Another day at the office

Well another week has blown past and we can hardly believe that already 3 months of our mission are gone.  This was a very busy week and we never quite got on top of it all.  It started on Monday, p day, with a lot of chasing Elders.  They are suppose to proselyte for 2 hours in the morning, then go to town, shop and e-mail, and then, if there is time left to have an activity or something.  There are 5 companionships and getting them all to do the same thing at the same time is worse than herding cats.  They will all agree to shop and e-mail at the same time, but it never quite works out.  Someone will decide they are hungry and want to go to a burger joint or something which means they are late and that messes up the rest of the day.  It affects us because we still have the only vehicle and need to help them get their groceries home as it is hard to do on the crowded mini buses.  We finally got them all sorted out in time for a dinner appointment and FHE at the Collins home, one of our American families.  Their 8 year old was in charge and she wanted to play Settlers of Catan with Elder and Sister Prete.  We had tacos, a lesson and then played a game which Elder Prete won.  We left the Elders at our flat for a movie night and they watched, Home Teachers, Mobsters and Mormons and Saints and Soldiers.  They also ate most of our popcorn.  Oh well!!!!

Tuesday, we had to pick up a new Sister Missionary fresh from the MTC in South Africa and also an Elder in transit who had just finished his mission in Zimbabwe.  Their flights came in at the same time in the midst of a torrential down pour, so the planes had to circle till the storm let up.  There is just a single runway here and limited instrumentation capability. Both were headed for Blantyre, 4 hours south of us but the Elder had a connecting flight whilst the Sister did not.  So we collected her and comforted the Elder as his bags did not follow him.  We left him at the airport to await his connection with the promise to check for his bags.

After getting back to town we got a call that his connecting flight had been canceled and we had to go back and get him and put him up for the night with the Zone Leaders.  The sister stayed with us.  Wednesday morning we took both of them 2 hours south and met the Bullocks coming up from Blantyre to take them the rest of the way.  We got back to Lilongwe just in time for Sister Prete's music classes and to receive our new fridge and stove for the Kauma Chapel along with the first of our soft chairs.  Happiness all around!!!  We had some appointments in the evening so another very late supper.

Thursday, another busy day.  Our bank account was finally open with actual money so we were able to get our new cheques and pay some long overdue bills.  They have been trying to get this account open since before we arrived here.  Nothing is simple in Malawi or Africa for that matter.  We also had a great day visiting members with the ZL's but didn't get home till late.  Another late supper.

Friday was crazy because we spent a lot of the day looking for diesel and taking our temple prep class for vaccinations so we can take them to South Africa.  All of a sudden there seems to be no diesel.  After much chasing around, we got everyone home but had to use up 40 liters of our reserve fuel to make sure we don't run out. 

Saturday is usually my favorite day.  We started early taking a sister to a private clinic to see if we can figure out why she has so many headaches.  After dropping her off, we zipped out to the airport to check on the lost luggage only to learn that it had been forwarded on to Blantyre.  Just what is supposed to happen but you never know. Then back to the clinic to  collect our sister, dropped her off at the village, then across town to visit two sisters.  The first is the non-member wife of new convert.  She was struggling with the teaching of eternal marriage because someone had taught her that there is no marriage given in heaven.  As we explained temples and the plan of salvation, she came to understand and seemed very pleased at our teaching.  Next we met with the mother of a young man who desires baptism, but she had been told we were a Satanic cult and she was not letting her son join.  After meeting with here for an hour, mostly just talking about our families and hers, she seemed satisfied that we were good Christians and not devil worshipers and gave her son her blessing to join the Church.  Both sisters seemed eager to learn more.  It is amazing to us the power of a simple visit. They love to have you come to their homes no matter how humble.  The Sisters seem especially happy to have Sister Prete visit them.  I imagine that for many we are the first whites to visit their home.

After our visits, we returned to Kauma Chapel for our regular Saturday afternoon Priesthood and Relief Society training followed by piano lessons. We had hopes of getting home early, but got a phone call from the Mission Pres. asking us to go meet with a companionship that were having a bit of a meltdown and needed a referee.  That took most of the evening and we didn't get home till after nine.  Another late supper.

We also had new convert involved in a very serious accident.  Whilst crossing the road, he was struck by a bicycle which was loaded with some scrap metal.  Trying to dive backwards, the bike hit his leg causing a large gash and much bleeding but the worst was in falling he struck his head on the pavement and suffered serious head injury.  He has been in a coma ever since in critical condition and on life support.

Sunday was a typical day for any good member of the church.  NOT a day of rest.  Classes to teach, talks to give, and sick to visit.  We had to ask two of the Elders to sit in a diesel que in hopes of getting fuel.  They sat for 4 hours before the semi showed up with fuel and it took another 4 hours to work through the line.  They had dropped us off at church before getting in line and finally returned at 4 pm.  We had to walk home (50 minutes walk at a brisk Canadian pace not the Malawi pace) after church.
Once we had our truck back, we picked up the branch Presidency, the Relief Society Presidency, and some neighbors and headed to the hospital to visit our injured member.  He does not look very good and is only breathing on a respirator.  Time will tell.  We actually got home before 8:00 for the first time this week.

There is much I left out, but this is quite a typical week here.  Busy and anything but boring. Every day is a surprise. In spite of the challenges, we are loving it.  Our dream mission was to be sent somewhere  to nurture a new branch and that is exactly what the Lord gave us.  That said, be careful what you ask for.

Now for the pictures, the first is simply showing a lawn mower being carried on the back of a bike.  They carry everything you can imagine on a bike.  The size of the loads are amazing.  Literally, hundreds of pounds at a time.  Thus the seriousness of the accident we mentioned above. They are also used as taxis.   They will peddle anywhere, but have to walk up steep hills.

My timing was a little off either that or we hit a bump just as the shutter opened. We'll go with that one as it is VERY likely. I was trying to catch the lawn mower on the back of the bike. Yes I did say lawn mower. We see it all the time. Few people have their own lawn mower so they will hire these guys to come and mow. Either that or their gardener mows with a machete.

This sign is at the t intersection near our home.  Notice the spelling.  l's and r's here are completely interchangeable. They don't say either of them like we do. It's a lot like the Chinese say them.

This is for Dean, the local John Deere dealership, mostly small things.

On our trip south to drop off our Sister Missionary, we passed through a village on market day.  This is an ox cart of baskets that had been full of produce to sell in the market and they are now getting ready to head back to the farm.

These folks are already on their way home after finishing their business at the market.

Not a good picture but typical of transport here.  We were passing this load at about 120kph in a rain squal.  Most trucks will take on passengers no matter how full.  It gives them extra income.  They charge depending on how far you are going and what you are carrying.  They have seat belt laws but you can still add passengers to the top of any load.  It is travel at your own risk. When the passengers saw the camera they all waved like crazy.

This is just the street we use between us and the chapel.  We had to walk home as the Elders were trying to get us diesel.  The city is very beautiful.  Lush trees with and immense variety.  Notice the women with baskets on their heads.

 

 

 

 

Here they are as they passed by us. Notice the one in the pink shirt has a child tied on her back. If you drive down Zomba Street at about 7:45 in the morning you will meet at least twenty women with these huge baskets on their heads.

 

This is a shot from the same location as the previous.  Just a picture of the huge cactus that can grow here and a typical wall surrounding the home.  Notice the razor wire which is also electrified.  Almost all the homes inside the city are surrounded by such fences, including ours.

Sister Prete took this shot of the Branch Presidency walking down the hall of the hospital after visiting our injured brother in ICU.  They are learning how to minister and it is sweet to watch.  The President has been in this calling for one year and a member since 2006.  The one on the left has been a member since May 2011 and the second counselor was baptized in October of 2011.  All great men.  You would love them.

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This is the baby that was born almost two weeks ago to the Branch President's wife.  He is just a doll.  They named him Patience.  Notice the spectators out the window.  We had handed out suckers to a couple of little girls and instantly there were dozens of kids crowding around.  Amazing, we don't know how they come so quickly.  Speaking of naming babies.  If you remember the story of a family a few weeks ago that we helped with food etc because the dad had been drinking.  Well they are doing much better and today the mom had her baby, a little girl and she wants Sister Prete to name her.  We will visit them tomorrow.  Well that's the lot for today, stay tuned for more.  We actually get to go on a Safari sometime next month.