Just Returned From Field Conference

Dear Family and Friends,
It has been a couple of weeks since we have written, so I apologize for the delay in updating you.  On Wednesday we just returned from our annual field conference, which was in Rizal, a couple of hours south of Manila.  It is much cooler there, so it was a nice break from the warmer weather here.  It was on a great piece of land that was full of green grass and dozens of coconut trees.  There was also a pool there and other recreational activities.  Some of the time was spent worshiping together and listening to various missionaries speak about God's calling in our lives.  We really gleaned a lot from what was said, and the Lord really used it to help us make some changes in our hearts and lives.  We also had many opportunities to meet and get to know our colleagues from around the Philippines.  We had some wonderful conversations with so many different missionaries and heard many stories of their coming to the Philippines and the adjustments they had to make at that time.  We are so thankful for the ACTION Philippines team and look forward to working with them in the future.  We also had a great time as a family swimming together and being together and in general just having fun together.  We left field conference encouraged and ready to continue language school and life back here in Manila.
     There are still some important things that we are needing to take care of here.  We both have to get our Filipino driver's licenses, which is a different process here and can take a couple of hours.  We have learned that in general that everything takes longer to do here, and that we are constantly needing to be flexible and patient.  Pray for us as we need to get this done, that we will have patience and wisdom in the process.  Fortunately, the Lord has already provided some missionaries who will be assisting us in this process.
     Continue to pray for us as we parent our children in this new culture and as Isaiah continues to adjust to life here.  Pray that we can provide consistency in the schedule and discipline, compassion, understanding, and gentleness toward Isaiah and Elijah.
     Continue to pray for us as we learn the language.  I (Matt) have very high expectations for myself, and I need have grace for myself and not expect my language skills to be perfect.  My language teacher today basically said that I need to not put so much pressure on myself.  He said that right now they want us to focus on listening, and that if we can say some things, that it is a bonus.  Thanks so much for your prayers, we would love to hear from you!

Love,
Matt, Becki, Isaiah, and Elijah