Well another week in Paradise doing what we love to do most "Teach the Gospel" and work with and help the missionaries.
We had transfers this week and we assisted the the Zone Leaders to execute their plans. Things went very well and they really have this one under control. By 4:00 pm all missionary were in their areas and ready to work. No accidents and much more organized.
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| Unloading Multi Cab at ICM bus terminal. |
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| Elder Pagotaisidro (Zone Leader) executing transfers in Tagb |
Every transfer we loose a few special missionaries and then we gain a few more special ones to take their place.
Another fantastic event is Sister Bell made her first batch of whole wheat bread since we came here. This a shot of it right out of the oven.
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| Anyone who has had some of this bread knows what I am talking about when I say it is pinaka lami! (very most delicious) |
Next adventure is teaching in Danao with the Sagbayan 'Army of God' and the missionaries. We went with Elders to teach in Danao where a couple of members live. They live about an hour drive away from the Sagbayan Church and they attend very often. As we walk up the road with one of the members that live there and 5 other members from Sagbayan we taught at every house we stopped at. It is great to see the members testify and teach with such power. This area would be prime area to open in the future for missionary work. There are many people with open hearts and humble souls that live in Danao.
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| Missionaries and members testifying of the truth. |
I am going to let Sister Bell tell you about the children in Danao. That is her specialty and she does a great job with them.
We got word this week Jason and Aly are coming next week to visit. We are so excited to see them and know we will have a great time and have many great experiences with them.
We love the work we are engaged in. Not alway easy but sure worth it. We thank the Lord each and every day for these experiences we are having and the great people that we work with.
Love you always
Elder Bell (Tatay, LoLo and Amigo)
Dear Family and Friends,
I know this will be posted a little later than usual but don't worry. We have a good excuse for the tardiness. We were coming home from church yesterday when we got a call that one of our Elders had been in a bike accident and they were on the way to the hospital with him. So instead of heading home to finish our day working on the blog, we headed to Tagbilaran to see how Elder Celada was. They had just finished examining him and he was ready to be released. He only had bruising and road rash. Fortunately he was wearing his helmet and so the injuries were much more manageable than they would have been otherwise. We brought he and his companion home so we could monitor him and he is doing pretty good this morning.
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| Elder Celada resting on the hide-a-bed no worse for wear. |
This next story is for Karen Green and all other accompanist out there….
I have to tell you the story of the Ubay Branch and the clumsy organist yesterday….I think I have told you all before that I am the only person in most branches that plays the piano at all. So, sadly I am the only excuse for an accompanist that they have. We don't have real pianos or organs in any of the places we go to church, just really wobbly keyboards that only work partially. But, I try to do my best with what we have to work with and the members are really patient with my stumbling for the right keys. We stood up to sing the intermediate rest hymn that was listed as 264. I did not understand that they had announced at the pulpit the song would be 246 and so I played this long 3-line introduction and plunged right in to the song when finally someone came over to the keyboard and told me I was playing the wrong song..ooops! Well, I smiled and flipped the page and carried on. So then, we are singing the closing song and I am using the Simpified Hymn book that I had scrounged up during week. I had never used this book before and so did not realize that because it has a paper back cover it would not stay on the little wire music stand. About half way through the second verse the book slipped right through the back of the wire music stand and plopped on the floor! Kevin sits right on the front row next to the keyboard and so he quickly picked up the book and put it back on the stand for me. I joined in playing for the next verse and got about half way through that verse when the book once again slipped through and plopped on the floor! At this point I am giggling so bad that I have tears in my eyes and so can't even see the page to try to finish playing the song….instead I just joined in with the loudest voice possible singing the rest of the song through burst of giggles!!! Oh, the life of an old woman. You have to laugh so you don't cry!
While we were visiting in Danao we taught in a home that had twin baby boys just a month old. Oh my! They were so cute. I have been trying for months now to capture a picture of the hammocks that the Filipinos sleep their babies in. They tie a bed sheet up to the rafters on either end of the sheet and make hammocks for the babies. They sleep in them way after they become toddlers and they are so cute and cozy looking. It is such a great idea because there is no way for the babies to fall out of the hammock and they are snuggled just like when they are in the womb. We can learn a lot for these smart people.
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Babies Zion and his brother, Zionell.
(Seriously, those are their names and their parents are not LDS. I am thinking it is a sign).
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This is another picture I captured while in Danao. I loved the house and its' charm. I couldn't help but notice the satellite dish on the corner of the roof. We don't see too many of those.
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This picture did not capture the two little kids that kept peeking at us through that upstairs window.
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Last week in Seminary I gave my students a blank piece of paper with a scripture reference on it for one of the Scripture Mastery scriptures. I have been trying to think of ways to help them learn these 25 scriptures they are supposed to memorize from the Old Testament. So I thought maybe a simple drawing would help. I was stunned when Julius, a 15 year old young man who rarely speaks, turned in this drawing for the reference, Exodus 19:5-6. It is a scripture about 'a peculiar treasure' and this is his interpretation of it…..
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| The most exquisite drawing of the Salt Lake Temple I have ever seen. |
I am so humbled by these kids. They are so new in the gospel, most less than one year of membership, and yet they value the temple and look forward with great anticipation to being sealed as a family there. And this young man is so quiet in class and yet I read over his homework assignments and I see the depth of his conversion and conviction. It is remarkable.
Well, this just about wraps up our week. I have just finished feeding 8 elders pancakes and thought I had bettered finally get this posted so you don't think we have fallen off the edge of the earth or something. We are good and busy. We love you all so much and appreciate the prayers, calls, and emails we receive each week.
Love you forever,
Sister Bell (Nanay, Lola and Amigo)
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