Dearest Family and Friends,
It's transfer week. That means by noon today there were 13 Elders and Sisters here with one day left in their mission! Only one! They are worried about some things looking forward: "Can I still speak in my native language? Can I learn to go places alone again? Will I be able to figure out what I'm supposed to do with my life?" And they won't say it out loud, but many go home to uncertainties of family relationships and how they will meet other basic needs. Embrace them when you see them!
Last night we had a Philippines-wide broadcast by Elder and Sister Oaks, Elder Robbins, Bishop Causse, and Elder and Sister Ardern. They gave out tools! The exact ones these Thirteen will need. We hope they will be utilized daily, to guard against our greatest concern for them; inactivity. We pray for their barges to remain lit all the way through their storms and their fairer days! Embrace them when you see them.
Tonight there will be a pizza party, a final testimony devotional, emailing families, wonderful conversation, repacking, and much weighing and reweighing of large suitcases. Tomorrow morning after our goodbyes are said I will find small piles of discarded items that just wouldn't fit. It's interesting to see what is chosen to be left behind. Generally clothing, personal care items, language study books, a fancy first aid kit and one tragic choice it seemed to me, a mission's worth of weekly planners! Ouch.
Then on Wednesday the cycle is refreshed with fifteen brand new missionaries straight from the MTC! They have a different air about them than the ones we just said goodbye to. A little fresher, nervous, excited, optimistic and ready to try their hardest, compared to the Thirteen; competent, deeper, self-assured, weary and a little worn around the edges, maybe even solemn, but so well matured and ready to go forward in more permanent ways. Once again, Heavenly Father's plan is perfect. We are so grateful to be part of it.
There have been a few of our very best hunters and fishers that have finished their mission early for medical reasons. We are so sorry to see them go, but know that this is all part of an all-knowing Father's plan. Please, embrace them when you see them.
Our Christmas trees are up! Are you shocked and appalled? When in Rome...!
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| Tree of Treasures! |
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| Group effort! Yes, Johnny Mathis did his part. |
With so much love,
President and Sister Dahle
P.S. We have had some other adventures this week!
All Saints Day:
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We drive past this cemetery every time we head
south. Graves on top of graves all the way up the hill.
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We took this picture from across the bay. It gives the rest of the story of the cemetery; spreads clear up the point of that mountain.
On All Saints Day, Nov. 1, it's like Memorial Day. Families come and clean, paint and decorate their loved one's final resting place.
Along the road food carts appeared to feed all the visitors. Some leave food at the grave as well.
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Mabayo:
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Mabayo Branch baptismal font. Not kidding!
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Mabayo Elders
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Where we went to church today...Mabayo Branch.
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On the road to and near Mabayo:
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| Guard Chicken |
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| Down on the bay. |
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| Who's that good looking guy? |
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Caught on the path to the beach.
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Yes, beach living.
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