On Friday there were 3 weddings in Beira. Two of the couples were baptized yesterday (Saturday) the third couple should be baptized this coming Saturday. The missionaries continue to bring good families into the Church.
The shopping and food preparation take many hours, in effect a salmon fry each week.....
The district president writes a check for $66/couple being married. To cash the check it takes 2-3 hours to go to the bank and wait in line.
Next, is the shopping which takes about 3-4 hours to drive to 3 or 4 different places to buy chicken, rice, potatoes, eggs, flour, sugar, oil, charcoal, salt and vegetables.
A separate wedding cake is made for each couple (ingredients alone cost $16). The Church has an oven, which it appears none of the members have. The cakes are made the day before as the weddings are scheduled for 1 PM (but usually don't begin until about 2 PM).
The missionaries clean and set up the tables and chairs, wash the plastic dishes from the week before and help with all the preparations. This is a very involved process....Additionally, the missionaries have spent many hours over a period of several weeks, just to obtain the marriage license !! Oh well, that's Africa !
This week we met with the branch president and the 6 elders that are assigned to the Beira 1 branch. The branch president is a great man, but he desperately needs assistance. It appears his counselors are not fully active among many other leaders in the branch.
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