Yeaaaah!! The fourth of July was fun and we had a simple celebration. In between lessons, the sister missionaries and us got a scoop of ice cream and sang the national anthem very quietly. I got rocky road. One average scoop of ice cream is like 220 dollars! Worth it though! We had a good dinner that consisted of (for me) a burger and fries, baked beans, watermelon, and one can of root beer. It was better than last year up in Arizona even though we had some fireworks then. I don't know why I enjoyed this one more.
I'm excited for the crock pot and can't wait to see what recipes I have at my command soon! thank you Thank You THANK YOU mom and dad!!!! :) I've built a small essentials pantry and it is sufficient for my needs lol. Nothing like at home. The food for transfers won't be a big deal, spices and dry stuff get carted and whatever perishables aren't eaten get left. They give you a few days to prep for that.
The mosquitoes aren't bad, just annoying. Our windows on our house don't have screens and the landlord is in the states. The backup landlord might be dead cause we haven't seen him for months and the yard isn't being cared for anymore...so yeah...we are supposed to be getting screens... We just stay in the fans at home and the skeets aren't a problem. During the day mosquitoes aren't a problem really. I'm doing better and yeah I think it was food that got me but the rest of the missionaries are getting Zika virus from skeet bites. I hope I stay healthy I was just sick last week you know!
Our power went out this last week on Tuesday. We got home to make lunch and the freezer was off. None of the lights worked either. We promptly called the sisters to pick up our perishables to bring to their fridge after cooking some food and having additional study and hoping that after two hours the power would go back on. So for two or three days we had no fridge food...it was not the worst part though! No power = no fans to cool you down and keep mosquitoes away! We were miserable!
The last 3 Saturdays we have been helping President Francis's old Pentecostal church build on to their building. Mixing big piles of concrete with shovels and carting it around in buckets and placing mortar and cinder blocks all over, it's hard work. You aren't a man until you do this kind of work. :)
President Francis in the shot! Elder Gardner on the left.
The missionary work is slow right now. Our whole district is struggling to find people to teach and our branch is falling apart a bit. We're trying our hardest to get pioneer work done to get a good baseline. We don't have anything to work with really. I have faith that we can bring it up though. There are people out there who are waiting for this message and we just need to find them. I love being out here even though it can be tough at times. The stronger the wind, the stronger the tree, right? Our top investigator is Sandy and she is working toward August 1st for her baptism date. She has learned a lot and is reading the Book of Mormon on her own for her own answers to her own questions. She hasn't made it to church on time yet but soon come. She is great and seems ready for the gospel. Were going to start commandments and repentance soon and we're going over to her house tomorrow morning for some service and to learn how to make banana fritters! I've tried to make them once but don't know how to compare since I've not had the real thing.
