A Funeral in Calape

Last Sunday, we heard of a rather tragic event:  a 21-year-old member of the branch here had suddenly passed away.  Mira had had a health problem for some time, which had been managed, and she spent the weekend in Cebu with 500 other young adults at a great YSA conference.  After getting back on Saturday evening, she needed to be taken to the hospital, where she died of coronary arrest.

On Sunday evening, friends and family gathered at the home of Mira's family, to visit, sing hymns, and just be together in support of this beautiful family of parents and their seven other grown children.  Mira's body was there in the house, in her casket, where it remained until her funeral.  The casket was sealed but had a small window in the top, where you could see her face.

In many cases, in the Philippines, the remains of a loved one are kept in the home for several days before burial.  There may be a constant stream of visitors during this time, which is called a wake. Latter-day Saints observe a shorter wake.  In this case, it was three days.  On Tuesday evening, there was a gathering in their home for what they called a "compassionate service" . . . which it was, actually.  Just not in the usual Mormon sense of the term, I guess.  This was comprised of hymns, prayers, and talks, followed by a meal of pancit noodles.  I'd brought a batch of oatmeal-raisin cookies, which were a huge hit - - anything home-baked is, because most people here don't have ovens.

On Wednesday at noon, people gathered again at the home of Mira's family.  They walked or rode in tricycles to the church, following the van which carried the coffin.  The funeral was much like any American LDS funeral service, with hymns, prayers, and talks.  Much of it was spoken in Bisaya, but what I did understand spoke of death as a necessary part of our eternal path, temporary in nature, and of our hope of eternal families and all that's been promised because of Jesus' atonement.  After the closing prayer, several minutes were allowed for the family to take one more look at their daughter and sister and to say their goodbyes.

Then there was another procession, this time to the cemetery.  We've seen so many funeral processions in the Philippines, sometimes two or three in a day, but this was the first time we've been part of one.  The cemetery's not far from our church, but we drove to it and around it, to a new little area that's been opened up and is still quite rough.  This is the area for non-Catholic burials.  A few years ago, when the first LDS person died in this town, the family was refused the right to bury their deceased in the municipal cemetery because they weren't Catholic.  (There's not much of a boundary between church and state here.)  After being shown the law in print, requiring the municipality to provide a burial place for everyone, the mayor opened a new area in the cemetery.  That's where Mira was laid to rest.

At first glance, a Filipino cemetery looks like a miniature city, with graves stacked to varying heights.

Some older areas of the cemetery.

Still showing signs of damage from an earthquake in 2013.  These large blocks in the foreground are actually stacked grave vaults.  Families will make the most of a grave site by stacking two or three family members' vaults in the same site.

A canopy was set up in case of rain, but it didn't rain that day, though it was cloudy.  The grave had been dug ahead of time, by family members, and lined with concrete blocks, forming a vault.  The coffin was lowered into place with ropes, and flowers tossed in.  The grave was then dedicated by a local priesthood leader.  

Right after the dedication, the men of the family and some friends went to work,  The burial of a loved one is a very hands-on experience.  They laid slats across the opening, followed by sheet metal and rebar.  Meanwhile, others were mixing up cement right on the ground nearby, and that was taken, a bucketful at a time, and poured and smoothed out over the entire surface of the grave.  A headstone will be added later.

The branch president is a carpenter and managed much of this process.

While this was going on, which took just a little while, drinks and sandwiches were passed around, and a few women and girls sang some hymns.

What a sweet act of service all this was, to this dear young sister who'd passed away, and to her family.  I guess you can pay to have the burial completed for you, if you have the money, but most people here don't.  But we found it very meaningful and personal, anyway, to do this service yourself for your loved one.

Not Your Ordinary Transfer in the Cebu East Mission

Okay, for this blog entry, you're going to want a map of our island, Bohol.  https://www.google.com.ph/maps/place/Bohol/@9.868854,123.887136,10z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x33aa17de1ba154df:0x6bc8bf042118d020!8m2!3d9.8499911!4d124.1435427?hl=en


Hopefully, you can see the names of the communities on this island.  (You might need to zoom in a bit.)  Think of these names more as "counties," with a town by the same name inside each county.  There are other villages, but just one town by that name, in each.  At the far southwest is Tagbilaran, the only actual city in Bohol.  Our zone in the mission includes missionaries living and working in, along the west coast, Loon (pronounced with two separate O's), Calape (where we live), Tubigon, Clarin, Sagbayan (inland from Clarin), Inabanga, Talibon (way at the north), and Ubay (around to the east side).

I've been intending to post a blog entry showing some of the beauties of our wonderful island of Bohol.  This isn't the one, though, I'm afraid.  This one is to tell about something kind of scary that's happened here recently.

On Tuesday morning, April 11, we went over to the church for our usual weekly District Training meeting, with missionaries from Loon and Calape.  During this meeting, I got a phone call from the other senior missionary couple, the Bells, who live in Sagbayan.  Reportedly, there was some terrorist activity - - what?! - - in Inabanga right then, and a firefight going on.  Inabanga is about 20 miles from us.  Fortunately, all our Inabanga and Clarin missionaries were at their own district meeting that day, in Tubigon (very providential), and there they would have to stay.  Fortunately for the Clarin sisters, they had planned to stay, anyway, and had a couple days' clothing with them.  Not the elders.  But no one was to go to, or through, Inabanga or Clarin.

There's never been anything like this happen in Bohol before.  As it turns out, there's a group in the southern islands of Mindinao, called Abu Sayyaf, of Muslim separatists who like causing havoc mostly through piracy and kidnapping of foreigners for ransom.  From what I understand, they were wanting revenge against the Philippine government for some previous disciplinary actions.  Why on Bohol?  There was a convention of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) scheduled and a few days of it were to be held in Bohol.  They could cause a lot of embarrassment to the government by attacking and/or kidnapping some foreign diplomats.  Plus, it was Holy Week and an excellent time to find big groups of people together anywhere, if you wanted to do any bombing.

So, about a dozen of these guys came up in three "pump boats" (motorized outrigger canoes) and entered the river at Inabanga.  I guess they were not totally unexpected, and the police and military were pretty quick to jump when some local kids reported seeing several men unloading arms and explosives.  About half the Abu Sayyaf contingent were killed, plus a couple officers.  The others, unfortunately, escaped.  

All our missionaries were told to stay inside much of the remaining week, or to stay in the more populous areas, and to not venture into the bukid, the mountainous, forested areas at all.  It was presumed that the bad guys were hiding in the hills.  After a couple more days, the missionaries from Sagbayan were evacuated to Tagbilaran.  On a couple of days after this, we had to make trips to allow missionaries to retrieve their belongings from their apartments.

Easter came and went without incident, thank Heaven, but a few days later there was more shooting, this time in Clarin.  I think this followed a tip that there were footprints leading to a cave in that area.  A couple more bad guys were killed.  A car was discovered with food and scuba gear, apparently intended for assisting them in their escape from Bohol.  President Duterte issued a bounty on the Abu Sayyaf.  One million Philippine pesos (about $20,000 USD) were offered for each bandit, dead or alive.  The ASEAN conference was held on Panglao Island (just south of Tagbilaran) without any problem.

On Saturday night, April 22nd, we were told that a suspected Abu Sayyaf member was spotted in Tubigon, so we were instructed to move everyone down to Tagbilaran.  We had the missionaries in Tubigon and Calape gather here in our house on Sunday morning and we headed for Tagbilaran in our van and our zone leaders' pickup - - about an hour's drive.  We also picked up an American elder in Loon.  

At our place

Something funny along the way - - a goat on a jeepney

The Tagbilaran Zone Leaders had brunch for us when we got there.

(Not my best angle -- ugh!)

After eating, we walked to the church for a 1pm Sacrament Meeting, then back to pick up the luggage of the non-Filipino missionaries, and took them to the ferry.  They were evacuated to Cebu.  Some of these missionaries had arrived in the mission only three weeks before.  : ( 

A parting shot at the Tagbilaran apartment

At the port

We were also given the option to cross over to Cebu, ourselves, but it didn't seem necessary or practical at that point, so we stayed in Tagbilaran.  Elder and Sister Bell joined us a couple days later.  Of course, we didn't have reservations to stay anywhere, and we didn't know how long we'd be staying, so we just had to find places as we could.  The first two nights were very nice, at Bohol Tropics resort in Tagbilaran.  Our room overlooked the bay, with the port in the distance. 

That's the Tagbilaran Port, off to the left, which has frequent arrivals and departures of passenger ferries and other boats.  By the way, that's not actually a beach down below.  It's hard-packed dirt.  Anyway, it was way too hot to be very enticing.

Incredible sunsets!

The second morning we were there, we drove to the airport and picked up two men from the church's security department.  They came over to assess the situation and meet with the military to determine what was best to be done with all the missionaries.

The Bohol Tropics didn't have room for us after the first two nights, so we drove out to Panglao Island and found this little place called Cabriza Suites, with rooms for us.  Less expensive but comfortable and clean.  

The pool was often in use by a scuba diving class.  : )

One day that we were staying there, Tony and Elder Bell picked up some of the missionaries to go back to their areas and collect the rest of their belongings.  Transfers were fast approaching and some of their areas were being closed for now, so they needed to be ready to go wherever they were sent.  Sister Bell and I just hung out at our motel, but also did a little sightseeing.  She took me to Bohol Bee Farm, which is now a large complex with organic restaurant, rooms, a large gift shop, and gardens.  Their food is good and they grow their own produce and make their own ice cream.  Wonderful stuff!  I didn't see any bees.  Hmm.  It's a delightful place, though.  

The next day, we did a little house-hunting on Panglao Island for another couple who will be coming in a few months.  We did find a decent, secure little place that we'll probably rent for them.  So our time in Panglao was not a total waste!  We also went back to Bohol Bee Farm with our hubbies for a nice dinner. 

Tony's seafood lasagna with a very colorful salad, with flowers!

Just some random shots around Bohol Bee Farm's restaurant area.  So very pleasant, overlooking the sea.

 

Finally, we got word that we could return to our home in Calape on Friday (April 28), and to bring our sister missionaries, too.  Well, one had gone to Cebu, but another (a Filipina) was assigned to Calape now.  It was so great to head home!  

These beautiful trees, all along the highway, are now in bloom.

And banners are flying for the month of May - - fiesta month on the island of Bohol!

The Bells were not yet allowed back to Sagbayan, but they came to Calape the next day and stayed in a little resort on Pangangan Island, near here.  After a couple days, they were allowed to go home, and all the missionaries are now back in place, except for two sisters' areas that are closed for now, and the sisters reassigned.  We're still being cautioned about our travel and all, as a couple of the Abu Sayyaf guys are yet unaccounted for, but life is pretty much back to normal.  

Our 5-day stint as "refugees" sometimes felt like vacation, but . . . not really.  It was relaxing in some ways, but things felt so unsettled.  We never really felt that we were in any serious danger.  Our Father in Heaven has always seen to our needs and protected us.  It just felt strange to be lounging around all week, accomplishing so little and not knowing how long it would last or what would happen next.  So, we're very grateful to be back!     

Yay!!!  (This archway was built while we were away, all of bamboo, and it was in place to welcome us home.)

A Hike to FHE

Yesterday, we went to the home of a family we hadn't met before.  The sister missionaries asked us to go with them for a Family Home Evening with this family and some neighbors with whom the sisters have been working.  I had a rough idea of where the house was, and the sisters did mention a river we'd have to cross.  I was glad they were having this FHE at 3:00 so it wouldn't get dark before we be heading back.

We drove out to the end of a muddy road - - it had rained earlier - - and parked the van.  Then we hiked off through the trees, along a muddy path.  We went a quarter mile or so.  It was beautiful there, but you had to watch every step.

Eventually, we came to the river, which was a small one with a crossing of sandbags all the way across.  The sisters and the young man who also came crossed it with no trouble.  But I'm finding more fears creeping in as I get older, and I struggled a bit with nerves and balance and slippery spots, but it wasn't too bad.

Doesn't look too hard.

My turn . . .

I really don't think they were laughing at me . . .

We went farther along the path, through lots of coconut palms, talking about how you could get killed by falling coconuts, until we arrived at a little community of houses scattered among the trees.  We were amused to hear music thumping from one of these huts as we approached, but we went to a different house.

This little house is home to a family of ten.  Well, the one behind it.  Maybe both!  It has a small enough living room with a few plastic stacking chairs, but a good part of it has been partitioned off as a tiny store, where you can buy snacks or packets of Tang or dish soap or noodles.  Beyond that room is another, with a bed platform and a table, where this good lady had spread a dinner for us all.  And beyond that, the kitchen, which had an open fireplace, elevated to stove height, on one side and a counter on the other.  Their fridge is in the living room.  There's also a ladder from the living room, going up a few steps to two bedrooms.  I think they just throw mats on the floors where they sleep.

This is actually the house we went in.

Family Night consisted, after an opening song and prayer, of an object lesson by one of our sister missionaries and some games led by Claudius, the young man who came with us.  I think everyone had a good time.  Lots of laughing, anyway!  After the closing prayer, those of us visiting were invited to dish up and eat, which we did.  The family had to wait, I'm pretty sure, because they didn't have that many dishes.  There was a lot of food - - rice (of course!), pancit noodles, some kind of clammish shellfish in a sauce (I asked the lady what it was, and she just said it's shells), and buko juice, which is coconut milk, with shreds and slices of coconut in it.

We played a game, passing around a rolled-up bandana.  Whoever is holding it when it tips over has to perform a talent.  Behind them, you can see the little store in the house.

Bon appetit!  The white tub in the back is buko juice.  Can't remember how many coconuts they said that used.  A lot - - 30?

Behind this little cutie, you can see the bed platform in the next room.

 After we ate, we said our goodbyes and made our exit, so the family could eat.  It was a fun time with them, though language was a bit difficult with the adults.  It all works out somehow.  : )

I'm holding a nearly-invisible empty cup.  The plastic cups here are incredibly thin.  You have to hold them gently if they're full, or you'll squeeze the contents right out!

As we left, Tony spotted a guy up in a coconut tree and took a couple pics, but it was getting a little too dark for a good shot.  Some of the trees in the area, we noticed, had a couple strands of barbed wire nailed to them, to prevent climbing.  Not sure how they harvest . . .

Then we headed back the same way we had come.  As we crossed the river again, a young girl came along behind us and walked her bike across the river - - it was shallow enough that she just walked across the riverbed.  (Why didn't I do that?!)

So . . . another day, another adventure!  : )