Rat, Fat and Flats!

Maayong Buntag Akong mga Higala (good morning my friends)

Well another whirlwind week with hellos, good byes and divine intervention.

This was transfer week with many great missionaries leaving and many great new missionaries arriving.  It is kind of like a stage play that has a new scene each 6 weeks.  Their are great missionaries that leave our life and many new great ones that arrive.  That is part of what makes a mission so enjoyable for senior couples.  These young Elders and Sisters are so amazing.  And to hear the stories of theirs sacrifice they make to come and so boldly proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the world is amazing. This is a great part of our mission and we love it.

As you can see..some are happy about the transfer news and others not so happy!

Now on to the divine intervention.  Last Tuesday morning at 5:30 am the water was shut off to our house.  Recently the water has never been shut off in the morning.  So I went down the front of the complex we live in and turned the breaker on so the water pump would turn on and pump water out of the well. At 5:30 am I noticed a couple sitting by the table on the front lawn.  So I went over to meet them.  It was Matt (an American) and Joy (a Filipina).  I found they had just moved into the complex a week ago.  They were very nice to talk to and I was going to ask them if they wanted to know more about the church.  Before I had a chance to ask they asked me if I was a missionary for the church down the road a block or two.  I told them yes and the said,  "What time does the church start because we want to attend on Sunday?" Now, that does not happen very often!

So in talking with them I found out they were planning on moving out that day to a very nice house up the road a mile or two.  I asked them if we could help them move so we helped them move at 2:00 that day.  We had a great time getting to know them and told them the Sisters and some other members from the Calape would visit them later in the week.  The Sisters and another couple from the branch, that has  a US and Filipino mix, visited them.  They were planning on attending church today.  We always attend church in Ubay and Sagbayan so we were not in Calape today.  We will fill you in on the rest of the story when we hear it.

The chances that they would move in for only a week and the water pump would be shut off at 5:30 in the morning had to be planned by a higher power than myself.  The Lord truly is in charge of his work.

So on to the divine help we receive in Clarin.  I was asked two months ago by President Larzano, the first councilor in the Calape District Presidency, to present a spiritual presentation twice a month to the Barangay officials of Clarin.  So Saturday was 4th time I was able to teach them.

Teaching to the Clarin Barangay Officials

The first lesson was on God is our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ is his son and the Holy Ghost is the 3rd member of the Godhead and guilds us in our lives.  Also that families are center to God's plan for us.

Since the first lessons on" Where we came from before this life", "What is our purpose on Earth and Where we go after we die" and "The origin of the records in the Book of Mormon and how we received them".

This has been a great opportunity and the 2nd and 3rd time we attended the Catholic Church sent a repressive to try to counter our presentation.  They came and gave their presentation and left and we gave ours.  There was no contention and we just presented the truth as we know it and let them know we respected their beliefs.  As they read verses from the Book of Mormon along with verses from the Bible they can see how they complement each other and appreciate the teachings.  This story is not over yet and may be a long time in its development.  The Lord truly again is in charge of this work.

So in closing I just want let you know that we truly blessed to be serving in this portion of the Lord's Vineyard at this ver crucial time on the earth.  The Lord truly is orchestrating this work and we love to part of that.

May the Lord Bless you with the righteous desires of your heats always.

Love
Elder Bell  (Tatay, LoLo, Amigo)


Ayo Family and Friends!

Living in the Peens is an experience that one can not take too lightly…or maybe one should take it really lightly or one might be just a little bit offended!  So, I had a very funny experience this week.  Jason tried to warn me about this but I never would have believed it if it hadn't happen to me.  It was transfer day, Thursday, and we had been dropping missionaries at their new flats and areas for several hours.  In the early afternoon we were out on Panglao Island dropping off an elder when his companion turns to me and said, "Sister Bell, you are fat!"  Not wanting to believe I had heard that correctly I said, "What?"  He repeated, "You are fat…oh, maybe you are pregnant"!  I think I probably rolled my eyes at that point and drawled out, "Not pregnant Elder.  Just OLD and FAT!"  He turned and lugged the bag into the apartment and waved goodbye!  Wow!  Talk about brutal honesty!  It is true that I have put a few rice pounds on this old body, but did he have to remind me?!!!!  I giggled all the way home.  I had to or I might cry!

Today I had another experience that reminded me that I needed to put on my big girl flip-flops and handle it!  (Remember the spider from a few weeks ago?)  I arrived in Ubay, a two hour truck drive from my apartment, just before 9:00 AM this morning and rushed into the CR (comfort room i.e. bathroom) to get ready for the meeting to start and I came face to face with the biggest rat I had ever seen!  I don't know who was more surprised me or him!  We stared at each other one brief moment and I said, "I am not sharing this room with the likes of you!" and he ran right out the 2"X2" drain he had apparently entered sometime earlier in the week.  I say it had to be earlier in the week because the floor was covered with his smelly droppings. Only in the Peens!  Where was the 'member-cleaning crew' that should have cleaned that CR yesterday???? Oh my, oh my!

Elder Bell told you that we had a few goodbyes this week but we also had a few hellos.  Look who is back?

Sister Ross teaching primary in Sagbayan

        Yes, this is our Sister Ross.  She served in our Calape District for quite a long time when we first arrived and we are so happy to have her and several others back for a rerun!  She is one of the four sisters serving in Sagbayan now.  There has previously been all Elders in Sagbayan but we have switched to all Sisters and can I just say….they are such a nice addition to our primary!  The kids love them and Sister Bell loves them!  I feel like we have a real primary staff now not just me trying to wing it.  (By the way, locals often refer to her as Sister Barbie because of that beautiful blond hair!) So with Sister Ross, Sister Cook (who is also a rerun), Sister Tatarata-Maheahea, and Sister Monteros, we are set in Sagbayan.

We also had a visit this week from one of our former missionaries, Elder Bermoy (now Brother Bermoy) and his mom and his auntie.  He completed his mission just six weeks ago and came back for a visit.  We were so happy to have them stay with us for just one night.  But we love him and have really grown to appreciate what a great young man he is.  He really bonded with Elder Bell and came to think of him as a dad while serving here.

Brother Bermoy with his Mom on his right and his Auntie on his left.

There is one real constant here on Bohol and that is road construction!  I know you Utahans think it only happens in your neck of the woods but I am here to tell you Bohol has it constantly as the weather is always perfect for the work.  So, it just goes on and on and on.  No road is ever really finished they just continue to tear up new sections.  The really hard part is that Bohol does not have a single stop sign on the entire Island.  So once in a while you will have a flagger to help with the traffic flow (not often mind you, just occasionally), but as you can see, they don't really take the job that serious. (I actually saw him asleep in that chair yesterday)!

The non-enthusiastic flagger!

Often times the flagger stands on the wrong side of the road because that is where the shade is and we don't even notice him until we have blown past!  Other times the flags are just a yellow, orange, blue, or purple grocery bag tied to a stick and they wave them but we have no idea what the colors mean so we just blow past those too.  I am seriously concerned for our return home when it comes to driving.  With literally no traffic rules and or speed limits, I am thinking these two old people are going to eventually lose their licenses!  We have fallen in to some pretty bad habits.

This is 8X4 foot sheets of plywood being hauled on this motorcycle (The driver just sits on it to hold it in place)!  We see this all the time because most people do not own a car or truck just a motorcycle and so they are really creative about hauling stuff!

Our religious dog friend

This dog was sleeping under the chair in front of me all through sacrament meeting today.  He comes to church every week.  He just follows his people when they come to church and refuses to leave until they leave.  He never causes any problems, he just stays close to his people.  My granddaughter, Liliana, would love this….dogs in church I mean!

You know, some weeks of a mission aren't all that spiritual.  Transfer weeks tend to be that way.  It is a lot of moving and adjusting and phone calls from missionaries. But, all these things are important and so we just muddle our way through and try to find some fun in the journey.  Everything will calm down this week and we will be back at our work.  We love our missionaries and are so happy they trust us enough to call when they need help.  

Not next week but the one following, July 31, Sagbayan Branch will be officially formed so be looking for that news in the near future.  We are super excited to see this happen while we are here.  We have put a lot of our time and energy in to helping this little group grow and this is the next big step.

Thank you for you support through calls and letters and emails (mostly emails).  We really appreciate hearing from you and seeing pictures about your summer adventures, youth conferences, camps and family reunions.  We love you for helping us be here.

Have a fabulous week!  Love you forever,

Sister Bell (Nanay, Lola, Amigo)