During a one months's time we experienced our first earthquake which rocked our neighboring island of Bohol destroying many homes and churches and which we felt here as it shook the walls of our apartment almost shaking the TV off of its stand! Aftershocks were felt for a few weeks following. Then came a couple of "typhoons" which were equivalent to a bad rain and wind storm in Oklahoma - then we geared up for Yolanda - the supertyphoon. As we were down on the boulevard bordering the ocean, we inquired as to the preparations for it. They do not board up windows, tie down outside furniture or any of the precautions we would take for a hurricane. We were told that surges do not occur here. And while they did not on our island of Negros, they certainly took the island of Leyte by surprise and devastated the town of Tacloban and many other communities on that island and others. Below are just a couple of pics of the devastation.
Rescue efforts are much more difficult here because the airport was destroyed making it extremely difficult to get food, water and other supplies to the victims for a few days. We were certainly worried about the LDS missionaries due to lack of communication. They were all accounted for within about 4 or 5 days and all transported to Cebu and on to Manilla within a week. 72 hours kits became a lifesaver for some.
What impressed me the most was our local district (stake) that organized their own relief effort because so many had families there that were affected. They took rice, water, clothing and other supplies as well as money to some of our members there. They will return this next week with another load of supplies for those that are in less traveled areas. Many roads are only passable by motorcycles so they load 50 kg bags of rice and other supplies onto a motorcycle to travel up into the mountains where there is such need. The saints here truly understand what it means to bear one anothers' burdens and to comfort those in need of comfort.
Because this time of year and the recent disasters have made us miss our grandkids more than ever we have included some of our favorite pic of children here in the Philippines. Truly the children here are some of the most beautiful we have ever seen.
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| Twins we saw with their dad along the road |
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| Another senior sister with the cutest boy with a head full of black hair!! |
Children preparing to perform at our Primary Roadshow. They rarely smile for pictures without a great deal of prompting.
Below two of the prettiest primary children I have seen. They smiled after much prodding! They are sweethearts as I have come to know them and their mothers!
Baby bed here are mostly made of bamboo and diapers are rarely used. There is a false tradition learned that the bulkiness of diapers between the legs causes babies to become bowlegged! This bed is outside always on the path to one of our elders' house.
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| One of my favorites of Elder Anderson. He loves making friends with the children. This is always on the path to our elders' house. |
Children preparing to perform at our Primary Roadshow. They rarely smile for pictures without a great deal of prompting. 
Below two of the prettiest primary children I have seen. They smiled after much prodding! They are sweethearts as I have come to know them and their mothers!
