Thanks to the giving hearts of Church members, Virginia Huguete and her brother, Anastacio, are finding it easier to get to Church meetings and other activities.
Funds were contributed to the Huguetes - members of the Talisay 1st Ward, Talisay Philippines Stake - to help them find a mode of transportation after a Jan. 25, 1992, Church News article featured the Huguetes and their struggles of getting around.When they were baptized in 1979, Sister Huguete and her brother - who is partially paralyzed - vowed to never miss a meeting. Because transportation was often unavailable or unaffordable, Sister Huguete would carry her 130-pound brother on her back more than two kilometers to Church meetings.
Brother Huguete, a well-known singer and entertainer in the Philippines, was left almost totally paralyzed after suffering two strokes in 1976. The strokes affected his speech and voice, and he has limited use of his legs as he is able to stand, but not walk.
The recent contributions have assisted the Huguetes in getting a tricycad, a bicycle with a side car attached, so Sister Huguete can get her brother back and forth to Church.
Elder Joseph and Sister Alene Felix, missionaries in the Philippines Cebu Mission, said the Huguetes are enjoying their tricycad "very much as it provides them with transportation to Church meetings and a feeling of independence."
The tricycad also has the potential of providing them with a little income for the future if they choose to rent it to tricycad operators, the Felixes explained.
Members have also helped the Huguetes in other ways, they added. Brother and Sister Huguete recently returned from a week at the Manila Philippines Temple where they were sealed to their aged mother. They traveled by boat from Cebu Island to and from Luzon Island, where the temple is located.
While they were in Manila, full-time missionaries and stake missionaries upgraded the Huguetes' nipa (palm-thatched) home by pouring a cement floor, patio and walkway.
"Needless to say, they were completely surprised and flabbergasted upon returning home following their long boat trip," Brother and Sister Felix said.