Hi Susie, How are you doing? Are prayers are with you with your girls camp assignment, and everything else going on in your life!! I didn't send this little e-mail to everyone, but I thought it would be interesting to have in our blog, and in the book I will eventually make from the blog. By the way, thank you for doing the blog! I hope it is not to hard! Sure love you!
Love, Mom
Love and Laughter In the Philippines!
May 8, 2015
We have been having so much fun doing some of our children’s programs lately! We go every Tuesday as you know to visit the Mabuhay House – for children who are waiting to receive their surgeries to repair their cleft lips, club feet, and strabismus(cross-eyes) or cataracts. This past Tuesday we had Professor Thomas visit us from New Zealand. This darling man who is a doctor and a performer has founded a school for clown-doctors and goes around the world helping make children laugh. He teaches the philosophy that smiling and laughter help us heal! I believe him! He also teaches that we laugh when we see other’s mistakes (as after all, none of us are perfect!). He also demonstrates how doing the unexpected makes people laugh, like when you try to shake hands with someone and their hand keeps dodging yours! Or when you use your crutches to be guitars!! I have some funny videos but they are too big to put on here – so just use your imaginations!
Put a red nose on someone – and you are bound to make people laugh. Below,Prof Thomas told Sis. Anderson and I to sing “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” – by Mozart (no less) and to introduce ourselves as sisters from Las Vegas. The biggest requirement was that we had to sing and do our actions in exact synchrony – nothing varying – which of course was impossible, as we learned after doing it about 5 times for everyone! Oh what laughter at our expense!
Prof Thomas with 12 year old Balong – who just got pins in his legs and had been crying every night, but laughed and laughed with our friend here.
We had a full house with 17 children plus their mothers and parents. So much fun!
Trisha – who finally had her surgery to fix her leg! She is 8 years old and the brightest sunshine ever.
The doctors come here and do some of the simple club feet surgeries right here on the kitchen table!
We also did our first Missionary Love and Laughter Program at the Philippines Children Medical Center (PCMC). We went to the Oncology (cancer) out-patient kids who were on chemotherapy and then went inside and did a shorter program for the inpatient kids with cancer. There were about 15 of us missionaries and basically we did a Primary Sharing Time – with fun songs, action games, a big storybook telling about kindness, and treats at the end to a group of about 50 or 60 people. We gave cracker treats to the Outpatient kids, and stuffed Teddy Bears to the in-bed children. The great thing about it was that as always - the whole thing was totally inspired by Heavenly Father and the theme was too! I had been fasting and praying to know what Heavenly Father wanted us to talk about on Thursday. I was rummaging through some old piano sheet music on Sunday and found this song called “The Family is of God” – which I didn’t know. When I played it on the piano, and some of the sisters here began to sing it, I got goosebumps all over and tears filled my eyes and I knew this was the theme we needed to talk about with the children. Families….and the roles of fathers, mothers, and everyone. It was perfect. The Spirit in the room was really strong when the missionaries sang it at the end. The person in charge asked that we say a prayer for the children (which would have never happened in the USA) so we ended with a prayer for the children and their families.
It was a program with lots of love and lots of laughter. We used ukuleles, a piano keyboard, and our voices to welcome them in English and Tagalog, talk about kindness in families, and even act out The Three Little Bears (which I am sorry but I don’t have a picture of). Then when the Elders hadn’t been able to come up with a magic trick, it was up to me to teach the children how to wash their eyeballs….what else could I do? They laughed and giggled as they watched me wash mine!
Here’s Elder Cuillard with one of the children inside the hospital.
Elder Cuillard, Elder Contes, Sis. Garrett and another QC missionary inside
They could let only 5 of us go inside, but they told us we could visit with them and sing songs to them from the windows. J
Our missionaries opened their mouths and taught people about the wonderful Plan of Salvation – that families can be together forever. They wrote down names of referrals, gave out pamphlets and even a Book of Mormon or two – getting commitments that they would read it and ask for themselves if it was true.
(Sis Yunack, Sis Garrett, Me, Elder Cuillard, Elder ?, and Melvin – our Maintenance man that was the Papa Bear in our Three Little Bears Song!)
How wonderful it is to share the joy of the gospel with these wonderful brothers and sisters of ours in the Philippines. We love them and are so grateful to our Father in Heaven for His glorious Plan of Happiness! May we all read and study the scriptures daily, pray always and fill our lives with service. Right WILL overcome evil! J
Love you all!
Elder and Sister K, Dad and Mom, Grandpa and Gramma, Carolyn and Ron
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