The Best & Worst of Times

This past week has been both the best and the worst of times…

As most of you already read and know, we in the Central Philippines Region (of Tacloban)experienced a Super Typhoon. The entire area was near to completely destroyed.  Where there were once homes, docks, and buildings (both large and small),  there are now piles of rubble. This destruction came after the tide's wave surge of more than two stories in height (in some area) and after winds of near to 200+ mph. The destruction was not limited to the urban area (like along the seashores) but also in the rural regions. The sugar cane and rice fields were completely destroyed as well, which means an entire growing season has been lost.  These already rather poor people who subsist on rice and fish from the seas off their island face a long road of recovery.  There was much loss of life both among the population generally as well as among some of our church members.

The miracle of the entire event was that the 204 full-time missionaries of the Tacloban Mission of the Church were all saved and are now safely in Manila.  After the variety of unbelievable stories of their recovery and a few days of good food and sleep, nearly all of them have been reassigned to other missions of the twenty missions in other areas in the Philippines.  These other regions (Missions) - although challenged with some destruction from the super typhoon – were far less damaged than the near to total destruction of that of the Tacloban area.  One of the Area Presidency (A General Authority of our Church) was personally involved in much of the rescue efforts as well as were many of the staff members from our Area Office (where Sister Morello & I work.) 

Sister Morello & I were involved in preparing hygiene and food kits (near to 10 thousand in total) for the rescue effort for both missionaries, members, and non-members of our Church in the worst hit areas of damage.  At our location (one of our church buildings here in Manila) we had over 600 people one day and 400 people the next to assist us in this effort.  These people ranged in age from children to the elderly, but each worked hard both days as we prepared these kits.  There was another location where a similar ten-thousand kits were prepared for the rescue effort as well.   They were  long, hard work days - something Sister Morello and I have learned to be a part of our assignment as we serve here. 

What is most enjoyable is that the Filipino people are generally smiling, with very cheerful attitudes plus they are some of the hardest workers you could find anywhere in the world. Starting each of our work days at 7am (on the job) and going until 6pm or sometimes later and then driving home for more than an hour of unbelievably heavy traffic is becoming the normal for us.  

Now, the best of times is that all of the missionaries were safe. Their cheery spirits and the can-do attitude of these eighteen, nineteen, twenty, and twenty-one year olds is most refreshing, especially in a world of so many who can only tell you what can’t be done. If every young man or woman would act and be as wonderful as these young people, this world would be a far better place. As those responsible to document the Church efforts here, we have attended many of the special events of recovery and rescue, as well as those re-organization and re-placement of these wonderful souls. 


Dad in a moment of levity while waiting to take pictures

of the Tacloban missionaries walking to their final mission meeting after receiving new mission assignments

Now the additional work of finding members and assisting the Church Leaders of these areas in rebuilding and recovery is beginning.  This will takes months (maybe years) for sure, but the Church and its members are fully up for accomplishing this overwhelming task.  Our Church is signed up to not only assist its Church members but to help generally everyone in the region.  Read Facebook and MormonNewsroom.com for more details as the days and weeks past.   Much of the cutting news will be released there, but rest assured this news will be fully trustworthy if you go there for your sources.

You can also Look at these two links to better understand the situation of the people of Tacloban. You can see what these people are dealing with and the many challenges these people will be facing  in the near and long term future.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/527527/tulfo-i-saw-people-walking-aimlessly-like-zombies

http://www.abc.net.au/news/specials/typhoon-haiyan-photos-before-after/

Love the work, love the people, and love the challenges.  May the Lord watch over each of you as He has so generously blessed us as we have served.  Elder Morello

Typhoon Recovery Update

We have spend 2 days at a stake center helping pack 5,000 hygiene kits for emergency relief down in and around Tacloban.  Dad took charge of the hygiene kits and made 600 few Filippino friends as they chuckled at his jokes and his way of doing things.  He,of course, was very organized.  The supplies were not there in a timely manner.  The members were less stressed than we were.  We had to handle the bags more than once.

I floated between the food packing and the hygiene packing.  I took many pictures and listened to a lot of stories of people's families lost in the typhoon.  It was heartbreaking. Most people have heard from family members now.  A lot of bodies were washed into the sea or torn apart by the wind.

The first of our Tacloban missionaries arrived here last night with harrowing stories of winds, flooding, and collapsed houses.  Some were stuck in their homes for 3 days with only their emergency supplies.  They were finally all contacted by our members from here who went out to find them and bring them to the Manila airport.  A church member happened to be on duty at the airport and after waiting at least 12 hours, the first group was flown out on a C-130 (?).  We met them at the airport.

Our next to the last group has just arrived.  There are 20 of them.  Elder Nielsen greeted them with much love and told them how we would care for them while they are with us.  Some wiped tears from their eyes.  Most have nothing.  Our missionaries and members have donated clothes and shoes.  The church purchased 150 new suitcases.  Sister Nielsen took the sisters shopping.  The church will buy anything new they need.  The distribution center is staying open late (that's a feat).  Dad has them all downstairs now.  They are calling their parents.  It is 3 am in the states and I assured them their parents would not mind being awakened.  

Its heartbreaking and relieved, and happy and sad.

Love to all

MOM

Our Week & Typhoon Haiyan

We moved of this last weekend from unit #2809 to unit #2505 in the same building. This unit is far nicer and far more welcoming to us and begins to make our stay here much more livable. The Bailey’s (one of the other senior couples) serving here had to return home for a family emergency with one of the adult children and his grandson. Their departure was last Friday morning at 4:30am with flights leaving at 7:15am going to Japan, Seattle, WA & lastly onto Salt Lake City, UT. Their flights were uneventful with a warm family greeting upon their arrival. Their son is on the mend from extensive surgery to his colon from cancer, preparing for additional chemo and radiation treatments as soon as his body will allow. Their presence to support their son and help with the raising of the grandson was the key to them returning home early, and it appears things have been going well for them thus far.

And now onto our busy schedule front – After the move, we had to stay around the apartment all day on Monday (although we had been promised morning visits from our Internet and Cable TV providers). In typical Filipino style, they arrived mid-afternoon to move these services from our old place to the new unit. Their removal/re-installation were uneventful and getting things working was rather easy, but following the Internet re-installation the technician left the old modem on our kitchen table, and thinking we might be charged for it, I traveled to Mega Mall (45 minutes for a 8 mile ride by taxi there and 15 minutes coming home). I waited for two-and-a-half hours in line to have a ten minute visit with the Service Center staffer to officially return the hardware. This event after a long day of mainly sitting around was the perfect cap to a totally wasted day in the Philippines. We could not access Internet nor Cable TV most of the day, and when we finally did get their services re-connected I was off to waste the night in traveling, sitting, waiting, returning, and returning the old hardware. At 9:30pm (in the dark) I finally returned home and was totally spent.

On Tuesday we started the printing of envelopes (addressing) and personal delivery of invitations for our Family Value Awards banquet (scheduled for a few weeks out) among our fellow Church Leaders around our complex. It went generally without any challenge, but on Wednesday we again traveled into the office to have the other senior couple, our Director, and Pauli to run off for the day in delivering additional invitations all around Manila plus shopping for dresses for the event for the three ladies, not to return until after 9pm directly to the apartment. I was left at the office all alone, which I have found to be a very lonely place without the activity of the others we work with. The Christmas music our Director had loaded onto her CD player was mostly the only companion I had for the day. I went to the MTC to give away extra items the Bailey’s were giving to missionaries, picked up the mail from the mailroom, and visited with a few others on pending upcoming activities, but generally the best thing I did was to load videos, pictures, and other items from CD’s onto the portable hard drive we use for larger computer files. These items were from the disasters of the Southern Philippines earthquakes of the past few weeks, which were needed to document the relief efforts of our Church members helping others in the region.

On Thursday we repeated this delivering of invitations by the two of us (senior couples) around the region with the help of a driver with a mini-van with various opinion leaders who want to join us for these important happenings. In the late afternoon we met with the awardee on the details and finalizing everything to make this event successful and enjoyable to everyone. It looks like a great night of fun for everyone attending and participating.

If it isn’t a typhoon or an earthquake or some other type of disaster, life in the Philippines might be strangely normal, but the Super Typhoon Haiyan – hitting the Philippines as I write this update - is the third one thus far while we have been here, plus the earthquake might say something about the challenges these people see on a day-to-day basis. Living in a tent-like housing shelter, a typhoon (or super typhoon) is near to the last thing one would want to see and/or experience. The country was far better prepared for this disaster, but the water (tide) surge was near to two-story tall on the coastal islands on the SSE part of the Philippines. The real challenge is all of the debris in the water going in and out because most of the destruction. We saw an eighteen wheeler truck trailer floating – down the middle of the streets - in the tide surge on one of the broadcast shots from the first locations of the typhoon making first landfall. Can you imagine the destruction something like a truck would be to people and/or homes (built rather lightly) coming in and then going back out the sea?? It was reported that many thousands of people were re-located to attempt to protect them from the destruction, damage, and loss of life from this major climatic event.

As I sit at the kitchen table writing this we are still awaiting the arrival of the worst of the storm to the Greater Manila Region in the next few hours and overnight. It has been reported that the storm is dumping tons of rain (more than normal) plus winds up to 200 mph as the worst of things hit. Needless to say we traveled the 8 miles (which takes anywhere between thirty minutes to over an hours) back to our apartment early today to stay out of the heaviest of the rain and possible worst of things today.

The one thing we can say for sure is that life here in the Philippines thus far has been nothing like boring! Challenging, busy, and learning new things every day would much better describe our time here.

I may write more later, but this is far enough for now!

Love to everyone, Elder Morello