Visit with Elder Cook

Last Sunday, I mentioned about Elder Carl B. Cook's visit to Beira. On Monday, prior to leaving Elder Cook called us and invited us to meet with he and his wife for 30 minutes.

It was very interesting how Elder Cook used the scriptures to teach us and bring the Spirit into the discussion. It is always very strengthening when we can associate with the General Authorities. The Church is clearly led by Prophets, Seers and Revelators.

Today, we visited a small branch called Munhava. They meet in a rented building that is very inadequate but somehow they make do. There were perhaps 80 people in Sacrament meeting. The members are very warm and friendly. Every week we are able to understand more and more.

Now that we have finally moved and unpacked. We are able to schedule our time better, and create Holy Habits and Righteous Routines !!

Sure love you!

Our First Transfer Week

Last week was crazy so we were hoping that this week would be calmer and it was - mostly.........
On Monday AM, we got a call from Elder Cook asking us to come to the hotel a half hour earlier to meet with he and his wife before we took them to the airport.  Dad was excited! It was a cool experience. They are very humble, down-to-earth and coincidentally, we have a lot in common with them - like we were married 2 weeks apart, both have 5 kids, and both men worked in real estate development. Funny, huh? Anyway, we studied the scriptures and visited with them for a half hour and even though we were sitting in a hotel lobby, the spirit was very strong and Elder Cook and I were both very emotional. It was an interesting, but good experience. Then we took them to the airport. I made chicken pasta for dinner that night, but just before we ate, the guard brought a man to our door selling shrimp.  We bought 4 kilos, or 8 pounds!! We got worn out after we'd done half, so we froze 1/2 and prepared the rest.  Then transfers started that night with a trip to the airport to pick up an elder.
On Tuesday, we went back to the airport and picked up more elders, dropped a couple of them off to their apts., picked one up and took him to the chapa station, and then went back for 2 more elders and a refrigerator, and took them (and the fridge) to their apt in a new city that's being reopened. It was a LONG day but really fun to meet all the new elders. Boy, we've got some good ones!! They are smart, diligent, and hard-working. We've been really impressed by the caliber of the missionaries. Here's a few of them:

On Wednesday, we did more moving and unpacking and that night we went with 2 elders to visit a couple that they are teaching. They asked us to come with them to help them teach about marriage and the importance of the family.  It's hard to describe the house and area.  Dad said it was like the favelas (ghettos) in Brazil on his mission and they weren't allowed to teach in those areas.  So, we drove to this neighborhood and got out of the car and started walking down a dirt road. Then we turned off of the road and were essentially walking on a small, single-file muddy path between shanty houses and trees.  It was strewn with decaying garbage, leaves, and food and was extra gross because of the rain. It's pitch black and we can't see where we're going and the elder says, "Watch your step here because there's a lot of poop on this path." I stepped in a mud/garbage puddle and decided to use my phone to light the way.  We finally got to the house, which was essentially a concrete room with a single, 40 watt bulb dangling from the ceiling and we studied and talked with the couple and their 2 month old baby.  I finally asked to hold the baby because he kept crying and the wife couldn't pay attention. I had brought a few pictures of our family and of dad and I in front of the temple and I talked about how much I loved my husband and family and wanted to be with them eternally.  Dad read from the Proclamation on the Family and shared some scriptures and talked about how we need to be responsible for our own actions and not allow our spouse's actions to cause us to react negatively.  The were really cute and when dad asked if they understood, the husband smiled and said, "Yes, yes, I understand."
Friday was more moving and unpacking and then I followed dad in the car to take 1 of the cars in to the mechanic. I'm not afraid of many things but there are 2 things that I'm afraid of here and that's roaches (and I'm not actually afraid of them but they gross me out big time!) and driving in this city.  The whole driving on the right side of the road/right side of the car/ people and bicycles within inches of your car, because they totally aren't afraid of cars, scares the daylights out of me. Oh and there are no lines on the road so people drive all over the road to avoid potholes.  I said a prayer and told dad to drive really slow so I wouldn't lose him and gripped the steering wheel the entire way.  I'm still here and the car's in one piece. :).
 Saturday we walked on the beach and saw 4 girls taking pictures. I went over and offered to take pictures of the whole group and they were so excited. Usually, the people are shy when we talk to them, but not these girls! They practiced their English and when I told them that they looked so pretty, all dressed up, they told me I looked pretty too and we took a picture together.  ;) Not your typical Mozambique "tween". They were funny!!  

We went out to dinner that night and when we asked what the soup was the waiter said, "Abobora."  Dad didn't know what that was so we played 20 Questions (is it fish? no. is it a vegetable? no. is it meat? no.) until the waiter said, "Um momento." Then he came back with.........a pumpkin.  Never would've guessed that one! So we had pumpkin soup and stuffed crab.
Today, we went to a tiny branch that the president asked us to visit and check on.  They were in this old building, right on one of the narrow dirt roads in the middle of the neighborhood, next to a bar. The elders quorum met outside on a patio and the Primary met in a separate building that was stifling hot. But the branch was awesome! They had the Primary organized with singing time and sharing time.  They laughed when I stood up with the kids for "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes." I told them I was small and a child too, which made them laugh more. Dad said the Elders quorum teacher did a great job! This is the branch that the 4 couples were from that were married last week so it was fun to see them. Here's the 7 month member branch president. He's in his late 20's. Their toddler's name is Rosie.
  

 The boy isn't theirs.  I didn't quite understand, but he's a relative of some kind.  We have noticed that people often have relatives raise their kids.  We don't know all the reasons, but for example, If they can't afford them or move away, they have their child live with a relative.  Anyway, for such a new convert, this branch president is on the ball.
Here's a picture of the YW in our regular branch. We were at the church when they were having an activity - decorating the bulletin board with cloth hearts that they were cutting out - and their leader, Mariana - our little seminary teacher, came and asked me to come and take pictures of them.  

Mariana's so tall and dad cut her off.....oops!:)
 It's past my bedtime, so I'm zipping this up.
I sure love you!
 

District Conference and More!

  So Monday we took Chanelle to the airport and said our goodbyes.  Sorry to see her go - it was a short 4 days. Then we went grocery shopping, which is always an adventure because you have to go to 2-3 stores to get different things and there's no guarantee that any of them will have what you need.  We've gotten a little creative in what we eat and the crockpot and rice cooker have become kitchen essentials.

  On Tuesday, It was an African dish that I had the maid teach me how to make.  She comes on Tuesdays for 4 hours and I don't have enough for her to do because it is a small apt so I've decided to have her teach and cook a meal with me. First we walked abut 20 minutes to the vegetable stand and bought the veggies. 

Then we came home and bleached them and prepared them and then we shredded the coconut.  She brought her coconut shredder (every african kitchen has one) with her and I did it and it was hard!  I only lasted about 10 minutes and got barely anything so she took over. I thought we were putting the coconut with the cabbage, but nope! she poured water over the coconut and I squeezed it and squeezed it to make coconut milk.  She had me do it 3 times and my hands got a workout!

Then we put everything in a big pot and cooked it all for awhile and voila! Couve!, which means cabbage but it's not like our cabbage.

   That afternoon, we picked up the director of S and I for all of southeast Africa and the guy, Jaime, that oversees us, and they came to our apt and trained us and then I fed them dinner.  We ate it over rice and it was really good!  While we were eating, a man came to the door with a sack of shrimp for sale.  Dad had seen him on the street the week before when he was selling fish and told him if he ever had shrimp, that we would buy it, so he remembered and asked the guard where we lived and the guard brought him to our door. We negotiated a price and ended up buying the whole 3 kilos from him, which dad just told me is 7 pounds.  So after we took the men back to the hotel, we fixed the shrimp. It was ALOT of shrimp to dead-head, shell, clean, and prepare for cooking and took us awhile to do!  

  Wednesday morning,  we met at the church to do S and I training with the branch presidents. I led the music and Dad and  I spoke (and I cried of course) to them before the directors did.  The men are so humble and good. And so young!! One branch president was 27 years old!! But they're faithful. They're a more stoic people and I joked with one of them that its so embarrassing when I cry because the African people don't and they just stare at me, expressionless, when I do.  I acted it out for him and he laughed and laughed when I said that!

Yes, I was the only woman..... After that meeting, we came back to the apt and I fixed shrimp, potatoes, and corn.  I asked Jaime if he liked shrimp and he said no, so I fixed him couve from the day before. But then he tried a couple and said he liked it and had seconds and both men asked for the recipe for their wives. So the Yankee cooking was a hit....haha! Later, at 4:00, we did training for the S and I teachers and we spoke then too.  

    On Thursday, we went shopping again and prepared for the Kretlys to come. On Friday AM, the Kretlys came and we had to get ready for the district conference on Saturday and Sunday. Saturday was a leadership meeting and the chapel was full. On Sunday, the Kretlys did a fireside for the youth at 8 am and I wondered if we would get good attendance that early, but the church was packed all the way to the stage!  Dad and I wondered where they were going to put the adults when they came at 10:00 am.  At 10:00, the place filled up!! There were over 1,063 people there. They had to sit on the stage, in the aisles, and they had an overflow room.  The church hired 5 buses to bring the people from farther away.  It was amazing!  63 elders were sustained and when they all stood up, Dad and I cried.

The mission has made a video "It's a Miracle", about the weddings, and subsequent baptisms, that have taken place in the last 9 months. It's based on the talk Neil Anderson gave in general conference.  President Kretly showed it in the Sunday session of district conference and it was very touching.  The people loved it and were very moved by it and the spirit was very strong in the meeting. 

 It's about 15 min. Here's the link:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zwh5EhQHa0Y

We love you, think about you, and pray for you.

Eventful Week!

 This was an eventful week.

 On Monday, the missionary that was having foot trouble got worse so dad

 took him back to the clinic (4th trip!), while I stayed and waited for the cable guy because we had been

 trying to get cable for 2 weeks and they were coming to hook us up. We decided that he was worse and 

recommended that he be sent to Maputo to see a Dr there. So we brought him back to our place,

 fed him pancakes, and put him on a plane.  He ended up having surgery the next AM. 

 On Tuesday, we had the 4 ZL's in our area over for training with Pres K via Internet and 

I made breakfast for them.  On Wednesday, Chanelle came in!! Her trip was crazy! We didn't

 realize it when we planned on her coming that it was such an ordeal for her.  She had to take

 a bus, a matutu (those packed van taxis), and  a boda (scooter), to get to a hostel, where she slept over, 

and then take a shuttle to the airport.  We were waiting at the entrance to customs and I panicked 

 some because we could not see her.  A nice passenger that spoke English asked if we were looking for our 

daughter and said that she was being held up because her paperwork wasn't right. So I asked/told

 the customs guy that we needed to come in because our daughter was in there and he let us in. 

 (Sidebar: eg. African thinking - when I tried to come in the grocery store that I'd just exited 10 min before,

 they wouldn't let me because they were closing. I told them my husband was inside and pointed him

 out to them. No, I could not go in, but a secure area like customs, they were ok. Oh Africa....). 

It turns out that she needed an address to put on the customs form and she didn't know it.  Anyway,

 a broken printer, 20 minute wait and we were clear!  

 Thursday AM we went to Gorongoza Park for a safari and stayed overnight. It's a small park and doesn't really have many animals. We hadn't made reservations and the safaris were full but dad had made friends with the guy that took us to our room and he asked dad if he wanted him to get someone to do it. So he got Simba, who is a guide there and spoke English. We did see an elephant, which the morning safari didn't see so it worked out good.

Saturday, we got up and went for a walk on the beach and looked for shrimp. The catches weren't good that day and none of the fishermen had any, but we saw Armando, who was our first seller and he had some. Then we came home and went to a wedding at the church. The missionaries had asked me to play the piano so I played hymns - God Speed the Right was the wedding march. ;) I told dad they would not know the difference, but the members might have recognized a few songs.... Chanelle made friends with the 2 little daughters of the couple getting married and held them during some of the wedding.

 Afterward, dad dropped Chanelle and I at the market in town, while he got a haircut, and it was the dirtiest, craziest market that I've ever been in.

  We were the only white people there and got a lot of stares and calls. It's the only time I've been called to since we got here. Probably not a place I'd wanna go to alone but it was interesting. We got some used pants from India for 50c a pair.

  Then Sunday, Chanelle and I went to Primary instead of Sunday school and it turned out that no leaders were there - not the presidency, a teacher, nobody. The elders were trying to figure something out so I told them that I'd do sharing time and singing time but I'd probably need a translator. So an elder from Portugal translated while I told the story of David and Goliath and The Good Samaritan. Then we did singing time and I tried to teach them Popcorn Popping in English. That was a flop! So I taught them Smiles in Portuguese. 

 

 That was tricky....trying to learn the Portuguese words myself while I taught them w/o any music. That was moderately successful but then I decided to do "Do as I'm Doing" in English and they loved that. I asked the elder to take a picture and he ended up recording about 10 minutes. Chanelle and I were cracking up when we watched it at home! The classic line is when I turn to the elder, after singing Popcorn Popping, and say, "I think they know this song!" when not one child has made a peep. I guess it was positive thinking or maybe stress-induced delusion. Ha!
 

After church we made a yummy lunch of sautéed shrimp, crockpot potatoes, green beans, and salad, all purchased from the vegetable market. Later on, Chanelle dyed my hair. I had to text Crystal for instructions, which surprised the heck out of her.  Chanelle did a really great job, which made me even more afraid for when dad and I have to do it ourselves..... 

 

 

 This AM, we took Chanelle to the airport and she headed back to Uganda via the long route. Dad gave her a blessing so I could not be so, so worried for her. And that's our week!!  Love you!!!!

Shrimp week!

This was a hard week, but ended up good. 

 On Monday, we went for a power walk on the beach

 and saw some fishermen pulling in their nets and stopped

 to watch and take pics. 

  Then the guy, Armando, asked if we

 wanted to buy some fish so we asked if he had shrimp and

 he said maybe. We waited and when the nets came in they

 did catch some so we asked how much and dad thought he 

said 40 metacaiz and all the fishermen laughed and he said,

 "nao, nao, nao.  400 metacaiz and wrote it in the sand. 

 So we calculated and it worked out to be 75c per shrimp and 

these are LARGE shrimp. 

  I had just had some at a restaurant

 and they were $20 for 5 shrimp so we said ok and sprinted

 home for money. 

We tried to cook them like the restaurants do, which is to split the back and grill tummy side down with the shell on. It was kinda tricky and took awhile to prepare but they were so good! Look how HUGE they were!

On Tuesday, we worked all day to move out the old Sr couple apt. There are 2 apts that we have to empty and dispose of the unwanted furniture because they got 2 newer apts , of which we are in one - or will be when the furniture gets here. It's been hard work with all the moving, hauling to storage, cleaning,etc. Dad and I will both be super glad when it's all done in a couple weeks. Then we went back to the old apt to have the Internet. 

On Wednesday we did big moving with another Sr couple (the Banks) that drove 3 hours to come and help us and another family that's here came. The wife is from Alpine and he's from Brazil (the Buenos). He works here for Care for Life, a humanitarian organization started by a past mission president's wife (and is Pres Kretlys counselor). Well, that was a long day that got longer - we got a call about a sick elder and had to drive 30 minutes to pick him up in another city and drive back to our city and take him to the clinic, and then back to his house and back home. We got to bed at 1 am.

Then Thursday the water shut off at noon and didn't get fixed. We went to the old apt where the Banks were staying and worked some more and then I made quesadillas for us and they came to our place and she taught me how to download pics from my phone. Then we left to the Buenos in another city for dinner. It was really good! - an African dish, made with cabbage. The wife made bananas flambé, which was so easy and delicious! I'm gonna add it to my recipes.

We got home and the water was still off- used makeup wipes for the first time in my life....The water ended up not getting fixed until the next day (Friday). It was awful! I had a ton of laundry from the move ( I'm up to 10 loads now). We had to go buy 2 cases of water to drink. I talked to the site manager (who's named Nelson and doesn't speak a word of English)and he turned it on for 5 minutes and I ran around and filled up any big container - a garbage can, bucket, plastic bins, so we could flush the toilet. It reminded me of the hurricanes in Mississippi. Then they got it working at 8 pm and I started my laundry but the washer didn't work - still doesn't....

 So yesterday we went for a quick walk in the neighborhood and saw 2 fisherman and asked if they had shrimp. They did and told us it was 260 mtz a kilo and to follow them to a house to weigh it ( at least that's what dad thought they said). So we followed these guys for 50 minutes and finally dad asked how much longer and they said 20 minutes so we said we'd just buy them w/o weighing them and they pulled out a scale and weighed them. (????) and we offered them less to buy the whole batch of 3 kilos. We have no idea where they were taking us...... We still didn't have water so I just boiled the whole batch and made shrimp salads from the veggies we bought from the vegetable stand lady ( that I had to bleach).

Then we went to a double wedding with 2 couples at the church. Here, the people just live with each other because they can't afford the wedding so then they can't get baptized. So some Elders and local leaders got together and came up with the idea of combining the marriages and having the church pay for a simple celebration. That was cool to see and the couples were so cute! It seemed like they were happy to have us there and while we took pictures of them, their guests took pictures of us.

The church has sent wedding dresses from DI and a couple of missionary moms have sent some for them to use so they usually wear wedding dresses donated from the US.

THEN, we got a call that the elder was getting worse so I googled online, decided on a antibiotic, and dad called the clinic to see if we could get the prescription w/o bringing him in, to save time. They said perhaps, so we went in and dad showed the nurse pics of his foot and I showed him the article on my iPhone and he gave us the meds and we went to 2 pharmacies but they were closed so we went to the other city, got the elder and his companion so they could show us where a pharmacy was that was open. Late night again. Then church at 8:30 today. It went better this week. We're starting to know the people, and they asked me to say the prayer in RS and when I thanked Heavenly Father for our families I started to cry, which was awful but oh well. They also asked me to play the piano in SS meeting but I told them that I'm terrible plus it'd be hard because I don't even know what the song is until we start singing because I can't read, so the chorister (a YW) said, "Ono, dos, tres" and we all sang acapella. Then after church, the 2 couples were baptized!
So, it was a LONG week with ups and downs but I'll sleep good tonight!


Sure love all you!

 

1 month Anniversary!

We hit our 1 month anniversary last week. Can you believe that we've already been here a month??! I now understand what that sister meant when she said that the "days are long but the months are fast." On one hand, the month has flown, but on the other hand, it seems longer because we've done so much. We've only had a bit of a break this weekend. So I'll go back to the week before last and catch y'all up. Sit back and get comfy - there's lots to tell.....

Our visas took longer so we didn't get to Beira until midnight, July 3. The Kretlys (president and wife) came with us and we ran all over getting rental leases, bank acct, etc. They left on the 5th and two days later we spoke at a training meeting for S and I (seminary and institute) teachers (where I blubbered terribly and it turns out that they don't cry here....awkward) and then they had 7 branches of seminary and institute kids come for an activity. They had a devotional - which we spoke at and that was a surprise - , then an activity outside, a scripture trivia game that got the kids very competitive and excited, and then a meal of cheese and VERY pink (Red dye #3) bologna sandwiches and pop. We were there from 9 am until 8 pm, then we gave 5 of the teachers a ride home.  Here's the funny part: They planned the activity after their training meeting and got the food after that (with us driving them 20 minutes into town) and when I asked about leaving the kids, they said "it's not a problem because the kids can watch a video." (The Other Side of Heaven). Dad and I just laughed.  We couldn't imagine our stake YM/YW leaders not having plans for an activity with 130 kids! Here, planning ahead isn't something they do - they just roll with it.  The kids had a blast though and lingered at the church until we left at 8 pm.

The next morning, we got up at 4am (Ugh!!!) and drove with the country director 3 hours over partial dirt roads (I got carsick, even with sea bands, and had to lay down in  the backseat for the ride) to go to a small branch and visit their Seminary and Institute kids. It was a tiny branch (70 people) and the group of seminary kids was really small.
Dad and I and the director spoke to them. Then they had refreshments- right off the tree!

 (The 5th guy from the left is the country director and he's awesome! 31 with 2 kids. The man sitting down is the first counselor in the branch presidency. The girl on the left was wearing a shirt that says "I love the Jonas Brothers" and when I explained who they were, she laughed.)

 
 We left Monday morning for the 3 hour drive back and that's when I took this picture of the 4 beggar boys outside the hotel.  The kids were so funny there! I didn't see any kids but when I took a picture of their mother, the kids came out and they were fascinated by the camera. Another mom brought her kids over, and they loved it when I showed them their pictures.

  The street kids break my heart. I told dad if they were in the US, the first kid would be a successful businessman because he had some savvy, and the third kid would be a child model because he's so handsome.  But they're in Mozambique, not the US......

     

Look how bloated the little girl's stomach is from malnutrition.  Her brother was really cute with her and tried to get her to put her shirt down. The older girl is chewing on sugarcane. 

   On Monday, we went and got the electricity hooked up and moved everything over to the president's new apt. After the electricity went out 3 times, we went back to the old apt to spend the night. :(   The rest of the week we've spent shopping for groceries and supplies, moving things out of the old apt, and cleaning, cleaning, cleaning!! After cleaning non-stop for 6 hours on Friday, I laid on the couch and didn't move. That was date night with our first home cooked meal and first movie!!

We also explored and went to the beach and had a delicious meal of prawns.

And today we went to the home branch in Beira (8 am- we don't know why they start church so early!) and when the teacher asked me a question - she said it 3 times before I realized that she was talking to me - I answered (in Portuguese) that I was sorry but I only spoke a little Portuguese and I didn't understand what she was saying.  She talked a lot more after that, so I think maybe she'd been a little intimidated by me but when she realized that I couldn't understand a word she was saying, she relaxed and ignored me. It was a sterling moment.  But after RS, a lady came up and said that she spoke English because she was from Zimbabwe and we could be friends.  I said "Sure!", cuz I could definitely use an English-speaking friend.  And then after church, she asked if we wanted to come to her house for lunch.  We've been told to NEVER eat at the members houses but I didn't know how to say no, so we said yes..... I gave her my number and told her that I'd bring something.  We came home and I pulled out a cake mix that I'd bought and then saw that all the directions were in Portuguese and metrics so I had to type it all in google translate and it took for forever!  Just as I was going to put it in the oven, she called and said to meet her at the church and she'd direct us.  I told her I was just going to put the cake in the oven and should I bring it to her house to bake? She said "No, no I don't have room."  and I realized that she probably didn't have an oven...... So we put the batter in the fridge, grabbed a carton of juice to share, so we wouldn't have to worry about the water, and went off.  She walked down the street, got in the car and we drove just a block and got out to a row of teeny cement houses hooked together, surrounded by garbage and debris.  Their "door" was a strip of blue material.  The kitchen/all-purpose room was about 8x8 feet we barely had room to sit at the small round table. She had a hot plate on the ground and we wondered what in the world we were going to eat! It was rice (safe!), fish (not so safe), and shrimp samosas and salad ( really, really not safe!) Oh well, what do you do?  She had a pitcher of warm water from the stove that she pored over our hands into a bowl for us to wash before dinner and served everybody while a small TV played just behind the table.  Dad was kind of lost, so I cut the heads off our fish and deboned them. We still had to use our hands to get the smaller bones out but it was ok because everybody else was too.  She told her husband to get a roll of toilet paper for us to wipe our hands on and they didn't open our juice but had 2 water bottles just for us.  Dad and I split one.  There were only 3 plates for the 5 of us so the kids and wife ate out of bowls. It actually tasted pretty good - it was just tricky to eat. It was very humbling. We found out that they were just baptized 4 months ago! They showed us their wedding pictures and played a video of it for us. We took pictures of them and she gave me a wedding picture of them but I told her that I didn't want to take her nice picture and I could take more pictures with my phone so we did and they loved it.  Dad just grinned and shook his head at me when we got in the car and said something about never doing that again- but what an  experience!! I did have us take a pepto bismal to coat out stomachs when we got home.  We'll let you know if we end up at the local clinic...... So, now you're caught up with our latest escapades.  

We sure love you!

New Apartment

As of Tuesday, July 9th, we have unpacked our 6 suitcases and slept at a new apartment !!

Our next and final move, will be across the hall when our own apartment is completed. The building we are in has 8 apartments + 1 main floor retail space. The building is very secure, brand new and has been built with very good quality materials.

So far we are the only ones living in the building. Everything is new and clean, which is very unusual in Mozambique.

We have been asked to not give any money to the poor beggars but we can give them food. Mom will buy extra bread or oranges to give to them when we are approached.

Isabel, has been the District Relief Society President for the past 5 years. She works as a maid and works for 4 hours for $5 !! Yes, $1.25/hour. The cost of food, gasoline and rent is more expensive here than at home, but the cost of labor is extremely cheap.

Today, we attended the Beira 2nd branch. This is perhaps the strongest branch in the Beira District. There were perhaps 200 people present with a lot of children. Their block of meetings begin at 8 AM ! 

Mom met a woman there from Zimbabwe who speaks English. This woman invited us to dinner and we went to this small block building in which the front door was only a curtain! At dinner we learned that their family joined the Church in March of this year. The family has 2 children living with them, so with us there were 5 people, but only 3 plates. The two children used bowls. We had rice, fish, salad, somossa, banana and bottled water. We left feeling very humble and appreciative of our beautiful apartment. 

I was reminded of this poem:

Today, upon a bus, I saw a girl with golden hair. I envied her, she seemed so gay, and wished I was as fair. When suddenly she rose to leave, I saw her hobbled down the aisle. She had one leg and wore a crutch. And as she passed... a smile. Oh God, forgive me when I whine. I have 2 legs, the world is mine I stopped to buy some candy. The lad who sold it had such charm. I talked with him, he seemed so glad. If I were late, it'd do no harm. And as I left, he said to me, "I thank you, you've been so kind. It's nice to talk with folks like you. You see," he said, "I'm blind." Oh God, forgive me when I whine. I have 2 eyes, the world is mine. Later while walking down the street, I saw a child with eyes of blue. He stood and watched the others play. He did not know what to do. I stopped a moment and then I said, "Why don't you join the others, dear?" He looked ahead without a word. And then I knew, he couldn't hear. Oh God, forgive me when I whine. I have 2 ears, the world is mine. With feet to take me where I'd go. With eyes to see the sunset's glow. With ears to hear what I'd know. Oh God, forgive me when I whine. I've been blessed indeed, the world is mine........ ~ Red Foley

We are trying to plan for Chanelle to come visit us from Uganda. Even though Mozambique and Uganda are both on the East part of Africa there are no direct fights between these countries. Don't worry though, if Mom wants something done, she will find a way to make it happen !!

Love ya lots!