Madagascar Adventure

9/15/08

Dear Family,

This is your Mom writing first, this week. It has been a good week. The Gayas are still gone, we are missing them, even though life has been easier. At least not so stressful for Dad. He has gained back some of the weight he had lost. Office work has been slow, so I found things to do! I straightened up the office. There is so much clutter around and stacks of papers and stuff!! So I didn’t throw out anything, I just straightened everything up, hoping that no one would notice, especially Sister Gaya, but the AP’s came in and said WOW the office looks so organized. Uck, I hope I don’t affend Sister Gaya. I cleaned the kitchen and took some wash home, cleaned the foyer and made the AP’s clean up their stuff. So all and all I have made every one crazy, but I am bored!

We got a refund for our late luggage of almost $150, so we took the AP’s out to lunch. We went to a new restaurant that I think we would enjoy going to, but it is hard to find.

We certainly enjoy our walks back and forth to the office. Tuesday we saw a woman with a 3 or 4 month old baby strapped to her back and a a bag of stuff , about 18 inches high balanced on her head. She was no more than 5 feet tall. We have a little following of kids that wait for us, to greet them and shake their hands. The kids are always playing soccer, they stick 2 sticks in the ground as their goal and some use plastic grocery bags, stuffed tight and wrapped with duct tape for a ball. They play games with rocks and sticks. They are always happy, we never see any of them fighting or crying.

We went to the open air market on Thursday. We wanted to drive ourselves, but the drivers insisted upon taking us. As soon as we stepped out of the car some kids came up to beg for money. It is so hard to say No! One little girl kept following us and tugging on my sleeve, I turned and realized she was the little girl that carried Sister Gaya and my baskets 2 weeks ago. So we let her carry my big, green market basket. It was so heavy by the time we finished. She helped me pick out the best produce and also helped me pay. We gave her 2,000 ariarys about $!) and our driver said we paid her too much! But since we can’t give to the beggars it is nice to overpay people that our working and not begging. Of course the driver said she probably took it home to her drunk parents .

Dad’s turn. I am very frustrated with my computer which the battery is almost dead. The charger does not seem to be working, and I may have burned it out with the weird voltage problems. I might have to have you send me one, but I will let you know. Amanda thanks for the help on the blog, but I am having difficulty uploading pictures and the video.

Today we went to a new branch about 20 miles south of town. They meet in a beautiful, old French mansion, with estate gardens and large rooms which the church has rented and converted into a very nice chapel. The people are wonderful. As we drove to the building the streets were thronged with Malagasys in Sunday dress going to church which was such a great feeling to see so many that want to worship God. Also hundreds were lining a large river washing their clothes and drying them on the rocks.

On Thursday we will be having an island conference with all of the missionaries and an area authority. We will have 2 elders staying with us for 2 nights which should be fun. I’m still having trouble balancing the petty cash and I am presently 500,000 ariarys short. I’m sure when the Pres. returns he will be able to help me find my mistake or maybe he will just turn me into a proselyting Elder.

Love you all,Mom & Dad