Transfer Week

We're just finishing up a Transfer Week, which takes place every six weeks in the mission.  Transfer week makes for some out-of-the-ordinary driving, juggling of logistics, and emotional ups and downs for us, as missionaries arrive and leave the island, or relocate on the island.

On Monday morning, we drove our much-beloved Sister Arguilles to the port at Tagbilaran.  The port at Tubigon is nearer to us, but there were three others headed home, who were leaving from Tagbilaran, so we took her to ride the ferry with them.  She'd completed her 18-month mission here and was going across to Cebu, where she and the others would meet with our mission president one last time.  The following day, they each flew to their own homes to return to their families, three in other parts of the Philippines and one in Kiribati.

 

Into the terminal, where tickets and bags get checked.  Then they go out another door and walk out on the pier.

Every Tuesday, there's a District Training for the missionaries in each district.  Ours involves six missionaries.  This week, as happens every six weeks, transfers were announced after the training.  The District Leader makes a chart on the board and fills it out . . . gradually . . . to build the suspense.  Of course, the missionaries are dying to know who's going and who's staying.  There's no particular length of time that a missionary remains in the same area, so they're anxious to know.  This time, one of the sisters who's been here in our town (right next door, in fact) was to transfer.  Also an elder from the other town in our district.  These announcements are followed by a lot of chatter, picture-taking, and, in this case, some goodies, as it was the birthday of one of our sisters.  So, as the missionaries disburse, they go home and pack up, and make some quick goodbye visits to the members in the area.

This sweet gal has been in our area all the time we've been here, so it's hard to see her leave.

Besides learning who would be transferred the following day, we also learned who would be training the brand-new missionaries who would arrive the next day.  Those new trainers had to catch an early ferry on Wednesday morning, to go to the mission home in Cebu for their own training.  This would just be a day trip for them.

Early morning on the dock.

(I'm reluctant to use the names of our missionaries who are still in the mission, for security reasons, so maybe I'll try just using their initial.)

Sister P, from our area, was to train, so we took her to Tubigon to ride the ferry with some other new trainers.  Then we drove to Clarin to pick up the sisters there, and took one of them and Sister R, from our area, to the ferry.  Also Elder B.  There were others, who arrived with the Zone Leaders.  (This all takes so much calculating!  I finally just tune it out and leave it to Tony and the ZL's to keep it all straight!)  This group was being transferred to areas on Cebu Island, so we put them on a ferry.

Breakfast at McDonald's - - our usual meet-up place in Tubigon.

These ferries, by the way, are just for passengers, not cars.  They're really like big, floating buses.  With TV.  And about as much leg room as economy seating on an airliner.  They're pretty fast, though - - the trip from Tubigon to Cebu, about 32 miles, takes about an hour.

We'd picked up a sister who had transferred from another town here on Bohol and took her luggage to the apartment in Clarin, where she will spend the last few weeks of her mission.  Also - - boy, I'm having trouble remembering how this all fit together - - we picked up some missionaries from the ferry who were transferring from Cebu to Bohol.  It was well past lunch time by then, and one of the sisters noticed "the yellow M of happiness" in the distance, so we had lunch at McDonalds - - our second meal there that day!

See that "yellow M?"

After delivering those sisters to their area, it was time to go back to the port once more, to wait for the trainers and their newbies to arrive.  Their boat was late, so we had time for some nice sunset pics.

Eventually, we saw the ferry, and finally the four sisters we were waiting for.  Both the new sister missionaries are Amerikanas!  Sister H is here with Sister P in our town.  : )   By the way, I think President Maughan said that about one third of our missionaries are American.  In our previous mission, it seems like it was closer to half.  That's a good sign, that the Philippines and other island nations are now providing that many more missionaries.

Our brand-new missionaries and their trainers.

On Thursday morning, we had one more transfer-related thing to do, which may not happen all that often.  We got to take a family to the airport in Tagbilaran, to meet their daughter who was arriving home at the end of her mission!  What a great privilege that was, to be a part of that sweet reunion!  Of course, the family lives 30 minutes in the opposite direction, so it was an all-morning excursion, but that's okay.  A little bonus - - the other senior couple here, the Bells, were delivering a young man from their branch to the airport at the same time, to leave on his mission!  So . . . a big day, all the way around.

Our newly-returned Sister Pilay with her auntie, her mom, and some friends.

Sister Pilay with her mom and President Nueva, our district president.  We'd stopped at the church so she could meet with him to be released as a missionary.  This was her last picture with a name tag on.  

This shot was taken on a different day, but Martinello was at the airport at the same time, to leave for the MTC, just beginning his mission.

Transfer weeks are fun, I think - - despite all the logistical gymnastics!  In our other mission, we weren't much involved in transporting the missionaries, usually, except for those leaving for home.  The others were able to get where they needed to go on the bus.  But distances are greater here, I think.  And then there's that ferry . . . and the tickets aren't sold at the port, for some reason.  They're sold at an obscure little place in the market.  So they do need assistance, and it's nice to be able to help.  : )

All for now - -