Adventures Adventures and more Adventures

Maayong Gabii from the Beautiful Island of Bohol!

There are so many thing to write about this week so we will pick a few and let some pictures tell the rest of the story.

 Elders Activity on Sagbayan Peak

Wednesday was exciting, and a few times the most chilling adventure filled time since we came to Bohol. To make a long story short I drove past a road on the center of the island and decided to take a short cut to get back on the right path.  We saw the back woods of the island and went through jungle most people never see.  This is a shot of Indiana Jones Bridge we went over with the Multi Cab.

The board were splitting and creaking as I crossed. In this spot there was a piece tin covering the broken board.  Glad we made it.  I don't think I will cross this one again.

We also went on zip line at the Daano Adventure Park.  They sent you across in a super man sling.  I have been across some the best zip lines in the world and I believe this one is longer and higher than anything I have ever seen.  We were too scared to take the camera so I will give you a shot next time we go on it.

Then we let our office Elders borrow our truck for a few days and guess what.  They wrecked our brand new truck.  A picture speaks louder than any words.

Needless to say the Elders will not be borrowing the Truck again.

On friday we went snorkeling at the greatest snorkeling Island in the World (Pamilacan Island). I will give you shot of the Island and let Sister Bell tell you the story.

Pamilacan Island Beach

Well I am excited that Tharon and Holly are coming tomorrow to visit for 10 days.  We have much teaching and missionary meetings lined up with them and plan to have a great time.

I love the Lord and Love our mission.

Salamat Kaayo (Thank you very much)

Elder Bell (Lo Lo, Tatay, Amigo)

Maayong Buntag Pamilya ug mga Amigo!

Well, my week did not start out with an Elders Activity.  My week started with a Sisters Activity…

They all gathered at our apartment for breakfast and baking.  Luci had brought me this blue apron at my request and so I had all the Sisters sign it with a paint pen.  We love our Sisters (both kinds)!

 Me and my big sister, Luci!

For my birthday on Thursday we went on a "Firefly" tour.  It was pretty fun. We got to the river just as it was getting dark and then loaded onto a boat.  The driver took us up and down the river looking for trees in the mangrove swamp that were covered in glowing fireflies.  Being from Utah we had never seen such a thing and so we were quite fascinated by the whole thing.  Sorry no pictures other than the ones in my memory.

The following day was Luci's birthday and so we took the whole day off and went snorkeling on Pamilican Island.  It was a beautiful and very slow-paced place.  And honestly, we had worn out our guests by this time, so they indulged in a little snooze time!

Sorry Fowers!  I just could not resist adding this to the blog!

                                                    Your kids are going to love it!

                             

But, we did not play the entire week.  We actually got a really great project accomplished thanks to the fantastic skills of my sister and her crew.  

Building the Chicken Coop

My sister is a fantastic builder of anything and everything.  So she jumped at the chance to to help design and build a chicken coop for our sweet Sister Segovia. This sweet 74 year old Sister just graduated from the 'Self Reliance' course and the business she wanted to start was chicken raising and egg production.  We were so happy to give her the coop and next week we will track down some chickens and a couple of roosters for her.

The trail to Nuevas

And with that, we will wrap up another week in Paradise doing what we love and loving what we do!

We love you all and miss you so much but know we are in the right place doing what we are supposed to be doing at this time in our lives!  Don't forget to write!

Love you forever,

Sister Bell (Lola, Nanay, Amigo)

Sisters on Loose and Much More

Maayong Gabii Pamilya and Amigos,

Well, this week Sister Bell and the former Sister Fowers are in the Peens to celebrate their birthdays together and do the work of the Lord in the process.  Sister Bell will fill you in on that.

Well Claudius the young man preparing to go on mission started work this week.  It was incredibly hard to help him jump through all the hoops and get everything he needed just to get a job.  Needless to say it would be easier to get military clearance at home than to get an entry level job in the Peens.  If someone does not give them a hand up a boy without a father doesn't stand much chance of making it.

Claudius 1st day at work

White Lightning (Multi Cab with new luggage rack in down pour of rain)

This is just a quick shot of how they make dimentional lumber on the island….. with a chain saw.

The lumber mill in process

The finish product for the lumber store to sell.

Now on to a fabulous day I had with the Calape Elders this week.  So, I called the Calape Elders on Friday with no previous notice.  The graciously excepted and so we hit the road.  The beginning of the day started with a few people not home which is very common in missionary work.  Then we went and taught a man that the Elders have been visiting for 10 years or so.  He was a "defender of the faith" for another religion and the conversation was very enlightening but shows not much promise. 

Then we went to visit a member that was having problems with her son.  When we arrived there were men all around the barangay that were either high on drugs of really drunk and doing a lot of terrible karaoke.  The mother was very upset and her son was involved with that eliminate that had moved into there barangay.  We ended up just having to take her to the Branch Presidents house so she could have some safety from threats she had received.

Then we visited a member that had lost her husband 6 months ago and is preparing to be sealed to him in the temple in 6 months.  I taught the lesson and before the lesson was over all in the room had tears in our eyes and hearts for the benefit of the sister.  She has to make a trip to California to live for 2 years and has been very worried out that.  As the Lord directs use to different places to help in ways we know not before they come before us.  Clarke and Luci Fowers went over with us to her house this evening and helped her understand what she may face in the future trip to California.  We gave her a blessing that she would know the right thing to do. The Lord seems to bring people into our lives that we need and this is what he did with the Fowers coming to visit today. 

After that we taught a new investigator the Elders had just stated teaching.  It is great to see the whole family accepting the Gospel of Jesus Christ as it is witnessed to them by the Holy Ghost.  I love being able to testify of the truth to people in their own land and in their own tongue.  There is no greater calling you can receive in the Church.

I love the Lord and I love his work.

Salamat Kaayo

Elder Bell  (Tatay, LoLo, Amigo) 

Ayo!

As Elder Bell mentioned, my sister finally made it here!  I have to give her the prize for persistence this week!  It took her more than 48 hours to get here, starting with the freak storm that blew over the SLC airport just as they were ready to leave.  It delayed their flight for 5 hours causing the chain reaction of them missing all of the connecting flights.  So, two days later she and her husband are finally here.  We are so happy to have them come and visit.  We have been traveling companions for many years and it just did not seem right to not be sharing this with the Fowers.

                                                             So happy to have her here!

It was a long week of apartment checks and by weeks end it seemed as though we had not accomplished much.  So one day were were traveling home from Tagbilaran (our second trip of the day) and Elder Bell turned off the main road just before we got in to Calape.  He was taking me out to the ocean to take pictures of the sunset.  We had just pulled off the road to park.  I went around the back of the cab to lock the door before we left for the beach.  But when I locked the door and slammed it shut, it would not shut.  Something had broken and I could not lock or shut the door.  So we had a tool box in the back and we started to take the door panel off to see if we could fix whatever had broken.  With in a minute several of the members of the barangay had popped over to see if the could help us.  They are all standing around in a huddle discussing in rapid-fire Cebuano what the problem was.  One lady said in English, "It new?"  I said yes that it was only a month old.  She apparently understood me and responded, "Philippino made.  No quality control.  Very Bad!"  I got her point and we all started to laugh.  We were instantly new friends.  We shortly found the loose screws and got them all tightened and the door panel back in place.  Shook hands and thanked them all around.  This is what I love about the Peens…my problem is their problem.  They are always so quick to jump in and offer a helping hand.  I really love that!

Our new friends!                                                         

So after we got the cab back together we headed off down the path to the beach.  Elder Bell whispers, "Look behind you".  I turned around and saw 12 little kids following us down to the waters edge.  They saw me pick up a sea shell and so they immediately started picking up shells and bringing them to me.  Soon both mine and Elder Bell's hands were full of shells.  Then the boys all started throwing rocks into the water.  Elder Bell started trying to skip the rocks on the smooth water surface.  Soon the older boys were showing Elder Bell a thing or two about skipping rocks.  It was just the most delightful hour of the week.  I love the people here.  They are so friendly and so kind to Americans.  We left just after the sun set and waved goodbye to all of our new little friends.

This is how to skip a rock Elder Bell!

                                                 

The sunset over the ocean.                                                

We had two baptisms this week but we were only able to make it to this one.  Meet the newest member of the church here in the Calape District, Cloyd Sotes.  He is 25 years old and Sisters Ross and Macadangdang taught him the gospel and brought him to the waters of baptism.  He bore a sweet and humble testimony at the baptism.  I am so happy for him and that the Sisters did not get transferred before this day (which seems to always be the case)!  His mom and dad are already members so they were pretty excited for him to be baptized yesterday.

 Cloyd Sotes, his mom, Sister Ross and Sister Macadangdang.                              

Just one more thing to share tonight….I introduced 'play dough' to the Ubay Primary kids today.  It was a smashing success!

Well, that wraps up our week, or at least a few of the highlights.  We are happy and healthy (actually gaining a lot of weigh on our all carb, all the time diet of rice, rice or rice. ) We love the work we are doing even on the hard weeks.  There is no other place we would rather be right now, except maybe kissing that new baby in Elk Mtn,  but even with that we are content knowing she is here and healthy. We are going to have a great week with the Fowers and will send pictures next week!

Love you forever,

Sister Bell, (Nanay, Lola, Amigo)

Malipayong adlaw sa kasingkasing!

Malipayong adlaw sa kasingkasing!

(Happy day of hearts) I am not too sure that is a real greeting or not but it was sent to us this morning by President Saballa, who is a Philippino counselor to President Tanner, and if he can use it so can I!  So there you have it, Happy Valentine's Day, Philippino style!  Surprisingly, Valentine's Day is celebrated here just the same way it is in the states; chocolate and flowers for the one you love.  At church today all the leaders started the meetings with a Valentine greeting and even centered the topic of the meetings around love.  I am happy to be spending this day with the man I love.  He is pretty good to me when you really stop and think about it.

I want to start off with the biggest event of the week….we got a new granddaughter!  Baby Violet was born February 11, a healthy and cute little girl.  If I am totally honest with all of you, it was hard to not be with Kariann when she had the baby.  I have missed the last two babies and it is one of the things I love the most in this world, watching my grandchildren being born.  So, I am a little sad to have missed it, but I am so happy she is well and healthy and that everything went well even though she decided to come breech.  She has one tough mommy!

                                                         Meet Baby Violet Lynn Fierro!

We spent most of the week off the island.  We were in Cebu at a Senior Couples Training.  We stayed in the home of President and Sister Tanner for three nights.  We spent Thursday actually training and Friday we were able to have a play day and all went to Comotes Island for the day.  Comotes is very beautiful.  I picture Hawaii to look like this back in the 60's before it became over run with tourist.

We left the house about 4:00AM so that we could catch the earliest ferry at 5:30.  So this is the amazing sunrise over the ocean.  I don't get to see that very often and it was beautiful. However…….

This guy missed the whole thing while he caught up on his lost sleep!

We got to participate in my favorite past time, Snorkeling!  Yeah!  The ocean renews my spirit like nothing else can.  Elder Bell and I were the only old folks snorkeling but some of the others enjoyed a refreshing swim.

The water was so clear and warm.  But, there were not that many fish down there and I didn't even care.  As long as my face is in the water I am happy!  Comotes has a few really nice resorts on it.  We asked about prices and they are not very expensive.  Maybe some day we will go back and spend a day or two when you come to visit!! (That is a pretty good bribe).

This is a picture of our senior couples (minus me as I am taking the photo).  Sister Tanner is the one in the navy blue shirt on the left.  President Tanner could not join us as he had a few too many fires to put out that day.  But, this is the lot of us and we love them all but, we are really short handed. So, if any of you are even thinking about a mission please come join us!  We need you desperately as the Halladays are going home in just a couple of weeks.

It was very renewing to spend a couple of days with people that are involved in the same work you are on a daily basis.  It helps us feel like we are not alone and that we have some pretty amazing team mates even though we do not see each other very often.  It is interesting to serve in a mission that has several islands included in the boundaries.  It really complicates mission work as travel inter-island takes so much time.  But somehow our good mission leaders have made it all work.  We love the Tanners and are so happy to have their leadership.  They are great people who work three times harder than any one of us senior couples.

I love you and miss you.  I hope our little Valentine's blog finds you all well and happy.  Remember the Lord is in charge.  Turn all of it over to Him and it will work out for your good in the end.

I love you forever,
Sister Bell (Nanay, Lola, Amigo)



Nahi Gugma Ako Si Sister Bell! (Thats what you say to the one you Love on Valentines Day! Well, except insert a different name because Sister Bell is already taken)

Well I will tell a little bit about the senior couples training.

We started out with a really great visit with the Assistants to the President and the Mission Home Elders. It is great to work with these wonderful and smart Missionaries.  Many thing were discussed and plans made to help us be more effective in helping the Missionaries.

We had dinner out at a great German restaurant Thursday night.

We also had a presentation given to us by Ray Goodson who runs a foundation called Rise & Rebuild. He was one of the first mission presidents in the Philippines in 1961.  President Kimball call him to be one of the first mission presidents and gave him a charge to convert a nation. 

Rise and Rebuild is working on projects making hollow blocks from scratch and putting public restrooms in public market places, drilling wells where needed and also many other projects across the Philippines.  When the typhoon hit Tacloban in 2013, he organized  and administered a project to rebuild appox. 3,500 homes for the victims of the typhoon.  They contacted many returned missionaries from all over the Philippines and within 2 days many returned missionaries made their way to the area and provided both temporally and labor to the project.  Our son Jason was one of those returned missionaries that answered the call.

We may see if we can assist with a project on Bohol that would provide employment for the members in the area and provide people with homes and public restrooms that were destroyed in the earth quake on Bohol 2 months before the typhoon hit in 2013.

Well a fun time was had by all as we went to the Bukilat Cave and explored for a little while.

 Sister Bell standing in the water that fills the floor cave.  It rises and falls with the tide and is very clear.

One of the fantastic beaches and resorts on Comotes

Well I will leave you with a portion on my Testimony

I know God is directing the work we are engaged in each day because I have seen his hand in all things.

I testify the Lord will bless you if you obey his commandments and call on him daily for his help in all aspects of your life.

I know Jesus Christ is our Savior and our Redeemer.

I know Joseph Smith was Prophet of God and that we have a living prophet on the earth today.

I love my family and all my friends.

I say this in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Amping to all my Pamilya and Amigos

Elder Bell (Tatay, Lolo, Amigo) 

Manoa

Malipayon Gabii Pamilya & Amigo's

Well another great week has passed in Paradise.  Not quite as busy as the last one (last week would be hard to top). We spent our week doing this:
1.  Helping a potential missionary make preparations to serve a mission.
2.  Line up the stainless steel to have a luggage rack installed on the Multi Cab.
3.  Preparing and teaching seminary.
4.  Helping one of our dear friends who lost a new born baby and seeing to the funeral and burial.
5.  Doing a community service project for an investigator family in Sagbayan.
And that was a not to busy week.

Well I will take 1,2 and 5 and Sister Bell will do the rest.

We are helping a young man form Calape make preparations so he can serve a mission.  Claudius was raised without a father.  He has not had the easy life.  Last week was the first time they had power in their house.  He has a great desire to serve a mission and works with the missionaries every week.  He is a great artist and also has started being our language tutor.

Claudius

 He has a job in Tagbilarin he will start in a week.  He will be saving money for a year and attending missionary preparation class to get ready.  This will be a great blessing in his life and will help him to break a cycle in his family and give him hope for bright future.

Well as far as the steel there is not much to tell other than we finally found the steel.  Pictures will follow later when the rack and Basahon ni Mormon signs are installed.

The service project was a great success.  We were informed that we would work on a garden.  Well after arriving and starting to clear the area, we were informed that it was a coconut garden we were working on.  Come to find out you just trim all the underbrush and do not remove it and it provides mulch for the growing coconut trees.  You learn new things all the time.  The sisters prepared a great meal with fish and rice.  Work was completed and great times for all with a great meal.

Sister Preparing Meal

Sister  Claudia Cooking Fish

Service Project Underway

It is always great to have some coconut milk along the way.

Well I will sum it all up by telling you a transformation I have experienced in my life.  When you go on a foreign mission, you realize that you are foreign person in a foreign land and everything is very different.  Then one day after working as hard as you can to contribute everything you can, you realize that this land has become one of your homes here on this earth. The people and places you go to are no longer foreign, they are part of you and you are a part of them.

I love my home and family in Utah and Wyoming (and all other places you, our children live).  I love you to the bottom of my heart.  I also have a gospel family that I love here in Bohol in the Philippines.  The land and the people are so dear to my heart.

I thank the Lord each day for being blessed with such great people and experiences.  We are truly blessed.  I love the Lord and know the gospel of Jesus Christ is true. I say these things in the Name of Jesus Christ our Savior and our Redeemer. Amen

Nahi Gugma as Always,

Elder Bell (Tatay, Lolo, Amigo)

Greetings Family and Friends!

How has your week been?  You hear all about ours every single week but we rarely get to hear about yours.  Feel free to share!  We love hearing from you.

It was a week for me to catch my breath!  I actually got a short nap two days in a row and I feel a little guilty for that but I took advantage anyway.

I do want to share some of the sweet story of Baby Manoa.  As we told you last week he passed away on Monday late afternoon.  The Viodor family were finally all able to go home and get some much needed rest.  They were able to take Baby Manoa's body home with them also.  They do not have much in the way of money and so the Lolo had already fashioned a tiny little coffin for him.  He was dressed in the little boy outfit that Elder Bell and I had given them a few weeks ago.  At the time we bought it I thought it ridiculous that it had a hood as it is so hot here.  But there were not that many to choose from and so the purchase was made along with a little light-weight blanket.  What a tender mercy the little hood turned out to be as his head was very misshapen and large and so the hood covered it just perfectly so he looked just like the adorable angel baby he was.

Sweet Baby Manoa Seliote Viodor                                          

So, Baby Manoa lay in state at the family home and we got word about 5:00PM Monday evening that they would be having a short funeral service at 7:00 and would Elder Bell speak.  So we rushed out the door and headed up to Sagbayan, 45 minute drive from our house in Calape.  True to the customs of this culture, we were invited to share a meal with the family and we are the honored guest so we eat first along with the missionaries.  We leave the table and they wash the few dishes they own and sit the next group down for the meal of rice and bihon (noodles).  A third group was fed and then the Elder sitting next to me leans over and whispers, "Sister Bell, will you speak?"  Oh my goodness!  This couldn't have been mentioned a couple of hours ago?  So, I swallowed hard and said yes.  My mind was whirling and I just turned it over to the Lord.  I could not really tell you what I said.  All I know is that we were all crying by the time I finished.  Elder Bell did just fabulous, as he always does.

The next day at noon we all gathered again and once again were fed well from the family giving us all that they had, rice, bihon, and this time some fish.  The multi-cab became the hearst as the tiny coffin was loaded in to place by the Lolo and cousin, John Mark.

Maximiano and John Mark carry Baby Manoa to the Multi  Cab

We lead the procession to the public cemetery where earlier that day the Lolo, Maximiano had built a tomb out of hollow block and cement.  Everyone said their last goodbyes and then Lolo Max enclosed the casket with cement.  Our Elder Vuetibau had just the day before given this little baby his own name, Manoa, and the very next day had the privilege of dedicating his grave.  It was a lot for a young man to handle and he wept big tears at the solemn occasion but he did a beautiful job.

Elder Vuetibau, one of the great ones!                                      

I think the hardest moment for me was when Manoa's tatay (daddy) knelt at the grave and his shoulders shook uncontrollably as he morned for his baby boy.  Brother Viodor is the only person of the family who is not a member of the church.  It was a hard scene to witness.

A Father's grief…..                                                  

And that my friends is why I needed a nap, two naps!  It was emotionally draining to say the least.  

The most amazing part of this whole experience though was to watch the members of this Sagbayan Group come together and help the Viodor Family through this trial.  They are truly a Zion people in every sense of the word.  I am learning so much from them of what it means to be a true disciple of Christ.  I am blessed to be a part of them.

I am really going to let you go now as I have rambled so very long.  Maybe we can catch up on Seminary another time.  I love you all.  I miss you and I think of you everyday.  Stay true and faithful to your own convictions.  Help each other and trust in God's plan for your life.  He will make way more of your life than you could possibly make on your own!

Love you forever,

Sister Bell (Nanay, Lola, Amigo)

My Cup Runneth Over

Maayong Buntog to all my Pamilya & Amigo's

Our hearts are full this week with a whirlwind of events that surpass all expectations.  It is hard to know where to start.  So I will just start with the Group (Branch) party for Sagbayan.  Sister Bell and I decided we would host a party at our house for the members of Sagbayan.  Much fun, food and games were had by all.  There were 10 investigators that attended and all had a great time.

Games and fun by all.

Dirty Ice Cream (the best home made Mango Ice Cream you will ever taste.

There were approximately 55 in attendance.  Since they live about 45 minute drive from our house we transported them in our Truck and Multi Cab. This is what a Truck and Multi Cab look like with 55 people in them.  I took a head count and there were exactly 30 in the Multi Cab.  A new record.

Sister Bell on the go

The bar has been raised to 30

These people are so great. The feeling you get when you are with this group can best be described
by Moses 7 verse 18: "And the Lord called his people Zion, because they were of one heart and one mind, and dwelt in righteousness" and Mosiah 18 verse 8-9: "As ye are desirous to come into the hold of God, and to be called his people, and are willing to bear one another's burdens, that they may be light;  Yea, and a willing to mourn with those that mourn; yea and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places that ye may be in, even until death", that is exactly how they support one another and lift one another.

We also received pictures from our beloved mission daughter, Sister Astilla, of her homecoming with her family as she returned home from a fantastic mission.  She effected and helped many people on her mission and we are two of them.  Thank you for helping us and also being a dear friend.

Well I am going to turn the rest of the wild week to Sister Bell.

Let me close by letting you know how much I personally love our mission.  We feel the prayers of our Family and Friends, also the prayers offered over the Alter of all the Temples every day.  I love the Lord and am honored to be called to his work.

Daghang Salamat (Deepest Thanks) to all my Family and Friends.
Elder Bell (Taytay, Lolo, and Amigo)


Maayong Buntag Imong Pamily!

I was telling my good husband this week that I cannot keep up this pace! I think I was retired too many years before this mission so I am not keeping up with the pace of each week very well.  I feel exhausted by the end of Sunday.  Happy but EXHAUSTED!  It was inevitable  that one day we would not be able to get our blog out on Sunday night and finally this week it happened.  Don't worry though, we are  okay and just trying to catch up this morning.

I wanted to share this week a really amazing experience we had on Tuesday evening.  We all got the transfer information on Tuesday at District Meeting.  And as expected some of our favorite missionaries got the notice that they were heading out on Thursday.  Elder Caluag from Sagbayan was one of them.  He was pretty sad because he had quite a few investigators that were progressing nicely.  One group of them are three sisters of a new member who all really want to be baptized but their mother who is a devote Catholic was not very happy about it and they were so worried to disappoint her.  So we invited Sister Nueva, our District President's wife, who had joined the church many years ago under the same circumstance.  So we (the missionaries, us, Sister N., and 3 members from the Sagbayan group) all ventured out to meet with the sisters.  We had a short lesson on charity and then Sister Nueva shared her story.  The sisters really responded well.  Then the missionaries turned to me and asked if I had something to share.  I felt very impressed to tell them that we become Christ's hands here on earth to take care of each other.  And that as members of the church we become family and take care of each other like family.  Of course at this point I became a little teary but held it together pretty well.  But poor Elder Caluag, thinking about leaving his 'family' became so emotional he could hardly speak.  Everyone in the room became emotional and could feel the power of the Holy Ghost bearing witness that what we said was true.  Long story short, they and two of their children are committed to baptism on February 13!  I was so proud of Elder Caluag and Elder Malinao.  This was the last appointment of Elder Caluag's service here on Bohol and he left the area still working so hard to bring people to the waters of baptism.  I was happy to part of that experience.  There are no words to describe the joy of the moment!

The sisters with many of their kids and all of us missionaries.  (Elder Caluag bottom left corner)

When we went up to pick Elder Caluag up to take him to the ferry, the entire group had come to his apartment to wish him well and there were so many people in tears I told Elder C that it was like he was attending his own funeral!  This is his first area.  Imagine what kind of missionary he is going to be a year from now!  They send the best missionaries to Bohol.  We love them all!

As we have said before, it was transfer week this week and Elder Bell did a little better than last time.  He at least did not cry in front of them, he waited until they had gone! (just kidding)  But we sent off some of our favorites for sure…..

These are a few of our missionaries heading off to bigger and better experiences in the Cebu East Mission.

Sorry to be so slow in finishing this today….We were called away this morning on an emergency and it took us 12 hours to get home.  It was a very sad situation.  Sister Evangeline, one of our new baptisms from a couple of months ago gave birth yesterday morning to a baby boy.  He was almost three weeks over due and was born with some serious issues.  They rushed him to Tagbilaran while Sister Evangeline stayed in a clinic in Tubigon 90 minute drive away.  We went in to see the baby this morning and they would not let us in until 3:00 this afternoon as they have very strict visiting hour rules.  We couldn't even pull the 'minister' card out.  We knew the baby was probably not going to make it but they still would not let us in.  So we waited until 3:00.

The NICU was such a shocking sight.  The two oldest daughters had been there for nearly 30 hours helping the baby breath with one of the little bags that they had to manually compress so the baby had air going to his lungs.  The oldest daughter is an adult with a son of her own but the other one is one of my seminary students who is only 15 years old.  What a heavy responsibility for these faithful daughters.  They were exhausted.  We had the Elder with us who had taught and baptized this mother.  She had wanted her baby named after him, Manoa.  And so Elder Vuetibau (we just call him Elder V), was able to give him a name and a blessing