DAGAMI: A Place to Remember

I can still vividly remember the very first hour that I stepped my feet on the land of Coconuts. I will be serving as a missionary for the Philippines Tacloban Mission which covers the whole Region 8. It includes the provinces of Leyte, Southern Leyte, Eastern, Northern, and Western Samar plus Biliran Island.

After arrving at their Romuladez Airport, we went straight to the Mission Office located in Tacloban City. It was a wonderful day to see my President and his wife who is so lovely and so sweet. President and Sister Elggren will be our mission parents for two years. Never did I imagine that I would have an American parent. (Smile)… Even just for two years.

Then they drove us to the famous Leyte Landing Park. It is remembered it is in this very place that General McArthur of the World Ward II uttered the famous “I Shall Return”. This time, Pres. Elggren gave his orientation for the new missionaries (including me). It is in this place as well that he had announced our companionship. My trainer then was Elder Caballes from La Union. A very good singer indeed and a industrious servant of God.

The next day, after all the other orientations, we went straight to our area of responsibility – DAGAMI, LEYTE: Land of the Loving, a place never to be forgotten!

Our house was not that very nice but it was homey. We were greeted by a very quiet community considering it’s still early for people to sleep. Late in the afternoon, we met our house help but I would prefer calling her Nanay cause she deserves to be respected. Nanay Gina Rondon played a very vital role in our work as a missionary in this area. We will be reopening the area for missionary work which was closed for about 3 to 5 months I think. It is a huge responsibility but I felt so lucky to have been given the chance to do so.

My companion, Elder Caballes, speaks Ilocano (a Philippine dialect) and so do I. When we learned about DAGAMI being the name of the place, we smiled! Because in Ilocano, it means “Our Land” (daga mi). And so this land is given to us by Heavenly Father to be nourished by the good word of God.

To be continued….