Banana Splits! (Next best thing to pumpkin pie)

Maayong Buntag Pamilya ug mga Amigo,

Another great week in Paradise for sure!  We had a great week.  We had a zone training meeting on Thursday here in Calape and all 30 of our missionaries in the Calape District gathered for it.  We were taught and trained by our Zone Leaders, Elders Saenz and Bermoy and our Sister Trainer Leaders, Sisters Astilla and Contago.  These young leaders are wonderful.  They teach so well and are respected and loved by their fellow missionaries.

We decided since we were going to have all of our missionaries together for the day that we needed to surprise them with a treat.  I really, really wanted pumpkin pie but alas, there is no pumpkin anything on this island!!!.  I found some orange squash but there are not the seasoning I need to make a pumpkin pie.  So, we settled on Banana Splits for our surprise.  Now you would just run to the store in the US and pick up a few tubs of ice-cream, some toppings and bananas, right?  Not so easy here on Bohol.  We have no shortage of bananas but the topping and ice cream were a challenge.  We finally found a Hershey's chocolate, caramel and strawberry toppings and canned whipping cream!!!  But when we looked for ice cream it was pretty sad.  We finally found a bakery that carried some ice cream but they did not have any vanilla (they do not even make it here) or strawberry (no idea what we were talking about).  But they did have chocolate and mango and cookies and cream and get this Mango with cheese chunks!  So we snatched up 9 big cartons of all those flavors and we were set.

We only have a handful of American missionaries.  Most of missionaries are Filippino and so they have no idea what Thanksgiving is all about.  So I started off by explaining our Thanksgiving holiday and why we celebrate it.  Then Elder Bell told them that one of our family traditions is to go around the table and say what we are thankful for this past year.  So we all took a minute to share our feelings.  And then we had the great fun of introducing Banana Splits to a whole bunch of missionaries who had never heard of such a thing!  They caught on pretty quickly to the process of building a proper banana split as you can see by this great picture of Elder Quigao.  So our Thanksgiving celebration was a smashing success with banana splits as the main attraction.

Banana Splits

Another very momentous occasion happened this week.  We got our drivers licenses!! One would think this would not be all that difficult but let me tell you, it was no small effort.  It has taken us two months and five visits to Tagbilarin to accomplish the task.  Four hours in line on Tuesday and we finally are legally driving here on Bohol!!!!

We are legal drivers

We have had three really great days that we have been able to go our teaching with our young missionaries.  On Friday we were able to go out with Sisters Morales and Ross who are the missionaries  for our Clarin group.  They have been working so hard to get less active members heading back to church so that their struggling little group can become a branch.  For most people here on Bohol and I would have to say that transportation is probably one of the main factors in inactivity.  They just don't always have the money for bus or trike fare.  On Sunday's no matter which branch we attend, our car is the only one in the lot.  Anyway, we had a great afternoon with these two great missionaries.  They have only been together for a little over a week and they already have some great chemistry between them and tag team each other really well.  Sister Ross is from Utah and has been out about 6 months and she already has a very good command of the language.

Sisters Ross and Morales

Well, I am going to sign off and let my good Kauban (companion) finish off the weeks adventures. I send my deep felt love to all of you.  I miss home and family and friends but I also know that we are doing a great work here and I am willing to finish the job before I come home.  Have a wonderful week and enjoy that cool Autumn air for me.  I am needing some cool about now!

Love you forever,
Sister Bell, (Nanay, Lola, Amigo)

Maayong Gabii Family and Friends

We are have a great (busy) time on Bohol.  It is great to be busily engaged in the work of the Lord (and busy it is).

Just to pick up where Sister Bell left off. The Sisters and Elder we work with are Nindot (Great).  Just when we feel the Philippine Sisters and Elders have helped us in so many ways to learn language,  traditions and customs and the whole lay of the land in the Philippines, the few white Sisters and Elder come along and inspire us also to great heights.  They understand what we are going thru because they are also going thru the same thing.  When we walk with them thru the jungle and see how they handle all the changes in their lives they inspire us to new heights.  Sister Stanley and Sister Ross let us know that we can learn the language and feel the spirit of the great people we serve by showing their examples of selfless service.

Just a note about the Banana Splits.  If you can't go to Leatherby's in the Philippines you can bring a feeling of it with you. Maayo Kaayo (Very Good)

Return to Top of the Chocolate Hills

We returned to top of the Chocolate Hills with Elder Foote and Elder Surla.  The family their greeted us with open arm.  The first thing on the agenda after arriving was to show me their gun they hunt birds with for food.

This gun shoots marbles and is powered by a flammable spray in the bottle and a flint that sparks when you pull the trigger.

Next on the agenda was to climb a coconut tree, bring down some coconuts to send home with us. They then served us buko juice drink that was home made and amazingly good. Buko juice is the milk of the coconut with the coconut meat shredded in it and a new twist was that there was soggy cookie bits floating in it.  Not too sure it would be drinkable but it was amazingly good. (Even Sister Bell liked it).
Then we started the lesson.  This was the first opportunity I have had to pray in bisayan (cebuano).  The lesson was about Prophets and to lead off to the lesson was presented by a youth missionaries preparing to serve a mission in December.

Yummy Treats

The lesson went well and after the Elders, Sister Bell and I were able to bear testimony.  The father gave the closing prayer.  The spirit was felt by all and we rejoiced in the Gospel of Jesus Christ together.  My heart if full with these experiences.

The Elders teaching at the top of the Chocolate Hills

Well we could not tell you even a little part of the great and uplifting experiences we have every week. I feel a great love for are Family and Friends at home, and the Missionaries and People on Bohol. May the Lord Bless you with the Righteous Desires of your heart.

Gugma (love),
Elder Bell (Tatay, Lolo, Amigo)

This little hut in the middle of a field is one of our favorites.  We drove by it several weeks before we saw laundry hanging to dry one day and realized it was someones home.

Decorations at Sagbyan Peek

GUARDIAN ANGLES WORKING OVERTIME

Maayong Buntog Pamilya (Family) and Amigos (Friends)

This has been a whirlwind week with not much stopping.  It was transfer week and that tells most of the story.  We had 2 elders and 1 sister transferred out are immediate District. These Missionaries in some ways have been our trainers since we arrived in the mission field.  They have helped us with language, community service projects, compassionate service and many other things.

Sister Lappay

She lived behind us in a sister apratment. She holds a special place in are hearts.

Elder Cabrera, Elder Ferrer

Served Calape and Loon. Both Elder are dear friends and will always be.

Well to on with the story of transfers. Things were going very well on Thursday morning. We started at 4:00 AM gathering missionaries to put on the ferry for Cebu. We received a set of missionaries mid morning and headed off to Ubay (100 miles away) dropping off Elders on the way.  We were anticipating the last group in the afternoon to complete the transfer.  

We were discussing how well transfers were progressing.  Then we received a call from the Zone Leader that informed us they were in a accident and had totaled the van.  They said they were in Pilar and we needed to come and get them.  We had left home without a map of the island and we did not know where Pilar even was.  We prayed for guidance and started to drive toward a town we were familiar with in the general area and were planning on asking people on the street how to get to Pilar.

About 1 and1/2 hour into are drive we were passing thru Pilar and realized the Lord had directed us way better than a map could have.

When we arrived we found 4 Missionaries that were very shook up and did not have a scratch on them.  Not one of them was injured.  They then took us down the road to look at the van. It was a miracle that they were not all killed.  Pictures tell much more than words.

Path made by the van after sheering off a light pole on the side of the road.

After sheering off the light pole, traveling approx. 100 yard thru bush and swamp.  The van came to rest on the dry piece of ground.

The Guardian Angels were definitely with them on this trip.  The Lord really protects his missionaries.

Well I am going to leave the rest to Sister Bell.

We feel the Lord's hand in the work each day and we are greatly blessed by it. May the Lord Bless you with the righteous desires of your heart.

Love Ya Always Elder Bell  (Tatay, Lolo, Amigo) 

Ayo!

It is amazing how fast a week flies by when you are serving a mission.  It seems like we just sent a blog off yesterday.  I have decided I really do not like transfer week!  It makes for two or three really long days for us.  We were in the car for 18 hours on Thursday.  I figured we drove the entire distance around the edge of the island one and almost a second time this transfer!  I need to make a note to next time remember to take a map!  It would have come in quite handy this week.  But as Kevin said, we were definitely directed by a higher power to find our accident Elders.  

He did not tell you the rest of the story though.  After we found them, we were directed by our mission President to take them to Tagbilarin to the hospital to make sure there were no injuries. (This direction came from the area authorities.)  So we loaded them all in the car and drove for two more hours to Tagbilarin to a hospital.  We were refused treatment at the first hospital and when we went to a second hospital we were told that we could wait for the one doctor on call and that it would be several hours before we could be seen.  By this time it was dark and we nor Elders had eaten all day.  We were very relieved  when President Tanner told us that we did not need to wait.  So we went on our way and finally got everyone home for the evening. (Just not us) After we got all the Elders home from the accident we still had one Elder to deliver to Carmen which was another 90 minute drive away.

I think you get my point…..Transfer day is long and exhausting!!!!

Today is Sunday and we spend all day most Sundays attending two different branches and driving a lot.  Today we attended Talibon and Sagbayan again.  The thing I am finding in all the branches in our district is that the Primary is very lacking.  So today we took the District Primary President and her counselor with us to visit both of these meetings.  I now just go prepared every week to do a sharing time in any primary we are attending.  The kids in Sagbayan have had me doing primary now for several weeks and you should hear those kids sing!  They love "Lift Up your Voice and Sing".  They sing it with great enthusiasm.  Even though they do not understand me when I speak to them, they sing in English and so we all get along very well.  The only problem is that we have no keyboard and so all they have is my memory to guide them through the tune and I have to tell you….I am not that good.  So most of our singing is way off key but we do it with such gusto, who cares? This week I received 4 little hand-made thank you cards from the children.  One little girl told me I am her "idol in missionaries".  Those are some pretty big pay-days folks…pretty big pay-days!

I also wanted to tell you about the scouting program!  The kids here do not have scouting in the church as we do in Utah but Elder Bell showed them one day the video of the ferris wheel the boys made at scout camp  a couple of years ago and they wanted to learn how to do it.  So for two weeks now we have held 'scout meeting' in the Calape Branch.  Elder Bell and I taught them how to tie a few knots and how to lash.  This week we made stilts out of bamboo and the kids had a blast!  Next week it is going to be stilt racing.  Stay tuned for that!

The stilts were a smashing success!

                            

The kids successfully lash a cross bar tight enough to hold them all!

                     

This is a picture of the youth group from Loon. 

This is a picture of the youth group from Loon.  We took a pilgrimage one day to the top of the mountain where there sits a huge white cross.  It was a great hike and a great bunch of kids.

Well my loves, I really should be going.  I was having a bad day this week and so I poured my heart out to my husband one day and told him I wasn't sure this was what I expected from my mission experience and he gave me some great advice.  He told me that we are not the 'Karl Malone' of this mission, we are the 'John Stockton'!  Our job is to assist all of these young missionaries score.  He always helps me put everything in to the proper perspective.  I love him for that.

Have a wonderful week.  We love you all and we miss you.  We love what we are doing and know that this is where we should be right now.  Thank you for the support and love we feel it in every word of every letter or call.  It makes it all so much easier knowing we have you behind us!

Love you forever,  

Sister Bell (Nanay, Lola, Amigo)

Finally! Training!

Maayong Buntag! (Good Morning)

The most challenging part of our week is deciding which of all our adventures to share.  There are so many that we have to limit it to just a few or this blog would be much longer than any of you would care to read.

So this week we have decided to tell you about our amazing weekend full of baptisms!  You have heard us talk of the Sagbayan Group that is growing so fast we can not even keep up with it?  Well, yesterday we had five baptisms in this ever growing group!  There was Claudia and Cathleen who are a mother and daughter. Claudia lost her husband about a year ago and she just loved learning that her family could be together forever and so she was only an investigator for the four weeks required to attend church before baptism.  John Mark is a young man who is 15 years old and has no other members of his family who come to church but he is on fire! He wants to go on a mission today.  He goes out teaching with the missionaries every single day and could not wait to be baptized yesterday. Angel is a little girl who is about 10 years old and the first of her family to join but others are soon to follow.  And the last baptism yesterday was the 8 year old son of our group leader, Eljie Racoma.

It was an amazing experience and we were so happy to be able to participate.  Elder Bell was able to confirm John Mark, Angel and Claudia today in Sacrament meeting. I asked John Mark after the meeting how he felt and he just touched his hand to his heart and smiled.  He has taken a special liking to Elder Bell (why are we not surprised?) and so they have some great talks together and he always seeks Kevin out when we are around him.  I have a special connection with Cathleen because we share the same name.  She is the only person in the Philippines that knows my name is Kathleen.  But I call her 'My Cathleen' and she gives me a big smile and hug when she sees me.

Our new baptized members of Sagbayan! And our mighty

                                          missionaries who taught them!

                                       

My Cathleen!                                    

There are two more baptisms for Sagbayan on Monday and several more in the next couple of weeks.  It is so fun to part of this 'hastening of the work'. We have heard that the District President is putting in a proposal for Sagbayan to be made a branch this week.  Yeah!!!  And I have to say we have some pretty diligent, hard working missionaries in our district.

I think another note worthy piece of news is that they colored the pictures today! I had only to add the instructional phrase "Koloran kini ug paghuman" (Color this and after) and added to last weeks instructions of "Please return to Sister Bell after church", they finally got it!  It was so amazing.  Most of the children sat so quietly and worked on the coloring pages all through sacrament meeting.  I feel like we are making progess in understanding one another.

I think it is also noteworthy to let you all know that I actually bore my testimony in Cebuano today and no one laughed out loud and I think they could even understand me.  This was a big step for me.  It is so scary to speak a foreign language publicly for the first time.  I am happy I did it and will keep working on the language.  The gift of tongues would be such a great blessing at this point in time.

We also this week had a Senior Couples training for two days.  Now mind you we have been out here for two months and when I arrived I asked President Tanner what he would like us to do and he smiled and said, "Sister Bell, do what ever the Spirit directs you to do", and off he sent us to decide what it was we were supposed to do.  So imagine my surprise when in training this week I find out Elder Bell and I had been breaking several mission rules on a regular and routine basis.  It was truly good to get some training on the mission rules.  Well, we were not fired and we will repent and work a little harder at helping all of our missionaries obey all the rules all of the time!

I am going to turn this over to my good Kauban (companion) and let him finish off the blog.  Please know that we love you all and we appreciate every thoughtful word you write.  It is so fun to hear from you and we love getting those letters so keep them coming.  I want you to know that we know we are in the right place at the right time.  We feel our Father in Heaven directing us and pray that our service will be acceptable to Him.  I love Him and know that He guides His work.

Love you forever,
Sister Bell (Nanay, Lola, Amigo)


Maayong Gabii  (Good Evening) to all my Family and Friends

I will start off by telling you about Senior Couple Training. I will name them from left to right and give brief exclamation of what they do.

Senior Couples

President and Sister Tanner:  They were called as mission president and their calling is to train and send back into the world hundreds of missionaries that will be future leaders of the church in the Philippines and all over the world.  While doing this many people will be baptized in the mission and Stakes, Districts and Branches will be created and strengthened.

Elder & Sister Bell:  They are working on Flood Bohol with Book of Mormon Program, helping a new Branch of the Church start, help organize primary, scouting, and priesthood leadership in the Calape District.  Assist in watching over 40 of the missionaries on Bohol.  Many other items will be put on the plate as the Lord directs.

Elder & Sister Halladay:  Elder Halladay oversaw a lot of construction of the replacement homes after the Earthquake on Bohol in 2013, also served in District Presidency for Calape District. Sister Halladay has and is still teaching piano lessons to many.  Assist in watching over 40 missionaries on Bohol.  Before we came they watched over all 80 missionaries on Bohol.

Elder & Sister McNett: Have been in the field for 2 weeks.  They work in the mission home keeping track of the entire mission.  Many other items will be put on the plate as the Lord directs.

Elder & Sister Bock: Work in Bogo on the island of Cebu.  Elder Bock has worked with the self reliance program organizing a piggery that has provided a way for many members and non members to become self reliant and support their families. They both work with Branch and District leaders in the area and have organized sports and youth programs for young people.  They also help oversee missionaries in their immediate area.

The reason for explaining these calling to you is to let you know how each mission couple that serves the mission finds by fasting and prayer from the Lord what calling they need to magnify while on their mission.  If you are thinking of serving a mission the Lord will use your talents you have in a unique  way.  Your mission will be what you and the Lord wills it to be.

We visited some of the homes Elder & Sister Halladay oversaw the building of.  None of these people in Mantacida are members of the church.  They just had a great need after the earthquake.

This mother lost her husband a year ago and had built this 2nd floor in the house for her 8 children to sleep.

Inside the house

More interior pictures

Suspended bamboo bridge over Loboc River

Dinner Cruise on the Loboc River.  This is a must see when you visit Bohol.

Loboc River

The couple training was a great time with some amazing people we experience great adventures with.
It is great to see our brothers and sisters in the Lord while doing his work.

We have several other stories unfolding all the time.  We will keep you informed of others as they develop.

We are very grateful for all our family and friends.  We love to hear from you even a few short lines.

The work of the Lord is amazing and we feel blessed to be part of it.

Ayo Ayo to all my Pamilya, and Amigos.

Love Ya Always
Elder Bell  (Tatay, LoLo, Amigo)

(I don't think this video uploaded sorry)

BEHOLD THE WATER OF MORMON - FOR THUS WERE THEY CALLED

Maayon Buntag (Good Morning) To all Family and Friends

This has been another great week while living the dream.  I will start with the spiritual side today.

The Group at Sagbayan (not large enough to be a Branch)

I showed you a picture a week ago while teaching with the Army of God

Cookies at FHE

This is a picture of Sister Bell giving out cookies to the part member family we had family home evening with that night. They were also attended Church this week with some of the members and non members from the family.

We attended church today in Sagbayan with the District President, 2nd Councilor and a Councilor in the Mission Presidency.  The small group we visited about a month ago had grown to over 60 people in Sacrament Meeting.  There were 2 Baptisms a week ago, 6 coming next Saturday and many more to come in the weeks to follow.  Half of the people attending are investigators and have plans in the near future to be baptized, go on missions and become active members of a new Branch of the Church.

My thoughts while I listened to their leaders teach them the Plan of Salvation in Sunday School was Mosiah 18:8-9  "Behold, here are the waters of Mormon (for thus were they called) and now as ye are desirous to come into the fold of God, and to be called his people, and are willing to bear on another's burdens, that they may be light.    Yea, and willing to mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as witnesses of God at all time and in all things, and in all places that ye may be in even until death, that ye may be redeemed of God, and be numbered with those of the first resurrection, that ye may have eternal life."

Needless to say, it is terrific to be involved in seeing a new Branch born and see the Lord work in these peoples lives.

President Ricardo Saballa

He told us his story while traveling from meeting to meeting today.

President and Sister Saballa

As a young man he was raised a Catholic.  He worked on a ship as a ship mate.  While out to sea he took his Bible and studied it.  He decided that the commandments said we should not worship idols.  He then started looking for something different.  His sister in law gave him Book of Mormon and he would not read it because of his teaching to use only the Bible.

He searched for several years. He was invited to attend the Church of Jesus Christ.  He decided to try it so he quite smoking and drinking and started to attend. After he attended for a short period of time he began to read the Book of Mormon.  He said he could not put it down.  He read some times until 3:00
AM in the morning.  He began taking the Missionary Discussions and decided to be baptized.

He was now living in Loon and was married.  His wife would not even stay in the same room while he listened to the missionaries and wanted nothing to do with it.  So on Wednesday night he realized that on Thursday the missionaries were going to interview him and ask if his wife and family would also be baptized. This was in 2002.

He went out into the night in a grove of trees next to his home.

The Grove of Trees next to Saballas home

He knelt down and began to pour our his heart to the Lord for his wife and his family.  In his own words he did as "Joseph Smith".

The next day when the missionaries came his wife and whole family committed to be baptized.  His wife was devote Catholic.  He family asked her later to come back to the Catholic Church.  She refused and said she would never change from this church ever, not even for 2 million Peso's.

He serves today as Councilor in the Mission Presidency. He has held such callings as District President, Branch President and all other callings a worthy priesthood leader can hold. Him and his wife are two of the strongest members of the church I have ever had the pleasure of meeting.

There are many other stories that are unfolding daily as work in the service of the Lord.

May the Lord bless all of you with the righteous desires of your heart.

Love Elder Bell (Dad, Grandpa and Friend)


Ayo! My Friends and Family!

We are so happy to check in again this week.  It has been a busy, busy week.  I determine the magnitude of busy by how many times we had scrambled eggs and toast for dinner.  This week it was all but one night.

We got to experience our very first Cebuano funeral this week. Whoa!!! They are a big time commitment.  The very young (18 months) grandson of Sister Deme (a less active member) of the Calape Branch, died after a fall down some stairs.  It was very tragic for sure.  The casket of little Ray Romeo was laid in his Lola's home for three days.  Each day family and friends gather for 'compassionate service'.  This is where we all gather and the family has to feed us a meal and then we have a service with speakers, talks and prayers.  The first night the missionaries (elders) spoke.  The second night the missionaries (sisters) spoke and Elder Bell was asked, with 5 minutes notice, to give the closing remarks.  He did an amazing job considering he had not taken his scriptures or any notes with him to the home.  Finally the third day we again gathered for a meal, only this time it was lunch instead of dinner, and ate and then the casket was loaded in to a van.  We then all slowly followed the vehicle, either walking or riding on various motorcycles or trikes, as it made it's way to the church.  There we had the final service with again speakers, music and prayers.  This time I was asked to play the organ for the singing. (This is such a stretch for me as most of you know) I muddled my way through.  We then all again followed the van slowly to the cemetery. Now this is where it gets really interesting.

Unless you are Catholic, you can not be buried in the cemetery.  So, we drove to the back side of the cemetery and he was buried on some privately owned land near the cemetery.  Once the casket is delivered to the burial site, the funeral folk just take off.  The hole had been dug and lined with cement blocks the day before by all the church leaders that were at the funeral.  So these same brethren then lower the casket down into the ground. Take off their ties and get to work.  They covered the cement box with a piece of wood and then bend rebar on top to secure it.  About 20 feet away they start mixing cement up with water, sand and cement that had been hauled in previously.  With shovels and buckets they haul the cement to the grave and finish the cement all while we, the mourners, watch.  All these good men then surround the grave, bow their heads and dedicate the grave.  We all then retire to the shade of a tree and eat the egg salad sandwiches that have been baking in the trunk of my car for two hours.  (I forbade Elder Bell from eating them! We pulled the trick Megan taught me, and stuffed them in our bags when no one was looking).  Whew!  It was a long three day commitment and the poor missionaries had to miss quite a lot of working time.  It is expected in this culture to attend the "compassionate service", especially if  you are a missionary.  Every day the family waited for us to arrive so they could start the meal and service.  We were always fed first and I don't really get it.   It was for the family, not us.  Anyway, it was interesting to say the least. And I felt so badly for the family because it was so expensive to feed everyone for four meals.  I think the funeral potatoes and ham of the good old Mormom services back home can not be beat!

Language training....what can I say?  It is coming, but oh so slowly.  Cebuano is so, so different from English.  But, it is easier in one way.  Each letter makes only one sound and there are no silent letters in Cebuano.  So, it is easier to spell and sound out than English but wow!  It is a tongue twister.  I can now pray and testify in Cebuano but I am slow and cumbersome at it for sure.  Elder Bell is really giving it a great effort but language does not come easy for him.  He will get it but it will take some time.

It is always a challenge to teach children but when you are trying to teach children that do not speak your same language it is so, so challenging.  I am finding that most of the branches do not do any kind of singing in primary (or really teaching for that matter). So I am trying to teach primary singing time in each branch we attend each week.  And you know what?  It is working.  Music really is a universal language.  The Sagbayan Branch I have worked with for just two weeks and they can sing half a dozen songs relatively well (considering we have not keyboard or piano) and they can sing and sign As I have Loved You.  It is pretty fun!

So today I took 20 quiet bags to Sagbayan Branch.  After last sunday when all 16 of the primary kids left the sacrament meeting to play on the stairs I told them that they were so big and that Heavenly Father knew that they could sit quietly in sacrament meeting.  I promised them that this week I would bring something to help them sit quietly in sacrament meeting.  So I pass out all the quiet bags that had coloring pages and crayons and two small pieces of candy in them.  I had written on the bag "Palihog ibalik kang Sister Bell paghuman sa simba" (Please return this bag to Sister Bell after church) Sure enough, all the kids just sat very quietly and held their bags.  Not one single one opened the bag to color or eat the candy!  They had no idea what to do with them and their only instruction was that it was a "quiet bag" and to return it to Sister Bell after the meeting.  And they did exactly that!  I am still giggling about it.  I guess all those quiet bags you are all sending are going to have to come with some instructions for use.

Well, we are taking up way too much of your time.  Thank you for following us on our adventures!  We really are loving every minute of this experience.  We are learning so much and our testimonies of this church and this gospel are growing leaps and bounds.  I love the Lord and these, His people in this part of the vineyard.  Thank you so very much for your love and support.  We could not do this with out you!

Love you forever, Sister Bell (Nanay, Lola, Amigo)

These big, beasts of burden look mean but they are really docile.

My new friends

One day I offered to take a picture of this group of girls as they were not having much success taking a group picture with the selfie stick.  They did not really care about the picture but they really wanted a picture with the white faced old gramma.  So I accommodated.

Liliana, this one is for you!

Ukay-Ukay and Chicken Feet!?

Hello Faithful Followers!

Every week when I sit down to write it is a real problem to decide  what to tell you about this week.  There is never a lack of subject matter as you only get a small dose of our daily events.  But this week I decided to tell you about Ukay-Ukay (Ew-ky-Ew-Ky).  The literal translation is dig-dig but this is the term used for a second-hand shop (and I use the term loosely). The sisters decided to introduce me to them last P-Day.  So I drove them to the nearest Ukay-Ukay.  It was a small tarp covered city.  Very low lying tables had been set up on top of a rubble pile (the rubble being what was once a block building  until the earthquake two years ago.) There had been very little clean up of the rubble so there were broken cement block, rebar and glass shards littering the ground.  It was no small feat to walk around in the place.  But then to watch our little Filipino Sisters master the art of dig-digging through the piles was something to behold.  Sister Astilla and Contago could work their way through an entire heaped table in just a few minutes.  The clothes are usually bundles received from some other country to help the people here with affordable clothing.  So the buyer gets a really great deal on the purchase with most things costing about 25-50 cents.  Somehow the Sisters always find cute clothing but I found I had no patience for it.  I was just shocked at the whole situation with the broken glass and cement everywhere but anyway....now you know what a Ukay-Ukay is all about!  It made me appreciate our DI.

Ukay-Ukay

Kevin has been very sick this week with first a bad cold and then a pretty bad ear infection with the accompanying fever.  So we did not get out too much this week.  By Saturday we really had a full weekend planned and so we had to get out sick or not.  At least he had no fever so off we went.  We had a full saturday with a meeting with the Branch Presidents and District Presidency and then a baptism.  Saturday night we decided to stay in a Pension House (Hotel) for the night so that we could get to an early church meeting in Talibon.  That was an interesting experience but I will save the story of the Pension House for another day.

We also attended church at the Talibon Branch for the first time.  It is a pretty strong little branch and seems to have some good leadership.  I attended Young Womens and had a great experience. There were seven young women in this tiny room.  As I entered the room I headed for the last open chair on the last row where just one young woman was sitting.  The leader said as I walked past her, "Oh, she is deaf."  As the opening song was being sung this young woman picked up my hand and pointed to the words of the song.  So I began to point to the words as we sang them.  She sang along with beautiful American sign language (yet another language I need to learn). It brought tears to my eyes.  As the lesson went on I noticed when she opened a notebook that she could write English very well and since she nor I had any idea what was being said, I opened a note book and wrote her a little note. I asked her name and how old she was.  She responded that her name was Cristal and she was 17 years old.  Well, our note passing continued through Sunday School and Young Womens and I have a great new friend.  I was so touched by this experience because I really felt like none of her peers or leaders pay much attention to her or try to accommodate her needs.  Maybe Cristal is one of the reasons I have been sent to Bohol.  I certainly plan on pursuing our friendship further.  She is a choice daughter of God and my life has been enriched by meeting her yesterday.

So now to the "chicken feet"....Chicken feet are a delicacy here in the Philippines.  You can buy them in the market and they cook them in a bright reddish sauce and serve them at gathering.  So last night at our Family Home Evening this dish was served.  Well the Filipino Elders were all over it and tried to get me to try them.  I flat out refused.  But Elder Bell was across the room and missed out on the whole of the conversation.  So we all just watched as he loaded up his plate with chicken feet not realizing what they were.  I sat across the room and just watched as he took his first bite and realized what he had done!!  It was priceless!  I wish I had captured it on film.  He actually ate one all the way to the bone including the knuckles but the others he just nibbled at and pushed them around on his plate.  He says he wasn't a big fan and would try to avoid them in the future.  The missionaries told us that they also serve chicken heads and they are an even bigger delicacy.  Yikes!!!

Well, that is my contribution to the blog this week and now I will hand you off to Elder Bell who also has some interesting stories to tell.  But before I do I need to make a correction to our mailing address here on Bohol for any of you planning on sending quiet bags.  The correction is:
Elder and Sister Bell
Philippines Cebu East Mission
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints Church Conpound
National Highway, Bajac, Lilo-an
Cebu 6002, Philippines

Please not the change of address and please, please send those quiet bags!  We are desperate for some help.  I love and appreciate the support and help we get from all of you.  The news from home is marvelous and we love every word of every letter received.  Thank you. Thank you.  We are doing our best to make you all proud of us.  We love our service here and would not want to be any place other than Bohol right now.  I love the Lord and I love His work.

Love you forever,
Sister Bell (Nanay, Lola, Amigo) (Mom, Grandma, Friend)


MARCHING WITH THE ARMY OF GOD

Hello Mga Anak (Children) Mga Apo (Grand Children) Mga Amigo (Friends)

I will start with a great story that is still in process of being written.

Two weeks ago we attended Sacrament Meeting in Sagbayan (a group not large enough to be a branch).  We meet about 25 people there, some of which were investigators.  We attended a Family Home Evening after with about 10 investigators in attendance.  Also a teaching appointment with about 8 investigators in attendance.  At both of these appointments myself and Sister Bell, and a group of youth missionaries that attended and bore very strong testimony of all truths being discussed.

Two weeks later we attended the baptisms of 2 of the investigators.

Elders Viatabau and Cabasag

Sagbayan Members

So this week we attended the Sagbayan group and there were over 40 people in attendance.  Sister Bell had double the attendance at primary and the Young Men/Young Women had grown from 5 to 13!  The 2 new members were confirmed and the mother, a young man about 15 years old and many others were talking about their upcoming baptisms in 2 weeks. The young man is planning on serving a mission. Many of the other new and existing members were making long range plans to attend the Temple.  The missionaries and members are on fire in this group and it is so fun to watching the whole thing happen.

After Church we attend another Family Home Evening with what we call the Army of God.

The Army of God

This group consists of Branch Missionaries, Investigators committed for Baptism and Full time Missionaries.  There were 19 of us that were going as 'missionaries' to the Family Home Evening at a the home of a part member family. They are walking to the Family Home Evening where 10 people will be taught.  If you want to experience what is like be where "The Spirit of God Like a Fire is Burning"just come visit this group some day.

We are striving to help the Group establish a Branch in the near future.  It is very rewarding and satisfying to be the Support Team for the Army of God.

That is what our roll is as senior couples.  All of the heavy lifting is being completed by the Army of God.  It is our roll to keep up.

I will share some pictures from Pres. Nueva's family farm.

Family Home damaged in earth quake 2 years ago.  Missionaries doing a service project to dig new footings to repair the home.

Temporary home for the multi generational family to live until family home is restored.

Okra field on the Nueva farm.

All over look of the Nueva farm that is tilled planted and harvested with a Carabou.

In closing I would like share with you my testimony of the Savior and His Work.  I know He lives and guiding his work today.  I know the Book of Mormon is the word of God and a man will get closer to God by abiding by its teaching than any other book.  I love all of you. In the Name of Jesus Christ Amen.

May the Lord Bless you with the righteous desires of your heart.

Love  Elder Bell (Dad, Grandpa and Friend)      

FROM THE TOP OF THE CHOCOLATE HILLS

Komusta Ka (How are You) to all Family and Friends

This has been a spiritual uplifting week.  Many times it feels as though there are countless numbers of angels going before us.  The experiences we have with the Elders and Sisters are a true testimony that the Lord really does support and protect missionaries.  These Elders and Sisters testify with authority and power from God.  Many of them have only been members for 2 years or less and they have the light of the gospel in there eyes.

I will give the story that comes from the top of one of the Chocolate Hills of Bohol.

Elder Foot and Elder Pairat told us they had whole Baranguy (Family Group) of 20 or more they were teaching.  They we walking thru the jungle, at the far end of one of the trails, on top of one of the hills they discovered a family group.  This family said 8 years ago they were meeting with the missionaries and for some reason they just quit coming.  So they started to teach them and invited us to go with them to one of the discussions.

The Tatay

When starting on the path (1/3 mile), the Tatay (Dad) met us and insisted we drive the truck down the path.  We followed with not much problem to the base of the hill.  We chose to not climb the hill and walked the rest of the way.  They called all the family together and brought out benches for us and others to sit on.  Sitting on the top of the hill you could see 360 degree of totally beautiful tropical forest full of Coconut, Banana and many other kinds of trees, surrounded by meadows of grass with Caribou and Goats.  It was a sight to behold.

The view from on top

We started our discussion with 3 generations of the Pamilya (family) present.  The commandments were discussed and we bore testimony in what of the language we could and the rest in english.  The Elder translated for us and we are starting to a small degree understand what is being said.  The Lola (grandmother) was really special as she interacted with her grand children and all were edified together by the teachings of the Elders and Testimonies.

Cute kids

Enjoying my Buko

At the end of the discussion the family apologized for not having a snack for us, Sister Bell gave all the children a little candy and we said we would call that the snack.  A few minutes later one of the 12 year old boy climbed to the top of one of the Coconut trees and threw down 6 Coconuts.  The Tatay (father) cut off the top of the Coconuts and gave one to us to drink.  He also made a spoon of part of the shell so we could eat the meat of the Coconut.  We called that the snack.

Ever day we are here we have both spiritual and grand experiences you could never buy with money.  This experience is truly a testimony of the parable Jesus gave of the Buried Treasure.  After finding the treasure (that was greater than anything he had experienced before), the man hid it in a field and sold all he had to buy the field.  That is how we fell about these experiences we are blessed with.

We also enjoyed today listening to Conference (a week later then you did).  The spirit was strong and witnessed to our hearts the Words of the Living Prophets.

We love all of you and pray for your welfare and safety every day.  May the Lord Bless you with the righteous desires of your heart.

Love  Elder Bell (Dad, Grandpa & Friend )


Ayo!  I hardly know where to begin.  We have had healthy missionaries this week and so have not had to go to Doctor appointments all week (except to get Sister Stanley's cast off). So that means that we have had time to go out with the missionaries teaching.  This is our favorite part of our mission.  Everyday that we go out I think that I have never been in such a humble home and the very next day I meet someone who has even less than you can believe possible.  That was the case this week.  We had the opportunity to go out with our Loon Elders one afternoon. Elder Santos and Elder Ferrer are both Philippino and so not much phases them.  We trekked back through the jungle with them and came to this house.

A Humble home

This was the home of a little old Lolo (grandpa) and a little old Lola (grandma).  They have been left with 3 young grandchildren to raise.  The parents of the children have gone to Manila to work and earn money but I am not sure they send any money home to help with the apo (grandkids). They invited us in to their home. As you can see it sits about 3 feet off the ground and the floor is made of split bamboo.  There was no furniture of any kind.  The youngest of the apo had a fever and lay across her Lola's lap. The Lolo is a convert of two years but his wife was not baptized. He can not walk so can not get to church. The Lola collects sticks in the jungle and with a machete peels the bark off of them so they will dry and sells bundles of them to make money to buy rice.

Lola with the Elders

The Elders wanted to talk about the importance of partaking of the sacrament each week to renew our baptismal covenants. They wanted to know if the Lolo wanted them to bring the sacrament to his home on occasion.  His eyes lit up at the offer and he told them that he will stand true to his testimony and his covenants until the day he dies.  He also told us that he is teaching his apo how to pray.  Sometimes.....it is hard to hold back the tears when you hear these testimonies of great faith from people who feel so blessed and yet have so little.

We visited another home this week of a woman who has 6 children.  The baby was in her arms and the other 5 at school when we stopped by.  The Elders from Calape have been teaching her.  She has a bana (husband) but he works out of town all week and comes home only on the weekend.  They live in a tiny, tiny hut with only mud for a floor.  She did not have a single piece of furniture in her home.  No chair, no table for preparing food, no cupboard, no beds.  The elders went into the house and hauled water jugs out for us to sit on. Fashioned a bench with a fallen log and two other water jugs for them and the sister to sit on.  The baby had no diapers and so just wet on his mothers lap.  All of this is just normal life for them.  The elders taught her about the restoration and prophets.  I tried really hard not to weep in front of her.  I asked Elder Bell if we could just go buy her a plastic chair.  It would change her life.  I asked the Elders if people in such desperate situations could even think about the need for religion when their basic survival needs are not even being met.  They said yes, the Lord works on them and they change and see the truth.  (We bought two chairs and 6 stools and will drop them off this week).  These beautiful people are so humble, so gracious, so kind.  We love them and we feel so blessed to be here serving them in anyway possible.

We are so grateful for all of you.  Thank you for your love and support.  We race to our computer every morning to see if anyone has written. It means so much to us to hear from you.  Thank you. Thank you.

We love the Lord and we love His gospel.  We love these young missionaries.  We feel so privileged to be able to work with them.  Please know that we are well. Oh and....we bought a sofa bed this week in preparation for any of you that are planning on a trip to see us (build it and they will come mentality). So just let us know so that we can pick you up at the ferry dock!! One and all are welcome.

We love you forever family and friends,
Sister Bell (Nanay, Lola, friend)

Tender Mercy's of the Lord and Wonders of Bohol

Maayong Buntag (Good Morning) to all Family and Friends

First I will show you some of the Beautiful sights of Bohol then some of the Tender Mercy's of the Lord this week. A picture is worth a thousand words.
                                     

Add captionThe Chocolate Hills of Bohol

More Chocolate Hills                                           

 Tarsiers Monkey (3 to 4 inched tall)

It was hazy the day we went half way across the Island.  We will send a pic of the hundreds of hill together on a day that is clear.  We still have only seen half of the Island.  They say the other half is a beautiful as the first half.

Now on to the Tender Mercy's of the Lord.

This week we had 2 Baptisms on Saturday.

In Calape Sister Lappay and Sister Stanley baptized Irish (15 years old).  We met Irish the first two days that we were on Bohol.  We were called out to give her a blessing and carried her a half a mile in the rain and took her to the nearest medical facility.  She recovered and today was baptized.

Sisters Stanley and Lappay

In Tubigon Sister Palo and Sister Bolo baptized Cristina Calesa.  These 2 small Sisters (4 feet tall) went with us into town this week for dentist appointment.  Before they left the ICM Mall where the dentist was they had 8 referrals from workers, police officers and everyone else they ran into.  We call them our Minion Sister because they are so short and little firecrackers.  Terry would be happy around them as they looked up to her.

I went to meeting today with the District Presidency and all the Branch Presidents.  They made a goal to organize a Stake in Calape in the next year.  That will take a lot of work and help from the Lord.  We presented a Book of Mormon plan to help them accomplish that goal.  We will be working hard to get the Book of Mormon in the hands of all the members with there testimonies in them and committed them to place the Book of Mormon with a friend.  The Missionaries and the Members are all excited about this program so we will let you know how it goes

The final Tender Mercy is watching the gift of tongues in action with Sister Bell.  She has started to learn the language (Cebuano).  She started slowly the first few days but since that time learns 20 to 40 new words a day and retains them.  The Lord is helping her to learn the language.  I am still learning but much slower.  She is the greatest asset I have.

We have developed a great love for the people.  We love the work and we love to work with the people we serve.

I will turn this over to Sister Bell now.

Till we meet agin.  From the Other Side of Heaven

Elder Bell (Lolo - Grandpa and Friend)

Ayo! (Hello)

It has been a week of hurry up and wait.   We had three different days to take missionaries to doctor and dental appointments.  So we gather them up and hurry to the appointment which takes about an hour to drive to the main town of Tagbilaran and then we wait, and wait, and wait.  Medical offices rarely make appointments and if they do it is similar to the lines on the roadway...just a mere suggestion.  But, hopefully we have all the missionaries on the road to recovery for the next week.

We were fortunate enough to finally get a P-day yesterday.  It was our first since we arrive one month ago.  The Halladay's are the other senior couple serving on Bohol.  They have been here for one year and so know all the places that are a must see while on the island.  So they were so kind to take us sightseeing and for a nice dinner.  It was fun to see the Chocolate Hills and the Tarsier Monkeys. (Grandkids...I want you to look up information on the Tarsier Monkeys and learn how cool they are. Report back to  me about what you learn!)

We were fortunate enough to have the Women's Conference Broadcast today and enjoyed it so much.  We do not get to have General Conference until next week via recorded DVD.  But that is okay.  We will enjoy it next weekend.  It will be wonderful to hear gospel messages in a language that I can understand.  (My bana (husband) greatly over- exaggerates my ability to learn the language.  I am praying for the gift of tongues but it really has not happened yet.)

We are frustrated with our internet connection most days.  Our lack of a connection prevented us from starting our language training this last week.  So we are praying for a better connection on Tuesday so we can finally begin our language training.

Nagpa salamat ako para sa akong kauban, akong pamilya, ni Jesu Kristo! (I am grateful for my companion, my family, and Jesus Christ!)  I am so happy to be able to serve the people of Bohol.  They teach me each day by their happy attitudes and faith.  I love you all and want you to know we are definitely in the right place at this time.  There is so much work to do and we are happily and busily engaged in it. I hope you are all well.  We think of you often and pray for your happiness and safety.

Love you forever,
Sister Bell (Lola (grandma), Mom and Friend)