A Little Lost
4 days ago
Sunday, February 28, 2010
MARTINS COVE 2/28/10
Good Sabbath to our dear family and friends,
We are so lucky to have such dear friends who keep us informed and up to date and especially for your uplifting support as we try to serve the Lord on these high plains of Wyoming.
Thanks again to cousin Laura Hauck for that impressive article in the Meridian Magazine. Isn't it great to have relatives in "high places." Although this was a flattering article we know our service does not come close to comparing other missionary service in the family. For example; Laura and her husband's service. I recall the time when they were serving a mission in Africa and were held at gunpoint by rebels. And again, we can't hold a candle to cousins Marv and Sue Leavitt who are serving their second mission to Africa. Some of their experiences have been right out of a comedy/horror novel. I don't think Sister Leavitt would survive the primitive nature of these missions. But, we bloom where we are planted, even if it requires living a millennial existence and regularly eating ourselves silly.
This has been a week of ditch digging for me. When I was a young man my dad used to warn me, that if I didn't take a more serious interest in school, that I would end up digging ditches for a living. Well, daddy knew best because that is exactly what I ended up doing for a living. Now that I am retired and serving a mission I'm still digging. This week I have been cleaning the irrigation ditch which brings water from the creek to a 12" pipe which feeds our sprinkler system and also waters the meadow located down by Devil's Gate. Since last summer I have wanted to make improvements along this ditch, but it was not possible due to the fact that during the warm weather the meadow through which it runs is like a swamp and the equipment would get stuck. During the winter the ground is frozen so there is not the problem of getting stuck, but there is a problem digging in the frozen ground. Oh well! At least when I'm finished the water will flow freely down the ditch for a number of years and during this process I'll be building up a roadway along the ditch which will allow easy access out to the diversion dam year round.
The next project on my schedule is to remove two large trees next to the pavilion out at Missionary Village. This is being done in preparation for an expansion of the pavilion. It is planned to enlarge the pavilion by about a third and add some restrooms. Those of you who were here last year know that we were pretty cramped in the pavilion at times. We are also scheduled to expand the Humanitarian Center by about 30' and add some more restrooms at that location. These restrooms will not only accommodate the Humanitarian Center but will also serve the Chapel. A much needed improvement!
Today both Sister Leavitt and I had the opportunity to teach lessons. She taught in Relief Society, and I taught Priesthood. We both used the same subject of God's Love and Law. The main point of the lessons is that our Father in Heaven loves us without equal, but His love does not supersede His laws and commandments. One of His eternal laws is that we all have our agency in this life to do as we please. But, if we willingly and knowingly break His laws we must sooner or later suffer the consequences of our actions.
God's choicest blessings are clearly contingent upon obedience to God's laws and commandments and are clearly laid out in (D&C 130:20-21) which states "There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated. And when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated."
God does bless all mankind with universal blessings such as mortal life and all the opportunities and necessities to live it. (Anyone denied this opportunity because of someone else's actions will be compensated by the Lord.) Through the resurrection of our Savior we are all given the opportunity to live in the hereafter, but those choicest blessings of Exaltation (continued increase, progression and family relationships ) are reserved for those who choose to keep His Commandments.
We love you all and pray for your welfare,
Elder Leavitt
Hi Everyone -- seems like last week we were excited about the snow and this week the sun has come out. It was probably in the 40's today - it really felt warm. The snow is melting and it was a gorgeous day.
For Family Home Evening this week. we all shared how we have grown and have been changed by this Missionary experience. As well as we all know each other, we learned something new about one another. I think what impressed me the most was that we universally felt insecure and inadequate in some way when we initially arrived -- overwhelmed at what we had to learn and by the assignments that we were given. However, we all got out of our comfort zones and learned new skills, worked hard, and in turn, have been blessed immensely.
We continue to work hard in the office to be prepared for the new missionaries who will be here soon. We are using reams of paper as we make copies for new script books, manuals, and trek information. I've learned a couple of new skills in the office -- how to make spiral notebooks and how to make a chart or graph on the computer. I know for most of you, this is elementary, but for me, it was a big step -- yea for me !! :) I also had the joy of talking to a couple of friends from home who have been assigned to work on the Henderson Stake trek in 2011 -- I visited with Donlee Simkins and Brenda Larson who are already busy making arrangements for a trek that will be over a year from now. We also learned that our former Bishop, Earl Leavitt will be a Trek Leader for the same trek. We were thrilled to learn that and know he will do an outstanding job.
I enjoyed another hour plus conversation with my sister, Kathy this week -- again, we talked until the battery on the phone went dead. We were planning what we'll be doing next summer. We're excited that Kathy will be coming to Martin's Cove -- we also will visit Pinedale along with my other sister, Elsie so lots of fun things in the works.
We've enjoyed watching the Winter Olympics this past week -- I know our Canadian friends are excited about the result of the hockey game.:)
You will not hear from us this next weekend -- we are going to Denver to see my sister, Helen, and brother, John and to also attend the Denver Temple. We're looking forward to the excursion and will return with stories to tell you.
My thanks, too, to Laura Hauck for the article in the Meridian Magazine. I don't think I've met Laura (maybe at a family reunion years ago), but I'm looking forward to meeting her and hearing about her Missionary experiences. We have had so many positive responses from the article so more and more people are learning about this amazing and spiritual site where we work.
A shout out to our friend, Bonnie Wilson, who will be celebrating her birthday on Wednesday. We love you and have a great one !
Our love and prayers to you all,
Sister Leavitt aka Peggy
P.S. I have attached a picture that I took along the road to Casper on our day off -- as Elder Leavitt said last week, snow can be beautiful.
Monday, February 22, 2010
MARTINS COVE 2/21/10
Happy Winter to everyone,
Well , finally we got our blizzard, and I'm not talking about the kind you get at Dairy Queen. This week we were blessed with more than a foot or so of snow. It was mostly a fine dry snow but it kept coming most of the week. With the wind blowing all week it made for some pretty significant drifts. I was keeping most of it off the roads with the Motor Grader, that was until I ran the blade into one of the tires and ruined it. Because of a defect in the blade rotor motor control, (which turns the blade around to get different angles so you can push the snow to the side) the blade did not stop when I released the control lever and I didn't notice the blade was still turning until it was too late. Consequently the blade put a 10 inch gash in one of the tires and the only fix is to buy a new tire. I must hold the record for the most flat tires in Martin's Cove history. Maybe it's because I drive the equipment more than anyone else, or maybe it's because I'm a little over-confident as an operator! Whatever the reason I'm not proud of the record.
This week I also had to take the backhoe over to the Willie Center (65 miles) during the blizzard to repair a broken waterline -- they had been without water for about 24 hours. Luckily it was an easy fix and I was back home by lunch. Yesterday I was on the backhoe all day trying to keep the roads open, and even with this effort we still had about 6 inches on the road when we got up this morning. Not being from snow country I am amazed at how beautiful the snow is when it covers everything. When the sun comes out and shines on it, it looks like trillions of sparkling diamonds. The amount of sparkles that you see may be even more impressive in numbers than our national debt, but I doubt it. Maybe you can tell that at night I usually watch the national news, that was until it became so depressing that Sister Leavitt and I have chosen to watch re-runs of NCIS. (Naval Criminal Investigation Service) It's pretty bad when watching a crime flick can be more uplifting than observing our national state of affairs.
Fortunately the Lord is still in charge and He will have the final say in what takes place in this country and on this earth. Hopefully we will all be on the right side of history when He sends His angels to separate the wheat from the tares, and then burn the tares. (Matthew 13: 24-30) This parable is even more understandable in modern revelation (Doctrine & Covenants 86:1-7) Well what do you think, is the field is getting pretty ripe?
We want you all to know that we love you and miss you, especially our dear children and most beautiful grandchildren. (yes we are prejudice) We feel so blessed to have them in our lives. We miss, but want to congratulate our very good friends and golfing buddies, Al and Jo on their new golf course mansion in Oregon, we're looking forward to visiting you up there next fall. (Al -- I need lot's of golf strokes) We are looking forward to the return of those dear friends,who as missionaries, will be coming back to the Mormon Handcart Historical Sites this spring, and we will also miss those good friends who are not returning. We are anxious to meet the new missionaries who will serve here this next year, some of which are our dear friends from home. We also want to thank all of our brothers, sisters, relatives and their families for all your love and support. All of you make life worthwhile and help to make serving here an honor. Everyone we know has, in some way, helped to give our lives purpose!
Love Elder Leavitt
Hi Everyone -- Hooray for snow -- I never thought I would be saying that. However, we haven't had much snow this winter and so we've enjoyed the last few days. I told Elder Leavitt that I don't know if the amount of snow we've received would constitute a "blizzard" as the roads weren't closed that I know of, but it's his story and he's sticking to it :)
Spent most of my week in the office and we're still booking treks -- what amazes me is that we still have folks who are wanting to book treks for 2010. That's a little late in the game, if you ask me. There is so much planning to do, but hopefully by attending our Trek Seminar they'll get the necessary information to get everything organized by the summer. We also have been very busy preparing for the returning missionaries and the new missionaries.
One morning I was assigned to the Visitor's Center and I had 14 members of one family visit. They had been in Casper for dog sled races. This family raised Siberian Huskies -- in Kansas! -- and wanted to check out some of the historical sites before heading home. We had a wonderful visit and eventho they were not of our faith, they appreciated all they learned about the handcart pioneers.
I'm attaching a photo of all the Sister serving here at Martin's Cove as Polar Bears. One night when we were working in the Humanitarian Center, I realized the fabric in the quilt was of Polar Bears, so I insisted we all get together the following day to have our picture taken with the polar bear quilt -- so here it is. You also might notice that Sister Stastny and I have on the same vest -- as I've told you before, that's not an uncommon occurrence here as we all shop at the same store :)
We had a lovely Sabbath today -- we had a High Councilman from Casper bring his son and his fiancée -- both of whom are returned Missionaries. The young man served in Toronto and the young woman served in Budapest, Hungary. How inspiring were there remarks !
Also, Elder & Sister Hardy's daughter and her children were visiting and the Hardy's daughter played a beautiful piano solo -- it literally brought tears to my eyes. The Hardy's also have a granddaughter named "Izzy", who from her profile reminded us of our granddaughter, so Elder Leavitt and I got so homesick for our little Izzy and all our other grandkids. We can't wait to see them again.
That sums up another week here at Martin's Cove. The time is flying by and before you know it we'll be swamped with trekkers. In the meantime we're enjoying the beautiful snow (see attached picture of the fort) and the blessings of being here.
Our love and prayers to all of you,
Sister Leavitt AKA Peggy
Well , finally we got our blizzard, and I'm not talking about the kind you get at Dairy Queen. This week we were blessed with more than a foot or so of snow. It was mostly a fine dry snow but it kept coming most of the week. With the wind blowing all week it made for some pretty significant drifts. I was keeping most of it off the roads with the Motor Grader, that was until I ran the blade into one of the tires and ruined it. Because of a defect in the blade rotor motor control, (which turns the blade around to get different angles so you can push the snow to the side) the blade did not stop when I released the control lever and I didn't notice the blade was still turning until it was too late. Consequently the blade put a 10 inch gash in one of the tires and the only fix is to buy a new tire. I must hold the record for the most flat tires in Martin's Cove history. Maybe it's because I drive the equipment more than anyone else, or maybe it's because I'm a little over-confident as an operator! Whatever the reason I'm not proud of the record.
This week I also had to take the backhoe over to the Willie Center (65 miles) during the blizzard to repair a broken waterline -- they had been without water for about 24 hours. Luckily it was an easy fix and I was back home by lunch. Yesterday I was on the backhoe all day trying to keep the roads open, and even with this effort we still had about 6 inches on the road when we got up this morning. Not being from snow country I am amazed at how beautiful the snow is when it covers everything. When the sun comes out and shines on it, it looks like trillions of sparkling diamonds. The amount of sparkles that you see may be even more impressive in numbers than our national debt, but I doubt it. Maybe you can tell that at night I usually watch the national news, that was until it became so depressing that Sister Leavitt and I have chosen to watch re-runs of NCIS. (Naval Criminal Investigation Service) It's pretty bad when watching a crime flick can be more uplifting than observing our national state of affairs.
Fortunately the Lord is still in charge and He will have the final say in what takes place in this country and on this earth. Hopefully we will all be on the right side of history when He sends His angels to separate the wheat from the tares, and then burn the tares. (Matthew 13: 24-30) This parable is even more understandable in modern revelation (Doctrine & Covenants 86:1-7) Well what do you think, is the field is getting pretty ripe?
We want you all to know that we love you and miss you, especially our dear children and most beautiful grandchildren. (yes we are prejudice) We feel so blessed to have them in our lives. We miss, but want to congratulate our very good friends and golfing buddies, Al and Jo on their new golf course mansion in Oregon, we're looking forward to visiting you up there next fall. (Al -- I need lot's of golf strokes) We are looking forward to the return of those dear friends,who as missionaries, will be coming back to the Mormon Handcart Historical Sites this spring, and we will also miss those good friends who are not returning. We are anxious to meet the new missionaries who will serve here this next year, some of which are our dear friends from home. We also want to thank all of our brothers, sisters, relatives and their families for all your love and support. All of you make life worthwhile and help to make serving here an honor. Everyone we know has, in some way, helped to give our lives purpose!
Love Elder Leavitt
Hi Everyone -- Hooray for snow -- I never thought I would be saying that. However, we haven't had much snow this winter and so we've enjoyed the last few days. I told Elder Leavitt that I don't know if the amount of snow we've received would constitute a "blizzard" as the roads weren't closed that I know of, but it's his story and he's sticking to it :)
Spent most of my week in the office and we're still booking treks -- what amazes me is that we still have folks who are wanting to book treks for 2010. That's a little late in the game, if you ask me. There is so much planning to do, but hopefully by attending our Trek Seminar they'll get the necessary information to get everything organized by the summer. We also have been very busy preparing for the returning missionaries and the new missionaries.
One morning I was assigned to the Visitor's Center and I had 14 members of one family visit. They had been in Casper for dog sled races. This family raised Siberian Huskies -- in Kansas! -- and wanted to check out some of the historical sites before heading home. We had a wonderful visit and eventho they were not of our faith, they appreciated all they learned about the handcart pioneers.
I'm attaching a photo of all the Sister serving here at Martin's Cove as Polar Bears. One night when we were working in the Humanitarian Center, I realized the fabric in the quilt was of Polar Bears, so I insisted we all get together the following day to have our picture taken with the polar bear quilt -- so here it is. You also might notice that Sister Stastny and I have on the same vest -- as I've told you before, that's not an uncommon occurrence here as we all shop at the same store :)
We had a lovely Sabbath today -- we had a High Councilman from Casper bring his son and his fiancée -- both of whom are returned Missionaries. The young man served in Toronto and the young woman served in Budapest, Hungary. How inspiring were there remarks !
Also, Elder & Sister Hardy's daughter and her children were visiting and the Hardy's daughter played a beautiful piano solo -- it literally brought tears to my eyes. The Hardy's also have a granddaughter named "Izzy", who from her profile reminded us of our granddaughter, so Elder Leavitt and I got so homesick for our little Izzy and all our other grandkids. We can't wait to see them again.
That sums up another week here at Martin's Cove. The time is flying by and before you know it we'll be swamped with trekkers. In the meantime we're enjoying the beautiful snow (see attached picture of the fort) and the blessings of being here.
Our love and prayers to all of you,
Sister Leavitt AKA Peggy
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Monday, February 1, 2010
THE COWBOY WAY
FROM MARTINS COVE
I have lived, loved, lost and loved again. Life is not easy, but it is what it is.
Cowboy rules for Arizona, Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, Wyoming, Montana, Utah, Idaho and the rest of the Wild West are as follows:
1. Pull your pants up.. You look like an idiot.
2. Turn your cap right, your head ain't crooked.
3. Let's get this straight: it's called a 'gravel road'. I drive a pickup truck because I want to. No matter how slow you drive, you're gonna get dust on your Lexus. Drive it or get out of the way.
4. They are cattle. That's why they smell like cattle. They smell like money to us. Get over it. Don't like it? I-10 & I-40 go east and west, I-17 & I-15 go north and south. Pick one and go.
5. So you have a $60,000 car. We're impressed. We have $250,000 Combines that are driven only 3 weeks a year.
6. Every person in the Wild West waves. It's called being friendly. Try to understand the concept.
7. If that cell phone rings while a bunch of geese/pheasants/ducks/doves are comin' in during a hunt, we WILL shoot it outta your hand. You better hope you don't have it up to your ear at the time.
8. Yeah.. We eat trout, salmon, deer and elk. You really want sushi and caviar? It's available at the corner bait shop.
9. The 'Opener' refers to the first day of deer season. It's a religious holiday held the closest Saturday to the first of November.
10. We open doors for women. That's applied to all women, regardless of age.
11. No, there's no 'vegetarian special' on the menu. Order steak, or you can order the Chef's Salad and pick off the 2 pounds of ham and turkey.
12. When we fill out a table, there are three main dishes: meats, vegetables, and breads. We use three spices: salt, pepper, and ketchup! Oh, yeah ... We don't care what you folks in Cincinnati call that stuff you eat ... IT AIN'T REAL CHILI!!
13. You bring 'Coke' into my house, it better be brown, wet and served over ice. You bring 'Mary Jane' into my house, she better be cute, know how to shoot, drive a truck, and have long hair.
14. College and High School Football is as important here as the Giants, Yankees, Mets, Lakers and Knicks, and a dang site more fun to watch.
15. Yeah, we have golf courses. But don't hit the water hazards - it spooks the fish.
16. Turn down that blasted car stereo! That thumpity-thump ain't music, anyway. We don't want to hear it anymore than we want to see your boxers! Refer back to #1!
I have lived, loved, lost and loved again. Life is not easy, but it is what it is.
Cowboy rules for Arizona, Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, Wyoming, Montana, Utah, Idaho and the rest of the Wild West are as follows:
1. Pull your pants up.. You look like an idiot.
2. Turn your cap right, your head ain't crooked.
3. Let's get this straight: it's called a 'gravel road'. I drive a pickup truck because I want to. No matter how slow you drive, you're gonna get dust on your Lexus. Drive it or get out of the way.
4. They are cattle. That's why they smell like cattle. They smell like money to us. Get over it. Don't like it? I-10 & I-40 go east and west, I-17 & I-15 go north and south. Pick one and go.
5. So you have a $60,000 car. We're impressed. We have $250,000 Combines that are driven only 3 weeks a year.
6. Every person in the Wild West waves. It's called being friendly. Try to understand the concept.
7. If that cell phone rings while a bunch of geese/pheasants/ducks/doves are comin' in during a hunt, we WILL shoot it outta your hand. You better hope you don't have it up to your ear at the time.
8. Yeah.. We eat trout, salmon, deer and elk. You really want sushi and caviar? It's available at the corner bait shop.
9. The 'Opener' refers to the first day of deer season. It's a religious holiday held the closest Saturday to the first of November.
10. We open doors for women. That's applied to all women, regardless of age.
11. No, there's no 'vegetarian special' on the menu. Order steak, or you can order the Chef's Salad and pick off the 2 pounds of ham and turkey.
12. When we fill out a table, there are three main dishes: meats, vegetables, and breads. We use three spices: salt, pepper, and ketchup! Oh, yeah ... We don't care what you folks in Cincinnati call that stuff you eat ... IT AIN'T REAL CHILI!!
13. You bring 'Coke' into my house, it better be brown, wet and served over ice. You bring 'Mary Jane' into my house, she better be cute, know how to shoot, drive a truck, and have long hair.
14. College and High School Football is as important here as the Giants, Yankees, Mets, Lakers and Knicks, and a dang site more fun to watch.
15. Yeah, we have golf courses. But don't hit the water hazards - it spooks the fish.
16. Turn down that blasted car stereo! That thumpity-thump ain't music, anyway. We don't want to hear it anymore than we want to see your boxers! Refer back to #1!
Friday, January 29, 2010
MARTINS COVE 1/29/10
Dear Family and Friends,
It's been a pretty normal week here at the Cove. I have been hauling gravel to the Cherry Creek Campground all week and probably would have competed the job in three or four days, but on Saturday I had a flat on the dump truck, so getting it repaired will probably set me back a few days. The weather has been pretty mild (with the exception of the wind) for most of the week. We were supposed to get a snow storm on Saturday and Sunday but it didn't materialize. It looks like Utah and Colorado got the brunt of the storm. From the weather reports it looks like California, Nevada and Arizona have been inundated with rain. I guess we are lucky to be residing in a state that has such a temperate climate, Ha, Ha.
At church today we had a member of the Casper Stake High Council speak to us, as well as four teenagers who had previously taken treks. The youth told us about their experiences and how the trek had such a positive effect on their lives and had given them a better appreciation of their pioneer ancestors. The High Counselor talked about his mission experience in England. He told about one of his experiences when he and his companion befriended an older couple who belonged to the Church of England, even though this couple had no desire to hear about our religion, they really enjoyed visiting with the missionaries whenever they would stop by. Their neighbors and church friends warned them to stay away from the Mormons, but they continued to have them over. To make a long story short the man who was totally blind finally felt the spirit and wanted to find out more about the Book of Mormon. Because he obviously could not read the missionaries provided him with the book on tapes. Sadly, the High Counselor was transferred to another area before he could know the end of the story. But, as missionaries we are very familiar with the Holy Spirit and how it can change hearts and improve lives. We see it everyday during the trek season and feel It's presence in all that we do. I can personally testify of this feeling from past experience! Before the the Lord intervened and the Holy Spirit touched my heart, my life was in total chaos. Since I accepted the Lord as my Savior and have tried to live by his gospel, my life has just continually gotten better. It's gives me a great feeling of peace to know "where I came from, why I'm here, and where I am going from here". I know through the Atonement of Jesus Christ that my sins can be forgiven and that I can move forward with hands and heart washed clean by His atoning sacrifice. Sorry to preach, but I feel great about the Plan of Salvation, and the fact that all mankind, no matter what our religious beliefs might be, we will all be resurrected and live again. And more importantly, the blessing that families faithfully living the true gospel of Jesus Christ, are given the opportunity to be sealed together forever. I can't think of a better message than that.
We love you all,
Elder Leavitt
Hi everyone -- a beautiful message from Elder Leavitt.
I have a couple of things to report this week. Last Monday, which was the Martin Luther King holiday, we had a Young Single Adult Ward from Riverton, Wyoming come to visit. I was assigned to the Visitor's Center so I have the privilege of telling these wonderful young people the story of the Martin Handcart Company. It was a very special experience for me. Then, most of them hiked to the Cove -- it was a very cold, blustery day so it took some grit to do it, but they did.
On Wednesday evenings, the women here get together to make items for humanitarian purposes. Currently, we are making dolls. I have discovered I can stuff dolls, so I'm attaching a picture of me stuffing dolls (the Bevans will love my sweatshirt) and another picture of the interior of the Humanitarian Center with some of the other women who are living here this winter.
A cute story -- my sisters have been so good to call me and if you know the "Rowland Girls" -- we can talk ! My sister Kathy called the other night and we ran the battery down on our land-based phone so I got on my cell phone until that battery went dead :) We talked for a grand total of 2 1/2 hours !!
We enjoyed the company of Mo and Barbara Campbell, my brother-in-law and his wife, who stopped by to see us as they were traveling from Sheridan to California to celebrate Mo's 80th birthday. It was great to see them and I'm grateful that they were able to dodge the awful weather between Wyoming and CA.
That's it for this week -- thanks, everyone for staying in touch.
Love, Peggy
Sunday, January 24, 2010
HELLO FROM AFRICA, JANUARY 17-23, 2010
WHERE IS A WALMART WHEN YOU NEED ONE?
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Beginning our week in Togo we awoke to our lovely screechy bird (oh no…now there are two of them), so I will rephrase…our lovely SCREECHY BIRDS. It is apparent why they picked our back yard to camp out as they have an abundant of mangos and papayas to gorge themselves on. In fact the original bird is now so fat we cannot scare it to fly over the fence…it is no longer able to obtain lift off. Anyway, they are our wake up calls. We got ready and headed off to worship in the Tokoin Branch. There was a lovely cool breeze coming through so we decided to sit outside in the open air which also affords us the opportunity to shake hands with all those attending, our favorite thing to do. As the service started we found ourselves surrounded by little ones who found us very amusing. They were quite naughty however and Elder Leavitt had to give them a lesson on being reverent and folding their arms, they eventually got it. Following the service we met with the Zone Leaders for a few minutes and then we headed off to Hedzranowae to pay the missionaries their soutien. We found out that they are still using their air conditioning and that did not bode well with my husband, as they had been told most emphatically not to due to the outrageous cost of electricity. We then stopped by the Souzza Netime Branch to see the missionaries and also pay them their soutien. We reminded all of them today that Tuesday we would be by their apartments early to inspect and for them to be ready. They are excited as the prize is quite nice this time around. Once we were done we headed back to the house to relax for the remainder of the day. We found the temperatures very comfortable today so we took a nap and then got caught up on our scripture study. Marv has committed to read the Book of Mormon, backwards and is really enjoying it. I am reading the Book of Mormon in English and French simultaneously and finding it interesting and hard. Before we retired for the day we called to check on Elder Fontaine and his Diarrhea…all is well so I guess my gesturing in the Pharmacy produced some good medicine.
Monday January 18, 2010
First order of the day is to get the mail and supplies delivered to the missionaries’ apartments. This is their “P” day and they have a sports activity and want to get an early start. (Elder Leavitt and I have now been in the mission field over three months and have never once had a full, uninterrupted “P” day and really don’t ever expect to have one on this mission). Then onto the bank and make sure we have money in the account and then get some cash. While Marv did the banking thing, I walked next door (sort of) to the Ramco Supermarche (different one) to check it out and get some supplies. The store was big and nice and I was basically the only person in there. As I perused the aisles there was some lovely music playing, mostly hymns that we sing but sung by an African choir and I just love their voices. My mind went immediately to the fact that you would NEVER find yourself walking through say Safeway or Albertsons listening to hymns…it would be offensive to most people. I found myself humming and singing along…loved it. I also got all happy when I glanced down on the laundry soap aisle and found a bottle of Tide with Bleach liquid…WOW. I picked it up and then saw it was 11,500cfa ($23.00) so I put it back down…NO WAL-MART PRICING HERE. Suddenly I heard a loud voice say “hey Sue” and realized my husband had caught up with me. We finished up our shopping and then headed over to see my friend from the Tokoin Branch who sits under a Mango tree with her little vegetable stand in order to buy tomatoes, cucumbers, onions and six pineapples for tomorrow. Shortly after coming back President Dieudonne called to say that the Landlady’s daughter of the new Be Apartment had been refused to cash the check we had given her for the rent. Elder Leavitt was livid and asked President Dieudonne to get the particulars. It seemed she had presented the check and HER bank was skeptical as to how she got that much money so they refused to cash it after stamping the check numerous times all over the front and the back. She then took it to our bank to get it cashed and they refused to cash it because it was covered in too many stamps. Then the man at our branch (the one Marv had the run in with) said if Marv would issue a new check and she would bring it right over he would cash it for her. She came to the house and Marv wrote a new check. President Dieudonne and Marv both talked to the manager who said he was there and would wait for her…so away she went. Side Note: We received a call yesterday (Friday 21st) from President Dieudonne stating that the Landlady’s daughter left our house and went directly to the bank as requested (maybe 10 minutes away) to find out that the manager had left for training and the person in charge refused to cash the check because it did not have a correct RID number. We have no idea what that is and neither does our accounting department in Accra. Now when we go back to Togo next Wednesday we start this mess all over again. Back to the journal. Following this we decided to have some lunch and then take some down time. We are buried in paperwork here and I have taken on a project to go through every draw and cupboard in this house and get rid of the mounds upon mounds of paperwork left by various couples that currently has nothing to do with anything. My goal (should a new couple come to work in Togo) is to present them with an orderly efficient environment, but that remains to be seen. We finished up our day with a lovely dinner at a new restaurant in our neighborhood called Lotus (Vietnamese)…it was delicious. One final entry for today. When Marv was visiting with President Dieudonne today, after the lady had left he asked him why he had not disconnected the air conditioner in the Hedzranowae Apartment, he said he had told them they were not to use it ever again and knew they would honor that request. Marv advised that they were still using it and what should we do. He paused, became very thoughtful and then his face brightened and he exclaimed loudly…”I WILL REMOVE THEIR REMOTES”. I thought that was so funny and it made me laugh.
Tuesday January 19, 2010
Woke up early as we need to get out and inspect the apartments early and let the missionaries get on with their day. We started with Hedzranowae. The missionaries were surprised we called so early (why we do not know as we had told them). When we got there their apartment was very clean and organized but they were a mess, sleepy, grumpy, bad attitudes, and a great deal of whining mostly over not being able to use the air conditioner. We had taken two fresh pineapples with us and did a presentation on how to say “welcome” in many languages, but then stated that our favorite was Hawaiian and “Aloha”. So we taught the new West Africans how to say “Aloha” and presented them each with a pineapple, symbol of hospitality…they loved it. We also took time to sit with them and hear their complaints and needs, took pictures and then we left. We felt sad because their apartment was really nice and clean but their attitudes were bad and they were not even dressed and ready. Next stop, Tokoin and what a difference. They had swept, mopped, and polished. They were ready and smiling all dressed in their white shirts and ties and they even had lovely music playing. Again we did our pineapple thing and again they loved it. We met with them, heard their thoughts, took pictures and noted things they needed. Then last stop, New Be Apartment. Again, beautiful and clean, all missionaries dressed and ready to go, great spirit, it was a pleasure to be there. Pineapple presentation again well received by the new missionaries and old ones too. On the way back we decided that it was going to be a tough call as to who would achieve “FIRST PLACE”. When we got done it was the new Be Apartment with Tokoin only ½ point away. Hedzranowae had it all together except themselves. Be outdid Tokoin because it was evident that they had listened to our last Zone Conference message about working as a team and treating each other as a family. They had been planning and setting goals as well as sharing and keeping their environment clean. Tokoin missed that part, but had made significant improvement over last time so they got a second place prize. Be Apartment received 2,500cfa each and a date for Ice Cream when the Leavitt’s return to Togo next week. Accra called and asked Elder Leavitt if he would price a Toyota Corolla in Togo to see if it was easier to just purchase the vehicle locally, instead of transporting from Ghana. They never take into consideration that neither one of us speaks enough French to negotiate, but we went over to the CFAO Motors anyway hopeful that somebody will speak English. Now when you go anywhere here there is ALWAYS a uniformed person who directs you where to park, which is a nice feature except they always make you park in tight spots eliminating an easy exit out of your vehicle. When you are newly arrived you are obedient and do as you are told, but when you have been here a while you park wherever you want to making them mad but now we don’t care. Well we parked in an undesignated area outside the dealership grounds and caused an uproar. Once inside we had a devil of a time finding someone who spoke English but finally a man showed up and then took us outside, walked us through a large service area, out the other side, through an open field and locked gate into another compound, then through another locked gate into a yard full of dirty filthy cars that had just been offloaded from a ship (we think). Finally he looked around and then pointed to a Toyota Corolla covered in filth and muck and said…when do you want it. Well, we said we did not think we did as it was not an automatic and we honestly could not tell the color, year or anything else for that matter. He shrugged his shoulders and said “au revoir” and walked away. I laughed and said to Marv, compare this experience with home and what you go through if you even look sideways at a lot, they are all over you. For the remainder of the day we worked on our individual projects. We did receive an invitation from the American Embassy in Togo to attend a reception next week and work with them on a security council, the date of the event is Wednesday evening. We will have to come back one day earlier than planned but we feel this is important.
Wednesday January 20, 2010
Woke up early to head home, packed and ready to go we made final stops at each apartment to check one last time on the missionaries before heading back to Benin. Our drive was under very, very dusty dirty skies…Hammaton is in full force now. You get lovely cool breezes but the dust in the air is horrendous. On our way into Benin Precious called to say that Pierre had been at the apartment the day before to have the air conditioner serviced and had painted our bedroom for a surprise…OH NO! She was concerned about the smell but we told her we would deal with it. We basically decided to head straight for the house and were hopeful for a nice quiet cool environment, but not to be. Once inside half of our apartment was without power to include the water pump downstairs and, the newly serviced air conditioner is blowing lovely hot air. My husband never gets discouraged but he sank down in a chair and looked at me and basically said…is it too much to ask that maybe just one thing goes right? We called Pierre and he promised to come over with an electrician, I commenced to unpack and Marv tackled the paperwork which needs to be addressed. He is concerned that we are getting low on money in the bank accounts in Togo and Benin and Accra assures us that all deposits have been made, but this is not reflected on the bank statements so…Elder Leavitt is going to commence an audit from day one we arrived. He hates working out of two separate bank accounts and finds it both difficult and frustrating. Pierre showed up just as the air conditioner commenced to work, we found that the power outage in half of the apartment had been caused by a surge which had blown all the lights and, the water pump switch had to be replaced…so after two hours all was well. The bedroom looked nice albeit a bit smelly. Finally we are alone and all is working and organized..we fixed some soup for dinner and then went to bed early.
Thursday January 21, 2010
We rose early to go to the apartments and deliver packages, supplies and mail that had arrived in Togo. We also need to get to the bank and Marv needs to obtain his PIN number so he can check his Benin accounts on line and last but not least we need food and supplies. Pierre announced to us yesterday that the seasons have now changed. Meaning, Hammaton, dust and cooler temperatures are here, when you awake in the morning you would swear that you were under cloudy rainy skies but it is dust, dust, dust. We now have Elder Golden’s schedule for his Mission Tour commencing in Togo on February 1st and it is a doozy…hope we can keep up. We also have to get the Benin visas going for Elders Bertoch, Starita and Geisler. This and anything else that gets thrown at us needs to be attended to. When we arrived at the bank we went to obtain our PIN number to be told we needed to go to another area. We arrived there to be told that they did not know anything about it. We were finally given a young man who was so out of his element and so totally lost as to what to do it was painful to watch. We finally just left our names, phone number and email and told him when he was ready to call us and we would come back. He assured us that all would be complete tomorrow…as we write this…NOTHING! We headed back home as Precious needs to meet with us as well as Geoffrey from Menotin Branch. Geoffrey wanted Elder Leavitt to help as the Menotin Branch has not received any of their LUBA for the last six months. Just got into the house and of course the power went off and stayed off for about two hours. Meetings over, we decided to take a nap….these naps save us these days as this dusty environment is taking its toll. The remainder of the day was a series of phone calls, emails and work but within the confines of our (for the most part) air conditioned apartment it was not bad.
Friday January 22, 2010
We had not really planned to go anywhere today but my husband has decided that he wants to have all the missionaries over to our apartment on Saturday after the baptism so, away we go to get the fixings to do sloppy joes. President Ayekoue also called to advise that he does not want to stay at the Benin Marina and wants reservations for himself and the Goldens at the Novotel Hotel, so we stopped there to make the necessary arrangements. Then on to Eravan for the ingredients, stop at the boulangerie, produce stand and then home. While in Eravan Marv got excited when he found a 10 pack of his razors for his Gillette Turbo until he saw the price…$58.00 NO WALMART PRICING HERE EITHER. Again, we walk in and the power goes off…(I am starting to wonder if I am responsible for this outage). We unpacked and basically just felt tired and lazy. Elder Leavitt did decide to finish his audit and found upon completion that the reason we are always low on funds is that four checks had not been approved and funded totaling about 5m cfa, and that three adjustments needed to be made totaling 2.2m cfa. This should all be resolved by Tuesday or Wednesday of next week. We got the sloppy joe mix done and it came out very delicious, and my contribution JELLO, Americans love it…West Africans hate it…”TOO WIGGLY”. Towards the end of the afternoon when we were feeling relatively smug with ourselves that life was looking up, Sister Bailey sends us an email that a Sister Johnson from Accra was looking for us to advise that she is accompanying the Goldens from Accra and needs help with a project she is doing in Togo and Benin compiling the history of the Church in those two areas. We did get the call, I was very up front with her…SORRY BUT NO I cannot make arrangements to ferry her around Togo, set-up appointments for her, find early church members, statistics, places where early church services were held, oldest living members of the church and on, and on, and on. Lovely lady but she needs to know we have no time, we are in the middle of a Mission Tour when she comes, and the biggest problem of all WE DON’T SPEAK FRENCH. My husband also posed the biggest question of all, how is she getting from Togo to Benin, we have one vehicle and with Elder and Sister Leavitt, Elder and Sister Golden and President Ayekoue that just about maxes us out in room. Elder Leavitt’s suggestion was that maybe she schedule this visit when it is not in conjunction with a mission tour and we would be able to make all these arrangements in Benin and Togo and take here anywhere she wanted to go…but she would not hear of that….it will be interesting to see how this plays out.
Saturday, January, 23, 2010
Basically our day has been….woke up went and bought bread for the sloppy joe’s, quick stop at the market for other supplies, produce market for veggies then home. Cereal and juice for breakfast, Sister Leavitt made Banana Nut Bread, Elder Leavitt continued with his audit and now we relax until time for the baptism and the missionaries…life is good, we are tired but today we are NOT GOING TO PUSH IT…famous last words…day is not over yet! Now we will tell you “the rest of the story”. When it was time to go to the baptism I, Sister Leavitt just had to listen to my body and say…not today. So, Elder Leavitt said he would run over (it was close) and check to make sure all was ok. I stayed and read some of my scriptures and then got ready for the missionaries. When Elder Leavitt returned he said it was a small baptism of 2 from Menotin but nice. We then readied for our 12 missionaries who soon arrived. We had prepared a HUGE pot of sloppy joe sauce, bought 12 baguettes (bread) fixed buttered corn, had chips and dip and for dessert, jello, with whipped cream, homemade banana nut bread and sliced fresh pineapples (two). When they left the only thing standing was a top from one of the pineapples everything was gone, gone, gone. I guessed they liked it. Now we are getting ready to call it a day…it was a good one.
Marv’s Weekly Observations:
I would never have believed that I would have been able to understand as much of the spoken and written French and still not have one iota of ability to communicate back to them in French. It is like I am living a one sided life with the ability to understand but not to communicate.
Sue’s Weekly Observations:
I loved the music in the Supermarche so much that I went and found the manager (who thankfully spoke good English) and asked him if he sold it. He told me no, but that he had bought from a vendor just down the street and then offered to go down and buy one for me. I was really touched by that.
As I go up and down the little streets I see all kinds of small shops (actually shacks) that provide a small income for the owner. They range anywhere from hairdressers, to food vendors, to selling recharge cards for your cell phone. But the ones I love are the tailors and especially the seamstress who spends untold hours creating lovely things from the amazing African fabric available here. I am fascinated as I watch them iron the project in progress…they use an iron with a removable bottom and place hot charcoal in it in order get a hot press.
Til next week…Elder & Sister Leavitt
Le Couple.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Beginning our week in Togo we awoke to our lovely screechy bird (oh no…now there are two of them), so I will rephrase…our lovely SCREECHY BIRDS. It is apparent why they picked our back yard to camp out as they have an abundant of mangos and papayas to gorge themselves on. In fact the original bird is now so fat we cannot scare it to fly over the fence…it is no longer able to obtain lift off. Anyway, they are our wake up calls. We got ready and headed off to worship in the Tokoin Branch. There was a lovely cool breeze coming through so we decided to sit outside in the open air which also affords us the opportunity to shake hands with all those attending, our favorite thing to do. As the service started we found ourselves surrounded by little ones who found us very amusing. They were quite naughty however and Elder Leavitt had to give them a lesson on being reverent and folding their arms, they eventually got it. Following the service we met with the Zone Leaders for a few minutes and then we headed off to Hedzranowae to pay the missionaries their soutien. We found out that they are still using their air conditioning and that did not bode well with my husband, as they had been told most emphatically not to due to the outrageous cost of electricity. We then stopped by the Souzza Netime Branch to see the missionaries and also pay them their soutien. We reminded all of them today that Tuesday we would be by their apartments early to inspect and for them to be ready. They are excited as the prize is quite nice this time around. Once we were done we headed back to the house to relax for the remainder of the day. We found the temperatures very comfortable today so we took a nap and then got caught up on our scripture study. Marv has committed to read the Book of Mormon, backwards and is really enjoying it. I am reading the Book of Mormon in English and French simultaneously and finding it interesting and hard. Before we retired for the day we called to check on Elder Fontaine and his Diarrhea…all is well so I guess my gesturing in the Pharmacy produced some good medicine.
Monday January 18, 2010
First order of the day is to get the mail and supplies delivered to the missionaries’ apartments. This is their “P” day and they have a sports activity and want to get an early start. (Elder Leavitt and I have now been in the mission field over three months and have never once had a full, uninterrupted “P” day and really don’t ever expect to have one on this mission). Then onto the bank and make sure we have money in the account and then get some cash. While Marv did the banking thing, I walked next door (sort of) to the Ramco Supermarche (different one) to check it out and get some supplies. The store was big and nice and I was basically the only person in there. As I perused the aisles there was some lovely music playing, mostly hymns that we sing but sung by an African choir and I just love their voices. My mind went immediately to the fact that you would NEVER find yourself walking through say Safeway or Albertsons listening to hymns…it would be offensive to most people. I found myself humming and singing along…loved it. I also got all happy when I glanced down on the laundry soap aisle and found a bottle of Tide with Bleach liquid…WOW. I picked it up and then saw it was 11,500cfa ($23.00) so I put it back down…NO WAL-MART PRICING HERE. Suddenly I heard a loud voice say “hey Sue” and realized my husband had caught up with me. We finished up our shopping and then headed over to see my friend from the Tokoin Branch who sits under a Mango tree with her little vegetable stand in order to buy tomatoes, cucumbers, onions and six pineapples for tomorrow. Shortly after coming back President Dieudonne called to say that the Landlady’s daughter of the new Be Apartment had been refused to cash the check we had given her for the rent. Elder Leavitt was livid and asked President Dieudonne to get the particulars. It seemed she had presented the check and HER bank was skeptical as to how she got that much money so they refused to cash it after stamping the check numerous times all over the front and the back. She then took it to our bank to get it cashed and they refused to cash it because it was covered in too many stamps. Then the man at our branch (the one Marv had the run in with) said if Marv would issue a new check and she would bring it right over he would cash it for her. She came to the house and Marv wrote a new check. President Dieudonne and Marv both talked to the manager who said he was there and would wait for her…so away she went. Side Note: We received a call yesterday (Friday 21st) from President Dieudonne stating that the Landlady’s daughter left our house and went directly to the bank as requested (maybe 10 minutes away) to find out that the manager had left for training and the person in charge refused to cash the check because it did not have a correct RID number. We have no idea what that is and neither does our accounting department in Accra. Now when we go back to Togo next Wednesday we start this mess all over again. Back to the journal. Following this we decided to have some lunch and then take some down time. We are buried in paperwork here and I have taken on a project to go through every draw and cupboard in this house and get rid of the mounds upon mounds of paperwork left by various couples that currently has nothing to do with anything. My goal (should a new couple come to work in Togo) is to present them with an orderly efficient environment, but that remains to be seen. We finished up our day with a lovely dinner at a new restaurant in our neighborhood called Lotus (Vietnamese)…it was delicious. One final entry for today. When Marv was visiting with President Dieudonne today, after the lady had left he asked him why he had not disconnected the air conditioner in the Hedzranowae Apartment, he said he had told them they were not to use it ever again and knew they would honor that request. Marv advised that they were still using it and what should we do. He paused, became very thoughtful and then his face brightened and he exclaimed loudly…”I WILL REMOVE THEIR REMOTES”. I thought that was so funny and it made me laugh.
Tuesday January 19, 2010
Woke up early as we need to get out and inspect the apartments early and let the missionaries get on with their day. We started with Hedzranowae. The missionaries were surprised we called so early (why we do not know as we had told them). When we got there their apartment was very clean and organized but they were a mess, sleepy, grumpy, bad attitudes, and a great deal of whining mostly over not being able to use the air conditioner. We had taken two fresh pineapples with us and did a presentation on how to say “welcome” in many languages, but then stated that our favorite was Hawaiian and “Aloha”. So we taught the new West Africans how to say “Aloha” and presented them each with a pineapple, symbol of hospitality…they loved it. We also took time to sit with them and hear their complaints and needs, took pictures and then we left. We felt sad because their apartment was really nice and clean but their attitudes were bad and they were not even dressed and ready. Next stop, Tokoin and what a difference. They had swept, mopped, and polished. They were ready and smiling all dressed in their white shirts and ties and they even had lovely music playing. Again we did our pineapple thing and again they loved it. We met with them, heard their thoughts, took pictures and noted things they needed. Then last stop, New Be Apartment. Again, beautiful and clean, all missionaries dressed and ready to go, great spirit, it was a pleasure to be there. Pineapple presentation again well received by the new missionaries and old ones too. On the way back we decided that it was going to be a tough call as to who would achieve “FIRST PLACE”. When we got done it was the new Be Apartment with Tokoin only ½ point away. Hedzranowae had it all together except themselves. Be outdid Tokoin because it was evident that they had listened to our last Zone Conference message about working as a team and treating each other as a family. They had been planning and setting goals as well as sharing and keeping their environment clean. Tokoin missed that part, but had made significant improvement over last time so they got a second place prize. Be Apartment received 2,500cfa each and a date for Ice Cream when the Leavitt’s return to Togo next week. Accra called and asked Elder Leavitt if he would price a Toyota Corolla in Togo to see if it was easier to just purchase the vehicle locally, instead of transporting from Ghana. They never take into consideration that neither one of us speaks enough French to negotiate, but we went over to the CFAO Motors anyway hopeful that somebody will speak English. Now when you go anywhere here there is ALWAYS a uniformed person who directs you where to park, which is a nice feature except they always make you park in tight spots eliminating an easy exit out of your vehicle. When you are newly arrived you are obedient and do as you are told, but when you have been here a while you park wherever you want to making them mad but now we don’t care. Well we parked in an undesignated area outside the dealership grounds and caused an uproar. Once inside we had a devil of a time finding someone who spoke English but finally a man showed up and then took us outside, walked us through a large service area, out the other side, through an open field and locked gate into another compound, then through another locked gate into a yard full of dirty filthy cars that had just been offloaded from a ship (we think). Finally he looked around and then pointed to a Toyota Corolla covered in filth and muck and said…when do you want it. Well, we said we did not think we did as it was not an automatic and we honestly could not tell the color, year or anything else for that matter. He shrugged his shoulders and said “au revoir” and walked away. I laughed and said to Marv, compare this experience with home and what you go through if you even look sideways at a lot, they are all over you. For the remainder of the day we worked on our individual projects. We did receive an invitation from the American Embassy in Togo to attend a reception next week and work with them on a security council, the date of the event is Wednesday evening. We will have to come back one day earlier than planned but we feel this is important.
Wednesday January 20, 2010
Woke up early to head home, packed and ready to go we made final stops at each apartment to check one last time on the missionaries before heading back to Benin. Our drive was under very, very dusty dirty skies…Hammaton is in full force now. You get lovely cool breezes but the dust in the air is horrendous. On our way into Benin Precious called to say that Pierre had been at the apartment the day before to have the air conditioner serviced and had painted our bedroom for a surprise…OH NO! She was concerned about the smell but we told her we would deal with it. We basically decided to head straight for the house and were hopeful for a nice quiet cool environment, but not to be. Once inside half of our apartment was without power to include the water pump downstairs and, the newly serviced air conditioner is blowing lovely hot air. My husband never gets discouraged but he sank down in a chair and looked at me and basically said…is it too much to ask that maybe just one thing goes right? We called Pierre and he promised to come over with an electrician, I commenced to unpack and Marv tackled the paperwork which needs to be addressed. He is concerned that we are getting low on money in the bank accounts in Togo and Benin and Accra assures us that all deposits have been made, but this is not reflected on the bank statements so…Elder Leavitt is going to commence an audit from day one we arrived. He hates working out of two separate bank accounts and finds it both difficult and frustrating. Pierre showed up just as the air conditioner commenced to work, we found that the power outage in half of the apartment had been caused by a surge which had blown all the lights and, the water pump switch had to be replaced…so after two hours all was well. The bedroom looked nice albeit a bit smelly. Finally we are alone and all is working and organized..we fixed some soup for dinner and then went to bed early.
Thursday January 21, 2010
We rose early to go to the apartments and deliver packages, supplies and mail that had arrived in Togo. We also need to get to the bank and Marv needs to obtain his PIN number so he can check his Benin accounts on line and last but not least we need food and supplies. Pierre announced to us yesterday that the seasons have now changed. Meaning, Hammaton, dust and cooler temperatures are here, when you awake in the morning you would swear that you were under cloudy rainy skies but it is dust, dust, dust. We now have Elder Golden’s schedule for his Mission Tour commencing in Togo on February 1st and it is a doozy…hope we can keep up. We also have to get the Benin visas going for Elders Bertoch, Starita and Geisler. This and anything else that gets thrown at us needs to be attended to. When we arrived at the bank we went to obtain our PIN number to be told we needed to go to another area. We arrived there to be told that they did not know anything about it. We were finally given a young man who was so out of his element and so totally lost as to what to do it was painful to watch. We finally just left our names, phone number and email and told him when he was ready to call us and we would come back. He assured us that all would be complete tomorrow…as we write this…NOTHING! We headed back home as Precious needs to meet with us as well as Geoffrey from Menotin Branch. Geoffrey wanted Elder Leavitt to help as the Menotin Branch has not received any of their LUBA for the last six months. Just got into the house and of course the power went off and stayed off for about two hours. Meetings over, we decided to take a nap….these naps save us these days as this dusty environment is taking its toll. The remainder of the day was a series of phone calls, emails and work but within the confines of our (for the most part) air conditioned apartment it was not bad.
Friday January 22, 2010
We had not really planned to go anywhere today but my husband has decided that he wants to have all the missionaries over to our apartment on Saturday after the baptism so, away we go to get the fixings to do sloppy joes. President Ayekoue also called to advise that he does not want to stay at the Benin Marina and wants reservations for himself and the Goldens at the Novotel Hotel, so we stopped there to make the necessary arrangements. Then on to Eravan for the ingredients, stop at the boulangerie, produce stand and then home. While in Eravan Marv got excited when he found a 10 pack of his razors for his Gillette Turbo until he saw the price…$58.00 NO WALMART PRICING HERE EITHER. Again, we walk in and the power goes off…(I am starting to wonder if I am responsible for this outage). We unpacked and basically just felt tired and lazy. Elder Leavitt did decide to finish his audit and found upon completion that the reason we are always low on funds is that four checks had not been approved and funded totaling about 5m cfa, and that three adjustments needed to be made totaling 2.2m cfa. This should all be resolved by Tuesday or Wednesday of next week. We got the sloppy joe mix done and it came out very delicious, and my contribution JELLO, Americans love it…West Africans hate it…”TOO WIGGLY”. Towards the end of the afternoon when we were feeling relatively smug with ourselves that life was looking up, Sister Bailey sends us an email that a Sister Johnson from Accra was looking for us to advise that she is accompanying the Goldens from Accra and needs help with a project she is doing in Togo and Benin compiling the history of the Church in those two areas. We did get the call, I was very up front with her…SORRY BUT NO I cannot make arrangements to ferry her around Togo, set-up appointments for her, find early church members, statistics, places where early church services were held, oldest living members of the church and on, and on, and on. Lovely lady but she needs to know we have no time, we are in the middle of a Mission Tour when she comes, and the biggest problem of all WE DON’T SPEAK FRENCH. My husband also posed the biggest question of all, how is she getting from Togo to Benin, we have one vehicle and with Elder and Sister Leavitt, Elder and Sister Golden and President Ayekoue that just about maxes us out in room. Elder Leavitt’s suggestion was that maybe she schedule this visit when it is not in conjunction with a mission tour and we would be able to make all these arrangements in Benin and Togo and take here anywhere she wanted to go…but she would not hear of that….it will be interesting to see how this plays out.
Saturday, January, 23, 2010
Basically our day has been….woke up went and bought bread for the sloppy joe’s, quick stop at the market for other supplies, produce market for veggies then home. Cereal and juice for breakfast, Sister Leavitt made Banana Nut Bread, Elder Leavitt continued with his audit and now we relax until time for the baptism and the missionaries…life is good, we are tired but today we are NOT GOING TO PUSH IT…famous last words…day is not over yet! Now we will tell you “the rest of the story”. When it was time to go to the baptism I, Sister Leavitt just had to listen to my body and say…not today. So, Elder Leavitt said he would run over (it was close) and check to make sure all was ok. I stayed and read some of my scriptures and then got ready for the missionaries. When Elder Leavitt returned he said it was a small baptism of 2 from Menotin but nice. We then readied for our 12 missionaries who soon arrived. We had prepared a HUGE pot of sloppy joe sauce, bought 12 baguettes (bread) fixed buttered corn, had chips and dip and for dessert, jello, with whipped cream, homemade banana nut bread and sliced fresh pineapples (two). When they left the only thing standing was a top from one of the pineapples everything was gone, gone, gone. I guessed they liked it. Now we are getting ready to call it a day…it was a good one.
Marv’s Weekly Observations:
I would never have believed that I would have been able to understand as much of the spoken and written French and still not have one iota of ability to communicate back to them in French. It is like I am living a one sided life with the ability to understand but not to communicate.
Sue’s Weekly Observations:
I loved the music in the Supermarche so much that I went and found the manager (who thankfully spoke good English) and asked him if he sold it. He told me no, but that he had bought from a vendor just down the street and then offered to go down and buy one for me. I was really touched by that.
As I go up and down the little streets I see all kinds of small shops (actually shacks) that provide a small income for the owner. They range anywhere from hairdressers, to food vendors, to selling recharge cards for your cell phone. But the ones I love are the tailors and especially the seamstress who spends untold hours creating lovely things from the amazing African fabric available here. I am fascinated as I watch them iron the project in progress…they use an iron with a removable bottom and place hot charcoal in it in order get a hot press.
Til next week…Elder & Sister Leavitt
Le Couple.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
