BEHOLD THE WATER OF MORMON - FOR THUS WERE THEY CALLED

Maayon Buntag (Good Morning) To all Family and Friends

This has been another great week while living the dream.  I will start with the spiritual side today.

The Group at Sagbayan (not large enough to be a Branch)

I showed you a picture a week ago while teaching with the Army of God

Cookies at FHE

This is a picture of Sister Bell giving out cookies to the part member family we had family home evening with that night. They were also attended Church this week with some of the members and non members from the family.

We attended church today in Sagbayan with the District President, 2nd Councilor and a Councilor in the Mission Presidency.  The small group we visited about a month ago had grown to over 60 people in Sacrament Meeting.  There were 2 Baptisms a week ago, 6 coming next Saturday and many more to come in the weeks to follow.  Half of the people attending are investigators and have plans in the near future to be baptized, go on missions and become active members of a new Branch of the Church.

My thoughts while I listened to their leaders teach them the Plan of Salvation in Sunday School was Mosiah 18:8-9  "Behold, here are the waters of Mormon (for thus were they called) and now as ye are desirous to come into the fold of God, and to be called his people, and are willing to bear on another's burdens, that they may be light.    Yea, and willing to mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as witnesses of God at all time and in all things, and in all places that ye may be in even until death, that ye may be redeemed of God, and be numbered with those of the first resurrection, that ye may have eternal life."

Needless to say, it is terrific to be involved in seeing a new Branch born and see the Lord work in these peoples lives.

President Ricardo Saballa

He told us his story while traveling from meeting to meeting today.

President and Sister Saballa

As a young man he was raised a Catholic.  He worked on a ship as a ship mate.  While out to sea he took his Bible and studied it.  He decided that the commandments said we should not worship idols.  He then started looking for something different.  His sister in law gave him Book of Mormon and he would not read it because of his teaching to use only the Bible.

He searched for several years. He was invited to attend the Church of Jesus Christ.  He decided to try it so he quite smoking and drinking and started to attend. After he attended for a short period of time he began to read the Book of Mormon.  He said he could not put it down.  He read some times until 3:00
AM in the morning.  He began taking the Missionary Discussions and decided to be baptized.

He was now living in Loon and was married.  His wife would not even stay in the same room while he listened to the missionaries and wanted nothing to do with it.  So on Wednesday night he realized that on Thursday the missionaries were going to interview him and ask if his wife and family would also be baptized. This was in 2002.

He went out into the night in a grove of trees next to his home.

The Grove of Trees next to Saballas home

He knelt down and began to pour our his heart to the Lord for his wife and his family.  In his own words he did as "Joseph Smith".

The next day when the missionaries came his wife and whole family committed to be baptized.  His wife was devote Catholic.  He family asked her later to come back to the Catholic Church.  She refused and said she would never change from this church ever, not even for 2 million Peso's.

He serves today as Councilor in the Mission Presidency. He has held such callings as District President, Branch President and all other callings a worthy priesthood leader can hold. Him and his wife are two of the strongest members of the church I have ever had the pleasure of meeting.

There are many other stories that are unfolding daily as work in the service of the Lord.

May the Lord bless all of you with the righteous desires of your heart.

Love Elder Bell (Dad, Grandpa and Friend)


Ayo! My Friends and Family!

We are so happy to check in again this week.  It has been a busy, busy week.  I determine the magnitude of busy by how many times we had scrambled eggs and toast for dinner.  This week it was all but one night.

We got to experience our very first Cebuano funeral this week. Whoa!!! They are a big time commitment.  The very young (18 months) grandson of Sister Deme (a less active member) of the Calape Branch, died after a fall down some stairs.  It was very tragic for sure.  The casket of little Ray Romeo was laid in his Lola's home for three days.  Each day family and friends gather for 'compassionate service'.  This is where we all gather and the family has to feed us a meal and then we have a service with speakers, talks and prayers.  The first night the missionaries (elders) spoke.  The second night the missionaries (sisters) spoke and Elder Bell was asked, with 5 minutes notice, to give the closing remarks.  He did an amazing job considering he had not taken his scriptures or any notes with him to the home.  Finally the third day we again gathered for a meal, only this time it was lunch instead of dinner, and ate and then the casket was loaded in to a van.  We then all slowly followed the vehicle, either walking or riding on various motorcycles or trikes, as it made it's way to the church.  There we had the final service with again speakers, music and prayers.  This time I was asked to play the organ for the singing. (This is such a stretch for me as most of you know) I muddled my way through.  We then all again followed the van slowly to the cemetery. Now this is where it gets really interesting.

Unless you are Catholic, you can not be buried in the cemetery.  So, we drove to the back side of the cemetery and he was buried on some privately owned land near the cemetery.  Once the casket is delivered to the burial site, the funeral folk just take off.  The hole had been dug and lined with cement blocks the day before by all the church leaders that were at the funeral.  So these same brethren then lower the casket down into the ground. Take off their ties and get to work.  They covered the cement box with a piece of wood and then bend rebar on top to secure it.  About 20 feet away they start mixing cement up with water, sand and cement that had been hauled in previously.  With shovels and buckets they haul the cement to the grave and finish the cement all while we, the mourners, watch.  All these good men then surround the grave, bow their heads and dedicate the grave.  We all then retire to the shade of a tree and eat the egg salad sandwiches that have been baking in the trunk of my car for two hours.  (I forbade Elder Bell from eating them! We pulled the trick Megan taught me, and stuffed them in our bags when no one was looking).  Whew!  It was a long three day commitment and the poor missionaries had to miss quite a lot of working time.  It is expected in this culture to attend the "compassionate service", especially if  you are a missionary.  Every day the family waited for us to arrive so they could start the meal and service.  We were always fed first and I don't really get it.   It was for the family, not us.  Anyway, it was interesting to say the least. And I felt so badly for the family because it was so expensive to feed everyone for four meals.  I think the funeral potatoes and ham of the good old Mormom services back home can not be beat!

Language training....what can I say?  It is coming, but oh so slowly.  Cebuano is so, so different from English.  But, it is easier in one way.  Each letter makes only one sound and there are no silent letters in Cebuano.  So, it is easier to spell and sound out than English but wow!  It is a tongue twister.  I can now pray and testify in Cebuano but I am slow and cumbersome at it for sure.  Elder Bell is really giving it a great effort but language does not come easy for him.  He will get it but it will take some time.

It is always a challenge to teach children but when you are trying to teach children that do not speak your same language it is so, so challenging.  I am finding that most of the branches do not do any kind of singing in primary (or really teaching for that matter). So I am trying to teach primary singing time in each branch we attend each week.  And you know what?  It is working.  Music really is a universal language.  The Sagbayan Branch I have worked with for just two weeks and they can sing half a dozen songs relatively well (considering we have not keyboard or piano) and they can sing and sign As I have Loved You.  It is pretty fun!

So today I took 20 quiet bags to Sagbayan Branch.  After last sunday when all 16 of the primary kids left the sacrament meeting to play on the stairs I told them that they were so big and that Heavenly Father knew that they could sit quietly in sacrament meeting.  I promised them that this week I would bring something to help them sit quietly in sacrament meeting.  So I pass out all the quiet bags that had coloring pages and crayons and two small pieces of candy in them.  I had written on the bag "Palihog ibalik kang Sister Bell paghuman sa simba" (Please return this bag to Sister Bell after church) Sure enough, all the kids just sat very quietly and held their bags.  Not one single one opened the bag to color or eat the candy!  They had no idea what to do with them and their only instruction was that it was a "quiet bag" and to return it to Sister Bell after the meeting.  And they did exactly that!  I am still giggling about it.  I guess all those quiet bags you are all sending are going to have to come with some instructions for use.

Well, we are taking up way too much of your time.  Thank you for following us on our adventures!  We really are loving every minute of this experience.  We are learning so much and our testimonies of this church and this gospel are growing leaps and bounds.  I love the Lord and these, His people in this part of the vineyard.  Thank you so very much for your love and support.  We could not do this with out you!

Love you forever, Sister Bell (Nanay, Lola, Amigo)

These big, beasts of burden look mean but they are really docile.

My new friends

One day I offered to take a picture of this group of girls as they were not having much success taking a group picture with the selfie stick.  They did not really care about the picture but they really wanted a picture with the white faced old gramma.  So I accommodated.

Liliana, this one is for you!