Well we are here posting in the blog about another week in paradise. This year we have encounter daghang (many) and kosog (strong) mga uwan (rains). It seem sometimes a though we will float away. But this land is accustom to a lot of rain and handles it quite well. The only draw back I have experienced is when there is so much rain I can not drive on the grass to turn around. Three or four times this last week I have been stuck on flat ground and wheels spinning on the grass. In all cases a few locals passing by happily push us out. These people are so good at helping anyone out whenever they need help. It is just in their good nature and training to do so.
Well, I am going to start off by telling you a little bit about our sweet Sister Matafeo. We have grown to love her over the last 8 months. We served next to her in Calape for a few months and she has stayed in Calape the whole time we have been in Sagbayan. She is an Island missionary from Samoa. We have many missionaries from the Philippines and quite a few from other islands. They are very delightful missionaries to get to know. And Sister Matafeo is leaving this next transfer to go home.
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| Sister Matafeo |
We also welcomed our new mission couple this week to the Island of Bohol. Elder and Sister Shamrell are from Portland Oregon. This is their second mission. The first mission was also in the Philippines. We met them Saturday as they came off the ferry. They will be living in the same Calape apartment we lived in. We are excited to get to know them as we show them around the beautiful island of Bohol.
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| Elder & Sister Shamrell |
We met with the District Presidency of Calape after meeting the Shamrell's to introduce them. After we went to lunch with them. President Nueva is so dedicated to the Lord and the calling he holds. On Saturday he had to wake up at 3:00 to finish doing farm work so he could spend the time he normally works on his farm at the chapel planning District Conference in February.
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| President Lorzano, President Nueva & President Ray |
We also met with Sister Joenalyn and Sister Jovilyn this week to start family history in the Sagbayan Branch. We planned to take them to Cebu on Tuesday to meet with the family history couple serving by the Cebu Temple. Well when we arrived in Tubigon the line to buy tickets was so long we turned back and canceled for another day. So we took them to Calape on Friday to do training the the local family history center, only to find out the the internet was not working so we brought them back to our house where the internet works quite well and helped them off to a slow start. We plan on helping more this week. These people are so patient and never complain as we do. They are willing take any amount of time necessary to help the Lord's work along.
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| Jovilyn & Joenalyn (sisters) |
Well, I will wrap this up and turn it over to Sister Bell.
We are so blessed to serve among the humble people who love and serve the Lord with their whole heart. It is great to see so many new people come into the church and receive the blessing the Gospel of Jesus Christ offers them.
Daghang Salamat mo para Inyong nag-ampo para Kanamo. (Thank you all for all your prayers for us)
Elder Bell (Tatay, LoLo & Amigo)
Rain is falling all around.
On the house tops, on the ground….
We sang that in Primary today. We are having a cyclone pass over the island this weekend. That means rain, rain, and more rain. Fortunately it has not increased in strength and does not have the wind of a nasty typhoon. We just read a notice on Facebook that school is canceled tomorrow! They have rain-days here instead of snow-days….who knew?
I just wanted to add my comment about having the Shamrell's arrive yesterday! We are so thankful for them. Taking care of this whole island of missionaries and members can be a little overwhelming sometimes. I feel like we just barely got by with so many things that just slipped under the rug because we could not do all of it. But, at last the cavalry has arrived! So thankful!
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| Baby Lemuel |
Speaking of Primary…this is baby Lemuel. Because we meet in a house for church we have only one room in which to have primary. We have the senior primary kids, the junior primary kids and the nursery all in this one small room. Well, today I was the pianist so I sat in the corner on a kids size table with my portable keyboard and Lemuel just kept coming over to help me, as the table is just his height. He played on my phone and kept turning on the keyboard, as he is very smart and figured out really quickly how to turn it on, and just had a really fun day in Primary. I am not too sure any of the other kids did…but Lemuel and I bonded! My goodness, he is a cute boy!
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| He even smiled for our 'selfie' |
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The twistable crayons the kids received for Christmas are a big hit with the primary kids!
Thanks family!
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So, every day of the week there is a traveling 'market' that goes to a different municipality each day. Sunday is market day in Sagbayan. So our usually wide, clear street gets filled to capacity with tables and tents. It is so full that we usually can not even park here. It is noisy and the air fills with the smell of fish. Usually the vegetables are the freshest at this market…tempting us to shop on Sunday. Our little classrooms are small and we definitely need the windows open to circulate air so sometimes the noise of the market is pretty hard to block out as our primary room overlooks the street. There is a little balcony that the kids often wander out on to check out the commotion below.
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| Sunday Mercado Day |
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| Sagbayan market day as seen from our second story meeting house! |
Seminary is still trudging along! We have only 8 weeks left of the New Testament. This is still my favorite calling on the mission. I just love these kids. They are so smart and so ready to learn everything they possibly can about the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is amazing to be their teacher. They are the future leaders of the church in the Philippines and they will be amazing!
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| The two girls right in the middle are new members, Apple and Jecelle. They were baptized while we were in Utah. They are adorable and fit right in to the crowd! Mmmmm…we love these kids! |
Well, family and friends, that is it for this week. We are still loving what we do but realizing our time is short. We have lots to do still and hope we can do all we have been sent here to do before we are called home.
We are also very thankful that our daughter, Shannon, had a successful surgery on her spine this past week. It was an unexpected surgery but went very well and for that we are so thankful. It is hard to be away from your family when you know that they need you. Thank you to all of you who have helped her and/or prayed for her this week.
I love you forever,
Sister Bell (Mamala to all)
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