Earthquakes, Volcanos and Typhoons, Oh My!

 Typhoon TinoPH

We have found that life is never dull here in the Philippines! While many of the people in northern Cebu were still in the recovery stage from the 6.9 earthquake, we received word that a Typhoon was headed our way and would likely make landfall November 3 close to the epicenter of the earthquake. 

As you can see Typhoon TinoPH (Kalmaegi) is heading right toward us!

One funny thing about a typhoon is how different it is from an earthquake. An earthquake strikes without warning, but a typhoon creeps slowly toward you while you just watch it come. We didn’t know what to expect and didn’t receive much guidance on what we should do, so we just stayed home and waited.

We did notice on social media that some people were preparing their homes by tying them down with ropes. 

We wondered if this helped keep their roof on or keep the house together 

but we weren’t able to get the after shot. We hoped it helped. 

Around 3 AM, we woke up to howling winds and heavy rain, with thunder and lightning shaking everything. It was loud and wild outside. There was no going back to sleep! We felt completely safe in our little apartment on the temple complex, which is on a hill, but we knew so many others were not as protected. The devastation afterward was overwhelming.

This is just a small glimpse of what people throughout Cebu are dealing with.

As you can see the devastation is overwhelming

As the wind and rain continued into the early morning, we assumed the temple would likely be closed on Tuesday. We couldn’t imagine there would even be patrons. But then we received word that the temple would be opened as a refuge from the storm, and that even though we were scheduled for the afternoon shift, we would be needed as soon as we could get there. The only workers expected were the full time missionaries and volunteers from the 2nd and 3rd floors of the patron house.

At 4:15 a.m., our temple president sent a video of the storm, and it was absolutely raging. He sent another around 5:30 and another around 6:30. 

I don’t know if this link will work, but here’s a link to a video that was posted by one of the security guards when things were calming down: https://www.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1518148539522487&id=100001454087605

From the videos, we could see that the winds were slowly lessening, but when we left for the temple around 7:30, the wind was still blowing pretty hard and the rain was still coming down. I grabbed an umbrella - Dad did not and we made a run for the temple. Even with my umbrella, we were both soaked by the time we made it inside the temple doors.

As expected, there were no patrons at first, so we spent the morning rotating workers—some serving as workers and others as patrons. We were able to keep both the endowment sessions and initiatory open all day long. As time went on, a few patrons actually started showing up. Most of them were missionaries from the Cebu Mission and the Cebu East Mission, about 24 missionaries in all.

These sweet missionaries were supposed to go home Tuesday morning, but all their flights were canceled and they were stuck in Cebu. With the storm raging outside, they were safe and protected in the temple. If I’m being honest, I couldn’t believe the temple would even be open that day and thought it might be a waste of time to go when no patrons were expected. But I was so wrong. We felt such a deep sense of peace there, and I was so happy we could welcome those sweet missionaries and give them something meaningful to do to take their minds off the disappointment of being delayed another day.

It turned out to be a tender mercy for all of us, and it seemed the Spirit was extra strong that day. I’m so thankful we were able to be there for them and to feel that beautiful spirit together. In addition to participating in initiatory and endowment ordinances, the missionaries were also able to do baptisms. As the day went on, we had a few more patrons come in. Even though it was a long day—working both shifts—it’s one I will remember for a long time. The missionaries were finally able to leave the following day and have since been safely reunited with their families.

We worked again all day Tuesday and Wednesday. By Thursday, things were slowly picking up again. The temple was still quiet compared to normal, but a youth group of 46 arrived from another island, ready and excited to do baptisms. They basically had the baptistry all to themselves for a couple of days.

It’s always fun to visit with the youth outside the temple and get to know them a bit. A few of the boys were walking with us, chatting, when one looked up at Dad and said, “You are so tall!” Haha! He really is tall, but compared to these tiny boys, he must have seemed like a giant!

On Friday, I asked when they planned to head home, and they said Saturday at noon. That surprised me—because we had just learned another typhoon was right behind the first one, and it was supposed to be even bigger and stronger!

 

Saw this on Facebook - Pretty scary!

If it were me, I’d be heading home early. Sure enough, Friday night we heard all the ports were closed and all boat reservations were canceled. Many of the passenger boats had even headed south to wait out the storm. Those poor youth, their leaders, and the adults who came for temple work were all stuck at the patron house.

We got a message from our bishop saying that anyone who needed to could evacuate to the church building. Sunday services would start an hour earlier and combine two wards so everyone could get home and prepare. By Saturday, quite a few families had already gathered there.

When we saw our baptistry friends at church Sunday morning, they said they hoped to leave Monday afternoon. After we got home, we realized they probably didn’t have much to eat—the cantina was closed, and even if it wasn’t, they might not have had money for food. We reached out to the other missionary couples and asked if they wanted to pitch in to help feed our stranded friends. Of course, everyone said yes!

So the three elders walked down to Jollibee and ordered food for them. On the way, they ran into their bishop, who told them there were 67 people in the group—youth, leaders, and adults! After ordering the food, they stopped at the grocery store to buy water, since there was no running water in the patron house.

One of the sisters we work with at the temple saw the elders heading out and asked where they were going. One of them joked, “We just felt like taking a walk in the rain.” Later, when they came back with a huge box of food, she laughed and said, “It’s not raining water here—it’s raining Jollibee!” We all thought that was hilarious.

She later told us how grateful she was that we were helping “their people” in ways they couldn’t right now. We were just so happy we could do something. As it turned out, those sweet youth were very hungry!

Here is a link to a video that  was taken when the food was brought in, I hope it is public: https://www.facebook.com/reel/1460204428385648/?fs=e&s=TIeQ9V&fs=e&fs=e

Dad headed down a little later with a huge bag of Halloween candy for their dessert and they loved it.

As it turned out the super typhoon took a turn north and didn’t come our way at all, we just got a little rain and some light wind. Unfortunately those in northern Luzon where hit pretty hard and there is much suffering there just like here in Cebu.

As of today there are two more low pressure areas swirling around and heading our way. It’s not  clear if they will become typhoons or not.  But I  do know, our Heavenly Father is watching over us and we are safe. We continue to look for opportunities to serve and help those who have lost so much. I’ve heard  so  many say with a huge smile on their face, “Life goes on”. The people here are so resilient and strong, their faith gets them through and they will rebuild their homes and their lives. I have so much to  learn from them. Once sister in her 70’s said the water in her home was to her neck, but there she was serving in the temple and telling me she was fine.  This is typical of what I hear everyday.

We hope all of you are  doing well,

We love and miss all of you,

Love, Sister Mom/Beth

A Lot of Shaking Going on Around Here!

  We Felt It!

The night before we were heading to California (September 30th), we were sitting in our little living room when we suddenly felt the apartment start to move and heard some pretty loud rumbling. We quickly realized it was an earthquake—probably the biggest one I’ve ever experienced! The shaking just kept going on and on, and I started to wonder if it was ever going to stop. We later learned that the 6.9-magnitude quake’s epicenter was in Bogo City, at the northern tip of the island of Cebu, about a two-hour drive from where we live in Lahug. Thankfully, not much damage was reported in our area, though the Angel Moroni statue on top of the temple was shifted slightly.

 I’ve experienced a few earthquakes In my life but nothing like this one.  The aftershocks continued throughout the night and the following weeks.

The next morning when we had to leave to catch our flight we weren’t sure what the situation was and if we would be able to even get to the airport. The airport is on another island that is connected to Cebu by 3 bridges and we had heard that one of the bridges was damaged and closed. The traffic in our area is horrible all the time but especially during rush hour. As it turned out we were able to get to the airport with no problems and surprisingly very little traffic. It felt weird to leave at a time like this but there was nothing we could do about it.

We were concerned about all the young missionaries in and around Bogo and hoped they were okay, but then we remembered they were in Lahug for Zone Conference and were all safe—a sweet tender mercy that I’m sure brought great relief to their parents. The brother who drove us to the airport, and was supposed to take the missionaries back to their areas after dropping us off, told us they would stay put until it was safe to return.

The devastation in Bogo and surrounding areas is terrible! The earthquake killed at least 79 people and injured 1,271. A total of 135,400 homes and over $53.98 million worth of infrastructure were damaged. Over 7,400 houses collapsed, along with numerous buildings. The people in Bogo City are living outside, the members of the Church are camping out on the church grounds. 

We wanted to do something to help, but we didn’t think we could do much being so far away. Then, Sister Harding - one of the other couple missionaries - text me and said our Bishop here in our Lahug Ward was asking for monetary donations. I sent her some money so we could contribute as well. Bishop was able to purchase quite a few needed supplies with the money collected from the couple missionaries.

Supplies we helped purchase for the quake victims. 

Even after we returned to Cebu the shaking continued, Several large quakes and as many as 200 smaller quakes a day and aftershocks were recorded. 

In addition to the quakes, two volcanoes erupted, no lava flow, just steam and ash. I heard the eruptions were due at least in part because of the earthquakes. In fact they are saying the entire ring of fire is experiencing heightened seismic and volcanic activity. 

This can feel frightening, but we shouldn’t be too surprised! We know that in the last days the elements will be in commotion, and recent General Conference talks have reminded us that these truly are the latter days. 

President Dallin H. Oaks reassures us: “In modern revelation we have the promise that if we are prepared we need not fear (D&C 38:30)… We need to make… spiritual preparation for the events prophesied at the time of the Second Coming of the Lord.” 

What a blessing it is to have the scriptures, along with living prophets and apostles, to guide and reassure us—helping us clearly recognize the signs of the times and find comfort as we witness them unfolding throughout the world.

Moving on to Lighter Subjects 

I thought I would share some random things that we have or are experiencing here in the Philippines.

New Restaurant - A Great Find

When we first arrived, we felt completely out of place. Nothing was familiar—the food, the language, the city, even the smells—it was all a bit overwhelming. On our second day, the other senior couple had gone to Manila to be fingerprinted for their visa, so we were on our own. We had almost no food, were tired and hungry, and had no idea where to go for dinner. One of the sisters who works in the temple kindly suggested we try La Vie, a restaurant just two doors down from the temple.

This is the view from the front door of the restaurant

The temple is so close.

For some reason, we never went there. Instead, we took a taxi to the mall and ate there. Every now and then, someone would ask if we had tried La Vie yet, but for whatever reason, it just never crossed our minds to go. Another couple from Singapore mentioned they didn’t care for it, so we figured we weren’t missing much. Then, one date night just before the temple shutdown, we decided to give it a try. We walked the short distance to the restaurant—and were pleasantly surprised! It was such a fun place with delicious pizza, pasta, pastries, and best of all, some of the best gelato we’ve ever had.

We now go there quite often and really enjoy the food and of course the gelato. The staff is so fun and they now know us and treat us like we are someone important. Now we know what we were missing all those months - we should have gone when it was first suggested.

Different Culture - Different Foods

We keep finding new and interesting food here in the Philippines. I keep telling myself to stay adventurous and keep trying new foods!

That said, the other day at the grocery store we came across something I’m pretty sure I won’t be trying anytime soon. The label said it was “dangerously addictive,” but since I’m not a big fan of eggs or fish, I think I’ll just take their word for it! There are plenty of new tastes I’m brave enough to try—but this one might just stay safely on the shelf.

And speaking of interesting foods, there are so many kinds of potato chips here that I probably won’t be trying either. Some of the flavors are pretty wild—I’ve seen fried chicken and even shrimp flavored chips! Here are a couple interesting flavors.

Honey Butter and Tomato Ketchup

Cebu City Stake Choir

Our stake choir has been busy the past couple months. In addition to getting ready for stake conference we were asked to sing at a couple inter faith events. I enjoyed the interfaith events and found it interesting to see how other faiths worship and express their beliefs. 

Interfaith Event at City Hall

Another Interfaith Event at a local hotel

We have been practicing like crazy with the stake choir getting ready for stake conference. The stake presidency requested 8 songs! Finally last Sunday was stake conference and the choir did a great job. Not that I can take credit for the great job but it was really fun to be part of it. We performed 3 songs with the stake children’s choir. I always get a little teary eyed singing with those precious children, they are just so sweet. I can’t get over how good they are to sit for so long on the front two rows of the church during two meetings (the adult session and the general session). Because of transportation issues, both meetings are Sunday morning.

Stake Choir and Stake Children’s Choir

It was funny to me that the choir director wanted us to wear pastels for our performance since in my mind pastels are for spring not fall. Then I had to remind myself that the two seasons here in the Philippines are rainy season and dry season. 

The talks at stake conference were wonderful and I especially enjoyed a talk by one of the counselors in the stake presidency. Here is a quote from his talk:

“With social media today and the convenience of using social media daily…

We spend more time ‘scrolling than speaking’

We spend more time ‘posting than praying’

We spend more time ‘judging than ministering’

Do not cast stones…instead cast nets and gather in those who need to feel the mercy, protection and love of the Savior.” 

Another speaker said, “The world around us may be shaking but we have a solid foundation in the Savior Jesus Christ.”

As I serve in the temple I am more and more convinced that we need to minister to one another more. Whether it be a formally assigned role, spontaneous ministering or intentional ministering, we all could use more ministering these days. When I get to know the sisters I serve with and get to know their stories, my love for them increases, my respect for them increases and I find we have way more in common than we might realize. We all need to feel needed and accepted and I believe ministering is the key.

“Will Work for Hairspray”

When I first met Sister Harding, we couldn’t get over how many things we had in common—it was almost spooky! Even after all these months, we’re still discovering new similarities. One of those funny connections? Hair products.

We both have fine, limp hair that does nothing on its own, so we rely on our stash of magic potions to give it a little life. Unfortunately, finding decent hair products in the Philippines is next to impossible—which makes sense when you look around and realize most women here have gorgeous, thick, shiny hair that doesn’t need any help at all.

We did manage to find one kind of hairspray, but it was… well, let’s just say it was more “helmet glue” than “styling aid.” It did the job—sort of—but it was pretty terrible. So when I found out my sister Jill was coming to visit, I told her to bring as much hairspray as she could possibly fit in her luggage. Enough to last me until I go home!

Here’s my stash with a few other things that I like

I even tried to share some with Sister Harding, but she absolutely refused. (She’s way too nice.) So later, when we realized we’d be going home for a week, I told her I was going to buy her some hairspray as a thank-you for filling in for me at the temple.

One day we went downstairs to meet the other missionaries before heading out shopping, there was Sister Harding—standing there with this sign:

I laughed so hard. She is so funny and keeps everyone laughing all the time!

Here’s Patty with her haul of Hairspray and a few 

others things they were missing from the US.

We also brought the Stirlands some things they had been missing from the states as well.

We are so thankful for these good brothers and sisters we have the opportunity to serve with. We really enjoy being together and supporting one another. 

I hope you made it this far…I guess when it takes me so long between blog posts you get a super long post. 

We love you all and pray you are all doing well.

Love,

Sister Mom/Beth