28 February 2000

We went to zone conference in Catbalogan on Thursday.  It was a good conference.  We found out transfers.  Elder Roth is going to Catarman.  Elder Melendez will be training.  Elder Werner is going to Tacloban 1.  I forget who his replacement is.  Elder Villenueva is going home, and Elder Tanumpaipea is going to Tacloban 2. They will be replaced by Elder Rynearson and Elder Credo.  Elder Kopp is going to Calbayog.  He'll be Catbalogan zone leader!  My batch is up now!  Elder Jackson thinks I'll be transferred on 21 March, and that I'll replace either Elder Talaipa as Sogod ZL or Elder Nicoll as Catarman ZL.

Yolanda Jamolin has finally committed to baptism.  The plan is March 18.  I'm excited about it.

Elders Welsh and Jackson came down last night.  We took them out to Ngolos to see the big waves.  It was high tide this time, so we couldn't stand on the edge.  Turns out, we probably shouldn't have even gone where we did.  We were doing fine for a while.  Then it seemed like the ocean all of a sudden got pissed off.  Culbertson, Jackson, and Welsh had climbed onto a higher ledge.  Before I could climb up, we saw a huge wave coming and braced ourselves.  The spray hit me harder than any of the waves before had, but I was all right.  Just a little shaken up.  I went back a little bit to where I thought I was safe behind a jutting piece of rock a seemingly safe distance from the edge.  It turned out to be a mistake.  The next wave was even bigger.  The spray came right over my shelter and knocked me around like a rag doll.  I managed to hang on, thus avoiding being slammed into the sharp rocks behind me, but my tsinelas (flip-flops) were knocked off my feet.  Another big wave was coming, so everyone yelled at me to climb up to where they were.  The rocks were so sharp that it was impossible to walk barefoot, let alone climb.  "My tsinelas came off!" I yelled.  I retrieved one, but the other had drifted away.  As I put the one on, Elder Welsh ran down and grabbed the other.  He gave it to me, and I quickly put it on.  The wave was already crashing at this time, so I squatted behind and held onto my inadequate shelter.  Elder Welsh got in a firm stance behind me and held on to the same rock to prevent me from being tossed around again.  The wave hit just as hard, followed quickly by two more just as big.  The last one knocked my sandals into a weird, unwalkable position, so when Elder Welsh said "Go!" I said, "My tsinelas came off again!"  Once I got them back on again, Elders Jackson and Culbertson were yelling at us to get down.  We got back into our crash position while another huge wave hammered us.  We tried to make a break for it, but the receding water around us was moving quickly and foamy.  "I can't see where to step!" I said, but ventured a step forward anyway.  It cut my foot.  I yelled out, more in frustration than pain, and drew my foot back.  Jackson and Culbertson yelled out another warning, so we hung on again, and we were hammered again.  As soon as we were able to move of our own accord again, Elder Welsh yelled, "Go!  Don't look, just go!"  We scrambled up to the higher ground and to safety.  I got a lot of cuts.  Nothing serious, but I was pretty shaken up.  I could've been seriously injured and probably would've been if Elder Welsh hadn't come to my aid.  We stayed for another half hour watching the waves from a safe distance.

Not the greatest picture (there was mist on the lens), but it gives a sense of how sharp the rocks are.  This was taken five or ten minutes after I almost died.