Called to Serve: STORMS AND SERVICE

HELLO EVERYBODY :)

I'm emailing super late this week, sorry. There was a big typhoon that came through the Philippines, and we were confined in our apartment until it was safe to come out again. But no worries, everything is okay. It originally was supposed to hit our area pretty strongly--signal 2. But after it had made landfall, it slowed down quite a bit, and by the time it got to us, it wasn't anything bad. Just a lot of rain.

Well, something crazy happened this week though... Emergency transfers again. Like mother like daughter :( My little anak got emergency transferred to Antipolo. My new companion is Sister Tomasi from Samoa! Today is our first complete day together. I really miss my anak. We were going to spend both of our birthdays together this transfer as well as Christmas. But I know the inspiration came from the Lord and it is according to His will. Sister Tomasi is great. We're going to have a great rest of the transfer together.

So last week, we did some service together with some of the Elders in our zone. We went to the Philippines Area Office and helped package relief kits to prepare for the devastation of the typhoon. I twisted and tied and endless number of bags of rice, and we were working as fast as we can to get done before the typhoon hit. We got SO MANY put together. I forgot my camera :( So I didn't get pictures, but we put together over 800 kits. My fingers were sore sore and I actually got a big blister..but it was so worth it :) It was a really fun CSP!

We also went to a hospital last week with our zone to sing Christmas songs and hymns to the new mothers and babies. It was a really good experience too. Ah grabe...the hospitals are in sad condition here... We went to the OBGY section of the hospital. There were SO many mothers who had just given birth, all together in big rooms, 2 or 3 women and their babies to one bed.... Yep. One little hospital bed..shared by at least 2 and even 3 mothers and their babies. They had to lay sideways and have their babies beside them. It was beautiful to see their faces light up when we came in to sing. And man there were a lot of girls in there who were younger than me who had just given birth.

Afterwards, we went around and shook their hands and talked to them, we also had a little teddy bear to give to each baby. One sister in particular, I noticed towards the side...sitting alone on her bed, with no baby next to her. I approached her with a smile and began to talk to her. She began to sob and told me that her baby had passed away. It just tore at my heart as she cried. I wrapped my arms around her and told her that she could see her baby again. That this wasn't the end. That the time in this life seems long while we're in it, but if we follow God's plan, sooner than we realize, we'll be seeing our loved ones again--including her newborn baby child. She thanked me with a smile and tears in her eyes for the things I said. It was forbidden for us to proselyte in the hospital.. I wanted to bad to be able to get down her information or give her a pamphlet about the Plan of Salvation or even just teach her right there! But I know the time will come for her to hear this message and receive the knowledge about how she can be with her baby again.

Anyway, I'm running out of time so I've got to go.

But thanks for all your support and love! And also for your prayers of protection for all of the people here in the Philippines.

MAHAL NA MAHAL KO KAYO!!

Sister Oyler