9-15Sep2013 Spring,MaputoScenes,Tualufo,Couve

Did we mention it’s spring here in Mozambique?  So, you’ll be seeing a few flowering trees and other plants on the blog here and there. 

This Baby’s Breath plant was growing right next to the road.

If anyone knows the name of this flower, please let me know.  Update: With Emily's help, we think this is the Crinum Lily or White Spider Lily; one variety is called the Queen Emma Lily!

These are interesting thorns we saw on branches by the side of the road.  This might be from the Acacia Thorn Tree.

They look like the thorns which could have been used for the crown of thorns Jesus’ tormentors made.

I couldn’t let the season go without trying to grow some seeds.  I scooped up some of the rich red soil at the Mission Office and put it in a put I found in the things the last Humanitarian couple left and within a week the zinnia seeds sprouted!!!

The verbena plant is super happy as you can see!

At lunch time one day this week we took a walk up to Avenida Julius Nyere to take a picture of a building we’ve driven past many times on the way to the Mission Office.  I don’t know if Caleb, our son-in-law, has seen anything like this before – plants growing on the side of the building.  It is a very unique place to have plants growing.  I’m wondering if some of the plants will eventually bloom and it will have colors to add to the variety of greens.  We’ll keep you posted!

The building has two towers – this is the other tower – a beautiful tile picture with designs and birds.

Continuing scenes around Maputo, here is a very full open-bed truck we saw in the morning as we were leaving our apartment.

Here are workmen building a wall and preparing the driveway for cement .

President and Sister Kretly attended this week’s Staff Meeting via “GoToMeeting” software.  They have been up visiting the branches and groups in the north of the country. They will be updating their blog to tell about their trip.  

This week we continued working on the kits for new convert families.  I made a sample bag (all hand-sewn) and we took pictures of it at different stages for the directions.

  

We need to also prepare an email to send to the Branch Presidents explaining the project.  We’re also starting a new project: training for Branch Presidents in their role in the Missionary Application process for Mozambican young people who want to serve missions.  This will take time for us to understand the process and then to explain it for the training.  For each of these project, our emails and letters must be in Portuguese. We write them in English and do our best to translate it.  Then Tualufo, Mission Office employee, makes sure it says what we want it to. 

We usually get home after the sun sets, but on Thursday evening we got home before 5 p.m. and were  able to watch a beautiful sunset from our 5^th floor apartment. 

For Friday's lunch we had a special planned potluck lunch at Mission Office in honor of Elder Cyrier who will be leaving for home 23 September.  Elder Cyrier and Elder Tanner made a “couve and rice” dish.  Couve is like swiss chard.  They sauteed onions, garlic, tomatoes and then they put in chicken broth (flavored with a special spice called Bene) and steam cooked the finely cut up couve.  It was served over rice and it was really quite delicious!  I made a fruit salad to go with the lunch.  For dessert we had orange cake (which I made) and brownies (which Elder Miller made).   

Elder Tanner and Elder Cyrier: 

Elder Tidwell, Elder Tanner, Elder Kitchen, Elder Cyrier:

Elder Miller (in front) and Elder Hall:

For our walk this week, we went to the Cementerio Nacional (National Cemetery).  On the way to the Mission Office, we pass it and, seeing the gates open, we planned to walk there.  It took us about a half hour to get there and find out the gate was locked with a chain.  We hope to go back and get better pictures inside the gate.  It’s pretty run down inside, so we don’t know if we’ll be able to even read any of the inscriptions on the monuments.

This is José Figueiredo, who is waiting anxiously for his mission call.  

In between meetings, I met Laura and her family.  She and her husband, Gimo Fernando, are getting married a week from Friday, and then baptized the following Saturday.  Baby Antonia is 3 months old and Angelina will be 4 in January.  Isn’t she the cutest baby you’ve ever seen!!!  I even got her to smile and laugh!

Solomon & Tammy & Mark Smith Family:

The Dan and Adrienne Garcia Family and their children Josh, Ruth, Sarah, and David.

2-8Sep2013 ElderKitchen,ThatchRoof,Kits,Smiths

Last Monday we spent the morning with one of the missionaries, Elder Kitchen, in the hospital.  He had an infected wound on his foot.  His companion needed to go grocery shopping, so he needed someone to stay with him, as it is a mission rule, as you know, that a missionary must always be with either another elder missionary or some other priesthood holder for elders or member sister for sisters.  He has been spending time with us in the evenings, so his companion can join the AP's and go teaching investigators.  The district they are in entails a lot of walking and he needs to wait until the wound has healed over so he won’t re-injure it when he puts shoes on.  Many foot problems are caused by poor-fitted shoes.  So, you up-and-coming-missionaries, be sure you have shoes that are very comfortable and that are sturdy to walk 5+ miles a day.  Wear them for a while before you depart and make sure they really are as comfortable as they feel in the store!

Here’s a snapshot taken at this week’s English Class.

This week I completed reading the Book of Mormon in Portuguese and have begun to read it again.  I had the opportunity to give the spiritual thought in Staff Meeting on Tuesday.  I decided to say a sentence at a time, first in Portuguese and then in English.  It went very well.  I am still hoping that my listening and responding skills increase, as they are very deficient compared to my speaking and reading skills.

They’re fixing the thatched roof of the Mission Office.  The procedure has been very interesting to watch.  For more information on thatching, see the Wikipedia article:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thatching

The potatoes we get here are more like new potatoes than russet potatoes.  They still can be baked, but they really make great mashed potatoes – lots better than the dehydrated ones.  Fixing them reminded me of when my Dad would make creamy mashed potatoes.  He’d boil the potato wedges until they were tender when pricked with a fork.  He’d drain the water into the pan with meat drippings to make gravy; then, he would use the hand mixer and whip the cooked potatoes, adding a little butter, salt and pepper.  There was a very critical time when he would ask someone to pour just the right amount of milk into the pan as he mixed the potatoes to a nice stiff, but still creamy consistency.  Yum!

This week Zoe and I finished documenting the Etienne LUSSIER and Victoire RENAUD family of 14 children, 9 of which had not been identified before our research.  On Friday afternoon, I walked Zoe through the process of requesting the ordinances, and before the end of Arizona’s Friday she emailed me that she and Silke and Landon and three of Silke’s friends went to the Arizona Temple and they completed the baptisms and confirmations!

On Saturday we were on our way to the Maputo chapel for a baptism.  The Office Secretaries pulled up and asked where we were going.  They told us the baptism had been moved to Matola, because the Maputo building didn’t have any water.  So, we hopped in their car and off we went.  It couldn’t have been timed better and we were thankful for this obvious tender mercy so we could attend.  There were 6 young people baptized and the elders said they were paving the way for their parents to follow in the next week or so. 

Elder and Sister Hobson were in Beira for most of the week lining up Humanitarian Projects.  They had a very successful trip!  They delivered this congratulations note to us from Brian & Kim Snelson, CES Missionaries in Beira.

 Dad and I are coordinating the purchase of the first six “new member family” kits for the branches.  We are working with Vanessa in the Distribution Center, which is located on the 4^th floor of the Maputo Chapel. 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

The kits will contain a Bible, Triple Combination, Gospel Principles, Hymn book, an issue of the Liahon magazine, and the Family Proclamation.            

In the late afternoon we went with Solomon Smith for a car tour of Maputo and then made our way to their home which is about 20 minutes from the Mission Office.  Solomon Smith and his wife Tammy and little son Mark (who will be 1 year old in 2 weeks) had invited us for dinner and Solomon offered to spend some time beforehand with us to get to see the city a little more.  He works for a security company contracted by the American Embassy.  We neglected to get a picture of their family, but will try to remember and get one and add it to this blog.  On the way to their home we stopped next to the bay and watched the kite surfers.  It was a beautiful day, and, when we traveled home, there was a perfect rock-a-bye-baby moon in the dark sky.

When I saw this lizard outside the Mission Office I had to get a picture of it for Kaedric Bybee, one of our grandsons, whose lizard recently died.  This lizard was pretty well hidden behind some cement blocks, and it was pretty tricky getting his picture.

At church today, there were 3 confirmations – the other 3 who were baptized yesterday were confirmed in Matola.  Another English-speaking family attended the Matola 1 branch today – the Garcia Family.  He just got a job with the government here.  They don’t know any Portuguese, but the husband knows Spanish.  It was great to be able to have someone else who talks English!

·         When we promise to do things for the Lord, we need to follow through.  When we meet the Lord and make an accounting of our stewardship, we won’t be asked what callings we’ve had, but we will be asked to how we have served and blessed the lives of others.

·         We need to make the Holy Ghost our best friend.  Follow His promptings and he will help us overcome the natural man/woman.

·         Everything we do requires faith.  Faith in Jesus Christ enables us to return to God’s presence; there is no other name under heaven that can save us.  Use your talents; serve with Faith; Faith without works is dead.

·         We are the true Church of Jesus Christ. Knowing the truth we have a responsibility to share.  Jesus told us what the Church was to be called (3 Nephi 27:1-10).  Not only the Church has Jesus’ name, but we each must take His name upon us.

26 Aug - 1 Sep 2013 Pie,PDayWalk,Elder Cyrier,TestimonyMtg

Monday of this week marked our 1^st month from when we left the United States.  I made an apple pie for FHE dessert – we invited the Hobsons over for FHE.  I had to use margarine instead of shortening for the pie crust, so the crust was more elastic and firm rather than flakey, but it was still very delicious as it was made with Granny Smith apples!

Monday is “P” day and our goal was to get close enough to the water to see the waves breaking on the edge of the sea wall.  We were gone about 4 hours and walked about 3 miles.  (I originally wanted to find the sand and beach to walk along, but Dad said we would have had to have walked probably another 3 miles or so).  We saw some very interesting things on our walk.  When we went by one of the schools, it was recess, we supposed, and the children were by the fence buying little wrapped candy treats from street vendors through the fence.  We turned down “Avenida Guerra Popular” and threaded our way through street vendors selling everything from apples and pineapples to shoes and electric converters.

We walked quite a ways and then were surprised to see this huge statue by the city’s old train station, “Estação dos caminhos de Ferro de Moçambique (1908-1910).” 

 

The statue is in memory of those of died in WW I. This woman warrior armed with a shield and a gládio (also known as “glaive” an ancient European weapon composed of a blade on a shaft) defended her people by killing the serpent.  Words around the statue were:  Evala; Mecala; Forca (force) Quiomba; Genio (genius)  The statue is part of the “praca” (park) of the “trabalhadores” (workers). 

The next historical place we found was the Mozambique Fort restored in 1955 from the 1800’s.  This was on the sign:  “Fortaleza (1955) Nossa senhora de Conceicão Reconstruida no espaço da Velha Fortaleza.” 

They didn’t have a tour, but there were lots of historical maps, anchors, cannons and other things to look at.  Here are some of the iron reliefs which depicted battles in Gaza, which was an earlier name for part of Mozambique.

Representação da Prisão de Naungunhar Imperador de Gaza; Sculptor, Leopol de Almeida:

Naungunhar (1850-1906) was the tribal king and vassal of the Portuguese empire who rebelled and was defeated by Joaquim Mouzinho de Albuquerque and lived the rest of his life in exile.  He was the last ruler of Gaza.

Representação das Campanhas Miitares de Ocupação do Território; Sculptor, Leopoldo de Almeida:

Joaquim Mousinho de Albuquerque Comandante de Cavalria (with Richard); Sculptor, Semôes de Almeiea:

Representação de Militares das Campanhas de Ocupação:

This wooden casket, made by Paulo Como, holds the urn with the remains of Ngungunyane (1845-1906) King of Gaza from 1884-1895.   He was a hero of the resistance of Portuguese colonization.  He was exiled and died in Africa.

These hedges are Bougainvillea.  We have seen them in red, orange, purple and white.  The blue flowers are Plumbago.

We finally made it to the water. 

This is a ferry that goes to Catembe Island.

Part of the plan for our walk was to go to the Kentucky Fried Chicken down near the water on “Avenida 25 de Setembro.”  Well, we found the place and were going in, but were told that it was closed because they didn’t have any power!  That was at noon – so we walked home and had leftover goulash at 1 p.m.!  On the way home we saw this interesting panel on one of the roadsides:

Sunrise in Maputo:

We are busy with our assignments at the Mission Office; we have also been entering many convert baptism records on the church’s system.  I love the weekly Staff Meeting.  Even if the President is not in town, he still “attends” via “GoToMeeting” software.  There is much to coordinate every week.

On Tuesday evening we went to the English class which the sister missionaries are teaching at the Maputo church building.  Many young people and some adults were there and it was interesting to observe that they had the same feelings of feelings of reticence about trying to say English words as I have in trying to pronounce Portuguese words.  In the practice time, Richard and I spoke with João, 17 years old.  I would ask him things in Portuguese and he would answer in English.  It was fun helping each other. 

In the evenings I have been working with Zoe on the Etienne LUSSIER & Victoire RENAUD family.  She is researching on FamilySearch and I am researching on Ancestry.com.  This family started out with 5 known children.  We are now up to 12!  It’s fun to work together to gather information on this 3^rd great grand aunt & uncle.

It is springtime here and I like to gather blossoms which have fallen from the trees and bushes and then press them.  We went to a store named “Game” later in the week and they had a little nursery outside with lots of indoor and outdoor flowers and bushes.  It is the only place I have seen plants for sale.  I picked out this pink verbena plant and these deep purple and yellow mini petunias to put in one of our balcony windows.  I sure miss my garden!!! 

INSECT UPDATE:  ants, 2 yellow bumble bees flying in tandem, 1 black bumble bee, a cabbage butterfly, and dragon flies both large and small.

Sunday was the first fast and testimony meeting that we attended in the Maputo branches.  Elder Cyrier, one of the AP’s, was among the many testimonies borne today; it was his last testimony meeting as he is leaving to go home in about 3 weeks.  He loves this country, especially the people.  He has taught many families the gospel, and he is like a son to many parents in this and other branches. We have been riding with him and his companion Elder Tanner to the Mission Office and we have heard Elder Cyrier say many times, “Every day I fall in love with this country!” as he looks at a magnificent sunset or waves breaking on the seashore. 

In Primary today, I only understood a little of what was said, but I am learning the children’s songs in Portuguese and I love singing them with the children.  One of the parts of their meeting I did understand was their testimonies.  Most of them speak slower and the words they are using are familiar to me.  We attended both branches again today.  In the first sacrament meeting I felt the spirit and wanted to bear my testimony, but multiple people came up at a time and the meeting ended before I made my way to join them.  I was determined to go up during the next meeting.  I noticed that when people wanted to go up to the microphone they went and sat on the first row of the congregation, so when one sister went up I made my move and then I was committed!  My heart was pounding so much!  “Boa tarde!  Eu não entendo todas as palavras em Portuguese, mas eu sento o Espirito Santo.  Eu tenho o testemunho A Igreja de Jesus Cristo dos Santos dos Ultimos Dias.  Sei que o Livro de Mormon é a palavra de Deus.  Sei que o plano do salvation é muita especialmente.  Eu sei que Jesus Cristo é meu Salvador.  Sei que as familias ser eterna.  Eu assisto Primaria.  Eu amo as criancas.  Eu tenho netas e netos em Estados Unidos.  Eu amo minha netas e netos.  Eu sou grata esta aqui em Mozambique.  Eu quero de entender mais Portuguese. Este é minha testemunho em nome de Jesus Cristo.  Amem.”  I did it!  I have a strong testimony.  No language barrier is going to stop me from sharing it!