We are on TV!

Hey Chiquitas!

  Monday the Dilles left for South Africa. I tried not to be toooo jealous. ;)

 I love South Africa - it's green and clean and has water and electricity 

and restaurants with good food!! Your dad likes the chocolate chips... 

Anyway, we are holding the fort down while they are gone. 
That night, we had Freeman Dickey, their little boy and his mother,

 who was visiting from Zimbabwe, over for dinner. He's a new counselor

 in the District Presidency and visited our branch yesterday. He

 mentioned that his wife was in South Africa with their little girl so 

I invited him to dinner and FHE.  Freeman is Amalia's younger brother.

 He's 31, an RM, and is smart and ambitious. A few years ago, he left

 his wife and two kids for a year while he got his MBA in the Netherlands,

 and he now works for Rio Tinto.  The company has a big mining operation

 here.  Like Amalia, he speaks English very well because they are from Zimabawe. 
Anywho, his wife is in South Africa because their 6 year old daughter had a seizure.

 She had had meningitis, which the doctors here said the cause, 

but they decided to take her to South Africa for an MRI.  It showed that she has

 epilepsy. They are sad about it.  He called that night and said his mom was

 visiting and asked if she could come too. We said sure. I fixed taco soup, 

garlic bread, fruit salad, and banana/chocolate chip cake. They had seconds 

of everything. I loved their mom!! She is a couple inches shorter than me, 

has been widowed for quite a few years, and is so sweet.  And spunky!! She said,

 "You know, the African people are always trying to earn more money so I decided 

to raise pigs." She went to "Pig University", a school in Zimbabwe that trains people 

how to raise pigs. You pay tuition, take this course, and they teach you everything

 you need to know about caring for pigs.  She has 5 pigs now and is waiting for 

piglets to be born so she can sell them. Talk about a new career!  She's figured 

out that if it goes as planned, she will have enough money in a year to go on a mission.

 She was so great!! I wanted to go home with her and see her house and her pigs! 

 I could see where her kids get their ambition and 'can do' attitude. 
  

Tuesday, Fernando came over to use our computer to write his 'conversion/decision to go on a mission' story.


We have some amazing youth and young adults here. Right now, there is a surge of them applying for missions. It's a long, hard process for them, even harder for some, and they have incredible stories. They tell your dad and I bits and pieces, but I wanted to be accurate in the retelling, so I asked a few to write their stories down for me. He was one of them. I'm not sure if you remember dad taking about him. Both of his parents are dead and after his brother converted and was baptized, he died a couple of years later. But he had taken Fernando to church and that planted a seed. Fernando was baptized and has been faithful ever since. He worked for a couple of years to earn the money for a passport, finally got it, and then it was stolen. So, he had to start all over. He finally got a second one and then worked to earn the money for the medical and dental tests, etc. He's waited a long time for this mission but leaves next month to Capo Verde. He is SO excited!
After Fernando finished, he rode with me to English class. That day, I told them about Grandma's saying of "I'm going to paddle your canoe." I acted it out for them and they thought it was hilarious! We were working on verbs and when we did the word 'hide', I told them that we have a children's game called 'Hide and Seek'. They said they have the same game but they call it 'Bananas.' Then talked about animals and I don't know all the Portuguese names so I made the sound for a dog, 'Ruff, ruff, ruff' to teach the word "dog". They finally got it and said 'Oh, you mean, 'Hoo, hoo, hoo.' I started laughing and said "Mozambique dogs say hoo, hoo, hoo??" They laughed when I did it and said 'Yes, at night the dogs don't say 'Ruff, ruff.', they say 'Hoo, hoo, hoo. ' As I listened to the kid demonstrate, I had to agree that ' Hoo, hoo' was more accurate. It was so funny! I made them do some other sounds just to see how different we were. Same animals but different languages. Haha!

Thursday, dad and I went for a super quick walk - actually, we just walked across the street and your dad watched the ocean while I did laps for 15 minutes because our staff meeting got changed from Tuesday because Kretlys went with Larry and Sandi to South Africa to take them to Kreuger and Nelspruit. I set my water bottle holder and sandals down and went jogging. Apparently, sometime during that 15 minutes, somebody walked by and took my water. They left my holder, thank goodness, but it was so bizarre. Dad was 10 feet away, which is a little scary because he's supposed to be protecting me. ;). Oh Africa, oh Dad...
That morning, one of the elders had called to ask if your dad and I were going to be at the church when they sang the next day. I had no idea what he was talking about so I asked about it during the meeting. Good thing because we found out that a reporter was flying in the next morning from South Africa to interview the missionaries and do a piece about the church. Well, okey dokey. Good to know. Once again, prepare for the unexpected...sigh.... So, the office elders called the public affairs people who told us to be at the hotel to pick up the reporter and the public affairs woman, who happens to be the wife of the District President in Maputo, Sis. Castanerro.
So, the next morning, we got up bright and early to be at the hotel. When we walked in, I noticed a white couple sitting in the foyer but didn't say anything because we weren't expecting anyone. Turns out that they were from Public Affairs. They (the Humphreys) live in Zambia and serve throughout Southeast Africa. They were super nice and fun to talk to because they travel all over. We all waited for the reporter and Sis. Castanerro - and then we waited a little more. They finally came down and we took off with Sis. Castanerro to make sure the church was clean and have me practice a song with the Beira elders to sing for the broadcast. We ran through the song a few times and then left to go back to the hotel to pick up the reporter.

After we got her, we went to the T.V. station to pick up the camera guys. That took awhile (more waiting at the station ...) but we got to visit with Sis. Castanerro and get to know her. She's a bundle of energy!! Her husband (the district pres) is an attorney in Maputo and they have 6 kids. She definitely has ADHD, which is a good thing because besides raising 6 kids, she serves in this public affairs calling, and raises chickens. At one time, she had 1500 chickens but has scaled back to 300-400. She's a go-getter and laughs full throttle!! You like her immediately.

Anyway, after we got the camera crew, we headed to Manga where all the elders in that city sang two songs and then she interviewed three of them. They did wonderful!! She also interviewed Pres. Camalizane and a branch president.

When we finished there, we went to Beira and the elders there also sang two songs and then she interviewed two elders there. Everything went really well.
The cameraman, reporter, Sis.Castanerro, us, and the Pres. Samos, from Public Affairs and Pres. Kretly's counselor.

While the interviews were going on, one of the elders asked me if I could help a bride try on wedding dresses to choose one for the wedding the next day. So she and I went into the bathroom, tried the dress on, and it fit her like it was made for her. She was thrilled!

We didn't get done with the TV crew until after 3:00 pm so we were pooped, but that night, they had a dinner and slideshow presentation for different dignitaries, like the Mayor of Beira, so we went to that. President Camalizane and his wife, Graca, and his two counselors and their wives (Freeman and his wife, Sue, were one) were there, so we sat with them.

Me, and Graca, Maria (2nd counselor's wife), and Sue (Freeman's wife)

 It was a nice evening, but they didn't get the attendance that they had hoped for. :( 
Graca is the Relief Society President in their branch and she asked me to come and help her teach a class about food storage the next day (It took a lot of brain cells - and a few charades - to figure out what she was talking about.) for a R.S. activity. I said I would. (Advanced notice is a rare thing here...) 

Saturday, the Dilles came back, so Dad and I went to pick them up from the airport. We came home, and then we zipped over to the church where we had two weddings. The girl that I had helped the day before was one of the brides.

 During pictures, everybody told the grooms to pick up the brides. The one on the right said, "She's too heavy." That drew some jeers, so he tried, and picked her up for a few minutes. It was funny....

Isabel was there decorating the cakes (with ribbon) and overseeing the food. She had the other bride's little boy strapped to her back the whole time. He was bundled up and it was 80 degrees outside. :)

 After the weddings, I went to teach the RS class in Manga. I had asked Graca if she wanted me to ask Sandi to come and demo her crocheting with plastic bags and she said 'sure' so Sandi came too. I did a combo food storage ('put your rice and beans in old water bottles' / nutrition ('shima - (flour and water) - isn't nutritious but beans are') / budgeting class. The budgeting class was the most interesting.

 I first asked if they knew what their monthly salary was. Nobody did except for Ana Maria, the little widowed mother of 8. Some said "mais ou menos", which kind of says it all. I laughed and said that of course Ana Maria knew because she's the only breadwinner and she said 'Sim!" (Yes!) 
So I asked them to come up with an average number and they said 3000 metacaiz, which is equal to $100. Then I asked them to list their monthly expenses. I got them started with rent and food. Then they added things like coal for their cooking fires. When we finished, I added it all up and subtracted it from the income. Not counting clothes and other non-necessities, we had 60 metacaiz left. That's $2.00. Which is why they can't go to the doctor or buy medicine if they get sick. And why so many die. But bless their hearts. I went ahead and taught them the concept of saving, and asked how much of the 60 metacaiz they could save and they said 30 so I multiplied that by 12 and explained that that's what they would have if they saved for a year. That's $12. You can see why it takes years for them to save for their mission application expenses. The passport alone costs $83, plus they have to pay for their medical and dental tests, and shots, etc. I wish you could see the list on the board.
After we taught, I told them that I wanted a picture to show my husband that I had taught the class in Portuguese. They laughed and posed for it. 

  
Graca had bought cookies at the bakery. I have to explain about the baked goods here. Some bakeries are good but the small local neighborhood bakeries are pretty rustic. Sandi found sand in the bread of a bakery we have bought bread at and the cookies are square blocks that are tasteless and brick-hard. They need sugar (a lot!) and salt. We helped pass out the cookies and then Graca told us to take a couple so we did to be polite. (I always feel bad taking their food because I know they need/want it more.) Then we said goodbye and left.
On our way out, Sandi said her arm was 'crawling' and I asked her if it itched. She said 'No, the ants are crawling on it.' I said, 'what ants?" And she said the ants from the cookies. I looked down and sure enough, there were teeny ants crawling all over the cookies. Sandi said to wait till we had left the parking lot to chuck them and I said somebody would want them (I've learned not to throw hardly anything away) and just then Mariana and Tomazia walked up to show us their bargain clothes that they had just bought on the street for 5 metacaiz (17 cents) apiece - a cute jacket and a skirt. We asked if they wanted the cookies and yup, they did, so we handed them over. Oh my.
When we got home, I noticed that the guard and his friend were all bundled up. It was 76 degrees so I explained about snow and what cold really was and said I wanted to take their picture to show my kids. They thought snow sounded crazy. ;)

Dad and I decided to check and see if Humphreys wanted to go to dinner with us. They had already eaten, but they wanted to go out and visit, so we picked them up and went to dinner. They shot the breeze with us while we ate. It was interesting to hear about Zambia and their other travels and PR projects. He was an officer in the Air Force and they have lived a lot of different places. Boy, are they good sports!! He's very calm and measured, she's energetic, and they both just roll with the changes and setbacks. We liked them lot.

Sunday morning, I was getting ready for church when I heard a woman screaming outside. I looked out of the window and saw a woman running with a baby in her arms, wailing very loudly. I thought maybe her baby had died. People started running from the neighborhood behind our apartment - lots of people - toward the beach. She sat down on the ground crying while they ran past her. Our guard ran across the street too. When we left for church, dad asked what had happened. He said that the woman and her friend had been hauling sand from the beach and were just crossing the street when a drunk driver hit the friend. She was taken to the hospital. Just another day in Africa...
As we were leaving, the night guard asked for a ride home and we said yes. We always pick up the YW president and her husband on our way to church and today, they had a nephew with them that they needed to drop off on the way to church. So...we were a pseudo cab service and had four adults crammed into the backseat. Dad always drives crazy because he doesn't want to be late and today was extra crazy passing cars, semis, bikes, dogs, and chickens - well, you get the picture. I have to shut my eyes because he says it makes it worse when I tell him to 'watch out' and 'slow down'. It's definitely a hazard of the mission...:( I had to laugh when the people in the back said something and put on their seatbelts. If an African puts on a seatbelt, you know they are scared!! Haha!!! I turned around and said, "Are you as nervous as I am?!?" And they started laughing and said "Sim." But they don't want to offend because they are so grateful for the ride. The poor passengers! ;)
The teacher wasn't there in Primary but the president was and for the first time, she stayed the whole time - yay! She didn't do anything... But at least she stayed in there! Two steps forward, one step back. So I did my lesson and taught the second hour on the fly. When we got home in one piece from Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, I collapsed on the couch and started a book. I had made soup the day before because I'm so pooped when we get home on Sundays, so I just kept reading and reading until I finished the whole book at 1:00 am. What a relaxing luxury! It was delightful!! I definitely appreciate 'life's simple pleasures' more than before. Maybe I'll want to move to the country when we get home.......NOT!! Hahaha!!
I sure love you little stinkers!