The Big and the Small of Things

We have found Bohol to be a land of  Littles and Bigs-

• Little scooters, trikes, trucks, and jeepneys playing chicken with huge interisland buses and garbage trucks

• The "world's smallest monkey" and the largest python in captivity (her name was Prony but she passed away...no worries because we found her replacement!)

                           

She eats one chicken a month. They just throw in a live one and then she does her thing. This "chicken" stayed faraway even though she was caged.  She is beautiful!

• Small sidewalk vendors selling everything you can think of and huge 3-story malls selling everything you can think of
• Little bamboo huts right next to huge gated mansions (they don't build here according to resale value)
• $23 american dollars equal to 1,000 pesos
• Grocery stores that sell little foods-little canned goods, little milk cartons, little onions, little tomatoes, little lemons, little romaine lettuce, little cabbage heads next to the large economy size packages of Costco.(No, there is no Costco here but there is a Costco like store in Cebu)
• Small two-lane roads bearing six-lane traffic    
• And we too are subject to the Littles and Bigs of this place. We feel like Gulliver-size missionaries next to Lilliputian size people.

M.J. Gementiza's baptism

But the real biggie was a 7.2 earthquake, equivalant to 32 Hiroshima bombs going off and the 600+ "little" aftershocks that continue until today. (The "little" after shocks still shake our two story concrete home)

We were blessed to have it still standing with a few cracks in the walls.

We needed to check on our missionaries on the south/southwest part of Bohol so we had to travel through central Bohol because one of the bridges had collapsed on the coast road. We left our home @8:30am and returned @8:30pm. After securing food, water, and money which took us about 2 hrs the most of the time was spent driving to and from the area. 

When we stopped to ask for directions an "angel" offered to be our guide. We followed him most of the way to our destination and then he told us to go to the right and he went to the left. That was in the morning.  In Bohol there is no dusk.  At 6:00pm the light is gone and it is night and we had no "angel" to show us the way. But we did have a map, a full moon and the Holy Spirit to guide us home. We followed the map but at certain junctions that we were unsure of, Elder Caycayon would stop the car, sit and stare at the surrounding area for awhile and then say, "this is the way".  We sang hymns and trusted that we were being led in the right direction and before we knew it we saw a sign that said "Balilihan".  We knew where we were and thanked Heavenly Father for watching over us.

All the missionaries in our district were safe and their homes were sound.  But the elders in the Calape District, in the town of  Loon, where the damage was extensive, lost everything.  Their house collapsed with everything in it but they got out in time. We went to Loon by boat to take food, water, clothes, and gasoline. 

It was a beautiful day, the sea was glassy and calm.  

Along the shore, the reefs had been lifted up and out of the water and had become part of the landscape.

We found the Loon chapel intact and members camped on the grounds still afraid to go home or unable to go home because their home was destroyed. The District President's balay (house) was destroyed yet his family could stand in front of that devastation and still smile. 

Our Saints in Bohol remind me of the pioneers that crossed the plains and lost so much.  Their faith in God is unshaken, they stand steadfast and immovable in the Gospel of Jesus Christ because they know who to put their trust in.

 "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding. 

 In all they ways acknowledge him and He shall direct thy paths." 

Proverbs 3:5

And so they do and they endure, and life goes on....

We are so grateful to be part of the "hastening", grateful to be able to serve, grateful to be here at this time, in this place.  One last thing that I'm grateful for.  A beautiful quilt that has decorated our bed and reminds me of home and has been a real "comforter" for me these last few days. Salamat kaayo, mahalo nui loa Sis. Ilene.

 Also salamat kaayo for all of the prayers in our behalf.  We know your prayers have protected us.  We love you all.  Remember...

Elder and Sister Caycayon