Good Bye's and New Beginnings

Maayong Gabii Pamilya & Amigo's

It's hard now as new beginnings show so much hope for the future and other great adventures come to an end. One thing you learn very early while serving a mission is that all things change.  That is the only constant thing that happens in life.

Well this week we had transfers.  We lost two great missionaries in Sagbayan, Elder Crowley and Sister Anderson.  They both started their missions in Sagbayan and have been here for quite a while.  It was time for both to leave for their own development and growth, but it is still hard to see the ones you love leave.  But, at the sametime we received two new missionaries that are full of life and ready to start in one of the greatest area's of the Cebu East mission.

Elder Crowley (far left), Sister Anderson (back right side)

We also lost a group of our Tagb Missionaries

The next ending and new beginning comes from Elder (Marjonilo) Viodor. It marks the end of a era for me where I had a very capable and smart young man by my side as my branch clerk. He not only translated for me but taught me a lot about the language while I was teaching him to speak English.  He also offered a great insight into the culture and helped implement many of the programs in the branch. You sure do not realize how much you miss someone until they are gone.

On the other hand Marjonilo's brother, Meljun, was call to be the branch clerk and he did a terrific job today with tithing and will be a great Branch Clerk. Also John Mark and many others have stepped up to help with translation.  This is new beginning for them and also me.  We will do terrific together.

Marjonilo leaving his family

Marjonilo leaving his adopted LoLo & LoLa

(It was hard to hide the tears and we are feeling the loss of having daily contact with him. But we are so proud of his decision to serve.  He is an incredible young man who has helped us in so many ways. I told Aaron that is was almost harder to say goodbye to him than our own kids when they left on missions as we are not sure if or when we will ever get to see him again.)(Sis Bell's editorial comment)

Then one day after Majonilo left, his mother had a healthy baby named Mechila.  We visited her to day in the hospital and everything is going well with this large baby sister.

Mechila with Evangeline, her mother, and sister, Angel

So the next situation occurred while we were retuning from Cebu last night. We receive a call informing us that one of our Sagbayan missionaries (Elder Salazar) had be hit by a motorcycle while riding his bike.  We finally caught up with him at the hospital in Tagbilaran. He was hit from behind by a drunk driver.  After hearing about all the blood and everything we were happy to hear none of it was his.  He came out with no broken bones and just a really sore hip, sprained finger and some bad whiplash (he was wishing that my Chiropractic, Chris, was visiting this week)

But in true Elder Salazar fashion…. he came to church today and in a couple of days will be on the run again up and down the chocolate hills of Sagbayan finding scattered Israel. The Lord sure watches over and protects his missionaries.

Well I am going to leave the rest of the adventures to Sister Bell.  It is wonderful to serve a mission with her and she enriches my life and the lives of so many others.  She is truly amazing.

I love the Lord and I love His work we are engaged in.  May I always be worthy to do so.

Elder Bell  (Tatay, LoLo & Amigo)   

Ayo Family and Friends!

I am really feeing lost tonight!  It was so much fun to have Aaron and Stacy and the boys with us for two weeks.  They just left early Saturday morning and we are missing them so much already!  Look at this….

These are Rowdy and Colt's coloring pages from primary last Sunday.  I found them in the closet at church today and promptly brought them home and put them on the fridge.  It made me feel like a real gramma for just a little while!  

As Elder Bell said, it was transfer week and so the Ellsworth's had to put off some playing for a couple of days to help the missionaries.  In fact, Aaron took my place and helped with transfers on Wednesday and I just stayed home with Stacy and the boys.  We had a nice day off.  The other days we had some fine adventures…..

Pebble Beach with the Ellsworths

 This is Pebble Beach.  It is over on the East side of the Island.  I have always wanted to go play there but never took the time until this week.  It is all smooth pebbles with a healthy mixture of sea glass and shells.  We had a fun time combing the beach.

 The same day we went to Pebble Beach, we had dinner with the Smalley's and the boys loved to hear the story of Bill and the Anaconda…"it was just a baby", says Bill!

The last play day on Bohol we were able to get to Magaso Falls.  It is still a little murky from the rains but it is such a refreshing plunge on a hot, muggy day.  We loved it!

And speaking of plunge…Aaron, the daredevil of the family, took the Plunge at the Danao Adventure Park.  Sadly, videos don't upload on this blog too well, but it really raised my blood pressure just to watch the video of him doing it.  He was strapped to a really long rope (200 plus meters), upside down and then released over a very, very deep canyon.  He just swung back and forth and back and forth until they hauled him back up!  It really takes your breath away to see it!  

Ellsworth's at the edge of the lookout on the Sagbayan road!

John Mark and Colt

Both boys grew very attached to this young man, John Mark.  He was so cute with the boys and they wanted to know if they could take him home with them.  He was their best friend while they were here.  They were so excited when he brought each of them over one of his shirts as a momento of their time together.  So the boys decided to repay the favor and gave him one of their shirts and also emptied their pockets of all their pesos and gave them to him.  He really liked their little gift.

It was hard to send them off.  We have so enjoyed the kids and grands that have come to visit us.  It is incredible to share with them this amazing experience.  I think they go home with a whole new concept of what it is we do with our time each and every day.  I think we wore them out.  We love our family so much and surely appreciate the sacrifice they have made to have us gone for so long.  That being said…the time is quickly fleeting.  We have so much to do and so little time left to accomplish all the things on the list.  But, we will keep chipping away at it.  When all is said and done I think we will be able to say we gave it all we got!

Love you forever,

Sister Bell (Mamala to all)

Family on Overdrive

Maayong Gabii!

Well another fast week in Paradise. I am going to start my post off on Saturday that had a whole weeks worth of adventure packed into one day.

We returned back from Isla HayaHay (that Sister Bell will tell about) picked up the Multi Cab from our self reliance group that were attending a ACE Training meeting to give them further training to help them start a business.

So at 11:00 we were off to a baptism of the remaining members of the Tampon Family and Cleir Lamberang. These baptisms are always special as we see new member enter our branch with new talents that enrich all of our lives.

Perpetou & Deniel Tampon with Elder Salazar & Elder Crowley

Cleir Lamberang with Sister Nacalaban & Sister Anderson

This rounds out the entire Tampon Family and adds another member of the Lamberang Family.

Then it was off to the races to start seminary. Sister Bell will tell you all about seminary so I will not even attempt.

After that we were off to Tubigon for the youth activity night. On the way to Tubigon our trip was temporarily delayed. About a mile out of Sagbayan we happened across a accident that literally happened seconds before we arrived. There was three injured people in a motorcycle accident and two of them were very critical. So we unloaded all the youth on the side of the road and made our Multi Cab into the first response vehicle. After loading the three in we rushed with some of their family members to the Clarin Hospital. We knew it could well be a hour or more before any first response teams would show up.  After helping to unload the patients at the hospital we were off to pick up the youth.  We learned today that the nanay did not make it.  It is sad to see what happens when young people put too much speed behind a motorcycle and go out of control and hit someone.

Then we continued the youth activity in Tubigon. This is just a few great shots of all the fun.

Sister Bell ripping it up on the basketball court.

The Volley Ball Game

Who says you can't have your cake and eat it too?

I will close with a picture of the youth of Sagabyan shouting Hoorah for Israel!

Kitakits unya (see you later)

Elder Bell (Tatay, LoLo & Amigo) 

Ayo Family and Friends!

I love weeks when we are so busy that we do not even know where to start telling you about it.  This has definitely been one of those weeks.  We have enjoyed every minute of time we have been able to spend with Aaron, Stacy, Rowdy and Colt.  They have just been more than willing to be part of every event and activity we had planned this week.  We fit in some sight-seeing and some snorkeling, swimming and other stuff.  There is plenty of fun to be had in the Peens.  

 The Ellsworth's on top of the famous 'Holy Spirit' statue!

I have loved having these two boys here this week.  Can't get enough 'gramma' time with them.

Aaron is really enjoying the Philippines….his favorite part is the driving that requires no adherence to rules of the road or regulation of any kind!

It was surprising how well the little guys did with snorkeling.  Rowdy, who is 9 years old, especially took to it quite naturally. Colt can do it but I would not say that it is his favorite thing…..he does not like all the strange things in the ocean as they scare him.  But he was a champ in the pool!

One of our favorite stops on the 'Island Hopping Tour', was a little fishing village.  We walked through the village and ended at the school.  All of the children saw us 'white folks' and came running out of their classrooms.  They did not dare get too near us but we finally convinced a few of them to stay close enough for a photo with us.  No matter where we go, the people especially like Colt's blond hair!  People in the markets just stop, point and stare.  Luckily Colt is oblivious to the attention he garners wherever he goes…..he is a rockstar and doesn't even know it!

Rowdy and I with our new friends!

We finished up our last Seminary class yesterday.  The book of Revelations talks all about the second coming and warns of the last days.  So we had talked about the statement from Jeffrey R. Holland when he says that the out come of the game has already been decided and we just need to pick which teams jersey we are going to wear.  So as a finally activity, we all got white shirts to signify to which team we belong and then we all signed each others shirt.  This way we can remember our team-mates!

The kids really loved this activity and took great pride in wearing the shirts after we had completed them.

Choose whose jersey you will wear!

Even Rowdy and Colt signed and got their own T-shirts.  They have made a whole bunch of new friends and have had so much fun the first week of their trip.  We are lucky enough to get the Ellsworth's for a whole week more and will keep you posted on the weeks adventures next blog session.  

I am sad to end seminary.  This has been one of the most rewarding things I have ever done.  It is so amazing to be with 30 (yes we are up to 30 now) teenagers who love to learn about the gospel.  We have so much fun with them and it has definitely been a high-light of my mission being able to teach them the gospel from the Old and New Testaments.  I would not say I am a great teacher but we have had some great lessons and I have seen them learn and grow in so many ways.  My life will be forever changed by these wonderful young people.  The future of the church in the Philippines, especially Sagbayan Branch, is in good hands.  They will be incredible leaders one day in the not so distant future.

Well, I will close for now!  I sure love and appreciate all of you so much.  You have no idea how much we think of you, pray for you and remember the support and love we feel from so many over these many miles!

Love you forever,

Sister Bell (Mamala to all)

More Progress, More Baptisms & More Fun

Maayong Gabii Pamilya ug Amigo's

This was very productive week with a lot of fun woven throughout. We started off on the run on Tuesday morning (our last post was on Monday). We spent an entire day with dentist, doctors and getting missionaries prepared to serve.

On Wednesday we made a whirlwind trip to Ubay in the morning to deliver the grant money to Sister Campos. She is starting a Sari Sari Store in front of their home.  They live about 15 kilometers from the market in Ubay so a nice all-purpose store in this location will do very well. 

She graduated from the Self Reliance program in Start and Grow My Own Business. She, along with all the others, used the training she received at Self Reliance to draw up a very good business plan that included market research from costumers, suppliers and price points that are very important for new small business.  She also created a projected cash flow sheet showing how the business would earn money and keep enough working capital in the business to survive over the long run.  These are all the qualification necessary for the grant she received.

Sister Campos and Husband Benidicto

This week they installed shelving, painted the store and stocked shelves.  They have hit the ground running towards success.

So on Thursday we went to Cebu for Senior Couple retreat with all the couples in the mission.  On Thursday was also a pre-bid meeting for the new Sagbayan Chapel.  This was attended by President Nueva, President Lorzono and Nanay Claudia from Sagbayan.  The bid has been put out to 4 contractors and bid will be awarded on March 30th.

We had a terrific time at the Couples retreat in Cebu.  We spent some very valuable time with President & Sister Maughan and the other couples.  We also attended a session at the Cebu Temple.  It was great to stand in the prayer circle with all these wonderful couples who have concecrated their lives for a period of time to serving the Lord. The spirit was so strong as we unite together to help the missionaries.

The Mission Couples of the Cebu East Mission

On Saturday we attended another baptism of the of the Tampon Family. This is a special new addition to the Sagbayan Branch.  Sister Tampon(Tamp-ohn) and 2 of her sons were baptized this week and next week Brother Tampon and their other son will be baptized.

Sister Desideria Tampon and 2 sons Depherd & Denfert Tampon

Well I am going to let Sister Bell wrap this thing up now.

I will close with telling all of you how much I love the Lord and also his work we are involved in.  He truly is at the helm of this church and the missionary work throughout the world.

I send my love to all.

Elder Bell (Tatay, LoLo & Amigo)

Ayo Family and Friends!

I had a great surprise this week!  You see this guy?…..

Elder Wilding (my cousin) and Sister Wilding

This is Elder and Sister Wilding.  They are new to the Cebu East Mission and Elder Wilding is my third cousin!  We share a great-great-grandpa George Wilding. I suspected we might be related when I heard he was from the same area of Idaho from whence my father's family comes.  So we did a quick search on Family Search and sure enough we are definitely cousins.  That is pretty exciting.  They are serving in Bogo, which is on the northern end of Cebu and so we will not see each other nearly enough.

Saturday afternoon, after the baptism, we had Seminary class.  I am happy to report we have finished our study of the New Testament!  These kids are so amazing!  I am in awe of their abilities, their dedication, their thirst for knowledge.  It has truly been my privilege to teach them this year.  

So, after the lesson we had our final round of Scripture Mastery.  This week we had 'Scripture Pong'!  They love this game. We have learned (mastered if you will) 25 scriptures from the New Testament.  We learn the doctrine behind the scripture and memorize the reference connected with a key word.  So the cups on the floor have a reference written on the edge of the cup and the ping pong ball has the key word written on it.  They are divided in to two teams and as a team have to get the correct ball in to the corresponding cup.  The first team to accomplish he task….wins!!  

 Scripture pong!

Elder Bell mentioned we spent time at the dentist this week…..

Erlinda Jandayan

Look at that smile!  Sister Jandayan got full-dentures this week after being toothless for a long while. She is so happy and thinks herself quite beautiful…..I would have to agree!  She is just the sweetest Nanay ever and we are so happy to see that dazzling smile.

We are currently back in Cebu.  It is late on Sunday night and in just a couple of hours Aaron, Stacy, Rowdy and Colt will be arriving on a very early morning flight.  We are so excited to have them come and see us.  This week will be full of adventure and we will share it all next week.  

I love you forever,

Sister Bell (Mamala to all)

Pay it forward! (Thank you Romneys!)

Ayo!  Friends and Family!

Sorry to be a day late this week…hopefully a few of you noticed because that would mean that some of you are still reading the blog.

I had a great belated birthday snorkel with my husband and our new friends, the Shamrell's.  It was their first time snorkeling in the Philippines even though they had previously served a mission here.

I know it is not glamorous but it is definitely my happy place.  There is nothing better than sticking your face in the water and watching the little colorful fish swim around!  I love it!!!

The rest of the week we have been in hyper-drive (and this week is not going to be any different).  But one of the things we had the most fun doing is this…

We just had 5 of the members of our branch complete the amazing 'Self Reliance' program that the church offers.  It is a bare bones, 12 week business course on how to start and grow a small business.  These lucky people did not know when they started the class that they would have the most wonderful gift fall in to their hands, but this is what happened.  When we were back in Utah in November, we had lunch with some of our dear friends, Christine and Scott Romney.  I have known Christine for many, many years (she was one of my young women back in 1990).  A few years ago she had just become divorced and came with her two young children to live with Elder Bell and I.  She was only there for a few months and we loaned her a very small amount of money to start a business.  Well, her business is hugely successful today and she and Scott wanted to donate some money for us to use as we saw fit to bless the lives of some people in the Philippines when we returned to our mission.  It was a significant donation and we pondered over it for some time but finally decided to make available to our branch members who had completed the self reliance course, start-up money for their small businesses.  They had to apply for the grant money and prove to us they had a viable business plan and sign a note promising to 'pay it forward' when they achieved some success in their new business.

So here are the pictures of our grant recipients….

This is Fidel and Florizza Jandayan who will start a small Tindihan(store) in their home.  Bro. Jandayan is also going to grow his herbal oil business that he already does.

This is Zita Anober.  Her husband lives and works in the Middle East and only comes home to visit every few years.  She is going to start a business selling rice and other commodities in her immediate neighborhood and they live a ways out of town and her neighbors will appreciate the convenience.

 This is Louisa Umbang, mother of 8 kids.  She is very busy but will be able to supplement her husbands income with raising pigs.

This is Claudia Enad.  She is a single mother who already runs a small Tindihan.  She will grow her current business and add eggs that she will get from her chickens and will also raise pigs.

We are so thankful to the Romney's for their kind and generous donation.  It has blessed the lives of many people already.  We have a new self reliance class starting and the interest has really peaked.  All of the new students are hoping for grant money as well but we will have to see if we can raise a little more money to help all of them after they finish the course.  We were so impressed with how well they had learned the business principles.  It is a great program and we wish all of them great success with this wonderful hand up!

The rest of the week is a bit of a blur for me….I will end with that and let Elder Bell fill you in on the rest of the week.  

The work is really moving along at warp speed now.  We have so many things going on we can not even keep up…and yet somehow we do.  It all just works out even when the day is so full it seems impossible to make it to all the events.  We have been really blessed with the ability to run faster than we ever thought possible.  We are looking forward to a visit from the Ellsworth's next week.  I will keep you posted on the fun-filled week.

I love you all so much and appreciate the support from home in every degree imaginable.  The letters, emails, prayers, paying our bills, doing our taxes, shoveling our snow….all of it!  Thank you to the huge team at home that makes all of this possible!

Love you forever,

Sister Bell (Mamala to all)

Maayong Happon (Good Afternoon)

Well I will attempt to tell you about our months worth of activities we experienced this last week.

I will start with one of the great ones. We attended the baptism of a young man this week. His name is Ronel Anober.  He is the only member in his immediate family although his cousins and Auntie are members. His mother does not understand anything about the gospel and was so distraught that he was going to be baptized that the Elders met with her last week.  They temporally planned in delaying the baptism until Ronel and his mother met some common ground so the family could go on as a happy family.  After a day of much prayer by the Elders, Ronel and many others, his mother told him not to delay his baptism because that is what he really wanted deep in his heart.

Ronel was baptized on Saturday and stood and bore firm testimony of the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the happiness he is receiving from having the gospel in his life.  He is planning on serving a mission in 12 months when his year as member of the Church of Jesus Christ is up. He is great strong young man and will be a great missionary.

Elder Crowley, Marian Anober, Ronel Anober, Jeane Veb Anober, Elder Salazar

Well on friday we made a whirlwind trip across the pond (ocean) to allow Marjonilo a chance to experience of going to the temple for the second time before he leaves on his mission on March 23rd.  We even made it back in time to attend our first meeting of the second round of self reliance classes in the branch.

So another great event that is happening is the construction of the new chapel in Sagbayan.  The pre-construction meeting will take place this week and a contractor will be awarded the contract within the next week or two.  We anticipate the completion of this chapel hopefully a month or two before we return home in July.

This will be the new Chapel in Sagbayan when minor remodel, roof and finish work is completed.

Well Sunday was Fast Sunday and missionaries and members of the branch fasted for some special purposes. One purpose was for part-members families to have the non-members in their families heart softened. The next was for the people in Danao to be able see the light the gospel would bring through the group we are trying to start there. After the 2nd Sacrament meeting yesterday we feel the Lord is touching their hearts. We had 30 in attendance from Danao and 20 of those were investigators.  We know we still have a uphill battle over the next few months to start this new group in the church, but with the Lords help all things are possible.

Well to top the week off on Saturday night after seminary we had all the youth over to our house for movie night.  We watched the movie Courageous. It is always special to have all these amazing young people in our home. A simple large pan of popcorn and a video with a moral foundation and they are appreciative of everything.

Movie night for the youth

Then on Sunday night after completing work for the day, we had all the missionaries over for pancakes.  A great simple way to finish off a fantastic fast day with the missionaries.  Lately the p-day breakfast has suffered because we are on the run early in the morning on p-day attending to missionaries on the other side of the Island.  It is fantastic to listen and share stories with these Elders and Sisters that are working so hard everyday to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It renews all of our spirits.

Fantastic Sagbayan Missionaries

Before leaving I have to throw in a picture of a corn grinding mill we ran across while tracking this week in Danao.  The Elders tried their hand at it and found very quickly it is not as easy as it looks. This nanay was doing a terrific job.

Elder Salazar trying his hand at the mill

Nanay showing the Elders the art of grinding corn

Well that will wrap it up for this week.  I love how we have really learned how to be grateful from these loving people we serve.  I have learned to be grateful for everything in my life and also everything the Lord has given to me and intrusted me with.  May I always be found worthy of that trust and love.

Umping jud mo (have very good day)

Elder Bell (Tatay, LoLo & Amigo)