New Year's - Rice, Rice & More Rice

Happy New Year to All

Rice, Rice and more Rice

Most people in America have no clue how to grow rice or harvest it.  That is why I am doing a rice 101 on planting rice.  At a later date I will do rice 102 on Harvesting rice.

First you get a lot of rain and create dikes to contain that rain so you can plant your crop. Last week a typhoon hit the Philippines and we were on the very corner of the storm so it just rained for 2 days straight (that is not normal).  So the farmers have a very good way of retaining the water they need to plant their rice with terraces and ditches that most people from the outside have no clue they even exist.

Second you prep the field to plant rice.

Leveling Machine #1

Leveling Machine #2 resting before leveling the next terrace. 

These terraced sections are perfectly sloped so they retain enough water and overflow to the next terrace at one end.  The next terrace does the same and drains at the opposite end on down the hill.  These terraces were designed and made by hand.

Then comes the rice planting.  Little patches are grown for seed very close to one another, then planted in the fields.

Missionaries and Members working together on the Racoma Farm

The Racoma Farm House

The Racoma Farm house.  They have 13 children and grow 10 hectares of rice (that is 24.7 acre of rice) that is leveled, planted and harvested by hand.  They are the hardest working and most faithful people you could ever hope to meet.

This is one of the most beautiful rice farms I have seen.

We will attempt at a later date to show you harvesting and sending the rice to market.

New Truck:

Not much to tell but the old temporary truck we were driving lasted just long enough to get to the port in Ubay so we could trade it for a new one.  We left at 10:00 PM on Monday night for Ubay (2 hour drive away) to meet the ferry.  We literally prayed over the truck that we would make it.  At times it would spit and sputter and blow black smoke so much that we thought at times is was rolling to a stop.  We would pray that we could make it to the next town and we did.  HOORAY!

Check out the New Ride (pretty fancy by anyones standards)

The trip to Danao:

We took the Elders from Sagbayan to Danao this week to visit a member in the far end of their area, and check on some investigators.  I walked up the road with the Elders from the member's home.  We taught lessons at 3 of the 5 houses we passed.  Many were receptive and I enjoyed teaching part of the lessons I had prepared.  We had to leave and we were not to the end of the road.  We will visit in the future teaching and testifying as we go.  Many of these people sure have pure spirits.

A very well made baby swing in one of the homes we visited.

Well I have to turn this over to Sister Bell.

We are enjoying all the rich spiritual experiences each week.  The Lord has blessed us in so many way's.  It is a miracle that I can speak and teach in another language.  I still have a long ways to go before I can understand and speak freely.  But with the Lord's help that is possible.

May you have a Happy and Prosperous New Year.  And may the Lord bless you with the righteous desires of your heart.

Amping Elder Bell (Tatay- Lolo- Amigo)   

Dear Family and Friends,

Here we are in a new year!  It hardly seems possible.  We have been here for four months already.  I have a feeling the time is going to pass much too quickly for me.  It seems like the weeks are flying past. 

All of the missionaries were told to be in early (6:00) on New Year's Eve as apparently the Philippino population celebrate all night long with unpoliced fireworks and shooting guns.  The streets are not a very safe place to be on such a night.  So we were able to have a movie night in our districts.  It had to be a Disney movie and they had to be home by 8:00.  We invited our Calape district over to our apartment for the movie and treats.

Calape District Missionaries

This is our Calape District. Four sisters and four elders and one extra young man that is preparing to go on a mission from the Calape branch.

It was a fun evening and these tech deprived young people thoroughly enjoyed "The Good Dinosaur". Surprising how easily we are amused when we never get to watch TV or go to Movies.

Another adventure we had this week was working an afternoon with our Clarin Sisters Ross and Macadangdang.  They are great missionaries and we love to go out teaching with them.  Plus Sister Ross is the only Utahan missionary we have in our whole zone right now and so sometimes we Utah girls just need to see each other.  She is training Sister Macadangdang and doing a fantastic job of it.  We were trying to catch an older couple home that had not yet been taught but told the sisters they would like them to come teach them.  Turns out they were not home but their daughter, who lives next door was.  She graciously accepted our invitation to have a short lesson.  Turns out her house is the gathering place for all the kids of the neighborhood as she has 8 kids of her own.  

Sister Ross and Sister Macadangdang

This is the pack of kids with Sister Ross and Sister Macadangdang.  They love to have their picture taken and they loved the primary songs I sang with them.  But the thing that caught their attention the most was the hair on Elder Bell's arms.  I don't know what it is, the heat or the humidity, but the hair on Elder Bell's arms has grown in so thick and long that his arms look like a persian cat.  So all of the kids kept coming up and petting his arms, fascinated by the long hair.  It was pretty distracting for the sisters as they taught but the mom of the group said that we could come back on Saturday to teach her again!

Well, that just about wraps up our week.  It is an interesting experience to serve a mission.  I feel the refining process going on within my soul.  There is no other time in my life that I have lived so removed from the things of this world and I have found this change taking place.  I can feel the Lord molding me.  I think maybe because I enjoy so much quiet time without the distraction of modern technology.  I can hear the whispering of the Holy Ghost urging me on to change and growth.  It is a remarkable thing really.  I know now why our children come home so different from when we send them out.  They too went through this change and it is so good.  I highly recommend this to all senior couples.  You will grow in ways you never thought possible and when you are old, growth and change are a good thing!

We love you all so much.  I have to be honest and tell you that I did get a little homesick these past two weeks, but, I would not want to be any place else right now.  We love our mission and we love the Lord.  It is a privilege to serve Him in this way.

Take care my loved ones.  

I love you forever!

Sister Bell (Tatay, Lola, Amigo)

Sometimes the beauty of this place just takes your breath away!