HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Yes we are still here and alive!  It has been crazy busy and I really haven't had a minute to catch up on our blog, or when I do we don't have internet access.  So this will be a feeble attempt to let you know what we have been up to this last month.  There really are no words (in my vocabulary anyway) to begin to describe all we have seen, felt, heard or experienced  Each day at least once we find ourselves saying, "I never thought I would ever see....."

...like a young boy carrying a coffin on his bicycle!

Christmas morning was a rather quiet part of the day - we went to church (which was ruined by the fact that I had to speak!) and then came home to put the final touches on Christmas dinner.  We had 6 missionaries, a friend (Tabou - from a previous blog) and Rachel, our investigator over for dinner and then let the missionaries skype their families.  That was great fun.  It helped us wait till late that night when we got to call our own Elder Hartman#1!  He looked great and it was so fun to talk to him.  He is doing wonderful and loves being a missionary in Alaska.

Two days after Christmas we boarded a plane and flew to the beautiful island of Mauritius.  We met with the missionaries there and participated in zone conference with President and Sister Donnelly.  The Hotel was gorgeous and looked like a giant set for a photo shoot.  Maybe it has been a long time since we enjoyed such luxury but I cherished every moment.  It was so relaxing to come back each night (after a hard day's work first of course) and enjoy the sunset on the beach.  We were so blessed to spend New Year's Eve 2011 in this paradise on earth - a place a year ago I didn't even know existed! 

A week after re returned to reality we off again to the land of Mozambique.  What a stark contrast!  Our first hotel in Beira (pronounced Bay-dah) had dim lights and a slow fan.  The mosquito netting had tiny rips and tears.  In the bathroom the rim of a yellowed tub with peeling, mildewed caulking stared us in teh face - daring us to take a bath!  We were soon to learn however that this was one of the nicer hotels we would stay at!


Mozambique was a thriving, beautiful country at one time.  It was controlled by the Portuguese up until about 1975. After a war with Portugal and a civil war following that this once beautiful country now looks like the war ravaged country that exists today.  Where a once gorgeous luxury resort welcomed the rich and famous now stands the home to approximately 3000 homeless "squatters."  Barefoot children run freely throughout the skeleton building - elevator shafts open and grand staircases with no railing.

As we walked through the "home" of these people a group of little children started following us.  At first shy to have their picture taken, warmed up when I flipped the viewfinder on my camera to let them look at their photos.  They would smile, shy but intrigued.  "See how pretty your smile is," I would say.  They would giggle and cover their mouths and push ahead of each other.  As they each peeked at themselves in the viewfinder they would squeal with delight.

They had their own little movie theater - a dark hut lit only by sunlight coming through the doorway.  The movie goers teetered on wooden benches and watched excitedly at the video shown on an old TV.  Just like everywhere else in the world today inflation was here also.  The movie prices had just been raised to 8 cents!

Now Playing...

The next day we started zone conferences.  We met 80 missionaries in the next few days.  These are truly amazing people.  To live in this horrendous heat (about 125 degrees and 110% humidity) in these conditions these missionaries deserve 3 gold stars on their foreheads!  And the senior couples - they are even more amazing!  They deserve a "Get in Heaven Free Card!" President and Sister Spendlove should be first in line! 
At the break in zone conference you can see they still have fun...and sing a little song to keep their spirits up!

The bouncing and bumping and pothole bouncing felt like the worst air turbulence I had ever been in.  But this turbulence never ended!  We drove for 2 days about 9 hours a day on the worst roads you can imagine.  The potholes were not just little holes in the road - they were caverns that you had to slowly go deep into and then come up the other side.  

The missionaries "mode of transportation" was even worse - they loaded into the back of a small truck along with about 28 other people for a 3-4 hour ride!  This picture shows one of the trucks stuck in the mud.  No one would get out of the truck to help push for fear of losing their "spot."

The missionaries here used to drive cars but have a several car pedestrian accidents (a couple even fatal) it was decided it was too dangerous for them to drive.  There are no street lights and when the people wear dark clothes they are very difficult to see.  If there is an accident "mob justice" takes over.  I guess they probably are safer in the trucks??


On our drive the first day we come first come across a man laying in the street - we thought he was dead.  We stopped - luckily he was just hungry and had passed out.  We gave him water, a roll and an apple we had in the car.  

A little further down the road we came upon another man on the side of the road bleeding. No one was paying much attention to him - we stopped, he was groaning and crying for his mother.  On closer inspection he had a head wound that was bleeding profusely.  We poured some of our bottled water on his head. (Did I mention that you can't drink the water here?) One of the missionaries stopped the first car that came by and it was an ambulance - well that's what it was supposed to be - out in the middle of nowhere!  We all agreed that was a "tender mercy."  Some of the by standers then helped to literally throw him into the back on the bare metal floor - no bed - not even a mat on the floor!  Hopefully they got him to a hospital.  Although as you can imagine the health care here is far from adequate - but what can you expect when it is only 3 cents for a check up!  Just a little note here:  if you pass the 10th grade (not common at all to go to school that long) you can teach school - up to the 12th grade!  I'm not sure how long it takes to become a doctor!

Quilemoney and Maputu was more of the same - the people live in little round huts and are happy.  Many of them have been abused, robbed, seen family members killed before their eyes, raped and chased from their homes.  But when these wonderful people see a child who has no one, (most have lost one or both parents to AIDS or war) they take that child in.

 Carrying a "roof" for his hut on his bike.

As you can see they carry everything on their bikes (even coffins!) 

...so this is a bike repair shop on the side of the road.

 This is a bathroom of a more modest family.  Most just use the street!

This home is built on the largest (as far as we know) termite hill!  

They are huge and all over the fields.

When we arrive at the airport Saturday evening I look down at my feet and realize I'm still caked in road dust from Mozambique.  I'm exhausted from the mental combat we've been engaged in all day, all week, since we got here.  I wouldn't even know where to begin here - trying to solve problems here is like tossing teaspoons of water on a raging fire.  

When we arrive home to our "castle" (that is what our little flat now looks like) we feel so blessed again.  I really need to push a re-set button on my life and start remembering what is truly important in life and what is just stuff.  

We spend the night doing laundry (grateful to have a washer and dryer) and packng - we leave for Cape Town in the morning!