Unexpected trip to Pinimungahan

Primary children open boxes of suppies




Primary children use their new pencils and paper




Primary children in Aloguinsan with Elders Antonio and Solomon

Sunday, December 04, 2005

We had the most amazing experience today...Sunday. We had planned to take the ferry to Bohol where Bob was teaching a Sunday School Class in three branches on Bible references to the Book of Mormon. The Assistants to the President got up at 5 to drive us to the pier. They dropped us off and we went in to the terminal - to find out that the 6:30 ferry was not running - engine problems. We went to a place apart and talked, had a prayer and decided we should turn our tickets in for tickets next week, go back home to get the car and go up over the mountains to Toledo, which we did. On the way we tried to decide which branches to visit. We were thinking of Balamban, but somehow at the last minute changed our minds and went south down the west coast to Pinamungahan. We had a nice visit there. A sister missionary who had returned home and her ward sent to the mission office a box of pencils, pens, pencil sharpeners and erasers. I sorted them all out, added a dozen copies of old Ensigns and 100 pieces of paper and packed 12 boxes for twelve primaries. Pinamngahan received their box this morning and the children and the leader were so excited. Near the end of Primary, the President had the children use the new pencils or pens and paper to write their testimonies. You never saw children take a project so seriously and work so hard. Each put their name on their paper and then gave them to me. I took a few pictures of them opening the box and then writing and will send the photos and the testimonies to the sister missionary. It was a delightful morning.
We enjoyed testimony meeting, all the while I was wondering why were were in Pinamungahan and not on Bohol. During the closing song, one of the elders came and got Bob and they went out to the parking lot. A minute later Bob came and got me and took me to a classroom. One of the elders in Aloguinsan - up the hill from Pinamungahan - was very sick. He looked like he had a stroke - face contorted, breathing very shallow, hands rigid and twisted; his legs were still and uncontrolled. I had them put him on the floor - his companion and another missionary were trying to hold him in a chair. Bob and the branch president and the other elders gave him a blessing and we carried him to the car. He had started with this 'episode' at Church in Aloguinsan and members of the branch had helped him get Elder Antonio into a tricycle and bring him down the hill to a doctor. They saw our car in the Church parking lot so came in for help. What a great blessing we were there and not over on Bohol. We called the President's wife who handles all the medical stuff and she told us to use our own judgment. We were planning on taking him to a hospital in Toledo - about 30 minutes away, but as we got close to Toledo, Elder Antonio seemed to feel better so we kept right on going and headed to a good Chinese hospital in Cebu - 2 hours drive away. Elder Antonio drank a little water. Thinking maybe it was hypoglycemia, I gave him a piece of candy that a primary child had given to me. As time went on, he perked up, sat up and talked to us a little. We still went straight to the hospital since he told us he had had a similar episode two days before and had been hospitalized over night, but seemed okay in the morning so he went home. We were in the emergency room for several hours. They decided they better admit him and run more tests and watch him - well, they have his companion watch him - since they couldn't be sure what was going on. He still felt weak and a little dizzy, but much better than before. Elder Solomon said he didn't know what he would have done if he hadn't seen our car. And, we felt very blessed to be where we were needed. What a great work this is.