August 12, 2013- Packing Soon for Fidjrosse

The Cyber was doing goofy things today and I have been getting random emails through the afternoon. I'm still trying to piece our conversation together.  This is Africa!

 

Inside of a cyber in Togo.

Looks secure, right?  No one would ever look over the makeshift walls!

 

A few more pictures of the last dinner at Mama's.  Elder G is such a nut!  Remind you of any other pictures from his past?

 
So, he says he will pack Tuesday night for the transfer on Wednesday.  He had the chance to email for a bit with Elder Manning.  He seemed pretty happy about that. I'm sure they miss each other a lot.  He got a chuckle out of our Sunday Sacrament meeting.  He says that kind of stuff NEVER happens in Africa!  Here's the story...

Picture this...ward conference...full house to the point of opening the overflow curtains.  Stake Presidency on the stand.  We have the opening song, invocation, ward and stake business presented.  We start singing the Sacrament hymn and at the start of the second verse, the Priest at the end of the Sacrament table jumps up on the stand and whispers something to the Counselor of the Bishopric.  He gets up and hurries out.  The Counselor from the Stake sees a problem and gets up and follows him out.  HMMM...We finish the Sacrament hymn and the chorister looks a bit frazzled, she selects another hymn and we start singing it.  About halfway through the second verse, in hurries the Counselor with a Ziploc bag of bread!  They borrowed it from the Ward that follows ours. Seems the one assigned to bring the bread had a momentary slip of memory!  In all my years, I have never seen anything else like it.  About the end of the first hymn most people had figured out what was happening and a small snickering went through the congregation. Luckily by the end of the second song all was under control and the spirit was back.  What a great display for the Stake Presidency!  I am still chuckling.

So, it just goes to show, nothing is perfect. Nor will it be.  We are all just imperfect souls here trying to do our best.  Reminds me of this quote from conference:

I would guess that trying to get the church started in the mission area is very frustrating.  It's hard to teach people a new way of life and thinking after it is so ingrained in a culture.  I hope that our Elders remember this quote when they are dealing with others in the mission.  The new members are more than likely trying so hard to do what is right. They need the imperfect guidance from our amazing Elders and their leaders who are also trying so hard to do things the best they know how to establish the Gospel in the beautiful lands of Africa.  Which leads me to one of the messages from our ward conference- The threefold mission of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints:

 

 

First, to proclaim the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people;

Secondly, to perfect the Saints by preparing them to receive the ordinances of the gospel and by instruction and discipline to gain exaltation;

Thirdly, to redeem the dead by performing vicarious ordinances of the gospel for those who have lived on the earth.

Seems simple enough, right?

In other Elder G words- he's still scared to get a dirt bike when he gets home. He's afraid that he will hurt himself. He is glad that he will have a queen size bed all to himself when he gets home.  He wanted to know when we would be hosting the Sister missionaries assigned to our ward for dinner. (Guess I better call and get on the schedule!) He loved the pictures of the farm that we sent this week- he misses the farm and Grandpa and the family and his friends. He got a good laugh out of my confusion with all the emails coming out of order and 30 minutes or more after they were sent.  In comment to Greg Madson asking if they have any razors in Africa...he only shaves about once every two or three days. Maybe that frequency will increase with him closer to the President.

 

Thanks to all for your love and support. Until next week!

 

 

August 10, 2013-Moving On to Benin

We received word Saturday afternoon from Bleck that Elder Gundersen will be transferred to Benin next Wednesday.  I know that transfers come for a reason, but I have mixed feelings as I have really enjoyed the connection with Bleck and his family.  I love the pictures and videos of Elder G that they have sent and I love even more that they have taken care of Elder G as their own.  I will miss having him near their wonderful family. 

Mama sent me a message this morning. She said she is a little sad that her son Hunter is leaving to Benin next week. She plans to visit him soon as they can go to Benin whenever they choose.  I am grateful to this sweet sister for her kind service to our Elders.  She made sure that they were fed well on Saturday. The following is a video of the meal with all the Elders in the apartment.  It's a bit lengthy, but I know we all love seeing glimpses of our Elders.  So here it is-it's a bit dark and pixelated but loved nonetheless! The other Elders are Elder Lemaire from France, Elder Potter from Utah and Elder Sahue.

Pictures with Love from Togo!

Jammin' in Togo!

Love, Love, Love this kid and his silly personality! Enjoy!

August 5, 2013- Recipe Swap

Hello Everyone.

Elder Gundersen is still alive and well. He's not saying a lot still but here are the highlights:

He ate beans this week. Dried beans. He says that he doesn't like green beans.  He didn't eat at Akif's either.  He sends his thanks to Jerine and Kris and says there will be no monkey meat.  Perhaps some chicken...

The weather there is cooler today. A whopping 79 degrees and he admits that he's a little chilly. It's going to be awful for him when he gets home in January.

He reminded me that he needs extra bags of Hugs and Kisses in his package I am sending this week.  He is hoping that if he gets transferred to Benin this next transfer that he gets a French companion. 

He answered Ryan and Kate and told them that yes, there are cartoons on tv in Africa for the kids.  not SpongeBob though, he says he misses SpongeBob.

He was happy to know that a teacher from the fifth grade had sent him a letter from himself from all those years ago. He had me send him the message he had written. I though it was pretty cute. He thought he should've written more to himself.

 

I got a sweet message from Mama (Bleck's Mom) yesterday afternoon as well. She thanked me for helping Bleck with his application to BYU and said Elder G is very loved.  It's always good to know he is loved by members there.  He continues to teach the younger sister.

 

My sister, Mindy, has a neighbor heading to Africa on a mission and has been joking with the young man about the toilets in Africa.  She told him she would get info for him from Elder G. Here is the account of their exchange- including a recipe swap!  Enjoy!

 

Hey Hunter how is the African life.  I am curious to know about the toilets there?  How are they?  Have you ever used a public one, or do you make sure to wait until you get home?  Inquiring minds want to know.  So Dyllon reached his year mark this last Thursday.  Time has gone by so slow, but a year seems so fast.  How has your past week been?  How is the work progressing in Africa?  Have you had any baptisms lately?  so have you learned any good tips for me on getting skinny.  You look like you have dropped a few pounds and I would love to drop a few. How is the Companion?  Have you been getting along better with him? It must be super hard to have a companion that is from another country and does things so completely different then you are used to doing them.  So have you ate anything that you need to make when you return?  Can you share any recipes?  I have a good one for rice.  Add 1 cup rice, 2 cups water and salt to taste.  Add butter if you have some.  Cook until all water is absorbed.  You should try it.  Works for any variety of rice! ;0)



hi mindy

They dont have toilets here. its just a hole in the ground. Ive never used one. My week was rough. My comp drives me nuts. The work is going slow. The last person i baptized was in june. Just dont eat if you want to loose weight. That what i do. I dont want any of the food here. as far as a recipe... boil water and flour together.

So are you holding it for two years?? HAHA!  About the recipe.  Do I eat that, or do I wall paper with it?  Companions are designed to drive you nuts.  That is what most of them have done for Dyllon.  I guess that is so when you get married.........you will actually appreciate your wife and she won't drive you crazy for eternity! Mindy

 

Here is an interesting link for flour paste art:

http://bookzoompa.wordpress.com/tag/flour-and-water-paste/