April Happenings

Betty had her baby at the beginning of February and I finally got to meet the little guy and see my dear friend.  It was so nice to visit with Betty.  I definitely have missed her.  Her sweet little boy is adorable.

Brent Weidman was here for about three weeks and it was absolutely delightful having him around.  He is such a good man who never stops working.  He helped a lot with Innocent’s house and then spruced up the new classroom.

We now have two bookshelves…

and a pencil sharpener.  It’s the little things that bring so much joy.

Thanks Brent and Justin for all your hard work!

Lauren, from Zambike, is here helping us at the school.  She’s fabulous.  The kids love her.  She’ll be taking over my job while I’m in India.  What perfect timing!

We celebrated Lord’s birthday.

Book of Mormon Read-A-Thon

All of my Young Women came to my house and we had a nice little sleepover while we read the Book of Mormon.  I was thinking that over the weekend we would be able to finish the entire Book of Mormon.  I quickly realized that I would have to change my goal.  Then I figured as long as we get to Alma we’d be good.  Again, I changed the goal and was quite content with finishing first Nephi by late Saturday afternoon and sending the girls on their way to finish the rest on their own. 

It was a great activity.  I had about 15 girls show up.  The girls asked some awesome questions while we were reading.  These girls have such amazing spirits. I love working with them.

Here they are just chillin’ on the floor in the kitchen…

Preparing dinner…

Jacquie even came (notice her pregnant belly)…

Daisy trying to stay awake…

Mulenga just chillin’ on the top bunk…

Ida totally into the reading…Rozaria not so much…

Seke trying to find a comfortable position on the bed…

I feel like my bike is forever breaking down (probably because it is forever breaking down).  This time it was my fault.  I took my bike to the gas station to put a bit of air in the tires.  Well that bit of air ended up being a bunch of air and my tube and tire blew up.  I wasn’t close to home and wasn’t sure what I was going to do.  As I was trying to figure out the next step, a woman, who had seen the whole thing happen, came to my rescue.  She escorted me across the street to a bike shop.  Wouldn’t have known it was a bike shop if she hadn’t been there.  The shop repairs just about everything.  As I sat there in this little hut, watching this man fixing my bike, it occurred to me how foreign my world is.  I’ve grown so accustomed to this world that I forget how foreign it is until moments like this when I’m reminded that I’m absolutely not in America.

The younger boys got baptized on April 16th!!!  Again, it was such a miracle watching these boys be baptized.  It was such a blessing being a part of the whole thing.  I love these kids and am so happy that they now get to enjoy the blessings that come from being a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

From left to right: Lovemore, Charles, Kennedy, Gift, and Harrison

Jacquie fixing Liseli’s hair.  She doesn’t like it so much.

Lord teaching the girls from the For Strength of Youth Pamphlet.  Lord has done wonders for these kids.  He teaches them Seminary every day.  He works with the younger kids on their Duty to God booklet.  The kids can often be found walking around memorizing the Articles of Faith.  On Monday the boys were in charge of FHE.  They quoted, from memory, excerpts from their Duty to God booklet and then a bunch of the Articles of Faith.  Bwalya gave an incredible lesson on obedience.  I am so grateful that Lord is so dedicated to helping these kids know and understand the gospel. 

Here are some random pics of the kids…

Bwalya and Lweendo…

Emmanuel…

Harrison…

Charles…

Robert…always praying…

Kennedy…

Festus…

Lovemore…

Blessing and Alice…

Jo…

Chanda and her super cute hair…