Typhoon Yolanda destroys my home, Part 2

Am I dreaming? I'm in cold cold Utah and working full time. Did I actually go to the Philippines for 2 weeks? Good thing there are pictures to help my confused brain.

The pictures bring back the memories, and the feelings. Oh ya, and then I remember the heat. :) Good ole' Philippines bringing back all that sweat I almost was able to forget.

My husband and I have been married for a year now. Happy 1 year anniversary to us. And what a year it's been! How grateful I am to be married to my Jrod. Many may not know, but I didn't want to get married. Well, someday, yes..but I seemed to still believe I was 20 and I had years left before I had to deal with that major decision. I had BIG dreams including going back to Africa, exploring Europe and getting back to the Philippines. I loved my independent life and was content in my loneliness (Only Exception reference, anyone?). But Heavenly Father worked gently on me to soften my heart and to let me know through small sacred experiences and miracles that it was time to let God lead my life for reals. I made a very specific commitment back in the Philippines on the mission that "I belonged to God," and therefore, I knew I needed to act on that and well...prove it...or, I guess, live it. So with much guidance from my loving Heavenly Father my heart was softened and it became very clear to me that all my dreams would come true if I trusted Him. Jared was very patient with me as I realized it was time for us to get married, and it felt completely right. I knew it and soon I began recognizing how grateful I was for listening to my Heavenly Father as life unfolded and more and more incredible opportunities and experiences happened because I married the man I was supposed to. God is good.

Wait, you wanted to read about the Philippines, right? Well, my above tangent relates to the Philippines. If you remember my above stated goals and "dreams," ALL OF THEM HAPPENED THIS PAST YEAR WITH MY HUSBAND. How incredible is that?! God. is. good.

I remember a moment sitting in Dagami, Leyte in the little (awesome) medical clinic that we helped create and set up. I was watching my husband getting fluids pumped in his arm for being dehydrated and thinking, "this man seriously has made sure all my dreams have come true. i am so grateful i followed the spirit and trusted god. i love my husband so much."

What a moment. And I promise you there have been many of those this past year as we have been around the world and back together. And I am 100% positive there will be many more. Each day I am with him my heart is full of gratitude. He is the perfect guy for me. I can't believe I got so lucky.

So, back to the Philippines. We left Saturday morning with some slight hesitation and struggle from the airlines concerning our 4 chainsaws. But we felt very blessed that things came together and we all got on the right flights, with the right luggage, and supplies. I slept the whole 2 hour flight. I think I fell asleep before take off.

We flew into Portland a little late and had to run off our plane to get to the gate. Our flight attendants had contacted our flight to Tokyo and had them hold it for us. Phew! We were, indeed, the last to get on the plane. We sat down and off we went! I can't remember much of that 10 hour flight. I think Jared and I were in and out of consciousness. Oh yes, and we watched movies.

We landed in Tokyo and got on another flight to Manila. Don't remember much.

We landed in Manila and it felt, sounded, and smelled like the Philippines. (As it should.) We were all so excited. Oh yes, those in our group included: Husband and me, CJ Roberts, Mindy McQuivey, Jared Fullmer, and Jordan Elmer. CJ and Mindy served in Tacloban in 91-93 (CJ), 96-98 (Mindy). Fullmer served around the same time as Jared and me in Tacloban. Elmer was in Jared's district in the MTC, but went to Cebu. He is a great friend and works with me at the MTC. He ended up spending a few days in Bogo (cebu) that was also affected by the Typhoon.

In Manila it took a while to get through customs and then we got on a bus and headed to the domestic airport terminal. I think that was around 11pm Sunday. We then got settled on the floor of the airport in Manila and stayed there for a few hours til about 4am. We had some issues with all of our luggage costing a ton b/c of the domestic flight fees, but eventually only had to pay $200ish dollars because we were bringing in aid supplies. They were originally trying to charge us around $470. After that fiasco we got out our camping pads and sat until we could go to our gate at around 5am. At 6am we headed to Cebu.

Flying over that part of the world is so calming. I was in awe. I remember that flight from Manila to Tacloban when I was coming for the mission and being so amazed by the beauty my Savior had created. It was a similar feeling this time around, but with a hurting heart. I wasn't sure what I was going to find. We couldn't see much destruction from the air b/c we weren't flying over Tacloban. I imagined all the green I had remembered was gone now.

Once we landed in Cebu we were picked up by Angel and Tom, some contacts from the church/Charity Vision. I was never really sure which organization they were with, but I did know we were all in this together. They had our boat tickets to get us over to Leyte in just two hours so we didn't have much time to exchange money and get food. We headed over to the temple and met up with two girls, Amy and Taylor. Amy is a traveling nurse, and Taylor is in Pre-med. They just dropped everything and flew to the Philippines. They joined our team fast when they learned we were headed to Leyte. We were so lucky they did, too! What an addition to our team!

I remember these thoughts going through my head over and over again: I'm home. I'm finally home. This is the best thing I've ever done. This is where I'm supposed to be.

While we were waiting to head to the dock, it just happened to be district meeting for the local LDS missionaries. That meant that I saw missionaries that I had taught in the MTC. WHat a tender mercy!!! I saw a missionary I was SO worried about that had served in TAcloban. He saw me and said, " I don't even care, I'm giving you a hug!" (This is usually not allowed for Elders to give females a hug. BUT, NO regrets people. I felt like his mother. I was so glad to see him alive!) I seriously could have cried. He was with an elder I had just sent out into the field a couple days before. I just love those missionaries. I found out a few days later that the missionary I had given a hug to went home the next day. He (and many others that survived the Typhoon in Tacloban) are in counseling and are hoping to return to the mission field in a few months. I have so much love and respect for those missionaries. Many have been through more than we can imagine and are seeking for guidance, peace, and help to cope with all they have seen and experienced. The type of help only our Savior and His atonement can give. Please, send up extra prayers for the missionaries.

Well, we then headed to the dock and took the 2.5 hour Fast Cat boat over to Leyte. As soon as we got off the boat, you could see the destruction. Buildings knocked down, trees gone, trees bent over, no glass in any windows, power lines everywhere. Just destruction. Everything was affected. But the people in Ormoc City seemed to just try to get along. There was a curfew of 5pm I believe. We took some tricycles to the Ormoc LDS Stake Center building. Along the way we saw some pretty incredible destruction. Can words describe? My heart ached. It looked like a junk yard. Just a whole town of junk.

We got to the church and had a meeting with Philip Tan, the LDS church command center and disaster relief leader. He was wonderful. I really liked him. We told him our plan and he said that it sounded great. Our plan was to split up and drive up to Tacloban and the surrounding areas and assess the situation of the members. He gave us a sheet of paper to give to all the leaders in the areas to fill out so that they would know what was going on up there.

We split into two teams. CJ, Amy, Mindy, and me went to Tanauan, Tolosa, Dagami, Dulag, and back to Tacloban. On the way we headed through Carigara.

I'm sorry guys. This blog is supposed to be me describing what I saw. But, seriously, how do I even describe it? Destruction. Junk yard. Smoke. People trying to sort through the rubble. There wasn't any chaos. It had been two weeks now, so all of that seemed to be gone now. It was just rubble and people trying to figure out what to do. There were little kids on the roads with signs that said, "Help us." "We need food." "Help." "We are starving."

Yes. Those broke our hearts. I can't get those images out of my mind.

The destruction was everywhere. The trees were just gone. Places I had lived. towns. it was just a junk yard. The beauty was distorted.

As a missionary I would frequently stop and admire the immense, incredible beauty of this place I got to call home. And now, it was just bare. The trees missing made a huge impact. Everything kind of looked wounded. Including the people.

Does that sound dramatic?

It was hard. But that was just the first part of the first day out in the Tacloban area.

Things got better.

Stay tuned.