The Truth Goes Marching On

Maayong Gabii Pamilya & Amigo's

Malipayon Ko para sa miagin simana (I am grateful for this past week). This is a great time in our mission.  We are actually able to see many people come from a first contact with the gospel to preforming as leaders and teachers, helping others to find their way to the truth.

Well to start off we attended a Missionary World Wide Training Seminar that implemented new guide lines and policies for the young missionaries.  The Apostles and other church leaders trained them in their duties and also gave them much more flexibility in the daily schedule.  Allowing much more flexibility to adapt to conditions in the culture they work in. It was great to be uplifted with the missionaries and see them rise to all challenges they are faced with.

Calape Zone Missionaries 

On great message I received foro the training was the charge that missionaries are call to find, teach, baptize and establish the church.  The young missionaries are great at the first 3 in this charge but have a harder time completing the 4th. In many cases the training they receive on their mission helps them to establish the church in their home land.  They return as great leader and teachers and bless the lives of their families and church units they serve in for many years to come.

Being a mission couple, we work mainly in the part to 'establish the church'.  Missionaries are great gathers and mission couples are great retainers.  This is why the need is so great for more mission couples to serve and help to establish the church among the new members and converts.

So on Saturday night after seminary the youth held a musical fireside that they all participated in.  It is amazing to see all 20 of them stand and show talents and speak.  It is refreshing to see how pure in heart they really are and willing to share with others the truth they have discovered in their lives.

Marjonilo Viodor (waiting for mission call)

Jamiaca Jandayan (member for 3 months)

Jesabelle Gambe with her talk on talents

It is great to see the youth and adults in the Sagbayan Branch rise to whatever call is given to them regardless of past experience.  They trust in the Lord and the Lord makes them equal to the challenge ahead of them. 

My prayer is that I will always remember the faith and courage they show and use that kind of faith in my life.  Whom the Lord calls the Lord qualifies. May we always remember that.

I love the Lord and I love his work.  My I always be found worthy to participate in it.

Nahigugma ko kanamo (I Love all of You) 

May God Bless You

Elder Bell (Tatay, LoLo and Amigo)

Just for fun this is shot of a delivery truck used to deliver bamboo mats

Ayo!

My week started with a sisters activity for the Calape Zone sister missionaries…..For some reason they love to do yoga with me.  Quite honestly, I love to do yoga with them because Elder Bell does not like to do it with me!  So we had yoga at the church and then wandered over to Sister Shamrell's house and she fed us breakfast!  Shamrell's live in the apartment we used to live in when we lived in Calape so it is really close to the Calape church.

Namaste

We also continued our work with Family History this week and had the Jandayan's over to start on their search.  It is pretty fun to do family history here as all of these people are first generation members and so there has been no work done on their family lines.  However, it is also very challenging because there is a huge lack of records of any kind kept.  If the family could not afford to register a birth it was not done and so it is hard to find birth dates and death dates.  But, I am sure somehow doors will be opened for the work.

Brother Jandayan and his mother being assisted by our Family History Specialists, Sister Joenalyn and Sister Jovilyn.

On Thursday we were able to attend a meeting for Relief Society Sisters and Young Women in Tagbilaran.  Our area president, President Bowen and his wife, Sister Bonnie Oscarson the General Young Womens President and her husband spoke to us and then were kind enough afterward to shake hands with all of us.  What a great pleasure it was for us to attend.  We had about 25 sisters attend the event.  This was a great showing for Sagbayan as the entire rest of the District had only 31 sisters attend.  Fortunately we were joining the Tagbilaran Stake and so there were a decent amount of sisters present by the end of the meeting.

Getting ready to leave for our women's conference in Tagbilaran

Saturday I was able to teach Sister Jandayan how to make suckers (thank you Heidi Benson) and Pink Popcorn treat.  She is opening a small tindahan (store) in her home and hopes to be able to make enough money to help with the family finances.  Just the smallest business can support a family and so when I was home in November/December, my niece Heidi, taught me all that she knows about sucker making.  I brought that knowledge back here and I am planning to teach a few people how to do it.  I think it is going to be very successful for them.

Sister Jandayan packaging candy with little son, Fidel and daughter, Jamiaca

This is my front yard.  We live in the only two completed apartments in the complex and so we live in a construction site.  With the constant rain the mud is pretty incredible in the front of the house.

One day I heard a commotion outside at about noon.  I stepped out on to the same balcony I had taken this picture from and this is what I saw…..

Chicken fighting is big industry around here.  Each community has a big arena dedicated to the sport and it draws big crowds.  It is also the financial ruin of many families as the men get addicted to the gambling that goes along with the sport.  It is a brutal thing to watch.  You can see they strap razors to the legs of the roosters and they go for the kill.  Apparently the workers were all enjoying a little sport during their noon break. Yikes!!  I live in a den of iniquity!

Well, I will wrap it up for another week.  It is amazing to see the change and growth of our little branch.  Today we had 21 kids in primary!  That is a bit much for our one little classroom.  But, we are all doing well.  With 88 in attendance at church today we are bursting at the seams.  These are all good problems to have.  With growth comes challenges and eventually change.  We are excited to see what the next few months will bring to our growing little branch.

I sure love and miss all of you.  We never forget the sacrifice that our family is making to let us serve this mission.  We remember all of you that are helping with our responsibilities there so that we can serve here.  It truly takes a village to send a senior couple on a mission…..Thank you, thank you!

Love you forever,

Sister Bell (Mamala to all)

Soggy Sheets!

Maayong Buntag Pamilya & Amigo's

So just for the record this week has rained buckets and more buckets of water on an already very soggy landscape.  This year even the locals say Daghang (many) Kosog (strong) Uwan (rain). I feel like the weather is going to be changing now (even though Sister Bell does not agree with me) and the hot season will be ushered in. During the Months of Feb. - May are dry months.  Even if it does dry up it is going to take a few days or weeks to drain and evaporate all this water.  This is a picture of a new small lake in Sagbayan….. it was once the place of a beautiful corn field.

Traditionally a corn field.

Along with the dawn of a new day.  The Sagbayan Branch is beginning to change.  These changes are good and necessary for this be a strong church unit for years to come in the Calape District.

We organized home teaching this week and next week we will organize visiting teaching.  We accomplished this by organizing into neighborhood groups that can be visited easily by foot. Because of the closeness of the branch, this is just organizing in most cases what is already happening.  We followed examples put forth in the last General Priesthood meeting in October General Conference and decided we needed to adapt to the needs and means of our people.  We will see if it works here in Sagbayan.

Also, with us leaving for 4 weeks at the end of 2016,  the members have stepped and are starting to administer programs of the church without constant attention by us.

Today as I visited the Young Women's, Priesthood and Relief Society I could see all these units working very well and being administered by local leaders.  It made my heart glad to see more priesthood brethren in class than we had in the entire group with all members 1 1/2 years ago.  Sister Bell said the Primary also went very well with Primary President becoming much more efficient in her calling.

It is great to see the hand of the Lord move in an area and have the opportunity to be part of that growth and movement.  The Lord truly is in charge and we are His hands that help move His work along.

On Saturday night we had Family Home Evening at our house with the youth.  It was great to see how they organized the lesson by asking each one of the youth to share their favorite scripture verse and tell a few word concerning what it meant to them. Each one of the youth from 12 up to 18 easily found and shared great insight into the meaning of the Holy Scriptures in their lives.  They also have so much fun with such simple things and games.  They surely are pure in heart.

Youth finding their scripture to share

The fun of the games

The Youth of Sagbayan

Well I am going to turn this show over to Sister Bell.  There are many more things to talk about and she does such a great job of doing that.

I Love the Lord and I Love His work.

Nindot Kaayo ang Sunset sa Bohol

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

Elder Bell (Tatay, LoLo and Amigo)

Ayo Family and Friends!

Well, let me tell you all about the anniversary get away and the snorkeling that did not ever happen…. we were staying in our favorite little resort out on Pangangan Island, Isla Hayahay, on Sunday night and planning to go snorkeling the next morning when I last wrote you.  We were awakened in the night with the most terrific thunder I have ever heard in my life.  It went on and on throughout the entire night with rain that has to be experienced to be believed (I think Jason can relate to this).  It rained torrential rain for 18 straight hours!  It rained so much the edge of the infinity pool was a waterfall .  Most buildings here are metal roofed without the sound dampening barrier of insulation and so the rain was deafening.  We woke up to no power as lightening had hit a transformer near by.  Needless to say, there was no snorkeling last Monday!!!  However, we had a wonderful day.  Sometimes when weather forces you to stay put, it allows you to relax in a way that we seldom choose to relax.  We sat on our cozy porch and watched it rain all day.  It was actually a very nice day and we thoroughly enjoyed it.  We will take you there when you come to visit!  You will love it!

These are the cozy little bungalows at the Isla Hayahay

I tried to capture in a picture the rain….does not do it justice without the thundering sound!

It rained all week until Friday afternoon.  Hence the title, Soggy Sheets.  Let me explain a real third-world problem.  I am one of the lucky few who actually has a washing machine to clean my clothes.  None of our missionaries and few of the residents own one.  But, no one owns a clothes dryer.  So, if I get up and wash my sheets first thing in the morning and then hang them to dry with a fan blowing on them, I can have clean, dry sheets by bedtime.  However, with all of the rain the ambient humidity in my house is really high and so this week after I had been gone all day, expecting to have dry sheets when I got home, I still had soggy sheets at bedtime!!  I put them on the bed and crawled in……I just couldn't do it.  I climbed back out and grabbed my little blow dryer I use for my hair.  In about 20 minutes I had at least warm, damp sheets so I climbed in and went to sleep!  Real third-world problems!

We also spent a day this week with our some of our favorite people….the Smalley's!  We took the Shamrell's over to meet them and of course they fed us a fabulous dinner and topped it off with Bill's famous Apple Pie (with ice-cream on top)!  Always worth the trip to visit the Smalley's!

Bill, Elder & Sister Shamrell, Elder Bell, and Emma

I love these people…

Today I took a few of the sisters from the branch down to Tubigon to visit one of our sisters who is in the Hospital.  Sister Analie has been sick with a urinary tract infection that got very bad and so she was hospitalized.  They would not let all 8 of us in to visit her so we snuck around to her window to visit….

Here we are sneaking a peek through the window of the hospital!

Sister Analie came over to the window to say hi…..notice the arm of her sister holding the IV bag so she could get to us!  Pray for Sister Analie, please!

Well, that does it for this week.  There are so many days that just seem ordinary to us now but when we stop to think about it….every thing we have the chance to do in a week is pretty darn cool.  We are super busy realizing our weeks are numbered and feeling like we still have lots to do!  

We are happy and healthy.  Living the dream as my husband is so fond of chanting!

Hope you are also well and happy.  We would love to hear from you.

Love you forever,

Sister Bell (mamala to one and all!)

Tug-O-War

Happy Sabbath Friends and Family!

We are posting a little bit early today as we are leaving soon to celebrate our Anniversary!  I have been lucky enough to married to this great guy for 19 years now!  My goal is to live to see 25….we got a late start on this.

Have you ever had the experience of teaching or speaking when you are just so thankful that you listened to the direction of the Spirit?  That happened to me yesterday in Seminary.  I was preparing a lesson from Galatians 5 where Paul is teaching about the 'temptations of the world' vs 'fruits of the Spirit'.  So many lessons lose meaning in the translation for my Filipino students.  I woke up one morning and knew exactly how I needed to teach this lesson.  I had the kids read verses 19-23 and made sure they all understood the definition of the temptations and spiritual gifts spoken of in those verses.  I then assigned a character trait or two to each kid and they obviously belonged to the good guys or the bad guys.  So they all lined up on a rope with Elder/President Bell holding the rope in the center and as I described some hypothetical scenarios of a day in the life of a teenager, they had to decide which team was winning at that moment in time…..a little tug-o-war, if you will.  They got so in to this little demonstration that soon Elder Bell had to start helping the Fruits of the Spirit team pull as the Temptations of the world was really over-powering them.  It all dissolved in to a heap when everyone started getting rope burns on their palms!

The lesson could not have been more impactful as I explained that such is life….The temptations of the world never go away and they are powerful and they will win unless you do something everyday to strengthen those spiritual gifts!  I said a grateful little prayer last night to the one who orchestrated all of this!!

Our spiritual Tug-O-War!

Also, last night (after the tug-o-war), President Galotera, the director of Seminary and Institutes here on Bohol, showed up to our seminary class.  He was blown away by the shear number of students we have.  Most branches have 1-5 kids in seminary.  We have 19 kids that come most weeks!!  Sagbayan is a special place.  I have said it before and I will say it again…Sagbayan youth are remarkable!!!

On Friday night we had our long overdue seminary mid-term party!!  It was suppose to happen the week we left for Utah and has taken us a few weeks to fit in to our schedule.  Anyway, all of the kids gathered at our apartment after school on Friday (school ends at 5:00) for dinner and movie night!  It was so fun.  Our apartment is very tiny but that matters not to Filipinos…..they just make room for everyone.  They are not too impressed with my American ways of cooking but they really liked the dessert.  The fun part was watching them watch Despicable Me!  It turns out when the minions speak there is no language barrier.  They understood perfectly well the plot of the movie.  Then they talked me in to a second movie and so they all got home pretty late and I thought their parents would be a little upset but they all assured me the next day that no one was worried because they knew they were with the 'couples missionaries' (that is how they always refer to us).

Sagbayan Youth in our apartment for movie night!

They loved movie night…..we may have to make it a more frequent event!

Saturday morning we also had a CSP (community service project) which Elder Bell could not attend as he had Branch Presidents meeting in Calape.  So it was left to me to be the transportation chief yesterday.  The project was to install a toilet for a family that has never actually had one.

Building a comfort room

The needs of some of our members are so basic.  They of course have no indoor plumbing so it is a little outhouse for them and they could not be happier!  It makes me wonder when we as Americans became so caught up in the world?……Most of us can not be content with a single full service bathroom in a house, right?  This is a toilet that will require a bucket of water to flush it and that bucket will have to be hauled from a well.  But this little family of 5 could not be happier.

The cute Ocabat kids…recipients of said toilet!

Brother Ocabat making lunch

I was moved to tears when I saw Brother Ocabat plucking a chicken to make the work crew lunch.  This is a chicken I am sure they could not afford to feed us and yet…..they did.  They gave us their all in gratitude for the new CR (comfort room)!  These people are so giving.  They teach us each day by their gracious and generous giving.  We are so blessed to know them.  We have learned so much about true Christ-like charity from our wonderful Sagbayan Saints!

Well, I will turn you over to Elder Bell for his side of this weeks story.  I love you!  I miss you!  We are working hard every minute of every day (except tomorrow when we go snorkeling for our anniversary) to finish the work we have been sent here to do.  We appreciate your love, support and prayers!

Love you forever,

Sister Bell (Mamala to all)

Malipay Domingo ta sa karon adlaw.

A week full of fun excitement, muddy trails and roads and many spiritual experiences and lessons. We are not that far from the end of our mission so we are trying to make every week count.

I will start off with the youth activity after seminary sa Sabado (Saturday).  So the youth decided to go and all do missionary work together.  So I loaded all the youth in the Multi Cab along with the Sister Missionaries.  First stop was Sister Apple's home (newly baptized youth member).  Her mother is inactive having joined the church while she was teenager.  So, the whole group showed up and we told them they did not need to feed us or entertain in anyway and we just started singing (Families Can Be Together Forever).  After we completed the song the Sisters told Apple's mother that they loved her and just wanted to bring some cheer to the family.  She then cried and told us her story and how the church had helped her when she was young. We wished her well and went on to the next house to repeat the song of cheer.  All parties that we visited were very appreciative of the youth and the sweet sprit they brought with them.

So today Apple's mother showed up at church and attended all the classes.  She seemed very touched and felt the spirit she felt when she was a young girl. (I attempted to take some pictures and light would not permit.) 

We are also starting the family search program to prepare names to take on our adult temple trip planned for Feb. 16-18.  Sister Shamrell came to Sagbayan and assisted in training Sister Jovilyn and Joenalyn it starting their family tree.

Jovilyn, Joenalyn, Sister Shamrell

This week we will start with family groups and help them prepare family names for the Temple Trip.

We also assisted Claudius in completing dental and medical requirement for his mission papers.  We believe this week he can complete the papers and be ready for interviews to submit to the Mission President.

Claudius patiently waiting for tests at the hospital!

In tracking Marjonilo Viodor's papers, we found that his assignment was made this last week and we are waiting for the call to come.  Sometimes it could take 2-3 weeks in the Peens.

Rice farmers plowing and leveling the fields to plant rice.

Well I will close for today.  The work of the Lord is truly amazing and we are blessed to be part of it in these latter days. My prayer is that we can be worth of the many blessing we have and are still receiving.

Umping Mo,

Elder Bell (Tatay, LoLo and Amigo)

Uwan Kanunay (Rain Always)!

Maayong Hapon Pamilya ug mga Amigo!

Well we are here posting in the blog about another week in paradise.  This year we have encounter daghang (many) and kosog (strong) mga uwan (rains). It seem sometimes a though we will float away. But this land is accustom to a lot of rain and handles it quite well.  The only draw back I have experienced is when there is so much rain I can not drive on the grass to turn around. Three or four times this last week I have been stuck on flat ground and wheels spinning on the grass.  In all cases a few locals passing by happily push us out.  These people are so good at helping anyone out whenever they need help.  It is just in their good nature and training to do so.

Well, I am going to start off by telling you a little bit about our sweet Sister Matafeo. We have grown to love her over the last 8 months. We served next to her in Calape for a few months and she has stayed in Calape the whole time we have been in Sagbayan. She is an Island missionary from Samoa. We have many missionaries from the Philippines and quite a few from other islands. They are very delightful missionaries to get to know.  And Sister Matafeo is leaving this next transfer to go home.

Sister Matafeo

We also welcomed our new mission couple this week to the Island of Bohol. Elder and Sister Shamrell are from Portland Oregon.  This is their second mission.  The first mission was also in the Philippines.  We met them Saturday as they came off the ferry.  They will be living in the same Calape apartment we lived in.  We are excited to get to know them as we show them around the beautiful island of Bohol.

Elder & Sister Shamrell

We met with the District Presidency of Calape after meeting the Shamrell's to introduce them.  After we went to lunch with them.  President Nueva is so dedicated to the Lord and the calling he holds.  On Saturday he had to wake up at 3:00 to finish doing farm work so he could spend the time he normally works on his farm at the chapel planning District Conference in February.

President Lorzano, President  Nueva & President Ray

We also met with Sister Joenalyn and Sister Jovilyn this week to start family history in the Sagbayan Branch. We planned to take them to Cebu on Tuesday to meet with the family history couple serving by the Cebu Temple.  Well when we arrived in Tubigon the line to buy tickets was so long we turned  back and canceled for another day.  So we took them to Calape on Friday to do training the the local family history center, only to find out the the internet was not working so we brought them back to our house where the internet works quite well and helped them off to a slow start.  We plan on helping more this week.  These people are so patient and never complain as we do.  They are willing take any amount of time necessary to help the Lord's work along.

Jovilyn & Joenalyn (sisters)

Well, I will wrap this up and turn it over to Sister Bell.

We are so blessed to serve among the humble people who love and serve the Lord with their whole heart. It is great to see so many new people come into the church and receive the blessing the Gospel of Jesus Christ offers them.

Daghang Salamat mo para Inyong nag-ampo para Kanamo. (Thank you all for all your prayers for us) 

Elder Bell (Tatay, LoLo & Amigo)

Rain is falling all around.

On the house tops, on the ground….

We sang that in Primary today.  We are having a cyclone pass over the island this weekend.  That means rain, rain, and more rain.  Fortunately it has not increased in strength and does not have the wind of a nasty typhoon.  We just read a notice on Facebook that school is canceled tomorrow!  They have rain-days here instead of snow-days….who knew?

I just wanted to add my comment about having the Shamrell's arrive yesterday!  We are so thankful for them.  Taking care of this whole island of missionaries and members can be a little overwhelming sometimes.  I feel like we just barely got by with so many things that just slipped under the rug because we could not do all of it.  But, at last the cavalry has arrived!  So thankful!

Baby Lemuel

Speaking of Primary…this is baby Lemuel.  Because we meet in a house for church we have only one room in which to have primary.  We have the senior primary kids, the junior primary kids and the nursery all in this one small room.  Well, today I was the pianist so I sat in the corner on a kids size table with my portable keyboard and Lemuel just kept coming over to help me, as the table is just his height.  He played on my phone and kept turning on the keyboard, as he is very smart and figured out really quickly how to turn it on, and just had a really fun day in Primary.  I am not too sure any of the other kids did…but Lemuel and I bonded!  My goodness, he is a cute boy!

He even smiled for our 'selfie'

The twistable crayons the kids received for Christmas are a big hit with the primary kids! 

Thanks family!

So, every day of the week there is a traveling 'market' that goes to a different municipality each day.  Sunday is market day in Sagbayan.  So our usually wide, clear street gets filled to capacity with tables and tents.  It is so full that we usually can not even park here.  It is noisy and the air fills with the smell of fish.  Usually the vegetables are the freshest at this market…tempting us to shop on Sunday.  Our little classrooms are small and we definitely need the windows open to circulate air so sometimes the noise of the market is pretty hard to block out as our primary room overlooks the street.  There is a little balcony that the kids often wander out on to check out the commotion below.

Sunday Mercado Day

Sagbayan market day as seen from our second story meeting house! 

Seminary is still trudging along!  We have only 8 weeks left of the New Testament.  This is still my favorite calling on the mission.  I just love these kids.  They are so smart and so ready to learn everything they possibly can about the gospel of Jesus Christ.  It is amazing to be their teacher.  They are the future leaders of the church in the Philippines and they will be amazing!

The two girls right in the middle are new members, Apple and Jecelle.  They were baptized while we were in Utah.  They are adorable and fit right in to the crowd! Mmmmm…we love these kids!

Well, family and friends, that is it for this week.  We are still loving what we do but realizing our time is short.  We have lots to do still and hope we can do all we have been sent here to do before we are called home.

We are also very thankful that our daughter, Shannon, had a successful surgery on her spine this past week.  It was an unexpected surgery but went very well and for that we are so thankful. It is hard to be away from your family when you know that they need you.  Thank you to all of you who have helped her and/or prayed for her this week.

I love you forever,

Sister Bell (Mamala to all)

Malipayon Bagong Tuig!

Happy New Year to all

Well this was quite an event filled week. Starting with transfers then a missionary from our Calape District leaving for her mission,  missionary movie night and last of all, blowing up the world with fireworks on New Years Eve.  Along with all the festivities it is a great time for reflection and renewal of ones self and goals not yet accomplished.

Well I will start off with transfers.  So we had five transfers in our district, one was Sister Varias, who was going home at the end of her mission, and two of the the other missionaries from Sagbayan.  The other two were very dear to our hearts also.  Elder Santos was our zone leader and this was our second time serving with him and Sister Delos Reyes who we have served with twice also (the first time was in Calape). All five of these missionaries are just like our own grandchildren.

Elder Minoc, Elder Santos, Sister Delos Reyes and Sister Cook

So Elder Minoc and Sister Cook were our very own Sagbayan Missionaries.  Both of these missionaries worked their hearts out while they served in Sagbayan.  Sister Cook we were especially close to. She served in two other areas close to us and we got to know her very well then. She was one of the first sister missionaries that started riding bicycles. She has nerves of steal and heart of a champion that forge the way for many others sister to ride bicycles.

When Sister Cook was assigned to Sagbayan we were thrilled and she served by our side for six months. Everyone in Sagbayan, member and non-member, knew Sister Cook. She TC'd (testifying contact) everyone.  While serving in Sagbayan she found the Jandayan family and assisted in bring the entire family and many others to the waters of baptism. I bring this up because it ties into my next story that she is totally a part of.

 Sister Cook saying goodbye to the Jandayan Family and Apple in the black shirt

So today, being New Years day, we had great church meetings.  While I was attending priesthood meeting, with 25 new priesthood holders in attendance, I was sparked to remember how much change had occurred in our lives and also the lives of all those members we work with.  Brother Jandayan was teaching the priesthood class and was introducing the concept of home teaching to all the priesthood holders.  In a new Branch we have to introduce new programs one at a time so as to not overwhelm the new members all at once.

So as I was watching him give the lesson I realized that on the 1st of September I did not even know him and he did not know about the church. Since that time he and his family have embraced the gospel of Jesus Christ with their whole hearts. He has taught his family all the lessons in the Gospel Essentials manual and studies the basic priesthood manual (Duties and Blessings of the Priesthood #2).  This manual teaches new member all the basic functions of the priesthood and how to use them in their lives. Also his wife teaches Relief Society.  This family is a dream come true for any missionary and also for a Branch President of a new Branch.  They are truly a gift from God that entered into the church because of diligent, obedient missionaries that brought the blessings of the Lord to their family and to all they will influence.  I would not be surprised to see Brother Jandayan as Branch President or District President some day in the future.

These are just some reflections of the past year:

Organization of the Sagbayan Branch July 31, 2016

Some of the 33 new member baptized in Sagabayan Branch 2016

President & Sister Tanner go home after 3 years of service to Cebu East Mission

Jason and Aly come and visit.

One of many Baptism attended in Ubay

Tharon & Holly Come and visit

Clarke & Luci vist and we build Sister Segovia's chicken coop

We plant rice on Racoma farm

A shot of one most beautiful places in the world

Well this does not even cover 100th part of the experiences this last year.  Needless to say we love the missionaries we serve with and also the members.  It was a great 12 months.

I have learned to be more humble and trust in the Lord completely in my life.  I have really realized that we are just a player in large plan he is directing.  May we always be willing and worthy to be part of that plan.

Nahigugma ko kanato sa kanunay (Love you all always)

Elder Bell (Tatay, LoLo & Amigo)

Malipayong Bagong Tuig! (Happy New Year!)

It was an eventful week!  We spent two days in the Mulitcab and I grew tired of travel really quickly!  The travel days all revolved around transfers.  We did end that two day trip with the Smalley's our great friends from Valencia on the other side of the island.  We always love to spend time with them.  They help us so much with the missionaries over on the far side.

I was really happy to be back at seminary this week!  It is my favorite job and I had missed it for more than a month while we were out of the country.  The youth of Sagbayan are so great and the group is growing so fast.  We had three teenagers baptized while we were gone!  We average about 15 at seminary every Saturday.

New Years celebrations have been going on all weekend.  Saturday it started with a parade outside of our apartment.

Parade for New Years!

This was a 'batch' reunion.  Let me explain….Saturday, all day, they had class reunions at the school behind out apartment.  Each class is called Batch 1986, or Batch 2011, etc, etc.  The school hosts all of the classes for an all-day event.  It started with the parade with the current students in the lead playing their drums, and xylophones (the only instruments in the band) and then the flaggers and such.  Then they were followed by the Batch Mates starting with the oldest graduating class to the most current.

The rest of the day was very loud Videoke.

The view from my second floor of the Batch Reunion at the School

The missionaries all have to be in early (6:00 pm) on New Year's Eve and it is also the day that they are allowed to watch a movie.  So we volunteered to have our district over for the annual movie…Moana!  They brought their own junk food and a good time was had by all.

Inabanga District enjoying the movie in my very tiny living room!

We were able to get to bed last night at a decent hour and slept well until midnight!  Wow!  Do they ever make noise at midnight!  Fireworks blowing up, truck horns honking, drums and pans being pounded.  Whew!!!  We had no idea we would be missing such a party by going to bed early.

Today after church we were invited to share a meal with the Viodor Family. They have shared more meals with us than I can count.  They are always taking in strays and feeding us.  They are the most gracious people we know.

The Viodor Family sharing their New Year's Feast!

Poinsetteas are so beautiful in this tropical land.  They grow as big as trees and they are beautiful this time of year.

People carry the strangest things on their motors!   It always makes me giggle!

Well, that is a wrap for this week.  It was busy but it was good.  We feel the time slipping away from us.  Only seven months left and they already seem to be flying past.  Hopefully we can accomplish all that we need to in the weeks left.

We love you forever,

Sister Bell (Mamala to all)