The church ladies.....

     I thought I would introduce you to some of the ladies at church today as well as a couple of surprises we had this weekend:

This is Esperansa.  She heads up the women's group.
Yesterday she gave a talk on dressing modestly and encouraged the women
to sacrifice for the two hours of church on Sunday to dress in their best.  She is
so strong and was hoping to go the temple next year, but her husband is
falling in to inactivity, which is so very sad. She joined the church in Maputo last winter.

This is Dina.  She is the one investigator I have met who really understands the
gospel.  She understands repentance and having a change of heart. She had a dream
that she would teach the gospel principles class, so today we gave her that chance.  She
did such a great job.  She is 18 yrs. old with two kids and a partner who isn't
that interested in the church.  She is full of faith.

This is Madalena.  She comes to church with Dina.  She had a lot to say about what to wear to
church in the women's meeting.  She came today in a brand new capulana and head scarf.  She
is from Nampula, where they always where the head scarf.  She looked beautiful.  She has a
husband who doesn't believe in God, but allows her to be taught.

This woman is  the wife of an investigator who has a church on an island
off the coast near Quelimane.  She came to the women's meetings yesterday and
although she doesn't speak much Port. she seemed to enjoy it.  Today when I took another
woman's picture, she took my hand, showed me her nice clothes and asked for me
to take a picture.  So I guess she understood part of the lesson.  She speaks a local dialect.

This is Velma.  What a story.  The Elders met her at an investigators home yesterday.
She is 17 and grew up for five years in Alexandria, Virginia.  She speaks great English.  Her father
was a diplomat who left his wife (her step-mother) and abandoned the family, so she
got deported back to Mozambique.  She has had a very hard adjustment coming to this
African lifestyle after living in the US.  She lives far away from the city and it is
expensive to take a bus in  The Elders gave her some literature in English to take and read. She is
someone we will worry about a lot.

In Africa, you can hardly get one person in a picture.  I was trying to get one person and all these people joined in.  I love it.  On the left is Sister Bonini, from Brazil.  She and her husband spoke today about the importance of following God and getting married and not following the traditions of their fathers.  The woman next to her
has a husband who works for the fire department close to our house and is learning abut the church.  You never know
who will show up from one week to the next.

Santa does exist and he found us in Quelimane.  Elder Bonini bought our furniture
this week and drove it up this weekend.  He put on this hat and said he was
Papa Noel, bringing our gifts. We have two chairs and a love seat.  We all took
turns sitting in them and relaxing in comfort last night.

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This was our present to ourselves, a grill.  We have been looking at them along side
the road for sale for about a month.  You might notice that it is made of a wheel.  Yep, it is!
Others are square and made out of other car parts.   We have to buy a big bag of carbao, or
charcoal and we are ready for burgers!!