I served in the Philippines Manila Mission from 1986-1988. While I was there the church was going through a huge growth spurt due to the promises of prosperity and the lack of the internet. Our mission set a record for the world at that time by having over 500 baptisms in one month. It was a crazy time. When I arrived in the Philippines there were 4 missions and when I left there were 8. I was in the MP's office and trained to be the exec sec for the new Philippines Cebu East mission that included the eastern Islands of Samar, Leyte, Bohol, and Masbate.

Looking back I am glad that I got to live in another part of the world and experience the culture as well as learn another language. Other than that I am very angry for being led by the cult to spend two years of my life when I could have been going to school. I wasted a lot of my life on the morg. At least I'm out now.

Anyone else been on their mission in the Philippines? What do you remember and are you able to find some sense of worth from your experience?

Mission positives:

Going to France
Learning French

Negatives:
Everything else!

you are so succinct ! *LOL*

I had lots of friends go to the Philippines. They were way more successful than me in the baptism category.

Positives of a mission - learning a foreign language, experiencing another culture and reading the scriptures a lot so that I could understand LDS doctrine. With time, I think the scripture study ultimately started the first cracks in my testiphony.

Negatives - yeah, pretty much everything else...loss of freedom, loss of friends, health problems, guilt, etc.

I served in the Philippines Angeles Mission 99-01. At first, I wondered what I had got myself into. I wasn't really prepared to live in a third world country. But I loved it. I loved the people, I loved the culture, and I loved the language.

However, I also miss that time that I could have spent with my friends, or pursuing my education/career.

You were fortunate in the language department to be in a mission with smaller boundaries. I was moved about all over and it was a new language every time I was transferred. I put my foot in my mouth so many times!

I feel that living in the Philippines has helped me gain perspective over the way we live in the States. We take too much for granted. I still feel that someday, when my ship comes in, I would like to do something more to really help the people that I thought I was helping all those years ago.

Maayon Buntag :) (I assume you learned Visayan/Cebuano?)

I went to France on my mission.
Then long after leaving the church, I married a Filipina (from Mindanao, near Davao). We go visit family there every couple of years, I've spent probably a total of 9 months there.

Love the people. Love the country. Despise the poverty, and the influences of religion (mostly Catholic, but also Iglesia ni Cristo and mormon), which largely strive to keep the populace ignorant and superstitious -- and dependent.

I learned Bicolano and Tagalog at first. When I moved down south halfway through I tried to learn Cebuano but I ended up saying the wrong thing too many times so I just ended up sticking to English.

It does seem that religion in general makes people dependent.

I was in the PI 77-79, yup, a long time ago. It was only one mission when I first arrived then spilt into two or three just before I went home. It was english speaking at the time so I only learned a few words and phrases in tagalog and pampangan. I was in the Metro Manila area for most of my mission but had 6 months in Guagua. For the most part the people were good but people are people no matter where you are. It was a eye opening experience to see how people survive in poor conditions. Now that I know that TSCC is false, I feel bad that I subjected the filipinos to the mormon church. I actually wish I could have those two years back and use them better....

We made no attempt to learn the language because we were transferred to new areas that did not use the Tagalog language. People there who had been to school, spoke better English than they did Tagalog anyway.

I have contacted a number of those I taught on FB, and they all know that I no longer believe. In spite of me telling them my new perspective, even those who still believe the garbage I fed them those many years ago...all are friendly toward me.

I am now 65 years old...still love almost anyone Asian, and understand Tagalog at about 40% after struggling with it for 44 years. We should Charter a jet and all take a trip back there.

I have often thought about going back but being a tourist would be very different than a missionary. As a missionary I went anywhere that was needed and was very lucky that I did not get beat up. Only once was my companion and I in a fight. I never did tell my DM about that special experience... Ha ha

Hey Darksparks.....we probably know each other....I was there 1969 - 1971....got there in Nov. '69 and ended up going home in Dec. '71....a month late as I had a little legal trouble with the guy in the jeep that hit my companion (right in front of the Makati chapel)...then I hit him....Pres Smith said he'd rather have had the guy kill al four of us (the guy actually hit two elders before I smacked him....anyway Smith said he'd rather have four dead missionaries than for me to have hit the guy....I told him that is where he and I were different.

My screen name is a nickname given me while in Cabanutan....a tikbalang is a mythical folk lore monster...has the head of a horse and the body of a man, smokes cigars and is tall....I'm 6-3 and the other three elders there with me were 5-3, 5-6 and 5-7....so the members always said...ay na ko Elder you are so tall maybe you're a tikbalang....and the nickname stuck.

I worked in Luzon, Smar, Cebu and Butuan. Played a lot of basketball...in Cebu my companion and I played on a team owned by the governors nephew....he took good care of us and we won the championship...only team with "imports". I was given an opportunity to try out for one of the big Manila basketyball teams but I didn't take them up on the offer. I did coach the mission team and we played one of those Manila Pro teams...Utex...I got 18 points against them but they beat us by nine. Thdere were over 3000 people at the game...a fund raiser. We had a couple elders...one from Arizona...that had been all-state when they were in high school....so we had some good players....just not enough time to practice. My biggest regret was that I got too involved in playing the game and didn't get everybody in the game...sorry guys...you know who you are.......played lots of bball there.

Love the food and fix sinegang quite often.........any of this sound familiar darksparks????

perhaps for the fight I got in at Angeles City crucifixion. President Rose almost busted me for it until he found out that I was protecting Elder Be*t's life. But my reputation had been sullied by the fight, and I never even made senior until I had been out 13 months.

I worked Cabanatuan and Cebu as well. I think that you will remember the Flores, because you broke baby's heart...lol. Then you went to work on the Busti**o's...lol.

I arrived in the PI one month before you. Look in your Bayanihan in the O's and you will remember me. We should get together...I am in Layton, but will be moving within six months.

It's been a lot of years darksparks but I remember that fight at the Cruxifiction in Angles...I loved Elder Be*t...what an ass Pres Rose was to send him to Sin city....no prophetic calling there to send an ex marine into a toilet place like that.

Remember well the Busti**o's. I think you actually opened Cabanutuan...if I remember right. One of the Rodriquez sisters....I think it was Ni*a....came to Utah and was in my sisters ward....she was murdered by her business partner.

Were we in Cebu at the same time? I was with Hart**y...he looked like John Voight. Don't have any of the old Bayanihans

I'm in SE Washington.......how do we get in contact through this site???

I'll reply right away. If you don't hear back from me at that email address, I'll give you another...I knew the Rodrigues family very well and Mila, the oldest must have been the one you refer to...I am so sad to hear of her death. We built an outdoor above ground baptismal font at her dad's place. I have a nice picture of it somewhere with Elder W*tt.

Were you the one who tracted up the Mailed family in Cebu C. I have great pics of them all on FB.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 12/21/2014 05:08PM by darksparks.

Holy effing crap! I am sooooo jealous!!!

I've been reading ExMo/PostMo sites since 2009 and I've NEVER come across anyone from my mission. I did manage to get in contact with my first companion down there, not because I felt any sense of camaraderie, but because the internet gave me the opportunity to do so, so I could find out if the rumor we'd heard about six months after he was home was true. The rumor was that he stood up in the first stake conference after his return home and announced the church was a fraud, and he walked out. Powerful stuff, rumors...

I did track him down and found out the rumor was not true. But he was an exmo. He didn't ask me any questions about my life...

There were some pretty funny guys down there... The names I recognize on our mission's alumni site all posted paeans to how wonderful the church is and how wonderful life has been being mormon. <gag>

I have no mission stories of the PI. My tales are from 67-68, 73,74-75. These were short term stopovers courtesy of the USN. My only experience with PI culture was what I experienced in Subic

Bay and Manila. I can imagine it was different for you young missionaries. Having traveled throughout the world has made me very grateful for living in the USA.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/21/2014 05:27PM by michaelc1945.

I was in Quezon City Mission from '98 to '00. Spent a total of 14 months in Caloocan. It was quite the adventure but I got sick often. Many of the people I converted went inactive right a way. I Would love to go back as a tourist but many of my mission areas I wouldn't feel safe visiting now.

Was never a mishie there, but spent a good amount of time working with the Filipino government during the Hello Garci scandal. Even had the ringtone, which was extra funny because I used to go drinking with Bong "hey, that sounds like me on the tapes" Ruado. For the record, Bong is cool, as are the Arroyos I've met (who don't include GMA, unfortunately). As for the scandal, look at the evidence, draw your own conclusions. And if you don't know Hello Garci, this makes no sense.

In several years, I ever even saw a mishie there, much less a morg church. Then again, I spent my free time in Ermita and Malate (home of the Hobbit Hole, where you could toss vertically-challenged Velcro-clad Filipinos at a Velcro wall. Not that I did that, or visited said establishment, or have even heard of it). Also caught some toro in Quiapo, but I guess only a Filipino would get that. Still, my coworkers were impressed, as even they'd never seen toro :P

Hey darksparks....I'll try that email address.........don't remember that family in Cebu. Do you remember the Seiko girl...she was a very attractive filipina that worked at the Seiko store downtown and we'd make all the excuses we could to go by that store and see her.....when I flew back to Manila from Butuan I had a stop over at Mactan...I was by myself and went to the Seiko store and took her to lunch...oh did I ever have a crush on her. So member saw me and reported me to the MP...but I didn't care.

ttyl........

Tikbalang and I worked some of the same areas in the Philippines, although we were never companions. I have hoped for years to find another RM on RFM that I knew all those years ago.

The Philippines was all ONE mission during those times. Tikbalang and I were responsible for spreading garbage across several "new" areas during the day, and we had a lot of success. It was the fastest growing mission even back then. I first went there in October with a group of 13, and then a month later Tikbalang followed with another group of similar size.

I have news for him yet about a couple of AMPs that he will be interested in (Assistant to the Mission President)