Lamac Branch

Lamac Meeting house - our car in background



Priesthood Meeting, Lamac



Going home from Church

Sunday, January 22

Today we had a lovely day. We drove over the mountains to Balamban, then down to Pinamungahan and back up into the mountains to Lamac to visit the branch there. After about a mile of paved road, the next 8 kilometers are rock and dirt, but the first part is well-graded and fairly good. The last part is quite narrow and rough but passable. About 50 members meet in a rented meeting house in Lamac. It is right on the main road, very clean, but very small. Nine young women met in a wide hallway. 12 Primary children with the Branch President’s wife, Sister Pepito, as their President, met in a small classroom. She did a good job – she used my visual aids since ‘Scripture Power’ was the song they were learning. She did sharing time and then had another song and then let the children draw. I had brought more crayons to add to the supplies we sent up in November. She is really using them and the children are enjoying the activity during Primary. With Elder Cocos, one of the Filipino full-time missionaries (who with a ward missionary companion traveled over from Lutopan to meet us in Lamac) translating for him, Bob taught his lesson on ‘Signs of the True Church.’ Bob and I both spoke in Sacrament meeting, preceded by Elder Cocos. He gave an excellent talk on the temple and paying tithing. I shared my testimony in Visayan and complimented them on the reverence of their children during the Sacrament. Elder Cocos translated for Bob as he talked about Jesus Christ.

One of the highlights of the day was seeing a brother come in to Church in a brand new wheelchair – provided free by the Church humanitarian group. Everyone was so excited to see him at Church and greeted him so warmly. He had been without a wheel chair for about 3 years. His last one literally fell apart, and he didn’t know he could get another one. He lives not too far from the Church, up a rocky dirt path. All the roads in the area are rocky dirt as well, so I am sure it is very hard on a wheel chair. He was glad to be at Church and we took a few photos to send to the humanitarian couple in Manila and to Elder Hardman – the missionary who helped make the arrangements for the chair before he was transferred to Bohol.

The branch members were very friendly and asked if we could come again, maybe every week, or every month. We will try to visit them often – we are thinking of focusing on a few branches that seem to need the most help and perhaps go once a month to each one….we shall see what the President wants.

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