It's like we are cursed!

We heard that there is a rumor going around that we are a curse to these people and ought to just come home. Ya, yuck it up!! I’m starting to wonder myself if we have not been the bringers of calamity, but if that is true, it seems only fair to stick around and help clean up. Right? Well of course right, ‘cause everyone knows curses can’t really be true anyway. Well, there is new evidence that might indicate we are, indeed, bad luck. Read on.

So, to catch you up: with your generosity, we had more funds than what we had promised to Bio-os School, and a friend of ours told us a couple of weeks ago of another school in the municipality that was also badly hit by flood waters from the typhoon. The name of the school is Tambuangan Elementary. It is right across the road from the Amlan River, upriver from town a couple of Kilometers, and right in the path when the water rages. The neighborhoods near by were not as badly hit here as in Bio-os, but the school lost much of their supplies, and it too filled up, but with sand, not mud, which I’m very glad of (I’ve had my fill of mud-trudging for a lifetime). Much of the work of cleanup had already been done when we were there to visit last week, but students still don’t have supplies, and teachers don’t have devices, so we will use the rest of the funds at this school. We attended their PTA mtg., attended their Barungay (neighborhood government) meeting, assessed needs, and of course Elder Cropper wowed everyone with his Visayan phrases. (He says really clever things like, ”Return will we yesterday for happiness” when he really means, “we will be happy to return tomorrow.”) They don’t give a rip that he is butchering their language, and they can understand his English better than his crazy efforts, but they absolutely die for his Visayan attempts any way. He sometimes actually gets a whole sentence right.

So we organized another Community Service project which we had okayed with the Mission President—he gave permission to pull all the missionaries in the province from their work to help with clean up. The Barangay captain was hoping we could build a rock and cement drainage ditch for future run off, but he needs lots of man power to haul stones from the river bed across the road. Count us in— we’ll bring the missionaries and the members—including a lunch for all workers who arrive (they said about 200!!) like last time. Once again, the funds for materials go much farther because of the work everyone pitches in

But then came the earth quake. School was out for a week to assess damage to structures, families went to relatives’ houses in the mountains to escape the pending tsunami, which they knew was really not coming, but which still seemed real to them. Our meetings were postponed, but we did go up and see that the preschool building. It is a separate structure, which was already questionably safe, and was now sporting a buckled-in roof with a broken beam. We quickly added up what we still had left, and decided your funds could help buy building supplies for the preschool to be rebuilt. The wall at the Bio-os school that had been talked about is probably not necessary now, since the municipality is dredging the Bio-os river and changing its course to address the problem, so those funds can now go to helping with the preschool at Tambuangan.

So after the earthquake, the plan was to meet today to distribute the funds to teachers, give out the school supplies, meet with the carpenter about the building supplies, and go ahead with the project. BUT the barangay captain texted us today and apologized. He said that since the super heavy rains last night washed away another block long chunk of the road to the school, we couldn’t get up there to deliver and meet, and the Service Project could not go on this Friday. Let me digress and tell about the rain. It rains hard here. The first few times it rained when we first arrived, we thought it might pulverize the house. Our roof is metal, and it makes a ton of noise, but the sound is pretty indescribable. You really feel like you should take cover when you hear it, but then you realize, oh wait, you ARE under cover. Well , with the exception of the typhoon, last night was the heaviest we’d heard, and, unlike usual, when there is a short, hard burst, this crazy hard rain went on all night, waking us each time when it rose in pitch and intensity.

So we were not surprised that the road, already compromised by typhoon, and earth quake, gave way to the gushing river, swollen with torrential rain, and the school is re-flooded, including mud.

Here is a random picture of a gorgeous flower Elder Cropper wanted to add. He said we needed to break things up.

The road was not the only casualty. Last week, before the heavy rain last night, after the earthquake and high water from mudslides up river, the little bamboo boat got washed from its moorings and swooshed away. Joy’s little family with the dad that just got baptized could not get to church on Sunday for his confirmation without the little boat. They just stood across the river in their Sunday clothes, watching the flood.

Are you getting convinced yet that we are NOT the best of lucky charms to the folks in these here parts?

We also planned, in the this same week as the community service project is planned for the school, another project with just the missionaries from our zone to help members in the community up north where people were hardest hit by the earth quake. The Branch President’s house there leaned, but did not topple—bamboo houses are, evidently, rather earth quake resistant, and much safer than cement block, like we live in J. We will head there tomorrow to help on some projects the Branch president is arranging.

When Elder Cropper went up to check out the washed out road today, he passed by the place where the boat had been, and there is a new one built already!! Bigger and better. But it was hung up on the rocks and a knot in the line, so he was in the river up to his knees trying to help the kids get it unstuck. Ironically, that’s right when a guy from the church humanitarian department in Manila called him to see if he has any information about earthquake relief needs to the north. He waded out of the river and told him we would check it out tomorrow when we are up there. We had heard rumors that either the Catholic or the Seventh Day Adventist churches got knocked down. The Manila guy wants us to see if help is needed for them or any other community projects. Maybe we’d best stay away :)

In spite of all this, we are continuing to rescue spiritually as well—we are teaching a family who has NOT been fellowshipping with the saints for years—since right after their baptism. Someone told him the Mormon church was a hoax, since where did it mention Joseph Smith in the Bible? And he decided that was reason enough to forget about his conversion. We went back to teach him and solve that problem (pretty simple: where does it mention Jesus Christ by name in the Old Testament? Where is Isaiah’s name mentioned before he came along? Or any of the prophets?—they are spoken of, but not named—even the Savior) Any way, when we got there to teach them, with the new Branch mission leader and his wife (the man who helped us find Joy and help her after the flood, the man who himself was not attending just 2 months ago). We found another young family there, who we invited to stay and listen to our message. They were intrigued and agreed to meet with us in their home next. Well they just happen to live on the property of the Branch Mission leader, so he spoke with them today about the lesson and they said her brother and his wife, their parents, and her younger brother, all want to listen too. So Wednesday, tomorrow, we will teach all of them.

This place is intense. When we go to sleep at night we think, “What next Heavenly Father?” What roller coaster ride of faith and submission and orchestrated , miraculous events, building on other events? We get to see lives changing, people growing, serving, learning about love through their own service, the way the Savior modeled and taught, coming to Him by loving and serving and teaching God’s children as He did. Oh it is magnificent to watch and to be a part of. We just wish the earth would settle a little. Sleeping in our clothes in case we need to dash, like we did the night after the quake, is a little harrowing.

I like how Michele joked about my re-considering following Dean to the ends of the earth. Not only should I consider more carefully next time, but maybe others should beware: there should be a question on an entry visa form or a missionary application—do natural disasters tend to occur when you arrive in an area?

Tonight, as I was writing this, about 8 in the evening. We heard a knock at our back door. There in the dark, were two little girls from the branch bringing us Valentines. They are from the family whose mom had a baby recently, who have nothing, not even electricity or running water. Their Dad is abusive and does drugs, and only shows up to bully. One is about 11 the other maybe 9, but they look years younger. They had made us Valentines. They, who have nothing, including any hope of a life much better than the poverty they are now in, had found smidgens of red paper to glue on white paper, and they wrote us lovely messages in English, then they walked from their home down a rough dark road at night, across the national highway with a tiny flash light to our house where they’d never been. Their names are Merry Joy and Mary Grace. Enough said.