival.  He helped us get the monies for the chairs and then he informed us we are not to buy outside the Philippines.  We both looked at him and said what?  “We’ve been buying outside the country for years.  We just saved LDS Charities 1/3 the cost of the chairs they donated”.  He said “I don’t care about saving money that is not important here”.  Long and short of it we had to get special permission to continue to work with the suppliers. We now have an authorized company who can provide supplies we need.  When all is said and done, Brother Bowman has been great.  He has shown great patience with us, and has explained things so we now know what is up and what is down.  Because there were so many irregularities in our brilliant work we had lots of papers to fill out; budget increase requests to make and budgets for next year to work out. Moroni says those without the law are not under condemnation. We qualified for not having the law. 
 
Another Saturday in the office.  We will be glad when the new manager comes
The entrance to Fabella Hopsital
We also had to bring in SLC to purchase the Day One Waterbags for the clean water project in Baguio.  It’s Elder and Sister  McClures deal.  We did not know it but they were negotiating with the buyer rather than going through the area.  We all thought we had to know what things were going to cost before we could submit a project.  We do, but that does not mean we talk deal talk.  The McClures are not people to stand still.  They were frustrated because they had not had a deal approved since their arrival.  When we approved the project they were ready to go and were going to get it done.  What did any of us know?  So everyone is supposed to work through us and we are to work through the area office purchasing even if we could do the deal in half the time.   
 
Handing out blankets and newborn kits with the Area Presidency wives
The DTA (our boss) is very happy to see LDS Charities doing so many worthwhile projects.  However, we have had to petition SLC for an increase in our initiative budget.  It’s been a little embarrassing for everyone especially finance who didn’t seem to know where we stood either.  Benson’s managing style continued as he prepared us to take over his job…….one power point with no further instructions.  His is a quiet strength.  It was on the job training once again.   It has all worked out and we have learned tons even though we felt pretty panicky in the beginning.  We just kept moving and praying. I imagine that is how anyone feels who journeys with the Lord.  Look at Lehi, at the Brother of Jared.  They started with a prayer and a willingness to step into the unknown knowing the Lord would guide them.  The Lord is blowing us along.

Elder and Sister Arderns farewell.  They have spent the past 5 years in the Area Presidency.  This is the choir.


Sister Haynie visiting with mother of triplets
Visiting the NICU From Left Sister Bowen, Sister Haynie, Sister Schmutz, Sister Webb and MaLou  a NICU nurse
Last week we returned to Fabella with the last of the blankets Sister Webb brought back with her from Willow Creek 7th Ward.  She put them in newborn kits.  Sister Smith, (our wheelchair specialist from the states) brought little outfits and toys her daughter's ward had put together.  Sister Webb put them together with the blankets, baby wipes, baby soap and diapers in zip lock bags or LDS Charities bags.  We also took the rest of the hygiene kits the Columbia Falls Ward sent from Montana.  We had 70 newborn kits, 10 hygiene kits and 90 blankets; enough for everyone in the Maternity Ward to get something. You may remember Fabella was 80% condemned after there was a fire in the elevator shaft.  That was April.  Since then they have inched their way back into full operation and will remain in this building until their new building is ready sometime in 2017.  We are not sure anything changed, it's just that there was no place for people to go as an alternative.  It is still my favorite hospital to visit and I have seen a number of them.  The thought of having them move twice did seem crazy if not impossible.
Elder Webb taking a break in the doctor lounge at Fabella.
Telling the story of Little Red Riding-hood Philippine style.  Children recovering from cancer or surgery at Mabuhay House.  Sisters from the Area Office plan an activity once a week for the children at this center.  There were no toys for them to play with.  We took some blocks and they were thrilled to create buildings and roads.  They share with each other in a most caring way.  They loved acting out Little Red Riding-hood.  We have come to love the children and their bravery. 

One week from now brings us to 5 months left.  Our calendar is filling up and we have received notification of our replacement's arrival in November.  What an amazing adventure we are having. The Lord is leading us in this work.  He answers our questions in a most loving way; he guides us to people who help us do His work. He lives and loves to the end.  We are so thankful to know he is caring for you while we are gone.

Love,
Mom and Dad
Gma and Gpa
Elder and Sister Webb
Norriss and Carol



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