Hello Everyone!
This week has probably been the most weird week of my entire life. Actually, just the past few days.
So, There was another Typhoon... actually my mission president was telling me that about 10 years ago, all the typhoons headed north, but now, they all come towards Tacloban. Interesting.
We had a great first 2 days of work! We did some planning, and then we planned for the splits we would go on, and then we had a p-day. So, Friday, we went to MLC (missionary leaders council) and talked with president about how we want to get the mission back up and running. It was good. We talked about our new goals for the mission, and how this is a really unique opportunity to re-establish the mission culture, and strive for exact obedience more effectively.
When we finished the meeting, we were outside and it had started to rain. We went back to our apartment to drop our extra books off, and then we got a text from the Zone Leaders saying that we weren't allowed to work the rest of the day, just in case the typhoon surprised us. They normally turn the power out during typhoons in Maasin, especially since Yolanda. And, our phone battery was basically dead. We didn't have a charger, so we decided to go out and buy a new one, just in case we would need our phone that night.
We went to 3 or 4 different stores, and all of them were out of the phone charger that we needed, so I ended up just buying a universal charger. Then, as soon as we stepped out of the Metro store, the power went out. We were thinking, "Oh no!"
Miraculously, when we got home, the power came back, so we charged our battery. We decided to plan really quick for the next day while we still had light left, so we made and ate dinner, and then we knelt down to open our planning. As soon as my companion said, "Amen," the power went out again. I was thinking, "Of course it did." Haha
So, we started planning, using a flashlight (our emergency light was also dead.... from the last typhoon...). It was a good planning session. By the time we had finished, it was raining ridiculously hard outside. We were worried about the other sisters, because there are a couple who were assigned in Tacloban during Yolanda. We decided to call them and follow up and see how they were doing. By the time we were done with those calls, our battery was back to low. We then decided to just turn it off and save it for when we needed it. We figured that the power would be back on the next day.
Suddenly, our roof started leaking... like a lot. We put out some rugs and some pots to try to catch the water. Then, there was A LOT of water on the floor. So, naturally, I hopped on a chair. My companion ran to the middle room where all of our clothes and luggage were and started throwing important things on top of the dressers. After like 30 seconds, the water was about 1 foot high. I was still on the chair. I like froze. I didn't know what to do, and my mind was just a blank. I was like, "Sister, there's water in the house!"
"Sister! I think our apartment is flooding!"
"Sister! ah!"
That's basically all I did. My companion said that we should go to the roof. Our roof is like a balcony thing that everyone in the apartment complex has access to, so we can all hang our clothes and stuff. I was like, "No, we should just stay and wait." She quickly convinced me that we actually really needed to get on the roof. My companion opened the door and got pushed back because of all the water. When I stepped off the chair to follow her, the water was up past my knees. There was a man climbing on our gate, yelling at us to get to the roof. So we did. We both were in like sweats and T-shirts (luckily we still had our tags on), no shoes. The only thing we took with us was our phone. As we were leaving the apartment, I heard a crash. I thought it was the window behind our desks busting open or something. We scrambled up the stairs to the roof.
We live in like a valley pass kind of thing. So, the road is an incline. When we got to the roof, there were just a bunch of people freaking out. People were crying and yelling. We were laughing. We were probably still in shock... We had no idea what was going on. I was like, "Sister, we got evacuated because of a Typhoon... Then we get back, and two days later is a flash flood! Hahahahaha"
After we calmed down, we looked in the street. The water was up to some really low houses' roofs. We were going through a flash flood! What the heck?! We decided to use our phone battery to call President Andaya and tell him our situation. Good idea, right? Haha
After I hung up, I looked around me and I saw all of the families and all of the kids crying. I thought, "How can I help these people?" A thought came to my mind that we should just pray with them. So, that's what we did. We went around family to family, group by group, and prayed with all the people.
Me and my companion took turns saying the prayers. I said the first prayer. I prayed that the water would start going down, and it wouldn't get any higher. And right after that, it did. About our 4th or 5th prayer, my companion was praying, and she prayed that the rain would stop, and then it did. We met this girl who told us that she felt really calm after we had finished praying. We were able to bear our testimonies to a lot of people who really needed it. By the time we were finished praying with all the people, no one was crying or freaking out anymore. I felt the spirit so strongly on top of that roof, in the middle of a typhoon/flash flood. It really really really strengthened my testimony of how much the Lord really does protect and watch over his people.
After about an hour or so, the roads were clear, and there were rescue trucks and things. Then, President Andaya and an office elder came up the stairs and found us. It was a little funny because they had on head lamps and they were carrying ropes. I think I might of exaggerated the situation when I was talking to him on the phone. Ooops! We went back in our apartment. Miraculously, the things on my study desk didn't get touched! The crash I heard was the fridge falling over. My journal, scriptures, and camera were ok! We grabbed those, and we grabbed what few dry clothes we had and then we went to the mission home. We spent the night there.
Saturday we went back to the apartment to get what we could salvage from our stuff. We didn't really have any hangers, so most of our clothes and books and stuff had still been in our suitcases on the floor. All of my books and letters and clothes got a little destroyed...
I'm really happy that we are ok. This experience was really interesting. The next day, Sister Andaya took us to buy a few more clothes, and she gave us some of her clothes that were long enough for us (we are a lot taller than her... haha) And then they took us with them to Tacloban for a district conference here. I think they just wanted us with them to make sure we were ok.
At the district conference, the people were really happy to see sister missionaries. One lady was telling me that seeing us made her feel like there was hope for Tacloban again.
Elder Teh of the 70 was there, too. He remembered me from when we met last June in Catbalogan. We also got a call from Elder Neilson of the 70 (who is the area president of the Philippines). He told us of his concern and asked if we wanted to go back to our other missions or go home. I told him I just really really wanted to stay in Tacloban where I was called. I've been getting to know quite a few general authorities on my mission! That's been pretty cool!
We drove around Tacloban today with president Andaya. It's amazing to me how much the town has been re-built. The schools and lots of stores are re-opened now. Life is sort of back to normal in Tacloban. I think that's a miracle! I think there are more foreigners here than natives. It's so neat to see all the people who have come to help out here. It's amazing to me that people would just give up a few months of their lives to go to a destroyed city in a third world country to make other peoples' lives better.
I know that the gospel is true. I know that we have the power to still be positive in the most difficult situations of our lives, and I also know that our trials really do help us become better people. I don't think I've ever really looked at trials as a good thing before my mission, but going through a flash flood has changed my outlook on life. It really has helped me see how temporary our "stuff" is. This one guy on the roof was saying, "Sisters, when it started to flood, I didn't grab anything. I just grab my son." and then he started to weep as he expressed how grateful he was that his little 4 year old son was safe.
I love being a representative of Jesus Christ. I'm so grateful that Heavenly Father put us on that roof, so we could help other people feel His love for them. I know that Christ lives and is our Savior. I also know that the righteous get spared. I was reading in D&C today. I can't remember where it was, but it was a scripture that said, "Let not your hearts be troubled...Rejoice, and give thanks in all things." No matter how hard our lives are, we ALWAYS have something to be grateful for.
In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
Love,
Sister Bingham
P.S. Don't tell my mission president I went swimming.... Hahaha
P.S. Don't tell my mission president I went swimming.... Hahaha
Apartment after the flood!
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