Day 211 Carcar, Philippines CHRISTMAS!

Best present of the day! - talking to both my missionary girls at the same time filled my heart with such incredible joy. They were so funny to talk and listen to. Amanda bore her testimony in both Cebuano and Waray Waray. Ashley then bore hers in Spanish (she just got transferred to an area where almost everyone is speaking Spanish). They proceeded to argue about who was more mature - and kept us all laughing.

Christmas presents! Sis Zamora gave me a hat one of our investigators knitted.

Lunch appointment on Christmas day---they gave the sisters necklaces!

Newletter - Update on the Tacloban Mission

Dear Elders and Sisters,

I am sending this newsletter to all. I am very much thankful to all of you. Our mission will be back soon and I want all of you to be of diligent, discipline and exactly obedient missionary. It is not where we are now but how we serve the Lord. I want all of you to be the light to others, the effect of what you have learned as a FTM of Tacloban mission will testify to others that you are a strong missionary and exactly obedient missionary. Always remember the holy habits, share those things you’ve learned in the mission and I know you can be a big help to others. Sister Andaya miss you all. She miss giving  solution to  your health concern. Wait until the time Tacloban Mission will return, the famous word of McArthur, “I shall return”. We are in Maasin as of the moment, Mission home in Tacloban is under repair. Maasin is the temporary mission home. We love you all.

President and Sister Andaya

Dear Tacloban missionaries:

We all know of your interest in what is happening within the boundaries of the Tacloban Mission so you will receive, from time to time, an update of what is happening with the members, the Church buildings, the effort being made to have you return and the general community.

Letter from the Philippines Area Presidency

Dear Tacloban missionaries,

Thank you for your continuing prayers for the people of Tacloban. They are being answered as we see the nations of the world respond in a most generous way to meet the needs of the people. The Church has also responded in a very personal way to meet the immediate needs of the members and others by supplying food, water, clothing, cooking utensils and temporary shelter. Millions of pesos are now being used to meet the long term needs of the members which includes housing and creating employment opportunities. You will be pleased to know that we have our own self reliance specialists helping the members to create employment for themselves so they can once again provide for their daily needs.

Our Facilities Management people have been working hard to restore our chapels to their former glory with cleaning and reroofing projects. Your very own Mission home has been receiving a lot of attention and has been cleaned from top to bottom to rid it of the water stains and mud that ran through the bottom floor. There is no power yet in Tacloban but with generators to provide electricity and a lot of hard work a lot has already been accomplished. We write of these things as we want you to know that the Tacloban Mission will open again. We have said, as General McArthur said, “You will return” and return you will, just as quickly as we can make it happen.

Thank you for the work you are doing in the missions you have been temporarily assigned to. What is of greatest importance in life is how you serve so we encourage you to continue to serve with all of your heart, might, mind and strength. No matter where you are in the Philippines at the moment, you have a lot to offer to the people and it now includes the rich witness of the watchful hand of the Lord.

Please be assured of our love for you and of our continued effort to have you return to the Tacloban Mission as quickly as possible.

The Philippines Are Presidency and wives.

Letter from President and Sister Andaya

My Dear missionaries,

I want you to know that the priesthood keys given to his servants are real and authentic. After the typhoon devastation, I felt an assurance from the Spirit who spoke to my soul that all of the missionaries were safe and protected. Helaman experienced this with his stripling warriors, “That the Lord our God did visit us with assurance that he would deliver us; yea, insomuch that he did speak peace to our souls, and did grant unto us great faith…” Alma 58:11. I had the same feeling when my daughter Anabelle, at the age 10, was taken to the  ICU in Dagupan. The peace that I felt at that time was an assurance that she would be back to normal and that is what happened. I did not  have any worries about my daughter when she went to the hospital and I didn’t  have any worries about my missionaries. I had confirmed to me as your Mission President, as did with Sister Andaya, that the 204 missionaries were all safe. The Lord speaks to us in peace.  I know that God is real.

What I learned from the typhoon is to listen to the prompting of the Spirit and the Spirit of service. The day before the typhoon, the Spirit prompted me to e-mail Elder Nielson and ask permission to buy food for the members to distribute after the typhoon. We packed it in the office with the Assistants, Office Elders, STL sisters and Sister Andaya. I did not  have any idea at the time but the Lord was preparing these goods for the missionaries. We survived with that and the 72 hours kit that we had by eating one full meal a day.

The second experienced occurred when the typhoon was over.  I was pondering how I could communicate with the Area Presidency. I prayed and asked for guidance and the Lord prompted me to go the City hall of Tacloban. I asked my Assistants (Elders Johnson & Nath) and Elder Parsons to go with me to the City hall. When we got there, the DSWD personnel were installing satellite communication. I opened my mouth and I got the chance to e-mail the Area Presidency and also to offer service to pack goods for the people. I know the Lord directed me and it gave us the opportunity to serve even though we were also affected. The Spirit of Service is always intact.

Another experience  of service occurred after the typhoon when we took some sisters from their apartment and while we were walking. Elder Tofilao asked me if we could help an old man with a cut in his head and on his foot who was soaked and shivering. Without any hesitation, I told him okay and we took him to the chapel where I applied first aid and Bishop Lim of Tacloban 1^st Ward took care of him.

               

I know many miracles happened during the typhoon. Elder Parohinog who is from Mindanao shared with me his experienced during his exit interview. He told me that this devastating typhoon showed the hand of the Lord’s work. For 22 years, his biological mother left him to his grandmother and he unexpectedly met her in the Patron Housing where he was sent to stay. A member from Sta. Rosa, Laguna know his mom and he told her of her son. Even though the typhoon separated him from his mission it united him with his mother.

Many things happened to the missionaries and now you are separated from the mission but, “if so, we do not desire to murmur” Alma 58:35. I know the Lord takes care of us and He stated in D&C 100: 16, “For I will raise up unto myself a pure people, that will serve me in righteousness.”

In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

President and Sister Andaya

Tacloban Mission

Other news:

Two Tacloban missionaries joined President Andaya in Tacloban on Friday, the 6^th December. Elder Mark Muñoz and Elder Marvin Rivera will assist in recovering the belongings of missionaries left in apartments and have them delivered to the Tacloban Mission home where they will be stored in anticipation of the return of the missionaries who will claim them on their arrival.  

In early January, a formal review of all areas where missionaries once served will be conducted by President Andaya and a former General Authority to assess the timing of the return of missionaries to the Tacloban proselyting areas. Some areas already have electricity (Maasin, Hilongos, Sogod and Catarman to name just four) and water restored and therefore we anticipate a January return of some missionaries to some areas.

In a few weeks calls will be again be made to missionaries from the Philippines and other nations to serve in the Tacloban mission.

Priesthood leaders are meeting and responding to the needs of the members. Recently, Elder Pajaro met with the Coordinating Council and a marvelous experience was had as ideas were shared and acted upon.

We still have some chapels being used to house individuals. Some are staying at night and are out rebuilding during the day so there is a decreasing number of people staying in the chapels.

We have established a temporary Mission Home in Maasin for President Andaya and his family. Their children will attend a school in Maasin and all are very pleased to be able to return to the mission.

Sacrament meetings are being held and we have reports of good attendance by those who remain in the area.

Day 203 Carcar, Philippines Christmas is next week???? what?

My apartment in Carcar on the right- everything is blue inside and out

I'm already halfway through another transfer. Where in the world does the time go?

Since my area has been split a few times, we've really been focusing on finding new investigators. I think finding is one of my favorite things to do as a missionary. It's so exciting to be guided by the Spirit, being led to people who are prepared and elect. We had an awesome OST (on the spot teaching, where we are invited to come inside and teach). I felt like we should talk about Joseph Smith and his experience with finding the truth. We taught these two ladies named Z and P and they were all ears. Even though they were Catholic jud (really), they were truth seekers. They already had their doubts and confusion about the Catholic beliefs, and were searching for answers. We had answers to everything they wanted to know about: the Godhead, baptism for children, etc. At the end of the lesson, they committed to be baptized! We'll see if they come to church on Sunday. ;) Before we left, they thanked us fervently, saying they just didn't know the truth before, but know they've found it.

M and I continue to be awesome. They really make our job as missionaries so easy. They set their own commitments and change all by themselves. For example, we gave them the Law of Chastity pamphlet to read. A week later, we followed up on their understanding about chastity. Sister I gave a perfect explanation AND she had changed her entire wardrobe to be modest! She even asked if her shorts were supposed to come below her knees. Sister Zamora and I were so impressed that she learned the law of modesty without us even discussing it AND she acted upon her new understanding. For her birthday this past Sunday, I gave her some skirts since she really didn't have much. (I'm soooo glad there's been extra donations! I've been giving away stuff like crazy!) We took M and I on a temple trip! They got to meet President and Sister Schmutz and ask lots of questions. They are STOKED for the day that they can enter and then serve missions. They're on fire!

This past Monday was our Christmas Devotional and Talent Show! Guess what everyone! My apartment of four sisters performed a Filipino native folk dance, ahaha! It was sooo fun, even though we forgot the steps on stage. One of the members in our ward taught it to us. :) The Devotional was awesome. We watched videos of the Piano Guys and had missionaries narrate the Christmas story. Our President taught us about the importance of having the Christmas Spirit always in our hearts. Because when we go home, our purpose will not change. Christ is still the center of our lives. He is the light and life of the world. Despite the many changes that occur in this world, He remains constant. He is our example. He too had to learn line upon line. Not everything was handed to Him; He learned to work and study to obtain knowledge about Himself and His divine mission.

I think the Lord is really teaching me to treasure up the words of life. Instead of relying on notes or how I mark my scriptures, what matters most is how I apply and commit to memory the things I learn. What use is revelation or journals or notes if they aren't put to USE?

As we were teaching one of our investigators the plan of salvation, she asked how we can prepare now to enter the Celestial kingdom. (Love those kind of questions). I answered her with a scripture about repentance and baptism. She was like, ok then how do I repent? I love how she just broke down the steps to exaltation and just started with the very beginning. It's really that simple: use the Atonement and continue to repent and participate in all the ordinances. If we continue to improve and accept Christ as our Savior, then is His grace sufficient for us.

LOVE YOU ALL! MERRY CHRISTMAS! AND TALK TO YOU NEXT WEEK!!!!!! :D :D :D

there was a little girl that named her Barbies after us, haha.

this is a picture of I and M! at our temple trip. LOVE THEM

Day 196 Carcar, Philippines Bisdak ko. 6 months!!!!!

What a crazy awesome long week. We had ZTM (Zone Training Meeting), CSP (service), and exchanges with the Sister Training Leader (there's only one, but her comp is Sister Sousa!!!). Plus, the Christmas package from the ward came!!! Thank you everyone for being so thoughtful! It totally made my day. I love the pictures from the Primary, especially. And I can't believe how many missionaries there are in our ward now! Wow! Thanks for remembering me on the other side of the world, haha.

My area had been closed from 1987 to 2007 and then opened with Elders. So i'm the first foreigner sister to speak Cebuano in my area! Everyone here is pretty shocked, haha. Sister Zamora opened it with her previous tri-panionship, and then I came with the two other new sisters in my apartment (Sister K and Sister Minguez).

While I was writing in my journal this week, I was reflecting back on a few of my thoughts while I was waiting on the roof during the typhoon. Since we waited and laid there for several hours, I had a lot of things running through my mind as you can imagine. I remember looking out into the storm and seeing all the destruction, seeing the school full of families, and other people stranded on rooftops too. Then I was thinking about how many other thousands of people seeking shelter from storm, or the many who were unable to find safety. I began to think about the Atonement. Jesus Christ has experienced all the fear, pain, desperation, and terror of the typhoon. Not just for one person, but for every single person that experienced the typhoon. Then, I thought about all the natural disasters that have ever been since the creation of man. Then, all the different types of pain, sin, and trials that man can experience. My mind was blown open to just how infinite the Atonement really is.

We really had just an AWESOME week. It was the kind of week where Sister Zamora and I would jump up and down in excitement after leaving each lesson. Our investigators are really progressing. We're looking to have four baptisms in January! :D When I came, there were two investigators with a baptismal date, but they had stopped progressing. We felt like there were other people ready to hear the gospel, so we stopped visiting them as much and had faith that we could find the elect. Soooo, this past week we went finding and . . . found two new investigators who now have baptismal dates for January! It just goes to show that people are being prepared all the time for us to teach, we just need to let go of our comfort zone, of what we can see, and have faith that the Lord will lead us to those that are ready.

So MC is golden. His sister I too. At first, they were unsure about baptism and set the last week in February as their goal. Last night we returned and asked him how they were feeling about their baptism. M responded that he wanted to be baptized the first week of January FOR SURE! bahaha! Sister Zamora and I laughed at how excited he and his sister were. Both of them really really want to go on missions too. They're incredible with the gospel. They attended church this past Sunday and took notes during Sacrament Meeting and the other classes! Can you say GOLDEN?! We also got permission to take them a trip to the Cebu temple! I'm sooooo excited! I absolutely love talking with them about the gospel because they have the most genuine desire to learn and apply. They're the kind of investigators where I really don't have to do much but open my mouth. They ask the perfect questions, read and pray about the Book of Mormon, etc. Love them.

Meagan share the coolest scripture with me in her Christmas letter. She shared Alma 26-----the same chapter where the lyrics of my mission song are from! I don't have time to explain everything this week, but read the first seven verses. SO COOL! The first five verses are lyrics to the Tacloban mission song and verse 6 and 7 talk about how the storms and whirlwinds cannot destroy the people and that they are in the hands of the Lord. 

I almost forgot: I'VE PASSED MY 6 MONTH MARK!!! Craziness. Life goes by too fast.

Song of the week: Hymn 230 The lyrics are really good. :)

Love you all!

the best coolest CSP ever!!! Planting rice :)

where we planted rice, which also happens to be the place where the coconut fell and splashed me.

our beautiful legs :)

Christmas tree! I love all the decorations soooooo much! it finally feels a little more like Christmas now. :)

Day 188 Carcar, Philippines wait. what. it's DECEMBER????

Soooooooo, it's still green here. And hot. And I'm still getting sunburned. But it's Christmas time! My mind is boggled. I'm sweaty, but I have weird desires to drink hot chocolate and bundle up next to a fireplace. :)

Sorry last week's email was so short. This one probably will be too. It was just an ordinary week. Just a normal week of PROCLAIMING THE GOSPEL! :) And yes, you guessed right, nothing much for Thanksgiving. I wrote a few thank-you letters to some people but that was about it. BUT my suitcase came that day!!! Um, mom you sent way too much stuff! I can't believe there were so many donations! I'm blown away by how much people want to help. Thank you thank you thank you to everyone!

We're teaching this brother named Matt who's a volunteer choir conductor at the local Catholic church. He's only 21, but he's super involved in the community and church and stuff. We've taught him several times and he's way receptive! Right now, he's committed to baptism and has a date for next month. We've been teaching him about the priesthood and it's really starting to click with him. He asks great questions like "Is there a hell?" or "How can I prepare to be baptized?"---the kinds of questions missionaries love to answer.

I've really been enjoying FTE-ing and OST-ing: Finding the Elect and On the Spot Teaching. We've found some really elect and prepared people. At the close of one of our OSTs, the investigator asked God all the questions answered in the Plan of Salvation pamphlet: Where did I come from? What is my purpose? Where am I going? I couldn't help but grin during the prayer. She told us she missed hearing the word of God. We're finding so many people that have been missing the word of God---really, so many people keep saying it! I think since we're a newer area, the people haven't been used to missionaries yet, so they're open to hear what we have to say. We're paving the way for so many lives to be touched! It's so exciting. Finding is definitely my favorite (especially when we go to a really bukid area where they haven't really seen white people before and their faces are sooooo shocked! i can't help but laugh every time).

I got splashed by a coconut the other day. I was walking in a darkish area along a little path next a rice field, when i hear this giant crash. Then I realize i'm covered in mud! Turns out, a coconut had fallen and splashed me! My glasses were covered, so we stopped by a member's house to hose off. The member was like WHAT HAPPENED?? funny stuff.

I feel more or less back to normal, whatever normal is. I know that the Atonement of Jesus Christ has all power to heal us, no matter what we have been through. I know I can do all things with his strength, understanding, and enabling power. I was reading the Living Christ during my personal study, and I just can't think of a better explanation of the meaning of Christmas. :) Read it again!

LOVE YOU ALL SOOOOOOO MUCH! :)

My bukid area with Sister Zamora! Yes those are goats in the background :)

The Baran family's tricycle. :)

The long awaited PART 2 :)

Pasensya (Patience/sorry) everyone that I was unable to write part 2 last week, haha. So I'll try and get through as much as possible this week!

So here's the last paragraph of where I left off last week:

One sister dived underwater to unlock the front door, but the pressure from the water on both sides of the door sealed it shut. By this point, all the sisters were in the water. I think there was about 3-4ft of air left---I distinctly remember scanning the room to see how much air I had left. I was praying the whole time, but I remember praying that if not me, God would inspire someone else to find the way out. Many of the sisters were panicking at this point and I just had to breathe to stay calm.

To continue:

I backed away from the door towards the kitchen, on the other side of the house. My companion saw Sister Malietoa dive under our giant fridge which was floating and blocking the entryway into the kitchen and laundry area. My comp was yelling her name for a few minutes until we heard someone else yelling from that same direction---Sister Schaap, Sister Malietoa's comp. We gathered all the sisters over and made our way over to the kitchen and then down the long hallway of our laundry room. I was the first one to enter the laundry room. At the end of the room, I saw that Sister Malietoa and her companion Sister Schaap had found a way out! Sister Schaap had already gotten out and was helping her comp climb up.

Earlier in the storm, the wind had broken a hole in the wall of our laundry room. (The way our laundry room is built is kinda like a green house: there's a hard, plastic outside and then decorative wooden paneling inside to form the structure.) Sister Schaap had punched and kicked the wooden bars and made a hole big enough for us to climb up and out of. As I climbed up, more wooden bars broke off so it made the hole bigger for everyone behind me, haha. I could taste the water as it was gushing in and it was salty, so it was seawater! That's crazy that the ocean had come in so far. Tsunami! (Turns out, Tacloban city is the only place that really flooded since we had the storm surge and the eye wall.)

I later found out that when we couldn't open the front door, Sister Schaap remembered the hole the wind had made earlier in the laundry room. But when she got over to the door, it was still bolted shut with a metal bar. She managed to remove the bar and then open the door against the flood. She told me she felt people pushing with her. There's no way she could open the door by herself.

Once I climbed out, I was standing near the roof on what I think was a rain gutter. The water level outside was much higher than inside the apartment, so the water was kinda covering where I was standing. Once everyone was out, we walked along the rain gutter to a lower level of the roof, and unto a higher level. There were things to hold unto so I wasn't balancing or anything (which was good because my glasses were all fogged up and wet so I couldn't see much). We all sat on the roof, in the middle where there was a kinda smallish enclave of some sort. We huddled together for warmth and protection against the wind and the rain.

As I looked around us, I was blown away by what I saw. All the houses around us were just torn apart. There was a giant tree infront of our house that only had its trunk and a few large branches left. I could see metal pieces from roofs just bent in half. All the other trees and plants were gone. No green at all. I couldn't see much further because of the fog. I think by this point, in our area most of the debris had stopped flying around because it was covered in water. So we were incredibly blessed to not have anything hit us while we were exposed on the roof. The first thing we did was pray when we got to the roof. We begged that the waters would stop rising. With the rate the flood was rising, a few minutes or so more and we would have to search for higher ground. And the nearest structure higher than our building was across the street and down a few houses.

We all repeated Our Purpose as missionaries, Doctrine and Covenants Section 4, and the Standard of Truth to keep us calm and sane. After a few minutes, we checked the water level to see that it had not risen any more! I think after that we were able to relax slightly and then focus on how we were each doing. A few of the sisters had gone into shock. We gathered around them to keep them warm and awake. With the wind blowing, the rain still coming down strong, and being soaked, many of us were starting to shiver uncontrollably. We had no idea how long the storm would last. After a little while, we rearranged so that we were all laying down, hugging our companions and back to back with the next companionship, as close as we could. I think we laid there for at least two hours. We would occasionally check the water level and our surroundings for signs of any change.


That's it for this week. To be continued! Yet again! I'll probably take a couple weeks. . . so much happened.

Sister Amanda Smith