Philippines Ilagan Mission

Joel Longhurst

Every week I looked forward to doing our weekly missionary service project. On some weeks it was hard to find a good project that would really benefit the community, but one project that I feel was a success was when our zone helped out with the immunization program. It was called something like "patak-patak para mga bata." Whatever it was called, I'm sure the word patak (drop) was part of it because I was the one who got to drop Vitamin A into little kids' mouths. I was the "patak guy."

We were working side-by-side with other volunteers from the town of Ilagan in a sort of immunization assembly line: One person weighed the young ones, another measured their height, I gave them the patak, and as the children went down the line, they received other immunizations.

I don't recall that anything unusual happened during that service project, but I will never forget the feeling of it. It was enjoyable to associate with other volunteers from the community, to talk with them and laugh with them. They teased me for being a baby-faced American, which was fine with me. I told them I was a Filipino with a genetic disorder. For some reason they didn't believe me.

The bottom line is that the service project was just plain fun. We, as volunteers and missionaries, not only entertained one another, but we also entertained the parents and children who came to receive our services. There was a true sense of community between a group of God's children who, for a few hours, were united in spirit and bonded in love. As President Monson would put it, "A good time was had by all."