Well this week we survived a super typhoon! As some of you know last weekend we had a huge storm hit us here in Angeles mission. It was predicted to be a signal 3 which is the second highest but actually became a signal no. 4! It has caused a lot of damage in Gabaldon as we are close to the coast. We do not have power and may not have power for a whole month! Luckily there is a Internet shop with a generator or I wouldn't be able to email ya'll. :)
Man parts of the road have been torn up and a few main bridges have been broken. But the worse damage has been to the crops here as all the rice and vegetable fields have been wiped clean. They were very close to harvest which makes it even more of a loss.
We were able to stay in our apartment and for four days we were not permitted to leave. We had two elders from Dingalan which is right on the coast stay with us.
Everyone in Gabaldon is safe and I know that is the most important thing.
This morning we went and helped clean up the mess. We went to the Martins house, our recent convert friends and soon found out that a tree had landed on a part of their house. They live right in front of a river so they had waist high floods in their house. They are safe and we spent this morning clearing and chopping trees and branches that had fallen in the storm.
All of this reminded me of the great truth in Helaman 5:12
And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.
I know that this is true! My companion who is Filipino told me that the reason the trees fell is because they did not have strong roots. The roots were not deep enough, but they were shallow. Such is true with us. If our faith in Jesus Christ is casual, shallow or superficial when trials and spiritual storms and whirlwinds come we will fall, but as we build our foundation in Jesus Christ and his gospel and deepen our roots every day with prayer and scripture study and service, we will be strong and like the trees that withstood the storm we will withstand all kinds of trials of our faith.
We have a baptism coming up this week! It is the Brother of Peter Martin! Even with the storm, the Lord's work goes on!
Mahal kita,,
What a beautiful letter. So grateful he is safe. This was so fun to read and see how much Tyler has grown spiritually. I knew he would be a great missionary.
ReplyDeleteSo grateful our sons were safe and protected, but also grateful for their service as they help with the clean-up efforts after the storm. Great scripture and analogy, Elder Murdock!
ReplyDeleteSo nice to see pictures and to learn who the other Elders are in the pics I received :) My Elder is one of those from the Dingalan Bay area who stayed with Elder Murdock. He's the one in the blue "hump day" shirt. He is visa waiting in the Philippines and getting a lot of great experiences there. His mission is actually in India.
ReplyDeleteNice! Thanks for commenting and letting us know! Tyler's last companion was a visa waiter too, Elder Aldridge. What a blessing it is for Tyler to get to know these fine missionaries called to serve in India but for now serving in the Philippines!
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