Life Goes on in Cebu and Olango

Even with all the crowding and business in Cebu there is always beauty around everywhere.

The repacking goes on and the need continues. Last report there were 2700 after shocks but only some that we are aware of. However December 30,2013 we had a 4.2 so they keep occurring here. There are 14,740 families displaced. President Dumas said that 3000 members were affected.  

This little worker is Derk Balen, Marie Ann's youngest.

The young missionaries from the Cebu Mission

Sister Schmutz preparing all the 164 young missionaries in the Cebu Central Mission for a picture when Neil L. Anderson  from the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles visited . At first I thought that he would just be speaking to the young missionaries but I was quite touched by his message to "reach out to everyone." He also counseled that the way out of poverty depends on the ability to move on to the next level.



This was our destination but the day was an adventure--

Olango Island Wildlife Sanctuary.

We took a taxi to the Hilton Pier (Punta Engano) at 8:30 AM. This was our pump boat. The sign on it said "capacity 40 passengers" but there were at least 70 of us. Boarding was a little like "walking the plank".

We met Andy and his son Steven at the pier and he offered to be our guide.

The boat trip was about 20 minutes and then we had trikes to take us to the sanctuary.

Some of the trikes were very fancy.  It was an interesting ride and at the sanctuary we paid our fee and walked out to the viewing station. We were glad that Andy had access to the telescope and binoculars because the birds were  quite far away.  Lots of little fish in the water.



This is a rufus night heron that roosts in the same tree every day. Curlews and egrets in a distance.

The mangrove trees can tolerate the saline water. 







Goats are quite common in the Philippines

and little boys playing in the water

Then a jeepney ride back to the highway terminal and

SM mall for a mango shake at Thirsty's

We knew several days in advance that typhoon Yolande (Haiyan) was approaching the Philippines. But, it wasn't until about 6:00 AM Friday November 8,2013 that the storm hit land. There was a lot of wind and rain --the power went off. About 2:30 PM we decided to go for a walk. M'am Gen sent us a bowl of rice for supper.

Areas in Leyte were much harder hit with extensive damage to property and life.

It was not until Christmas that electricity was restore to some areas. So, they were without cell phone service and lights.  There were about 30 church members that lost their lives but leaders had told everyone to take refuge in the church buildings. Those that did survived. Most didn't think that there would be a water surge like there was.

But now it is time to rebuild

This was an art show in Ayala mall

on the back of the little fellows shirt

This is the way the lawns at the temple and elsewhere are maintained

This lady crochets headbands regularly along the sidewalk as we walk to work

Lyn does our cleaning at the office.

This is a group of the security that work in the mall. They have a guard at the mall entrances and one at every store  opening--and they all carry guns.

Seems like the bike is a bit over loaded

These fellows worked a couple of months on this project but they did a very good job.

This fellow had equipped his bike with knife sharpening tools and he would go around the neighborhood.

The earthquake did cause superficial damage to the plastered walls in our apartment building.

The ladder on the paint cans did not look like it would pass inspection.

This was quite an invention. They have a lot of roasted or barbecued chicken sari sari but this rotated and reduced the manual labor.

These men had a very active motorcycle business along the street and "out into the street". But no one really worried if one lane was mostly blocked.

Or if a band stopped traffic to entertain.

This little sidecar was very nicely designed.

But always at the SRC the work goes on. People come in and tell us how "Me in 30 Seconds" helped them in their interview or "the resume got me the job". Michelle told the program and then said "I don't want my parents to have to support me." Another came in after he got a better job and brought us cookies.

Our OJTs got some new headgear.

President Pagaduan, the Cebu temple president, told this story at our Stake Conference. Thadeus, was a very righteous man, who received revelation from the Lord. Now the Lord warned Thadeus that he needed to take his family out of the city immediately. Well, Thadeus was a very busy man and he got side tracked with some urgent work, but he did want to do as the Lord commanded. He told his wife and she counseled Thadeus to wait until the festival was over because everyone would be enjoying the celebration. This did seem like a good idea. Thadeus had heard of a fellow named Noah. Anyway, Thadeus started to prepare but then it started to rain so he decided to "wait until it quit raining."....