Bagyo 150

Kamusta y'all!

   So this time around the bagyo actually affected us more than just being stuck inside for a day. For one, we had to evacuate to Santiago and stay with the sister training leaders there. We were told to bring enough stuff to stay for a week, but fortunately we got to come home Wednesday morning. The eye of the typhoon went right between us and Cauayan city, so it was a lot closer than last time. The storm started early Tuesday morning and was strongest from about 5-9am. From our apartment in the city, we didn't have a great view of what was happening, but we could see the trees blowing around like crazy. We were allowed to leave later in the afternoon, and went to visit some members and people the Santiago sisters are teaching. We couldn't return to Diffun on Tuesday because the roads were blocked by fallen trees, but we were able to leave Wednesday morning. The wind blew open some of the windows we'd locked so we had some water enter our apartment in Diffun, but otherwise everything was fine. We didn't have any electricity until Saturday night, so we were living by candlelight/flashlight. Mostly I just missed my electric fan at night.:)

    Fortunately our friends are okay, but Diffun, well it looks like it's been through a hurricane. It almost felt like life was on pause for a day or two while people recovered from the storm. All day people were clearing away fallen trees and branches and repairing their damaged homes. The wind blew off the roof of the home of a sister who's leaving on her mission in a few weeks. Fortunately they were staying at a family member's home, and their stuff wasn't damaged too badly. The neighborhoods further away from the town center probably won't have electricity for another week or more. So for the first few days there were stations set up with generators where people could pay to charge their cellphones.

    So we had a crazy week, but life goes on and so does missionary work. We were still able to spend a lot of time finding people to teach, and we've met some people that are really prepared to receive the gospel. It feels like there's been a lot of fortunately's in the past week, and I know that Heavenly Father loves and is protecting His children in Diffun. On Sunday so many members shared their experiences and testimonies of how their homes/gardens/farms were protected. I'm so grateful for the example of faith of the members here. I'm grateful to be able to serve them and to help others receive the blessings of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.

    Ingat y'all!

      Sister Harrison
(the last picture is just an example of the colorful houses they have there. this one is especially bright and because it's pink she sent it for Sophie :) )