Future Building Site

President Jameson asked us to "host" a man from Kinshasa who was coming to look at the Church-owned site for a future building.  His name was Eric.  We asked him if he spoke English and he answered, "No, the world is not perfect".  So, we invited President Bala along to communicate with him and also show us where the site was located.  It is a beautiful site.  It would be wonderful if we could see a building started here.

There is man living here to guard the property.  He is growing a garden.

Once the property was purchased, the Church had a fence built around it.

A Visit to the Hospital

On Saturday, we visited the hospital.  We had an Elder who was walking and hit some uneven ground and rolled his ankle. It was swollen on Wednesday, so he elevated it and iced it. He was walking on it, so we took him to the Primate Park and watched him carefully. He seemed to walk without a limp, but on Friday, it was a little sore (we did walk a lot) He seemed concerned and wanted to make sure it wasn't broken, so we took him to the hospital and had it x-rayed. The x-ray looked good and all is well. The total cost of the visit was 11,700 cfa. (about $23)   Oh, and we bought them ice cream on the way home.  Who doesn't get a treat after a visit to the Hospital?

I was told I couldn't put his name or picture on my blog, because he probably won't tell his family until he goes home.  He did tell me that I could put this picture of his ankle.  So, Mother's, how good are you at recognizing your son's ankle?

Mefou Primate Park - 2

We have a new group of Elders, so once again, we visited the Primate Park.  It takes us 1 1/2 hours to get there.  Elder and Sister Gailey, from Douala, were visiting us and agreed to stay an extra day to help us transport all 10 Elders.  We had a nice visit and ate a picnic lunch, then returned home.  The Mefou Primate Park spans about 800 hectares  so we get a nice walk in.  They even take us through the jungle to see cocoa trees and ebony trees.  We really are in the jungles of Africa.  Enjoy these pictures.

 

E. S. Whitesides, E. Masse, E. Gailey, E. Rambeloson, S. Gailey, E. Hoiland, E. Hatch, E. Schmid, E. Davis, E. Lundberg, E. McGrath, E. Addington, E. Johnston.
We love these Elders!

An Ebony Tree.  I can just feel those piano keys.

Just had to add this picture of the sandwiches for lunch since it seems like fixing food for Elders is a huge part of our mission.  I was glad Sister Gailey was there to help me.  23 tuna and 5 peanut butter for those who don't like mayo!  We aim to please.

General Priesthood Session

We invited our Elders over on Sunday night to watch the Priesthood Session.   We had Root beer floats and cookies.  The night before, we fed them Cajun Chicken Pasta for dinner as we tried to watch the first session of Saturday, but our internet didn't cooperate.  We will watch all the sessions with the Branches on the 20th and 21st.  Here are a few pictures.

Elder Masse' and Elder Hoiland came early and asked to help.  I had Elder Masse' make the Koolaid.  He chose Black Cherry Koolaid - a family favorite!  This picture is especially for his Mom whom he "adores"!

Sacrifice

This is Miriam.  She is the Primary President in Bastos 1 Branch.  She can also speak English, so she is always helping me.  She has told me her conversion story before and I told about it in an earlier blog of October 6, 2012, "District Primary Training".  She is also one of my piano students.  I have been teaching piano 7 months and she has never missed a lesson.  She is so determined to be able to learn how to play.  She is definitely one of my best students.  As we were leaving lessons last Friday, she told me she was walking and she had much to carry.  I asked her how long it would take her to walk home.  "One hour", she answered without even blinking.  So, she walks one hour every Friday for piano lessons.  She comes an hour early so that she can get the keyboard from the District President and practice.  Then we do piano lessons from 3-5 and she stays the entire time.  She then walks the hour home.  Oh, and we can never begin or end piano lessons without a prayer.  She is a great example to me.  

Welcome Elder Johnston

We welcomed our newest Elder last night.  He is Elder Johnston from Oklahoma.  He will be a great asset to our compliment of Elders.

April Fool's Day

Our 10 Elders came early this morning  for haircuts.  We had cereal and muffins waiting for them, but since it was April Fools Day, we also had some brownies waiting for them.  They were so excited, until they saw the brown "E"s.  April Fools!

We did haircut pictures once before, but some of our Elders have changed.  Here are the current Elders.   Even the 2 Elders from Madagascar wanted one.  I'm not sure they will come back ;)

 I ended up cutting 10 heads of hair - that's including Elder Whitesides.

It's P-Day!