Week 36

Maayong Hapon!!!!!! (Cebuano ko na) :)

Well, life in Cebu is progressing :) My Cebuano improving. This is my first area that is Cebuano and I miss Waray-waray soooooo much! But, I will continue! Because I know that I am needed to learn all these languages for a reason! And to share the gospel with these wonderful people. Throughout my mission that has been something I have noticed. I need these languages to help specific people with specific problems. I can testify that it is really hard, but all worthwhile when you see the Light of Christ grow in someone’s eyes. 

This still is a pretty big city coming from Tacloban. I had my first ever lesson on a couch this last week. It was the weirdest sensation ever! Hahah, I am used to dirt floors and swatting my legs every minute to keep mosquitoes away, even though I still have to swat the mosquitoes :) they just love that foreigner blood! I am like a five star buffet here! But, throughout my whole stay here in the Pines, I continue to grow and recognize even further the beauty if this place and culture. These people are amazing! And are eager to hear what we have to share. I don’t care if it is just because I am white, it gives me an opportunity to plant a seed in someone’s heart that will eventually grow. 

I am still working on reading everyone’s emails since the storm, so please be patient! It has been pretty crazy. But I would love to continue to hear from you all, so I will put my new address at the bottom. The President Aban, the stake Pres of Tacloban, evacuated with his family to my ward, so it has helped with my waray-waray hunger :) They shared with us this week that most likely, everything will be back by January. Here's hoping! Hahah, I love this place, don’t get me wrong, and I know that I am needed here for a purpose, but I miss my home back in Tacloban. I miss the people, I miss my friends, and I miss the culture there. Trust me, one island hop and it’s a whole new world! For example... you never saw people holding hands or being lovey-dovey anywhere, here... it's like an LOC problem everywhere! Hahah, but, adjustments are key to every new thing. 

I am so continually grateful for this blessing to serve the Lord, and for this call to help all that I come in contact with recognize the great plan that our Father has for him. I know that through every trial comes something to help and bless our lives. I can testify of that and the great happiness that comes from following the commandments. I hope that you all have a great week and that you all will continue to pray for those who are devastated by the storm. I love you all sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much :)

SISTER BRAY 

Philippines Cebu East Mission

The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter Day Saints Compound
Bajac, Liloan, Cebu 6002
Philippines 

PIC: My companions: Sister Diongco and Sister Ande.....They are amazing!!!!I 

Week 35

Maupay nga udto nadto tanan,

So we were evacuated to Manila last week, and it was a crazy week up there. Full of emotions, full of just about everything.It took about 2 days for us to get up there. A ferry ride and a very long bus ride. But we made it! And immediately ate some yummy pinoy MTC food! Then had a meeting with the area presidency. They shared with us about the devastation. coping, and moving on and the safety of others. Sister French, the area Mental advisor shared some very profound things with us of we chose this in the Pre-existence. That we didn't want others to go through this and offered up ourselves. That we are of the Elect and were needed for that specific reason. I am grateful for her and her sharing that, because I don't know how most of us could have coped without that. WE were still waiting for two zones to arrive! WE still had very little contact with them, but knew of their travels and that they should be arriving within the next day. Our stay there was fun, it was amazing to be with all our friends again and joke to get it all off of our minds, but at the same time, it was rather sad. Because we kept having flashbacks, thinking of all that were lost, thinking of it all, and then finding out that the 204 MISSIONARIES would be getting reassigned. That our PTM family would be getting separated, and that the Elders and Sister assigned to go home in the next 4 months would be going home now, was pretty insane. And then that we probably wont be going back for 5months+... IT will be entirely different from now on. Most of the Foreigners were assigned in Cebuano Speaking areas, and the Pinoys in Luzon areas, where there is Tagalog. 18 of us came to the Cebu East Mission, and again it has been the gnarliest adventure yet. We keep hearing of the church and all they are sharing about us right now and even non members and the help we have been  receiving, so many blessings.

Some of these missionaries again are just lost now. They will not be the same again. Along with the 3 batches that the church asked to go home to accommodate for all of us, many other missionaries went home from trauma, depression, injury, and worry. Since being transferred here in Cebu East, those feelings have started to creep in, but I don't want to go home yet. So I am still fighting on.

This Mission is entirely different than PTM.... I will set it up in ways for y'all to understand. So the Philippines for the church is set up into regions. We were region 8 (District12 from Hunger Games), and moved up to region 7 when we got transferred to Cebu East (we give it a District 4)(With Manila being the Capitol of course) It is entirely different here and for some who have been Waray their whole missions, switching back to the 6weeks of bisaya that we slightly remember adds on to the weird factor. Hahahah, Ok I just have to share what I said when we got to the mission Home... "Guys, I'm not even kidding.. It feels like I was livin' in West Philadelphia and moved to Bel-Air, right now." It seriously does though!! Hahah, everything here is so different. Psh, and in Tacloban, you rarely saw white people, and when you did, you honestly questioned "what are you doing here?" We come here and see a bunch of Joes! They are everywhere and it freaks us out! Its a really big adjustment so far and I hope that It will continue to be at least ok. Because we are all kinda home sick... We want PTM back. We keep crackin jokes about going back to region 8 and how use we are to poverty and bukid. There is no bukid here! Hahah, but we love it too. Especially the Tanners, they are amazing and when the Area presidency told us of our new callings they specifically said that it was to our mission presidents, and we are needed to help them and those we are now called to serve. I know the Lord will help us through this time and wew will be able to bless so many through this time. 

I love you all so much and I am so very grateful as well for this great experience to come closer to my Brothers and Sisters through this experience and as well, My Father and Kuya. Please continue to pray for those devastated by the storm and that all will be well in the Leyte and Samar..

SISTER BRAY

PS D&C6

Week 34

Maupay nga udto sa aton tanan

So I am not sure if everybody heard about the signal 4 super typhoon that hit the Philippines recently... But our mission is gone. Everything in Tacloban is literally gone and has been washed out. There is no more mission head quarters. No more chapel there. Everything is gone. We keep hearing different counts of how many have died. As of right now, we hear that it is 10k.....and mostly the homeless children that live around the church... I still can't wrap my head around it, or come to fathom that my last area there, my friends there, could be dead.... I'm starting to cry in this small computer shop so lemme change he subject....

So, as of right now, here is all the we know... We will have a 2-3 month brown out(no power at all, no water except for the boomba that is all rusty. Thankfully the drinking water place has a generator). There is only one computer shop here that has a generator and it is in UEP(university of eastern Philippines). We see all the videos of the devastation did to and actually how bad it is. All of us are accounted for, though. We are all alive. My area is an 8 hour drive from Tacloban and on a different island. So we were not hit at all. It built up here like a plane landing, and then it landed in Tacloban.

 We went to our Zone activity this morning, preparing to get it off our minds, and President Andaya called, and we have had no contact with him the for the past 3 days. We finally got signal on Saturday night and found out more news, but still were not able to find out how Tacloban was. President called with news from the Area of the Seventy and told us what we needed to do. That plan changed 3 times within the next hour. We were to go to Allen, which is 2 hours away and get on a ferrie and go to Bicol, and from there a flight to Manila and stay there for who knows how long. Then, that changed to trying to get an airplane to land here in Catarmans airport, but that didn't work either... So now we have been asked to wait in our areas for 3 days and then we will know what we are supposed to do. And when we are all to be transferring. That's all we know so far.... And other than that, we are lost. No one can focus and get their minds off all that has happened.... We are all just basically here. And everyone is accounted for!

It still breaks my heart to know of all the pain that has just hit, ans knowing that we can't do anything. Even the bridge that is required to get there, is broken. So we have no way to get there! But, we do have the Lords promise that all will be fine, that everyone has their own plan to return safely to Him and receive eternal happiness, His eternal promise, "And what is it that ye shall hope for? Behold, I say unto you that ye shall have hope through the atonement of Christ and the power of his resurrection, to be raised unto life eternal, and this because of your faith in him according to the promise."Moroni 7:41...The psalm of Nephi has brought great comfort to all of us here and knowing that the Lord will never forsake us, His children. And that we will continually receive his comfort. 

I love you all so very much and hope that all is well in all the places you are. I'll be sure to keep you posted on everything that we are doing and where we are really :) LOVE YOU

Typhoon Update

Sister Claire Bray called this morning. She is safe and doing well. She and other missionaries were moved to a safer location before the storm hit. The area she is currently serving in was hit pretty bad. She worries for her friends and is ready to get back and help. I am not sure when she will be emailing again but we will continue to post her emails to her blog.