Family Visits & New Horizions

Maayong Buntag Pamilya & Amigo's

Another great week in paradise.

To start off this week we have a young man by the name of Marjonilo Viodor waiting for his mission call.  Well at the end of last week we felt like the call should have been here last week so we started making inquiries about it.  Come to find out because of the mail system, the mission call was accidentally lost somewhere, somehow.  So Sister McNett called Salt Lake City and had them E Mail his mission call to her and she forwarded it on because I am his Branch President.

We prepared the call on Tuesday and gave it to Marjonilo.  He was so excited when he received his call to the Philippines Cagayan de Oro Mission.  He leaves on March 24, 2017 to enter the MTC in Manila.  He will be speaking Cebauo and that is his native language.  He will be a great missionary having only been a member of the church for a year and one month now.  He is my branch clerk and and also translates for me and I teach him how to speak English also.

Marjonilo reading his mission call

That night was also a birthday party for 4 of the members of the Viodor family that had birthdays in January and also Elder Johnson.  Fun was had by all.

The Viodor & Johnson Birthday party

Also another member of our branch decided to serve a mission.  Her name is Louie May Umbang and she is our Young Women's President in the Branch.  We will keep you informed on the progress of her application.

Louie May Umbang

We also finished up our first Self Reliance course in the Sagbayan Branch.  It is titled, Start or Grow My Own Business. The final activity for the group that called themselves Helamans Warriors was to do family search and go to the temple and start the work for family names to receive ordinances.  

Bonajos Sisters doing Family Search

 The work is moving along and we are looking at new horizons. We have a average attendance in Sacrament meeting now of 85 to 90.  There are 10 to 15 new baptisms planned for the next month. We are planning on trying a new group in Danao (a town about 45 minutes away from Sagbayan where 2 member families live).  We have taught a few people there in the past and they have expressed interest in joining the church.  We will keep you updated as this progresses.

Well I am going to wrap up for the week. I love the Lord and I love his work.  This is truly that gathering of Israel that we are engaged in.  The Lord's is in the work continually.

Maliypayon ko tabang ug gugma sa Dios kanunay (I am Thankful for Gods help and Love always)

Elder Bell  (Tatay, LoLo & Amigo)  

Ayo!

Well I have to start at the end today….because today my children arrived for a visit!!!

Our daughters, Kariann and Jennifer and Son-in-law, Chris!!

I have to tell you, anyone that is willing to make that long, long flight to come and visit, really deserves the royal treatment.  I can't believe they are here.  We are so excited to have them.  It has been a little less rainy so maybe it will hold out for a week so we can have some fun.  I will report next week on our grand adventure!  I just love that they are here!

I have been battling a really bad cold this week (wouldn't you know it?) and as the week wore on I developed this lovely eye infection.  It got pretty bad by Friday night and I could not find the antibiotic drops I needed to clear it up.  Finally I asked a local what they use for 'sore eyes' and was told that they have an eye drop that worked great.  Elder Bell finally headed off to the pharmacy and found the drops.  They are helping today.

My poor swollen and red eyes!!!

Another great event of this week was the wedding of Samuel and Lourdes Mendez.  President Mendez was the president of the Ubay branch that we attended for nearly a year.  We got very close to him and witnessed the baptism of his girlfriend, Lourdes, last June.  They finally got married on February 1 and we were invited to be the witnesses.  We are thrilled for them and they are excited to start their life together.  After a year they will be sealed in the temple.

They both looked amazing and are so happy to finally be able to marry.

Well, that is our week in a nutshell.  We are still very busy.  There are so many wonderful things going on all of the time.  We love our work here and love these people so very much.  They really make us feel as though we are part of their family.  We have seen so much growth and change in such a short amount of time.  They are dedicated saints and show by word and deed what it means to live a Christ-like life.  We are so blessed to live among them and be taught by their humble faith.

I love you and miss you. I am so grateful for you and for your help, love and sacrifice for us.  It has taken all of you to keep us going for these last 18 months.  Thank you for your letters of encouragement and news.  Thank you for your prayers and help.  We could not do this without you.

Love you forever,

Sister Bell (Mamala to all)