February 16, 2009

Dear family, I am jealous of you three going to lunch for Stephenie's birthday and laughing...we are just routine here too. Today we are going to Accra for three days, trying to leave by noon...Same ole Primary for me and branch business for dad, as well as trying to proceed with finding property for a new church building here in HO... same ole people, except they are now very dear to us. Haven't heard from Kim lately I e-mailed her for her phone number but still no answer, hope they are okay...we worry... so many sick missionaries, Sis Smith is having a busy time. Last week there was a fire at the mission home in Sis Smith's office and in the mission office it was electrical ....... back to sickness, the one boy has spinal meningitis and after three weeks of touch and go is starting to get better, thanks to prayers, we all hope for his full recovery. Malaria all over the place. Elder Field (one of mine, I say that because he was here in HO with us for months and you get really attached to them), has Malaria bad... He is now over in Oda with Sis Moody to help him...he is the one from Burley... and has to keep going for tests at the hospital... that means they have to travel for hours to take him .... he is still doing his best at the Lords work but has to take rest periods each day...still having severe headaches and backaches...Our avocado tree has finally come full round and the pears (as they are called here) are on the tree... we have to fight ha ha to get any for ourselves...people wait until they see our car gone, one women knows exactly when we are gone, anyway she was over yesterday while we were to church, brought a couple of African boys and wala when we came home they had taken a lot of the pears...how do we know that it was that women? a man was trying to get some and Charles went out and talked with him and he told us that Peace (the woman) came and got the fruit..it is the same thing with the lime tree that we have in back of our house... and the 50 ft hose that Charles uses to wash the car, here at the side of our house is now down to 3o inches.... someone has slowly come while we have been gone and cut it off....a little at a time for two months....I tell ya this is Africa...it is a glorious place to be (for a short time that is) they have a lot of good in them and do the best they can for their circumstances. This weekend was Valentines....the Branch had a Valentine dinner party for the couples...trouble is singles came too and then six missionaries and young people helping with the dinner and then odds and ends wandered in. Sister Reck, Relief Society President had planned for 40 and spent all day fixing chicken. When I say fixing chicken I mean thawing and picking the things off the skin, the chickens were small and several comments were made while they watched the two ladies work on the chickens, that there wasn't much meat on them. They were out back of the branch with a kettle of boiling water on the charcoals, they would pick at the chicken then dip it in the water and then pick some more...Charles and I could hardly think of even eating any of them... Anyway there where lots of chickens.... Well that was the entire dinner... A piece of chicken with a few green peppers and onion slices on the plate...When I say plate there were tables, some with two place settings and some with four. They were set up out on the Branch porch six of them.... Nice cloths were put on them and a lady in the Branch had some glass glasses and they put a napkin in each glass...... any way then when everyone was seated at the tables (couples) they brought in a big plate and put it in the middle of the table for all that were sitting at the table. On the plate was pieces of a chicken, like the wing and a part or a leg and a part of the chicken. I know this doesn't make sense to you all but ... anyway it was meager.... nothing else to eat but that...everyone got a piece of chicken and starting eating, some ate the small bones too. Licked fingers and laughed and thought nothing of it.... This was suppose to be a special dinner for them and it was..... then they had sparkly water and all toasted to a happy Valentine. People just kept coming and everyone just kept bringing them chairs and sharing the chicken.... thank goodness Sis Reck had extra or someone would break a piece off of theirs etc...anyway it was a sight to see. Brother Sidwell and I had fixed a pink paper heart with a chocolate candy bar taped on it and gave to each of them. President Tay told Brother Sidwell that he was going to take his home and show his son what a real valentine was like...Here the people think it is a time to go out and party and fornicate, thinking that is what is meant by showing love... and since the Festival of Fertility is the same day, according to the world book... anyway ..... that was our Valentine day and when we went home at 9:00 the power was off...... every time that the power goes off, my fridge defrosts and we have a puddle of water on the kitchen floor, which is just speckled cement. So we just get the mop and go on...even in the dark with a flash light. ha ha, it is all good...Oh and it had rained and now our ceiling in the bedroom leaks so there was a puddle of water there... these are just minor problems compared to living in Paraguay, right Brenen? Oh for the life of a missionary.... love you all hope you are all doing good.... we are happy and fine.... love mom and dad