This was a whirlwind week that includes Mission Christmas Party in Cebu, Temple Trip, more Teaching and Christmas Parties.
Mission Christmas Party. This probably doesn't seem like such a great undertaking unless you take into account there are 80 missionaries on the Island of Bohol that need to ferry across the ocean to Cebu. Well after ferrying and transporting and busing we finally got all 200 Missionaries together. We had a great time. It is so fun to hang out with 200 young people who love the Lord and each other with all of their hearts. Words can not describe the wonder of rubbing shoulders with so many wonderful people.
One of the most touching moments is when the Calape Zone from Bohol (that is where we live) put their program on for the rest of the mission. To start off Sister Tahaafe (from Tonga), Sister Morales (from the Philippines) and Sister Ross (from Utah) sang a song in Tongan that is known throughout the entire Tonga. After that we sang a medley of Christmas songs with Sisters and Elders. To top it off Sister Tahaafe sang the first verse of Silent night in Tongan, then the whole zone sang the first verse of Silent Night in Cebuano. It was very touching and one of the tender mercies I will always remember from our Mission in Bohol.
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| Elders & Sisters riding Jeepney to Mission Christmas Party |
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Mga (munga) Missionary
(Mga makes something plural. I think adding an 's' is a little easier but oh well)
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| Pin the Red Nose on the Mission President (Pres. Tanner) |
While we were in Cebu we attended the Temple for the first time. It was great and we were so happy to attend the temple after so many months without a temple near us. Utah Mormons are so lucky!
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| Us at the door of the Cebu Temple |
We are enjoying our mission and the missionaries we serve with. They are so inspiring to hear all of their stories of their conversions to the church. Many of these young men and women came from a home with mud floors and very little of the necessities of life we take for granted. They inspire us to see their courage to spread the word of what they know in their heart to be true.
May the Lord Bless all of us to have that kind of courage in our lives.
Love you always
Elder Bell (LoLo, Tatay, Amigo)
Ayo All!
Wow! We had such a busy week. It was all a party that just kept on going. We were able to get a good afternoon of teaching with our Sisters Bolo and Gil. They are two little Filopinas that may look small but they carry a pretty big teaching schedule that is for certain. We were able to visit several little families and teach with them on Friday afternoon. One of the biggest challenges here that hinders baptism is marriage. Because the country is so predominantly Catholic and the Catholic church does not grant divorces, when a marriage breaks up the people just move on to other relationships and can not marry because they can not divorce. Another big problem is that you can not marry unless you have a birth certificate. People are so poor that they have never registered their babies births and so they have no birth certificate. They can get one but it cost them so much money that it is prohibitive for most of them. They have to pay fees for each year they have lived and so those add up to be quite a lot of money for them and so they don't marry. They live together and have families and when they want to get baptized they have to remedy these problems before they can get baptized. It takes time and money to fix the problems and really derails many baptisms.
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| This is Roel, Jelelyn, and Sisters Bolo & Gil. |
This is Roel, Jelelyn, and Sisters Bolo & Gil. They are expecting, anytime, their first biological child. They adopted a baby a year ago. They are waiting to have the baby then try to get married so they can then get baptized. They are very strong investigators who really want to join the church. And yes that is their little hut with not a single piece of furniture but they are so happy. It was wonderful to be with them for a lesson.
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| I forgot to tell you how we started off the week…with the Sisters favorite P-day activity…..Yoga with Sister Bell! |
So that leaves one last event to tell you about. I think the first time the many branch members met Elder Bell they have been dreaming of him playing Santa Claus. They have never seen such a dako (large) man before and they have been anxiously waiting for this week because finally they got to see just what kind of Santa Claus Elder Bell could be! So we were asked by several branches to attend their Christmas Parties and please be Mr. and Mrs. Santa. But, we are missionaries so we had to keep the name tag in place, which led us to create the costumes for Elder and Sister Claus……..
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| Check out the red slacks. We had those custom made for 15 bucks! |
We have dozens of photos with all the children from two different branches sitting on Santas lap. We were treated like Rock Stars all day. The kids loved it, but I just have to share my favorite. We were at the party in Loon and all the kids were lined up to get to see Elder Claus. After everyone had a turn I noticed this boy with downs syndrome standing off to the side looking shy and nervous. I motioned for him to come over and to my great delight he strode right past Elder Claus and plopped himself down on my lap! It was the cutest thing I have ever seen.
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| This is Jelou Sefuentes with Sister Claus and Elder Claus! He is one great kid! |
Well that is about it for another week in Paradise. I have no idea why people are not lining up to sign up for this mission! It is the greatest thing we have ever done as a couple. The experiences we have had are priceless. Everyday has it's own kind of challenges and huge rewards. We are loving every minute of it! The only thing that could possibly make it better is if you were here sharing it with us!
Love you forever!
Sister Bell (Nanay, LoLa, Amigo)
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