I'm home Now

Now that i am home and I have not even bothered to put anything on my blog, it has forgotten me and I can't seem to get here except through the link on someone my kids' blog sites. so this is the test to see if it is still really there and I can really put something on it! If so there will be more to come.

Beira Pictures November 25, 2007

Care For Life, Manga and downtown Beira

Beira Trip, November 2007

Wow! We really had a fun time in Beira. The chapel was gorgeous, the weather was lovely and we loved the slower-paced city with much less traffic. The famous coke bottles were something of an oddity.

We had some great dinning experiences--great food and good company, and yes we did do some work too. I taught two members several piano lessons and was able to help them learn to play and read with their left hand. It wasn't as hard as they thought. We set up the district's little distribution/family history center and got the computer set up for the FH.

We spent some time touring Mbatwe, one of Care For Life's community projects that has been very successful and then visited a local wood carver who lives in manga and arranged for some purchases the next day. Walking down the middle of the village to Vasco's house and taking pictures of all the cute kids on the way was really fun. We were able to see all six branches in Beira district. Inhumizua was lovely but it was too dark to get a picture. It is all outdoors, even the chapel. The fence is going up around the property in Manga which will have a new chapel just like the Beira chapel by next year. It's exciting!!

Mozambique Piano Recital

back row: Elder Dow, Kabe, Lourena, e Celso. front row: Sister Allred, Alice, Bina, Mércia, Suny, Lizi, Joaquina, Herménio, e Francisco.














Suny, Sister Allred, Joaquina, Lizi, Lourena, Francisco, e Kabe
Sister Allred, Lourena, Joaquina, e Alice

October 20, 2007 Recital Day

What I really love about my mission is teaching members to play the piano! I have always loved teaching music and this is such a joy to see and hear them learn to play the hymns and to then play for their sacrament meetings and the baptisms. On Saturday the 20th, Elder Dow, who also teaches some members in the Magoanine branch, and I held a recital for our students so that they could play for each other. Some are just beginning and others are playing the simplified hymns with two hands, but all are working hard and practicing to learn the skills needed to succeed. Some were unable to attend because of work, school or other obligations but we had a great time and all those who participated earned a certificate of acheivement and participation. Hope you enjoy the pictures!

Maputo English class

September 24, 2007

Tomorrow is a huge holiday in mozambique! It's like their Independence Day. All of the stores were very crowded as people stocked up on food for their celebrations. There wasn't much left at Shoprite. Sister Wick and I had the delightful task of taking the Elders to their homes in T3 and Magoanine. It took us 3 hours to accomplish this because of the horrific traffic and because the Elders were about 45 minutes late. It's the last time for that! Anyway, the huge rain clouds that looked so threatening have not materialized and we merely got a few sprinkles.

I am posting a picture that we just got from Elder Bowler, who is the Elder in it and who helps teach the English class. This is a picture of Sister Wick's surprise birthday party. These are all of our friends from the Maputo English class. Under Elder Bowler's arms is my student Emanual who loves to play the piano. Behind me is Lara who is in the primary presidency.

Sister Wick is holding a picture that was drawn by Sarita, Lara's daughter who is kneeling and next to Lara. Nilsa, who came here 13 years ago from Brazil, is on my right. The picture is a very cool pastel of a Mozambican map and has many fun African designs drawn into the map. Elder Bowler and I loved it so much that two weeks later she brought one that she had made for each of us. We have a lot of fun in the class and love these people alot.

Namaacha Pictures

Here are a few more pictures of our illustrious missionaries. Pres. Packard is the photograher. Elder McBride is on the tower, looking like the Assistant to the Pres. that he is and
Elder and Sister Reghin are an adorable couple who are converting all of Matola City, and Sister Davis and Sister Wick are enjoying their lunch.

Freedom from the Smog!!! Aug. 21, 2007

Hi,

It has been a whole month since I last wrote. I can't believe how fast the time is going by. Last Monday was a very fun P-day. We went to the border of Mozambique and Swaziland to a place called Namaacha where there are supposed to be beautiful waterfalls. In fact I often buy water that is bottled from Namaacha and it is very delicious. This is the dry season, however, and it is unusually dry right now, so I was not surprised to find just a trickle for the water fall! We called it an "airfall!" Still, it was lovely and was a very fun place to explore and have a little picnic. Breathing clean air was wonderful and the weather was beautiful. We really had a great time getting out of the city for a few hours. Here we are, a happy bunch of great missionaries!