Well, well, well . . .

Well, they say that the rainy season will soon be upon us. So far we have had rain a couple of nights. It is definitely a differently kind of rain. It sounds pretty loud when it is falling and comes down in pretty big drops. They say that when it really gets raining that it will look like a bucket of water is being dumped. The city is getting ready for the rain. As we travel around, they are cleaning out the deep gutters that run along some of the streets--especially where the rain tends to pool in. As the city is built on hills, the water is going to run down to the lowest spot. As it so happens from what I can tell, it will be in the area where we are assigned to go to church. We are told that one elder last year went up to about his knees when he misstepped. The elders have raincoats, but they get as hot and wet when they wear them as if they left them off. It really isn't great for the shoes. It will be interesting to say the least. In the mean time, it is amazing how far you can see from the hilltop we go up for exercise in the morning. The rain has cleaned the air so much that you can see for quite a distance.

We have been able to do a little exploring lately. Last week the mission president's son and his wife were in town so we went on a little trip out into the country. We went to see some wells that are being dug for some of the local villages. We are told that they dig them by hand. They are six feet in diameter. They dig them straight down. They use sticks tied together to keep them round. They dig them down from 20 to 60 feet. When they hit water, they will start the process of using concrete. There is a form that they use, and concrete is added in various stages. (don't know exactly how the whole process is done.) All the dirt and concrete goes up and down with a bucket. When you look down into the well, it is hard to believe that it is actually done by hand as it looks so perfectly round. The wells are a lifeline for the villages as it seems that a good portion of the day is spent hauling water. As you drive past the wells, you can see lines formed as people wait with the containers to get the water. It is amazing to watch children walking up and down the hills with the containers on their heads. I honestly don't down how they do it. As I have walked up some of the paths they walk, I have to have my head down making sure I don't fall. They just walk up it like it isn't a problem at all.

As you can see in the picture below, the wells we were going to were nearing the ocean and flat area. This gives you a good idea of what the area looks like.

Near the source of water, you will always see a variety of activites going on--washing clothes, getting the water into containers, bathing, etc. You have to sometimes be careful at what time of the day you go around such areas as the level of dress (or undress) is not considered a high priority. It makes us more uncomfortable than it makes them, however. It is a way of life for them and one that is totally foreign to them.

Below is a picture of one of the wells before it is cemented.

Here it is when it is complete. It is a very simple well but fulfills the need. As we walked around, the people would come over and ask when and if the Church is going to do another one for them.

The greatest need in the country is to try to get the people to come up with industries that can produce a product that can be sold and provide a source of income for the individual as well as the family. One of the things that a little village that is located next to the ocean is trying is to produce salt. They shovel the dirt/sand that has been covered by the ocean at high tide. They will put the dirt into a shifter where they put water through the dirt. They will get it to the point where they start boiling it down until they get the salt crystals. (again I don't know all the details, but it fascinating that all is done by hand). I don't know how they developed the process, but they are producing it to try and provide an industry for their village. Below is a picture of the water being boiled in order to develop the crystals.

When you go to the villages, the children will all come around. Sister Peterson, one of the senior missionaries here, goes quite frequently into the villages as her husband is the one directly responsible for overseeing the wells. Here she is trying to get the little children to dance. All they did, however, was laugh at her. They giggled and giggled as Elder Jones looks on.

Elder Jones (Blaine) looks at at the ocean near the little fishing village. It is the same village where they do the salt. They had one man who was at the cold storage place. The storage unit was run by a generator. There weren't any fish in there at the time, but they had many trays that it looked like were used to hold the fish while they were put into the storage unit. What they do with it, we weren't able to understand. You should know that even though this is an English speaking country, it is not spoken exactly the same as we pronounce. It can be very difficult at times to try to understand. Many times when asking people their names, we will ask them to spell it. It usually turns out that it is some simple name like Andrew or Thomas, but you certainly could have fooled me.

This little excursion took the morning of our preparation day. We then drove back to Freetown at which time Elder Peterson (one of the senior missionaries) got sick. We figured it was malaria as he had quite a few of the symptoms. The next day his wife wasn't feeling very well. By the end of the week, I was feeling some of the symptoms (but not as badly as the other couple). We all took the malaria medication that is prescribed. We were told that when you experience the symptons (which are alot like the flu) you think malaria and start treating it as such. The medication that you take won't cause you any problem if it isn't malaria and will help keep the sickness from becoming very bad if you do have it. So I don't know whether I really had it, but was glad to get over the weekend and start feeling better.

They don't do Mother's day here. I had gone into Primary to help where I could. They didn't have anyone for the music, so we say a few songs about Mother's and I encouraged them to give their mother's a hug when they got home. It is hard at times to try to relate to their lifestyle and know how to reach them with certain concepts. It was also interesting while in Primary to see the difference in their teaching methods. For the lesson they wrote a list of things on the board and then had the children repeat them as the teacher read them 3-4 times. The teacher then had the older children take turns one at a time coming up and reading the list one item at a time and have the entire Primary repeat after them. The children were then given a piece of paper and told to write the list on their paper--with proper heading. I am told that is how they are taught in the schools and so is perfectly normal for the children. The children were very cooperative. When discipline was needed, the children would be moved around--just like we do at home. There was no discussion just obedience. One other thing that is interesting is that the teacher will occasionally stop and talk directly to one individual asking "do you understand"? The individual will be quizzed about what they understand about the topic. I hope to be able to serve in the primary fairly often. It was fun to be with them. They definitely like to sing even though there is no piano to accompany them. Most singing is done accappella--even the choir numbers.

Oh, I should tell you that Elder Jones has met his goal of running to the top of the peak. He wanted to accomplish that before the rainy season started. I can't say that Sister Jones has done as well, but that's okay it wasn't her goal!!! I will say that it is during our runs/walks that we have made contact with people who will invite us to talk to them. We have a man who walks up to the top of the hill in order to work as a security guard at the cell phone towers who invited us today to visit him on Saturday morning. We also have shared the gospel with a Nigerian lady who were met while exercising. We actually gave her a copy of the Book of Mormon. She is gone to Nigeria for a few weeks. We will hope to talk to her more when she gets back. She went there for her brother's wedding--which is an interesting event from her telling. She is going to bring back a DVD to show us the whole process. We do find it a great pleasure to say hello to the people as we meet them--many of the same faces every day. They seem to look as forward to seeing us as we do them. Their faces just light up when you say hello or stop to ask them their name or exchange pleasantries for a moment.

We miss our family, friends and familiar things but are certainly glad for the experience to come and work with these wonderful people. It is a different culture, but they are children of Heavenly Father also. They have great faith in Him. We are so glad for the opportunity to share with them our testimonies of the gospel of Jesus Christ as they share theirs with us.