Transferred

Hello all, things have been pretty crazy these last couple of weeks. The Bicol region, which is where my mission is, was hit by a signal 3 typhoon, so the work here changed dramatically. We were advised by our Mission President that in most cases teaching would be less effective than service, and post typhoon clean up was encouraged as the primary focus for missionaries. The ensuing two weeks (and the last two weeks of the transfer) were spent offering service to people in Pio Duran. Service ranged from clearing debris from yards to cutting down destroyed banana trees to removing trees that had fallen on houses. Our attire changed from oxford and tie to t-shirts, and instead of bags and scriptures we carried machetes and saws.

Typhoon damage

This last transfer ended, and I was informed that I was being transferred. I've been in Pio Duran for the entire seven months that I've been in the Philippines, so finding out I was being transferred was a little heartbreaking. I said goodbye to the members and my roommates, and readied my things.

The way transfers work in the field, you are informed that you're being transferred, but you aren't told anything about where you're going or who your new companion will be until you meet at a central "transfer point" where elders and sisters meet their new companions and go from there to their new companions.

When I arrived in Legazpi, where our transfer point was, I was informed that my new companion would be Elder Nierves. Both Elder Nierves and I arrived in Pio Duran at the same time, and we had been roommates for six
months, so we know each other quite well. Our area is Malilipot, right outside of Tabaco, and it's one of the, if not the, closest areas to the Volcano Mayon. It's also heavily Catholic, which is different, since, in terms of actively religious people, Pio Duran was a pretty even mix of a variety of different Christian religions. The apartment we have is actually a stone's throw away from a huge Catholic Church. In the apartment are two other elders, a Filipino, Elder Analao, and a New Zealander, Elder Walters.

The work here this last week hasn't been quite as service-heavy as it was in Pio Duran. It's been a pretty even mix, and most of our teaching has been with less and inactive members. One of the members we teach, I don't
really consider inactive, though she hasn't been to church for months, if not years. This sister is in her seventies and bedridden. She lives with her husband in what I can only call a hut with one real room. The Typhoon
left it standing, though the roof is completely useless at this point against rain. And yet, even though this sister has probably the hardest life I can imagine, her faith is one of the strongest I've seen. She loves to have the missionaries come and teach, and she always asks that we sing before we share with her. During our first lesson with her, I felt this outpouring of love for her, and the scripture 1 Samuel 16:7 came to mind, which reads: " But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused
him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart." I love this work, and I love that it brings me into the lives of so many good, strong, faithful people.