October 31, 2016
Hi everybody! I am very excited to report that we now have internet!! Yaaaay. But believe me it wasn’t easy to get it. It took 4 trips to internet provider and one month, but they finally came last Saturday to hook us up and it wasn’t too soon. We have so much going on here and it’s been frustrating to not be able to do research, training, etc. on the internet, so life just got a little easier for us.
And we are also very excited to report that we have had our first gardening class with each of the branches and the people are very excited to get their gardens started. We had a total of 30 people come to the classes where Dad taught them some basics to gardening first and then we took them out to the garden that we have going and that really got them interested. As I told you before, the church has property behind the chapel that in years past has been used as a soccer field but has just become an eyesore with trash and weeds over the entire lot and is now available to be “subdivided” to the families who want to grow fruits and veggies. So a man at one of the classes decided that very night to get his garden started and began working the ground to get it ready!
At the same time the gardening classes were announced in each branch we invited them to come to any or all of the classes offered by the Self Reliance program, which are How to Start a Business, How to find Employment, and How to further your Education, plus gardening and English classes, which are classes President Avila asked us to do also. The response was amazing! We had 30 people sign up for gardening, about 20 for English, and 24 for the business class. Plus one of the branch presidents and our mission president asked if I would teach cooking classes also. Cheech! It’s as though they are living in a vacuum here and are just anxious to soak in knowledge. Actually, we think that they are anxious to learn how to get themselves out of the ruts they’re in because of the poverty, which is a really good sign In addition to these classes, the same branch president asked us if we would teach the youth this Friday night at their Youth Conference something…anything! Actually he asked if Dad would teach the boys something they would learn in Boy Scouts, if they had that program, so he’s going to teach them how to make and use a sling, which he has taught to other boys many times, and knot tying. He wanted me to teach the girls something about cooking. You have to remember that these two branches had a total of about 100 people in attendance last Sunday, so we are very happy with how many want to learn. So, boys and girls, we have our work cut out for us, at least for the next 3 months, because the classes are designed to last 12 weeks each. It’s awesome…we’re lovin’ it. I had always hoped that we could serve a mission somewhere in this world where we could have a meaningful impact on someone’s life…I think we have found that place.
Our two elders who live above us stopped by our apartment the other night to just check in after being gone for a couple of days doing splits in another town. One of the elders had an interesting story to tell. While he and his comp were teaching an investigator in his home the man asked a question and while Elder Arias was pondering the question he looked up toward the ceiling and there above them on exposed rafters was a snake! Apparently everyone in the house freaked out and the man got out his machete and made mincemeat out of that snake. Oh my gosh! I have to admit that I’m constantly on edge wondering what critter is going to make its presence known in our house. I open cupboards and doors cautiously. Every morning I sweep up about 5 or 6 great big black crickets that walk across some of my bug spray that I spray every night! Yes, I’m paranoid.
Anyway, we love these elders. They are so cute. One is from Peru and the other from Costa Rica and they are trying to learn English, so I speak my basic Spanish to them and they speak their basic English to me and we’re all learning. Our elders are the Zone Leaders so we get to have elders from outlying towns come here occasionally for training meetings and we love being around them all. Such awesome young men. Dad usually sends them home with a bottle of soda or bag of chips and they love it. Speaking of our missionaries, they are all just as poor as the rest of the people in this country, well, the Latinos are. Anyway, they wash their clothes at our house every week and one week I got their clothes out of the dryer and was kind of folding them and noticed that their clothes are in TERRIBLE condition. The collars are mostly worn out, their pants are threadbare, rips here and there, noticeable stains that don’t wash out, and they have no money to replace them. Dad and I have looked in every store we pass and in the Mercado for white shirts to buy them, but we haven’t been able to find any. And then we started noticing the other elders’ clothes and theirs are just as bad. It’s sad and makes us feel bad for them. We were wondering if any of you would consider contributing funds that could be used by our mission president to purchase some white shirts for the elders. We know that money is always tight, and if this is not possible for any of you, we know you would if you could. Just a thought…
So my last story is kind of funny. One day last week Dad was in the shower and he yells at me to bring him the bucket of water from the patio where he had put it under the AC unit to capture the water that drips constantly from condensation from the AC, which he wanted to use it to test something in the garden soil because it’s pure and distilled water. Apparently the water in the shower decided to just stop while he was covered with soap and all he could think of to do was use the water in the bucket to rinse himself! I was quietly saying a thank you prayer that it didn’t happen to me! Lo and behold all of the water in the whole house was off and we found out a little while later that our holding tank on the roof was indeed empty. We had no idea that there was a tank on the roof. So we had to get the manager over here yet again to pump water from the building’s cistern into our tank. But he also told us that the entire town was experiencing a water shortage and it would be that way until next spring when the rainy season begins again. So, we now have 3 buckets to capture the AC condensation (which Dad assures me is pure and distilled water) to use so we don’t run out of water again. Since we only have hot water going directly to the shower I always have to boil water to wash dishes anyway, so now I use the AC water for that, and to mop our floors, and to flush the toilet (occasionally), and for washing clothes (Holli, does this remind you of someone else…I really dislike the thought of that!). Hey it works! And you know what…we are really glad that we have this water to use because we’re thinking that we probably do use more water than most people here because we bathe daily and wash clothes more often, which most of them do not do. What’s could be next????
We are busy, we are happy, and we have been blessed greatly. We love what we’re doing here. As I was studying the Book of Mormon the other day I came across this quote from Elder Maxwell, “Are we willing to let the Lord lead us into further developmental experiences? Or do we shrink back? The things that enlarge the soul inevitably involve stretching.” We are being stretched, but we are happy to have this experience because to do hard things we have to rely on the Lord’s help, and that enlarges the soul.
We pray for you and your families and hope that you all are happy too.
Love,
Mom and Dad
Non and Pop
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