Reproving betimes with sharpness...

We were in Nampula this last weekend--we think that it is our last visit there.  As always, we do alot of teaching and training while there.  I was asked to speak in church and was still in the opening throes of my talk when I noticed that there were many young children running up and down the isles, playing and screaming with wild abandon--unrestrained by parental influence.  It created such a din in the echo chamber that is the Nampula chapel so as to make it impossible for anyone to hear (and to not be able to hear a discourse as good as mine is a terrible tragedy).  I stopped my talk and asked the congregation if this was how they always managed their children there.  I may have come on a little strong--but I lectured and hectored for a bit and suggested that a little parental responsibility might be appropriate.  I saw many in the audience (the non-parents of course) nodding in agreement ("You go Elder O!!").  At the close of my tirade, parents from all over the congregation arose and gathered their children (often from the other side of the chapel) and a remarkable silence filled the room--and I continued my talk.  An impressive thing about Mozambicans is that they rarely become offended.  One can say most anything without hurting feelings or creating enmity. 

With the advent of the rains here, the bugs have been out in force.  We found this one in the yard the other day--on the large side with an interesting retractable stinger on its hind end.  We decided to not invite it in.

As we previously mentioned, we took the young missionaries to the beach last Monday and had a great time with them.  We go to a very remote location about 50 kilometers from Quelimane.  When we arrived the beach was a vast expanse of emptiness--with not a soul in sight.  Literally within five minutes of having arrived, we had fifty or so people milling about in around us.  They are not obnoxious nor demanding nor even particularly intrusive, but it is clear that we are an attraction and they choose our immediate location to be where they choose to recreate.  We have, in the past, moved away to create a little more space, but the crowd invariably migrates with us.  As Debbie has often commented, it will be hard to return to the states and not be the center of attention any more.