Back to the Philippines

In late 1993 I received my mission call to go to the quezon city mission in the Philippines. As an 18-year-old young man, I had no idea where the Philippines was located and had to immediately consult a map (this was well before the days of being able to "google"). Serving my mission in the Philippines was such a defining moment in my life. I grew as a man and as a son of God. For two years I devoted myself to serving God and those around me. It was two years of self-discovery and growth that I badly needed.

So it was with much excitement when I found out that I was going to be able to return to the Philippines 17 years later for a work assignment. For approximately the last year, I have been a supervisor in the fbi's extraterritorial investigations unit. This is a headquarter unit that manages investigations occurring outside the united states. Many of the investigations include kidnappings of u.s. citizens, terrorist attacks, and other threats against u.s. interests. I've been able to oversee a number of investigations in the Philippines as part of this assignment.

In December, one of our agents assigned to the u.s. embassy in Manila retired earlier than expected and they were left with a vacancy until June, when the replacement would arrive. I immediately began trying to get my supervisors to agree to send me on temporary status. I found out in march that I would beable to go for 60 days.

As I walked out of the airport in Manila, I was immediately confronted with familiar smells and scenery. It's not a pleasant odor, but it uniquely reminds me of the Philippines. Imagine exaust fumes and rotting garbage cooked together in a moist oven. Very pleasant. The heat and humidity were also very familiar.

I was so excited to be here that I went out the next morning to see if I could find a couple of the families that I taught while I was here. 1200 pesos and several hours later, I realized it had changed a lot in 17 years. The area I went to, deparo, novaliches, looked completely unfamiliar. Where we once met in a small two-bedroom house for church, there was now a full chapel. I was dissappointed not to be able to find anyone or anyplace that I knew from my mission.

The following Sunday, I went to another area, binangonan, rizal. Binangonan was the most rural area in which I served. I used the church's website to find the location and service hours. It took me a while to get there, but I found it. Again, in place of a small, ramshackle building was a full chapel. The branch was much larger, and as I pulled in the parking lot, feelings of reminisce came over me. As I walked in, I was stared at and the people wondered who the white guy, in a white shirt, with no black name tag was.

I introduced myself in Sunday school, and it was great to see a few familiar faces. My Tagalog is not what it once was, but I've been able to surprise a few of the Filipinos who aren't used to Americans making the effort to learn their language. One of the members, brother galang, had been inactive, and had just come back to church the week previous. He was very excited because he remembered me from my time in the branch. He was baptized by a good friend of mine, matt gunderson. He asked if I could pass his contact information back to Matt, and I'm hoping that contact can help him remain active.

On Thursday I went to the area presidency offices, which are right across the street from the temple. I got to meet some of the area presidency and then go to the temple afterward. Again, there were so many memories associated Witt that place that it was a great experience to be there again at this phase of my life. I plan to visit all my old areas in the coming weeks and then will be back in June.

The work has been by interesting. It seems that most of my time is being spent on fugitive, human trafficking, and child sex tourism cases. Many Americans flee the u.s. to avoid prosecution for crimes and the Philippines is a very permissive environment for someone to hide. There's a sizeable expatriot population and a little money can go a long way. While I do have to see e dark underbelly of human nature, I feel like I'm doing good and making a difference.

I miss everyone back home and hope to see you all soon!