On Tuesday, we had our usual staff meeting and Isabel came to clean.
As you know, Dad loves yogurt so if there is any at the store, we stock up big time.
But he made an exciting discovery: Tuesday is "Yogurt Delivery Day."
So, our shopping day is now on Tuesdays and we get some looks when we pile
7 or 8 big containers in our cart. There's definitely a "scarcity" mentality here.
We've learned that just because you see it once, doesn't mean you'll see it again
so we tend to stock up on stuff we like.
We did talk on the phone to the Sr couple that's coming in a couple of weeks.
He's a nurse so he is going be the mission nurse and they are going to live in the same
building that we are in, so we will have somebody to hang out with.
On Thursday, Dad mixed up some preomethrin and sprayed the apt
because we had 4 very big cockroaches and they freak me out big time! Of
course, it was always me that found them - one ran over my foot while I
was in the bathroom! Yuck!!
Then later, Mariana (seminary
teacher that's the med student) came over for me to teach her how to
make flower barrettes and brownies for a YW activity that they were
having on Friday night.
She is the one that wanted to learn how to make
brownies so she could get a husband. :) Anyway, we made them and it was
like she was at Disneyland, using all the kitchen stuff like the mixer
and oven - even the rubber spatula amazed her!
When I explained the tradition of licking the beaters and the bowl and
asked her if she wanted to, she said, "Yes!! That's a very good
tradition." I burned the top of the brownies because I converted the
Fahrenheit to Celsius wrong :( but she said it didn't matter, the girls
would love them anyway.
When I took her home, she said, "Sister,
would you come to the pajama party?" I said sure and asked her if the
leaders were wearing pajamas or not. She said she wasn't sure. She
wasn't going to because she didn't have any pajamas. So...
On
Friday, I met her at the market by her house, and followed her down the
narrow dirt path to her house. Oh, that reminds me - I forgot to include
the picture in the last letter that we took when we went with the
elders to their investigator's house that night.
Mariana's
neighborhood is similar to this one. When we got there, the YW president
and the other counselor were getting the coal fires ready and preparing
the food.
A few girls were taking turns cutting the cabbage and
potatoes. One would sit and cut the cabbage into a basket on her lap and
then when she got tired, she'd pass it to somebody else. Mariana got 3 grass mats and laid
them outside and the girls sat on those, because her little
kitchen/dining/living/storage area was way too small for everybody and
SO hot!!
One
pot is rice, one is spaghetti, and the chicken is on the small stand on
the ground.
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They had 27 girls! The girls sat on the mats and played
hand-clap games. Even the older girls played. After the food was prepped,
Mariana gathered the girls together on the mats and told them that it
was time for a spiritual message and I was giving it. We had talked
about it while we were walking to her house. {Side note: The people often don't ask you in advance to do
something. We went to a baptism last Saturday and waited and waited for
the branch president to come. When it finally started, the man
conducting it announced that I was leading the singing and dad was
saying the opening prayer. He had had plenty of time to ask us while we
were waiting but didn't.}
Back to the story: so I
told her that she could go first and then I'd go but she'd have to help
me because she understands a lot of English, even though she doesn't
speak very much. She rolled her eyes and then got her scriptures and
talked about the Holy Ghost (one of the few words that I recognized.).
When I spoke, I told them about coming to Mozambique and how hard it was
to leave my family and home but that I knew it was right because God
had told me it was through the Holy Ghost. And I shined a small
flashlight in the dark and told them He was like a light and would show
them the way if they asked for help with anything. They got the gist.
Then they sang songs.
On Thursday, Mariana had asked me if I had any
ideas for games and I had told her about Mafia and explained how to
play. So after the singing, she taught them how to play Mafia and boy
was it funny watching them play!! Because I knew the game, I knew what
was happening, even though I couldn't understand what they were saying.
They LOVED it and really got into it!!
At 10:30, I went home because that was the latest that dad could stay up to give me a ride. The food still wasn't done.....
On Saturday, we went to a baptism. I saw the YW district (like stake)
president at the church. The "Pajama Party" was a district activity
being held on a ward basis, so the YW district presidency had come to
visit us - naturally, just as I was starting to give my message so they
heard my gobbledygook Portuguese. Anyway, they visited all 7 branches
and I asked her how it went and what time she got home. (She's from
Zimbabwe and speaks great English -yay!) They got home at 7AM!! It took
them ALL night to visit each branch! I couldn't believe it.
While I
was talking to her, a woman came up and handed me a baby boy. I
recognized her from one of the branches but had no idea what her name
was. So, I took him into the baptism service with us and figured she'd
come and get him when she was done doing whatever she was doing.
But
she never came. We went outside to take pictures of the couple and
still no mom.
We took the baby in the picture with us.....
Dad
held him while I lead the singing and he was super good. When he
fussed, he rocked him and he feel asleep. Still no mom. After the
service, we stood up and the man who was baptized walked up to me and
took the baby.
It was THEIR baby! And they hadn't said a word - not
during pictures, while we were waiting, during the baptism, nothing. Dad
and I just laughed - it was so typical. Good thing we brought him in
the picture, he was one of their twins!
They also had a Helping
Hands activity that day. It was at the hospital that's right by apt. We
had just gone there the previous week to visit a sick member and oh
what a sight! There were broken windows inside the building and we said
if you weren't sick before, you would be after you went there. All the
records are kept on paper, not computer, and they file the patients by
the day they come in, not by their name, so we had a heck of a time
trying to find the guy we were trying to visit.
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About a week ago, the branch president of the branch that we usually
attend asked to meet with us and the missionaries in that branch to
learn what to do about callings. He had several members, including his 2
counselors and the Primary President, who weren't even coming to church
regularly, much less doing their callings. Dad told him that he had to
do the hard thing and release them and that it was very important to
have strong people for the auxiliary presidencies. Well, he took it to
heart because on Sunday, they called 2 new counselors in the branch
presidency, a new elder's quorum presidency, a new Primary presidency,
and a new Sunday School president. Wham, bam - all new! We've learned
that the people really listen to what you tell them, so we're very
careful about what we say. But it had to be done so there's a lot of
training to be done. I went in the primary, like I usually do and told
the women that I'd help but my Portuguese was terrible/non-existent.
They weren't doing anything so I tried to teach a song while they set up
but I don't know the Portuguese titles to find the song. They didn't
know either. So I finally went and got an elder to come in and translate
while I did sharing time. I told David and Goliath again (a favorite)
and Nephi and the brass plates.
The women just watched. Then I resorted to "Do as I'm Doing" because
the elder didn't know the primary song names either. The ladies liked
that one and laughed at me doing the motions. After primary, I walked
to the branch president's office with the primary president and her
first counselor to put away the songbook and CD player (everything, even
pictures, has to be kept in his office or it "disappears".) I asked
them how long they had been members. The president - 1 1/2 months! Her
counselor - 3 months. No wonder they didn't know the songs or have any
idea what to do! The branch president has asked me to train them so next
Sunday I'll attempt to teach them how to run Primary in Portuguese.
After church, I made lasagna in the crockpot.....and it worked! I was
pretty stoked! And that was the rest of our week!
We love you guys and pray for each of you every day and every night.
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