Boat Trip…..to the temple!

Ayo Family and Friends!

There were so many events this week I don't know where to start!  I guess with Monday…..

Monday I got a call from the Loon Elders.  Apparently Elder Beltiar had been very sick for three days…and I am just now hearing about it?….anyway, it was decided about 10:00PM that he needed to be in a hospital as he had a temperature over 104 degrees and had not kept anything down for 3 days.  It was getting dangerous.  So we drove from Sagbayan for 90 minutes and our good friend Elder Saballa, who lives in Loon,  had taken Elder Beltiar to the local medical clinic and we met them there.  He was already on an IV and so we knew he would likely be okay.  The one thing that makes missionaries this sick is Denge Fever, a mosquito born disease.  This was the third case out of our four missionaries serving in Loon this month!  I waited with Elder Beltiar until they got him in his 'room', which was just a wide spot in the hall.

Elder Beltiar

This is Elder Beltiar in his room….He was laid on an army cot that had no blanket, sheet or pillow.  I sent Elder Bell to their apartment to get all of those luxuries.  Notice the rusty IV pole…yikes!  We try really hard to not put missionaries in the hospital as they are fairly substandard.  But Elder Beltiar really needed some fluid in his fevered body!

This is one of the many ferrel cats and dogs that freely wander in and out of the open air hospital!!  I returned the next day and took Elder Beltiar out of the hospital and his faithful kauban (companion) was able to nurse him back to health in the comfort of their own apartment.  He was feeling well enough to come to a zone meeting on friday..Hooray!

I forgot to mention the first event of the week…Sister Tatarata-Maheahea, our sweet Tahitian Sister, had completed her mission and her final wish was to be able, with her kauban and apartment mates, bike all the way from Sagbayan to Tubigon to catch the ferry for Cebu!  Now this is a distance of about 35 miles!  So we agreed they could if they would let us follow behind in the multi-cab.  They had a great time and made it in just about an hour! (It is down hill all of the way)

Sisters Tatarata-Maheahea, Cook, Ross, & Monteras after their bike ride to the ferry!  We love our Sagbayan Sisters!

Tuesday was district meeting and the nerve-wracking day that the transfer list comes out!!!  It is always with mixed emotions the missionaries get the news of who stays and who goes, who trains, who gets new callings, and who gets to stay here with us here in our beloved Sagbayan!

These are the sad faces of the missionaries that must leave us…at least for a season. 

These are the sad faces of the missionaries that must leave us…at least for a season.  We are so happy when they get assigned back with us but it is always hard to say goodbye!  Sister Tagi, on the back row, takes the prize for the saddest face!  We will miss them all but know they are needed elsewhere and the wonderful thing is that they go and do whatever, wherever they are assigned.  We love our missionaries!

One other event that really makes it to the top of the list this week is the birth of our new grandson, Zealand Luca Bell.  He is the first born of Jason and Aly and was born healthy.  We are over joyed at his safe arrival and are anxious to meet him in person one day…..it is hard to wait to do that.  But I will try and stay focused.  Every picture I see of him I can just stare at longingly.  He is sooooo cute!

Zealand Luca!  He is so cute. We are in love!

Well the rest of our week was really amazing but I am going to let Elder Bell tell those tales.  But I will end with this…..last night in our seminary class, we talked about the great atoning sacrifice of our Savior.  It was a remarkable experience to share with these teenagers that had studied and pondered these lessons during the week of home-study.  We watched a powerful movie depicting the final hours of the life of Jesus Christ.  It was hard to watch and I prayed fervently that I might express my feelings to the kids after the movie.  I had one of those rare moments where the spirit spoke to me so powerfully, guiding my every word and thought.  As I shared my thoughts and feelings with these people I love so dearly, I could see in their faces that they too felt the Spirit testifying to them that the things they had seen and heard were true.  Not a dry eye in the room and I know they are beginning to understand, as am I, that this one singular event is the most important thing to ever happen in this world and that Jesus Christ suffered and died for each of us as individuals.  He knows our pains, sorrows, loneliness, inadequacies and fears.  He and He alone can carry us and help us return to live with our Father one day.  What a glorious thing to know!  What glorious hope it bestows on us as we journey through mortal life.  

I love you all so much.  Please try and find joy in your journey this week!  And don't forget to write…we love hearing from home!

Love you forever, 

Sister Bell (Mamala)

AYO, AYO Elder Bell calling!

Well this week has been so full of wonderful experiences and events I have hard time realizing this is just a week of events and not a month! 

First I will start with the Boy Scout Jamboree that was held in our back yard.  There were scouts that came form all over the Island of Bohol and camped at the school that is in our back yard.  It was amazing to see them with all their tents and activities that lasted for 3 days.  And those scouts are early risers!  The amplified music started sharply at 5:00 AM each morning!

Picture of their tents. We were so busy we did not get pictures of their opening ceremony.

Next is our temple trip to Cebu. We had the privilege of escorting 2 sister missionaries that received their calls to enter the MTC in September.  Our dear Sister Sefuentes is going to Quezon City and Sister  Cerbas is going to Berlin, Germany!  I wonder if she isn't the first Filipina missionary ever sent to Germany?!   They took out their endowments and Sister Bell and Sister Magsayo escorted both of them through the temple.

Sisters Magsayo, Cerbas, and Sefuentes

On the same trip we also escorted the Gambe Family from Sagbayan and the Pinero family from Ubay as they were married and sealed as families for time and all eternity. We have had the opportunity to work closely with both of these families.  The father of  the Gambe family was baptized in July 2015 one month before we started our mission in Bohol.  Brother Gambe is the second councilor in the Branch Presidency of the Sagbayan Branch.  The Gambe children are members of our seminary class.  This wonderful family has been part of the back bone of creating this Sagbayan Branch.

The Gambe Family in front of the Temple

Julius (15), Sister Gambe, Bro Gambe, Jesabelle (17), Joshua (13)

In the sealing everyone held it together pretty good until the children came in the room. When Sister Jesabelle put her hand on her parents hands to be sealed she was overcome with joy and everyone in the room did not have a dry eye.  It was amazing to witness the sealing of their family for time and all eternity.  The sisters leaving on their missions were present and they were able to get a large taste of what missionary work is all about.  It does not get better than that.

The Pinero family were also sealed.  They were taught the gospel by two of the Sisters that trained us when we came to Bohol (Sister Perez, and Sister Lappay). We worked with them in Ubay and had some great experiences with their family.

Jeryann, Paulo, Bro Pinero, Charles, Sister Pinero, Lesliann

The Pinero family was the first to be sealed and when the children came in the room they looked and felt like angles.  Paulo is handicapped and has a very special spirit about him always.  The missionaries told us about all of the bamboo banks the children have for saving for theirs future missions.

It was a fantastic experience to share these special moments with so many.  If the meeting we will have in heaven looks or feels like this…..I surely want to part of it. My cup runneth over with joy for these special people.

Well on top of all this we had our first 'Linger Longer' with the Sagbayan Branch after church today. We had to explain in detail what it means to Linger. That was a word they had never heard.  So I finally told them that it means, 'to hang out'!  Then they got the picture.  Everyone brought a dish and we had a fantastic time as the entire Sagbayan family enjoyed lunch together.  Sister Bell made some of her homemade bread and a great vegetable dish to go with rice.  Tatay Viodor sent some of his famous fish I love and many others brought many great Filipino dishes I have grown to love.  A great time was had by all as they all celebrate the success of each other.

The first Linger Longer of the Sagbayan Branch

Well it's time for me to wrap up for this week.  It is hard to express to you the great joy we feel with our newest grandson being born on top of such a marvelous week with so many people we love.  

I know this is the work of the Lord and we are honored to part of it.

Nahi Gugma Ko Kanimo!

Elder Bell (Papala) 

This is what it is all about folks!  

Philippine pioneer!

Maayong Buntag Brothers & Sister

Hello again from the other side of heaven. Weeks are rolling by fast now and much is always happening in paradise.

We help one of the Sisters in Calape Branch move this week.  Her home was destroyed in the earthquake 3 years ago and she has been living in a make shift tent with her sister for all this time.  She had 2 small homes built next to each other. One by LDS charities and one by habitat for humanity.

A shot of the 2 homes 3 years in the making.

Their are always snacks or a meal after every project in the Philippine culture.  They are preparing some pork bihon for the meal after the work.

Second, I need to show you a perfect shot from one of the most beautiful places on the earth... Bohol.

 A perfect sunset on the Bridge near Loon

Now off to the other side of the Island in Ubay.  You would guess we attended another baptism in Ubay on friday morning. These are two ladies we had the privilege of working with before me moved to Sagbayan.

Elder Talan, Mary Grace, Mary Ann, Elder Singsam

We have had the privilege of working with Elder Singsam in his last three areas.  Last week we told you Elder Talan's story.  This is way he spent his last day in the mission field before going home.

Another beautiful Ubay ocean baptism.

Next is the Sagbayan Olympics that were held on the school that is in our back yard.  There were schools from all over the island come to compete.  There was a parade that started about 6:30 on Saturday and hundreds or kids marched past sa among balay(our home). They had bands, flag twirlers, runners, volleyball, baskets ball and every other sport you can dream of marching in the parade. It was great to see so many children involved in such good, wholesome activities.  Some of our special  kids from Sagbayan Branch won some metals and participated with their whole heart.

A shot from our back window of the opening ceremony.

Well there is never a dull moment when you are living a dream.  And that is what it seems like.  We are so blessed to know and work with some many wonderful people sa kalibutan (in this world). My cup runneth over from all the beautiful things and people we have in our life.  Our family is the greatest family we could ever ask for and the people are the greatest people we could ever meet.

I know that God lives and that His Son does also. I know the work we are engaged in is the work of the Lord to prepare his children for the second coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  May we all stand worthy at the last day to meet him.

Nahi Gugma ako sa mga Pamilya & Amigos

Elder Bell (Tatay, LoLo and Amigo) 

Ayo Family and Friends,

Well, Elder Bell left me to talk about Primary!  We were able to participate in a district Primary 135th Anniversary Celebration Saturday.  We rounded up our Sagbayan kids and some of our new leaders and made the trek down the mountain to the activity in Calape. 

This is me with my crew!  Man I love these kids!

So part of the social was each branch presenting something…a song or dance.  We all sang "Ako Anak sa Dios" (I am a Child of God) and Scripture Power!  These kids love to sing!  And they love to go any place we take them in the multi-cab.  They don't travel much and so it is like a field trip to get to leave Sagbayan.

Today in church our new primary president taught her first lesson ever.  Now remember she has only been a member for a few weeks.  I can not tell you how proud I was of her.  She is a natural teacher.  She had visual aids prepared and taught the lesson in Cebuano out of the English lesson manual.  She lost track of time and the lesson lasted for 75 minutes but she had the kids completely involved that entire time.  It is so fun to watch these new members grow!!!

Sister Zita teaching primary for the very first time!

This is another picture from church today.  I sat next to nine year-old Mel and his Lola (gramma), Conchita. 

This is another picture from church today.  I sat next to nine year-old Mel and his Lola (gramma), Conchita.  Mel is a really good English reader because last year he read the English Book of Mormon all by himself right after he was baptized.  I noticed today that every time we sang he would find the song and point to the words so his Lola could follow along.  It was so sweet to watch.  

This is the last story I want to share with you today…..

President Rae

This is President Rae.  He is a councilor in the district presidency.  We had the opportunity to give him a ride home today from Tagbilaran to Talibon and so for the first time since we arrived we got to hear his story.  My goodness what a faith promoting story it is!  Before President Rae joined the church at 29 he was really searching for something.  So he became a student of the Bible and through his studies he learned that if he wanted spiritual answers he needed to fast and pray.  So, for three years he fasted three times every week and prayed to know if Jesus Christ was really his Redeemer and Savior.  One day he received his answer and it was an overpowering burning of truth in his bosom.  Sometime later he had a friend tell him one day that he had become a member of 'The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints'.  He said the moment his friend said the name of the church he again had that deep burning in his bosom and knew he had found the true church.  So he attended church and met the missionaries.  They came the next morning to teach him and when they asked when they could come back he said tonight.  When they asked that night when they could come back he said in the morning.  The rule back then was that investigators had to attend church twice before the could be baptized (now it is four times) and so by the next Sunday he had received all of the lessons and was baptized that day after church!  

This man told us some very sacred and personal stories on our trip home today and I asked him if he had written his story.  He has not but he really should he is a pioneer of the church in the Philippines.  After his baptism he moved to Bohol.  He lived in Talibon but the closest branch of the church was in Inabanga about 30 miles away.  So for ten years he made the trip to Inabanga twice each week.  One week he did not have money to buy gasoline for his motor-trike but because of his dedication to his God he decided he would have to walk to church….and he did!  It took him 9 hours! I ask myself, would I have done that?  Would you have done that?  Where do I stand on the dedication scale?  I am afraid not with President Rae!  What an inspiring story.  The sacrifices these people have made to become the pioneering members of the church here in the Philippines is nothing short of miraculous.  They are truly a choice people.  I have grown to love them so much.  I love how the trappings of the world have not quite invaded their lives yet.  I love how they live such humble yet happy lives.  I love how they are so pure that the spirit can work unreserved in them and they recognize the Spirit for what it is…the Lord guiding them back to Him.  I have learned so much from these beloved people.  How lucky I feel to have this opportunity.

I must close for now.  Please know that you are so loved and so missed.  Be happy!

Love you forever,

Sister Bell (Nanay, Lola, Amigo)

Apartment Checks!

Dear Family and Friends,

I suppose I should start with the reason we are so delayed in getting to the blog this week.  Yesterday, as soon as we could get away after church, we headed to the ferry so we could be in Cebu in time for a fireside that was featuring the five young men from the "Hey Joe Show".  That won't mean anything to most of you so let me explain.  We have received language tutoring for the last ten months from a fabulous guy named Sumner Mahaffey.  He is a returned missionary who served in the Cebu Mission a couple of years ago and is currently employed by the MTC in Provo.  His job is to teach old people like us to speak Cebuano.  It is a very difficult job!  Anyway, our tutor is one of the 5 returned missionaries who has become quite famous here in the Philippines by posting videos on You Tube, calling it "The Hey Joe Show".  The Philippinos love these guys and they are here putting on shows before live audiences all over the Philippines.  Well, Sunday night they did a fireside in Cebu for the youth of several stakes.  So, we went over to Cebu to meet Sumner in person at the fireside.

Sumner and his beautiful wife we finally got to meet in person!

(He says we are his star students, but if that is the case they really should pay him more!)

Well, I did not know it at the time we planned our trip to Cebu, but the Sisters in Cebu had planned an activity for this morning and so I crashed the party.  It was pretty fun to see some Sisters that had served here and we grew to love them.

This is Sister Huxtable and Sister Broughton who had served in Loon for a few transfers.  So good to see them.

This is Sister Macadangdang who served in Clarin for a long time.

This is Sister Macadangdang who served in Clarin for a long time.  We grow to love our missionaries so much.  It is so fun to see them again and even more fun when they get transferred back to us!

Last week was once again Apartment Check Week!  But in the meantime we had moved to Sagbayan and so our little 3 day circle Bohol plan that we had used the last few times did not lay out the same.  So this week was lots and lots of driving and we realized that we really do need help.  We were barely handling it before the branch presidency call, and now we really need help.  So we hatched a plan and presented it to President Maughan, who gave his stamp of approval.  And then we presented it to President Galotera from the Tagbilaran Stake and he gave his stamp of approval so we now have some excellent new help.  We have asked our friends Bill and Emma Smalley to be a surrogate senior couple on the other side of Bohol.  So now they can do apartment checks, help with medical emergencies, repairs and other such things.  So one day this week we took them with us to teach them what it is we want them to do to help us and we were able to spend a whole day with them.

The very next day we were at the Smalley's home sharing a delicious lunch with them and Bill started telling us about how he once owned gold mines in Brazil.  He would spend 6 months of the year down in Brazil working his mines.  All of this was quite interesting but then he said that on two occasions he nearly was killed in his crazy adventures…."like the time I was nearly killed by an Anaconda", he says with kind of a 'happens every day' tone in his voice!  I said, "Wait! Did you say you were nearly killed by an Anaconda?"  He laughed and shrugged and said that it was his own fault really because as he went to step out of the dug-out canoe they were in, he tipped the canoe over and he stepped on the snake who promptly began to wrap him in coils.  He went on to tell that he luckily had 3 other men with him and so his brother-in-law stabbed the Anaconda in the head with a knife and held it in place while the other two got the snake uncoiled.  I am pretty speechless at this point and I was not sure I really believed the story.  So, Bill leaves the room for a minute and comes back with the proof…….

The tanned hide of the Anaconda that tried to kill him deep in the Amazon Jungle back in the 1970's.  

Bill is a national treasure!  You really have to meet him to believe a guy like him really exists.  He has stories that never end and he and Emma are the most welcoming hosts you could ever hope to have.  We are standing in the kitchen of the beautiful home that they have built together.  It is not a typical Filipino home at all.  Bill is a fine craftsman and has planed every single piece of wood that has gone in to this home.  Anyway, these are our new 'surrogate senior couple'.  We are so thankful to have them!

Well, I am telling all the good stories tonight, so I had bettered let Elder Bell finish up.  But, before I go I want to say one more thing.  It is a remarkable experience to watch my husband be the branch president of this Sagbayan Branch.  When you serve among the people from the interior of the island they understand very little English.  I was sitting in Sacrament Meeting yesterday, watching President Elder Bell (as he is lovingly called), conduct this meeting.  He was doing the very best he could in Cebuano/English, and I thought about how proud I am of him.  If it were me, I would be so nervous that I am not sure I could function.  But, Elder Bell, just places his trust in the Lord and knows, without hesitation, that the Lord will qualify him because He called him.  And you know what,  He does.  It is a powerful lesson for me and I share it with you.  The Lord qualifies whom He calls!  So trust the promise and willingly serve where you are called.  The Lord will use all whom will willingly serve to build up His kingdom in these latter days.

I sure love you all so much.  I really miss you but I am happily doing all I can to serve with all of my heart these last 12 months!

Love you forever,

Sister Bell (Nanay, Lola, Amigo)

Maayong Buntag Pamilya & Amigos

Well I am going to show you some of the activities we are involved in every week.  The first is bikes.  We have 20 Elders and 6 Sister on the Island of Bohol that ride bikes.  Some of the areas are rather flat with a few small hills and the missionaries ride about 25 to 40 miles a day on their bikes.  Some other areas are in the bukid (mountains) and they ride 25 to 40 miles a day.  The bikes we have are not the best quality and mountain trails are very hard on the bikes.  Therefore we always have broken down bikes that are in the repair shop. Presently we have 4 extra bikes so we can drop a fixed bike off and trade the missionary and then take the broken one to the repair shop.  By the time those bikes are repaired we have 4 more broken bikes to trade them, and the cycle goes on and on and on!  We spend a lot of time transporting bikes!

Trading repaired bikes for broken bikes.

Next, Self Reliance training.  The perpetual education fund of the church is used to help members in developing countries like the Philippines upgrade theirs skills to obtain better jobs, knowledge to start a small business and improve education.  We are going to start a Self Reliance program in Sagbayan in the near future.  We attended at training seminar in Calape this week to get the foundation skills to start the program.

 Mary Ann Balen the animated amazing Self Reliance specialist for Cebu

During apartment checks this week we came across these 4 elders that had learned to make their own ties by hand.  I think they did a great job.  Let me know what you think.

Four matching ties on Elders Ludbey, Lang, Martin, & Fangon of Carmen

They were pretty proud of themselves!

Also we saw some great sights while traveling the beautiful Island of Bohol and I will include few photos.

 Normally the seas here are as calm as a mountain lake but not this month.

Nepa Huts in various stages of decay being taken over by the lush jungle.

Another Nindot shot from the other side of heaven.

Well I will wrap it up for this week.  It is amazing to be in this beautiful place sa kalibutan ( of the world) and work with these amazingly humble and good people.  Serving in the Philippines is not the easiest place in the world to serve but the reward out weigh the sacrifice.

I was able to stand in setting apart this week of the Primary Presidency in our Branch.  Brother Gambe is my second councilor and he set apart his wife as first councilor to the Primary President.  That does not seem like much to you but this is the first time he has blessed anyone and with help from my first councilor he set apart his wife.  It was so sweet to be able to teach this humble man how to magnify his new priesthood calling. The tender mercies of the Lord are everywhere working with these humble people. 

I Love the Lord and I Love His work.

May God bless you with the righteous desires of your heart.

Elder Bell  (Tatay, LoLo and Amigo)

Transfer!

Dear Family and Friends,

Well, we did not think it would happen in our whole mission but it has…we got transferred.  I know we showed you the pictures of the apartment we found in Sagbayan last week and beyond all expectation we have been able to get the rent check and contract signed in an unprecedented 5 days!!! The wheels of the mission finance department general turn much slower than that so we have been amazed to be able to get moved in less than one week.  We have never found a new apartment and gotten missionaries in to it in less than 5 weeks much less 5 days!  I am pretty sure the Lord really wants us to be in Sagbayan.  We are there and today had our first real 3-hour block of church meetings.  I guess it went okay but when the missionaries had announced a fireside immediately following the meetings…absolutely NO ONE stayed for it.  They were pretty done after 3 hours of church because up until today we have only been having a 2-hour block. All good things will take time I guess.  President Elder Bell, as he is so lovingly called, extended numerous calling this week and he was so pleased when all of them accepted the call issued to them.  So now we have a Young Women's President that has been a member for about a month.  Same goes for the Primary President and almost all of the other callings.  But, the members are eager to do their best and let us train them the best we can.  It is going to be amazing!

In between all the moving this week we had a lot of other things to do also.  It was a week of missionary comings and goings.  The district will call on us to help them when they have missionaries coming home to Bohol or leaving Bohol for missions.

This is Sister Perla.  We had the privilege of taking her to the Tagbilaran Airport as she left to serve her mission in Quezon City.  We have worked with her on several occasions since we have been here and we know that she will make a great missionary.

This is Sister Shajhin Sefuentes and we had the honor of delivering her mission call to her and watching her open it!  She is going to be serving in the Quezon City Mission also!  We have worked with her a lot.  She actually served here in Calape for four weeks when a sister had to go home for health reasons.  She lived right next door to us for those four weeks and she is going to be a remarkable missionary! We really love doing things like this.  It is the frosting on the cake for us!

I also have to share a story of one of our elders that will be heading home in just a couple of weeks after faithfully serving his mission.

This is Elder Talan.  I asked him to share his story with us yesterday while we were waiting for a baptism to start.  My goodness!  What a story he told!  He comes from a family that are Jehovah Witnesses, his parents and all six of his siblings.  When he was about 14 years old he had friends that were members of the church and were always trying to teach him about the gospel.  Well one day he heard the story of Joseph Smith, who as a 14 year old boy, went to a grove of trees and prayed to know which church to join.  He reasoned that he was a 14 year old boy and he too wanted to know which church to join and so he followed the same course.  He got his answer and against his parents wishes joined the church.  As he approached the age of 18 and wanted to serve a mission, his parents told him that if he left on a mission he would not have a home when he returned.  But he really wanted to go so he filled out his papers but when the time came to submit them he just couldn't do it because he really did not want to lose his family.  Months later he again felt compelled to serve and again filled out the papers and again ripped them up.  Finally he had such an overwhelming desire to serve he fasted and prayed that his family would have their hearts softened and on the third attempt, acting on faith, he submitted his papers.  His family held firm that they would disown him but he stayed on course and was determined to serve.  The night before he was to leave for Manila MTC he asked his bishop to go with him to say goodbye to his family, knowing it would be the last time he would be able to see them. He said he was touched by the fact that his mom cried when he hugged her goodbye but he walked out the door and the next morning left for his mission.

He has received two letters from his family while he has served for two years and over that time miraculously his fathers heart has been softened.  He will in fact be able to go home to his family and knows that truly miracles happen when you follow the Lord in faith.

We just loved his story.  We hear stories like this all of the time from these humble missionaries and each time we wonder, would we have been so brave, so faithful if it had been us having to make those kinds of decisions?  Our young missionaries are amazing!  Young people all over the world make these kinds of decisions.  You can not help feeling like you are in the presence of greatness when you walk and work among them.

We also had a lot of other really busy things to do this week besides move.  For instance…this is how our Saturday played out….We got up at 4:30 AM so that we could make it to a baptism in Ubay which is at the very northern end of our island, by 7:00.

This is the baptism of JanePaul Canebano Bual, who is nine years old.  He is being baptized by Elder Emfield.  And then we raced back to Calape to attend the funeral of our District President's father who had passed away Tuesday morning.  He was older and quite frail but sadly he died while his wife was in Cebu attending the annual district temple trip.

After the funeral we raced back to Sagbayan so that we could teach seminary at 4:00.  By the time the day ended and we had finally prepared everything we needed for church today we were really ready for bed.  There are days in the mission that you just feel the hand of the Lord sustaining you so that you can do all that you are called upon to do.  We are so thankful for 'His Hand', otherwise we could not do it!

We are so excited for this coming year and the opportunity to help Sagbayan Branch grow.  We are busy, busy, busy but we sure love hearing from home.  Your letters are like the best treat of our week.  Even though we are so busy and so happy serving here…we still miss you and love to hear all about your week too.  We are supposed to get internet in our new apartment tomorrow so hopefully we can actually receive emails if you send them.

Before we sign off we will just share a couple of pictures from our travels this week that are just sights you usually don't see in the states….

We have often wondered if anyone ever falls off the back of these trikes.  This lady solved the worry by tying herself on to the trike with her scarf.  She was pretty sound asleep and her husband kept turning around to make sure the scarf was tied tight enough to keep her from falling off.  Only in the Peens!

And this…..

Look at the concentration on that face!  That is some serious coloring.  This little girl is new in our primary, today being only the second time she has attended and she really took that coloring seriously!  Oh my gosh…the kids here are soooooo cute!!!

Well my loved ones, that is going to wrap up this week for us.  We sure love you and thank you for your love and support.  In the interest of time…I am speaking for the both of us this week.

Love you forever,

Elder and Sister Bell (Papalo and Mamala)