Typhoon JULY slipping away

           It has been a good week!      Tharon's younger brother, Elder Kevin Bell, and his wife, Sister Kathy Richards Bell (Yes ... Kathy Richards 'blast from the past' is a very special friend of mine from when I was growing up in Brigham City 10th Ward.      We were YW CAMP Buddies!!) spent the week with us as they prepared to leave from their 23 month Mission to the PHILIPPINES CEBU EAST MISSION.       They have served honorably, assisted in teaching and testifying, as well as strengthened countless members on the Island of BOHOL.    wow .... love these two Senior Missionaries.     It was a bit of a 'tough night' as we said our good-byes.   They fly out tomorrow A.M.     It was a bit of a comfort and comradery  to know that we had some members of our family that was only a phone call and perhaps 3 hours away.      (But it is also a comfort to know that President Doug Davies and his dear wife, Sister Barbara Kimber Davies (Mission President of the San Pablo Mission in Southern Luzon) are now just a phone call and some hours away.   Good Brigham City Friends.
      Here is a glimpse of some of the fun things we did this week.

Elder Bell wears his Missionary attire even out
'surfing the waves'!       Seriously, we spent a few hours in
the "Art In Island" interactive art museum ... great place
to have a 'wild' imagination.

SIR ELDER KEVIN BELL ... a ROYAL PRIESTHOOD
HOLDER ... 

Elder Tharon Bell and Elder Kevin Bell ... a force
to be reckoned with.

ahhhh .... caught the 2 of them in their shenanagans!    hahaha

Kevin & Kathy with the famous
Banaue Rice Terraces in the
background.   Absolutely amazing
technology taught 2,000 years ago.

A worker traveling among the Rice Terraces ... this
staircase wound up and around the terraces.  Rain was
moments away  ... or we would have been down there!!

Sister Bell and Sister Bell with the little native
dressed women at the Banaue Rice Terraces.
One of these little bent women is 90+ years old.

Yup ... rice terraces in the background and 2 people
who will definately need to go on a diet when they
finish their mission and can get away from RICE ...RICE ...
RICE.        I gorge when we have French Fries ... and
it is definately showing.    SAD WOMAN.

This is Mr & Mrs. Batton.    He was baptized into the LDS Church
back in the 1990's and served a Mission.   He is a very
skilled wood carver, and moved into the Ifugao area.   Here
he fell in love with this adorable little woman, and began
to raise a family.   There was no available LDS Church unit
to attend, and because he wanted his children to grow
up attending Church, he went to church with his wife.
4 children later, we come and begin conversations with him because
of our name-tags and the work that we are doing in the area.
He wants his family to be LDS, but we need to develop a Church
unit there so that there is a place to attend Church without
traveling 1 hour each way.  The cost is prohibitive.
We have an appointment to talk to this Mission President
in the coming weeks .... maybe we can begin to get some
Missionaries in the area and ignite some 'spiritual fires' in
open and ready hearts.        We are praying that we can assist
this Returned Missionary to be able to attend the Church that
he still has a strong testimony of.      ..... stay tuned ....

The vistas of these beautiful mountains are amazing.  This is
in the Ifugao Province in Northern Luzon.

This is in the bottoms of the Terrace farms .. a farming
techniques that is such a key
to the success for these indigenous people who are willing
to work the land and provide for their families in the
tops of these rugged mountains.

opps .... Sister Bell catching me taking a photo of her and
Elder Bell on the side of the mountain cliffs.

This photo of our GARMIN GPS
may not mean anything to you ... but it
shows just a glimpse of the
twisty-turny-switchback- steep
roads that we must travel as
we traverse the roads in our mission area.

We also took advantage of being in the tops of these mountains,
and traveled another 2 hours from BANAUE to a city named
SAGADA.    The LDS Charities had completed a water project
in this town in 2014, and we went and met with the local
leaders to evaluate the project and see if it was still functioning
well and blessing the lives of the residents of the city.   LDS Charities
had assisted in clearing the water source owned by the Patay
Barangay, and building the Source BOX and piping the
water down the mountain and into the Barangay area.
The local elementary school has been able to put in new CRs
(RestRooms) for the children, and 4 separate water spigots
have been placed around the Barangay neighborhood.   They
have formed a "Water Association" and are collecting a small
usage fee so that they can pay for the maintenance and upkeep
of the system.    It truly has blest lives and upgraded their sanitation and
availability of fresh, running water.     It is up to the municipality
if and when they will take the water right into the houses.... currently
they are using hoses to attach to the spigots to run water into
the homes.     

While in Sagada, we took advantage and hiked over to the cliffs
where the local indigenous tribes people will hang their deceased
persons' coffins on the side of the mountain.   Old legends
and traditions .... but still being done today.       We would
have hiked down the cliffs further .... but the rains had begun to
pelt our skins and threaten to turn our umbrellas inside out.
The edge of the Typhon had hit the area ..... it was time to get
in the truck and head off the tops of the mountains.
We drove through some pretty intense winds and the
waters on the roadway were 2 to 4 inches deep in places.   The
steep inclines were at times very treacherous ... but Elder
Tharon Bell handled the driving like a PRO!
We were very appreciative to get to BAGUIO this night.


Elder and Sister McIver have arrived in Manila and we will be training them this next week on wheelchairs and wheelchair partners.     It will be a good week .... and is one week closer to us being able to breathe a sigh of relief and get back to being able to fulfilling 'just one Mission', rather than spreading ourselves thin and serving two.     It has been a great blessing and a crazy adventure ... but there were many things that we loved and appreciated the privileage to be a part of.    

JULY - BLESSINGS & WHEELCHAIRS

Lining up the wheelchairs to be distributed in Baguio this
month.  Fantastic Church youth assisting with
the distribution.

I had to capture a photo of this adorable
 little girl as she waits for her
LOLA (grandmother)
to receive her wheelchair.

This is Dr. Maritas Duquinal from the
University of Northern Philippines, one
of our Wheelchair Partners in Northern
Luzon.   Amazing woman ... good friend!

This little guy was dancing out along the
sidewalk on our drive home - I had to
capture his innocence and cute little
personage.

This former District President has requested more information
about Member Welfare Projects - Priesthood driven
project that can give the much needed resources to families in
the Church who are struggling to put food on their tables.  

This is me (Holly B.) teaching the
branch in San Manuel in regards to
developing a Member Welfare
Project, and the importance of
Priesthood Council and following
the Spirit.

Beautiful Swimming pool at the Hotel that we stayed at Subic
Bay.   We traveled up into Zimbales to assist Physicians for
Peace with a Wheelchair Assessment and Distribution.  

The grand staircase in the Hotel in Subic Bay area.  It is an
older Hotel built by someone with a Spanish influence and
lots of money.   This Hotel would be one you would see in a
Hollywood  type movie with VIP partying and enjoying.
 Today it is part of a developing area to attempt to revitalize
the 'days of glamour and social events'.    

Coming up the staircase after a long hot day out
doing assessments and assisting.

Here is one of the Doctors from Physicians for Peace as he
gathers important information about the child from her mother
as he begins his assessment.
Below is another of the little Cerebral Palsied children who was
fitted for a supportive wheelchair.   It is amazing to me how
technical some of the adjustments must be made to fit these
little disabled bodies into a wheelchair that offers them
safety, and mobility (Because the Family does not have to
carry them EVERYWHERE they go.)

There is 6 Physicians in this photo, and then others who assisted us in
accomplishing the assessment.   This is a group of Doctors who travel all over the
 Philippines and will provision specialized -supportive chairs for Cerebral Palsied
 patients, Muscular Dystrophy Patients, etc.  .Elder Bell and I were in amazing company with
this group.    Learning to love and appreciate the skills and the willingness to
give of their time and talents to bless the lives of others.  

I have a special place in my heart for this little guy.   His is Franz John. He is 7 years old.
His condition is a fairly rare chromosomal abnormality.   He has never crawled or been able to accomplish
 any movement of his  body utilizing his legs.  He can curl them up under him.  He can sit up and move
 his arms to shift and balance his upper body.   He cannot talk, but he hears and looks at you and
responds with his eyes.    Before we left, he reached out to me and I picked him up and held him in my arms.
 A little tear of  happiness trickled down his cheek.  His mother and grandmother were extremely
 appreciative of having a wheelchair that allows Franz John to sit up in a secure position and be a part of the
 family at dinner table and be able to go outside with them.

This photo is at a 'follow-up' visit that we made to this 42 year old
woman who has diabetes.   She has lost her right leg below the knee to
Diabetes, and the same area on her left leg is reaching that point of having
to be amputated.    Her brother and her wheelchair are her entire life of
mobility and begin away from her little bed.   The touching part of this
story is the amazing love that she has for God and how she is so thankful
for His infinite mercy and love.   She knows that He is so mindful of
her.

This 17 year old boy was happy to be
 able to  receive a new wheelchair.  The Social
Welfare Department had given him one years ago,
but it had completely fallen apart and had
been unusable for some time.    This chair now
 allows  him to be wheeled into
school and not be dependent upon his older brother
and mother to carry him into the school each day.  

This little guy was so excited to
be fitted for a wheelchair.   He
has strong arms and can propel
himself.

Elder Bell was 'pretend racing' him as he learned how to
maneuver and propel his chair forward.  He had a severe Fever
when he was 2 years old ... and could haltingly walk as a young
boy.   At age 7 he lost use of his legs.  His mother would have to
carry him to school each day and then bring him home.  Now, he can
do much more of it on his own.    A bright little boy ... we are
So happy to be able to see the blessings that have been opened up
for him and his family.

This is a late lunch after a day of wheelchairs in Urdaneta.  from left
to right :     Elder & Sister Tiru (Church Service Missionaries who are our
right hands in Northern Luzon), Sister Basa, ME, Elder Bell, and 3 young
women from BYU who are doing an Internship and doing
FOLLOW-UP work and reporting on the Liahona Children Foundation.
They are an organization affiliated through former students from BYU who are
doing a huge project in providing nutritional supplements for Infants and very
young children to attempt to lessen the Malnutrition in poverty stricken areas
across the world.    They have been working with Sister Basa and were
available to go to lunch with us.    


It is such a blessing to be called to serve here in the Philippines.    These people are
 faithful and strong believers in Jesus Christ and have no problems speaking of God or saying
 "God Bless You".     It is refreshing to see the humility  and the faithfulness in this nation.  
  So many nations of the world would be strengthened if they could learn  a few lessons from these
good people.
The new Senior Couple have landed on Philippine soil yesterday, so we will have a few weeks
 to train them and introduce them to the Wheelchair partners in the Manila area ---- and then
 we can get back to concentrating our  efforts in the Northern Luzon area and see what
opportunities  the Lord will open up for us to serve and to  strengthen.    We will keep 4
of the Wheelchair partners (which will work down to 2 major Partners over
the next 6 months.)       We see the potential for great blessings in the Member
 Welfare Projects,  and look forward to seeing more of these develop so as so bless the
lives of members (and non-member  neighbors are invited to be involved and share the benefits)
and give them the resources to lift themselves  out of poverty and into being self-sustaining.  
We are hitting our 6 month mark.    One more year to serve here, to love these people, to share
 whatever we have with them ..... and they with us.     We are often given so much from those
who have so little to give.
It is a rich blessing to Serve a Senior Couple Mission.     If you are qualified .....
we encourage you to prepare,  and plan for some of the Best Service Opportunities
of your Lives!


There have been a few of you who have left comments or asked questions .... but we have no email to contact you.    Please leave us a contact e-mail so that we can communicate more.     Thank you to each of you for your encouragement and your comments.

WHEELCHAIRS ... 2 1/2 weeks worth

We train them how to do a proper assessment and measurement for a chair and how to teach the
wheelchair recipients to transfer from chair to bed, etc; go up curbs,
and across rough terrain;  how to go up stairs, down stairs, ramps. etc.   

It has been an interesting 2 1/2 weeks of wheelchair assessment training and health worker training.   We have brought in a new Hospital partner to work with in provisioning the LDS Charities wheelchairs in the Philippines.    The Cagayan Valley Medical Center in Tuguegarao, Northern Luzon, held 3 sets of 3 day training for a total of 51 assessors who are now WHO trained and can perform a basic assessment and prescribe the correct wheelchair.

The new assessors learn how to assemble
the wheelchairs and check out each part.

This is a special story.  (It may end up being featured in an
LDS Philanthropic video.)
  In 6th grade a 10 year old girl with Muscular Dystrophy
 received a specialized wheelchair from LDS Charities so that she could propel herself with her tiny atrophied legs.  
She has gone on to graduate
from high school, and then college with high honors.  
Today, it is 12 years later and she is gainfully employed and
is in her 2nd year of the Masters Degree program.  
She has lovingly taken care of her little
wheelchair  (she says that it is the love and light of her life).
It is about worn out, and she was fitted for a new chair this
past week.   I had the privelage to be her assessor and
was able to send her home in a new standard wheelchair
that she will use until we can
bring in a new specialized chair built just for her.    
 She told me that she is so
appreciative of the chair because it allows her to be
'differently abled' .  
 Notice that she does not say disabled.  She has
a light-up smile and a joy in her heart.  

This Filipino Barber came in with his
wife because she was at the point of giving
birth.   He was approached to come into
our assessment, and was fit to a new chair.

He was excited to be fit with a new All Terrain (Rough-Rider
Wheelchair).   You can see his old chair off to the side.   That is
a piece of board that he placed himself on.   He was born with
no legs.    He loved his new chair, and demonstrated his abilities
to maneuver and turn wheelies .... he went home with a
new born baby girl and a new LDS Charities Wheelchair.

This is Kristal Anne as she is placed
in her new 'temporary' chair.

This is a 78 year old man whom had suffered
a stroke.   Tharon was the assessor for this chair.

I not only assisted in training, but
also received my training certification.

Tharon also received his training
certification.   Next to him is Elder Dennis Smith,
who is the specialist over all of  the Wheelchair projects
in the Asian, African, and European Areas.  Dr. Jacinto
is the Rehabilitation Director for the Hospital, and Kenneth
Lee works with us in the Area Welfare office.

1st session of Training Graduates.

The participants in the training learn the
proper way to transfer patients from wheelchairs.

This young man was high functioning
Cerebral Palsied, and was very excited
to receive a wheelchair.

2nd session of Training Graduates.   They
include Registered Nurses, Physical Therapists,
Social Workers, LPNs, and trainers.

We took a break on Sunday and drove to Amalon (north from Tuguegarao) and attended a small ward there.  When Dennis Smith and his wife were serving in the Philippines as Humanitarian Missionaries, they worked in this area and started an amazing Member Welfare Project that blest the lives of over 80 member and non-member families by having the Church provide training, construction materials, seedlings, red worms for composting, and pigs to give these people the resources they needed to become Self sustaining.       We visited and witnessed the continued farming that they are doing - 6 years later.     What a blessing to meet these humble people who have been able to take their training to the next step in assisting others in their community.

A florishing garden. 

This is Elder Smith with the family that he worked along
side of to bless the lives of so many in this little community.

This is me during lunchtime when
I am very happy to find a banana to eat because
I don't want to eat the lunch.  

This is the type of lunch that I pass on.    The Filipino people
do not waste anything.    They bread the fish and then cut it in
half.    I got the head ....... just couldn't bring myself to even attempt
to eat it.       The longer I am here .... the pickier I am getting with
what I am willing to eat.   

3rd batch of Training Graduates.

We are visiting one of the Wheelchair partners
and check their storage area to verify the
security of the chairs.   Their last pickup of
wheelchairs was 85 from the Manila warehouse.

We actually got to sneak in a day to stop and visit the Member Welfare Project in
Tarlac.   We love this little family and like to check on the growth of the little piglets.   They had just
opened the door for the piglets to come to slosh breakfast ..... 18 happy, squeeling piglets running to get the
 best position in the feeding trough.

We also spent 1 full day in training Barangay Health Care
workers in regards to wheelchairs and how to identify
persons in their barangays who would quality for the
wheelchairs.  We taught maintenance, transferring, and
health cautions to be aware of.   These are our assessors in
this Province.

Elder Bell (Tharon) is overseeing the
assembly of one of the new 'Tricycle
Wheelchairs".   It is for those persons with
disabilities who have good upper body
strength and can utilize it for greater mobility
and even potentially use it in a self selling business.

This is one of the assessors who is trying out the tricycle before we introduce
it into the training.

This is a cool picture because it shows that they will do whatever it takes to transport goods/equipment
 across many kilometers for travel.     60+ wheelchairs were picked up this morning.  
This is one of the new Tricycle boxes being loaded into the School Bus sent down for the
 University of Northern Philippines pick-up.   They fit 15 into the seats of this bus.  
We just smile at the lengths that they go to make things work for them.

One last picture for the blog.    There are small businesses located throughout the Island of Luzon in which they have molds that they inject heavy plastic materials into and then create these 'statues' that they have for sell along the side of the road where their shops are set up.    These statues are about 9 feet in height.    I have 2 grandsons that would absolutely love their grandparents to bring one of these home to them to have in their own back yard.      I am afraid that it will not happen .... but this grandma would love to surprise their parents with this on the front doorstep! :)   :)   :)

Some days, I am a bit sad that we are not more involved with proselyting and teaching about the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ and in actual 'Missionary Work' or Member Leader Support.      But when I see the blessings of being a tiny part of being able to take mobility devices and get them into the lives of those people who are so poor and who desperately need them ..... it is humbling and very worthwhile .      Elder Bell and I are also very excited to be able to go to each Stake/District and teach them about the blessings of the Member Welfare Projects and explain how it can bless the lives of their members who are living so far below the poverty level.   There is a big learning curve and it is difficult because so many do not understand English very well (so many different dialects and languages) ..... but it is a labor of love.     We are refining our Power Point presentation .... and will have translators work with us to have the forms that they use to put the project together either in Tagalog or Ilocano.  

We love these people.   We have deep respect for their resilience and their love for the Savior.    Most of the Filipinos are Christian, and are very polite and respectful.