Happy Late Easter

Dear Family and Friends,

Happy Late Easter

What a wonderful day yesterday. The conference talks were filled with things that I personally needed for the next six months. Did you hear all the talks about strengthening families? It gave me reason to pause, wondering if we could have done better in some areas and hoping my children heard what they need for their families.

We had so many visitors at the church to hear the prophet. When they hear there is a prophet on the earth at this time, they are very curious. It will be fun to hear what many of them thought. We asked them to pray to know if the things taught were true. We set up two computers. The Branch President brought a projector and we showed conference in French on a big wall in the chapel, (and then Creole when we discovered it was available), and the other room we hooked up a to a TV and showed it in English.

Pierre Paul...picture 1

We found out last night that Pierre Paul is going home in the next few weeks. We have waited and known that some would leave. With things so hard here and with new hope for Haiti, we think it is only a matter of time before more go home. We will miss him as he is so very faithful. He has a wife and two children and it is best that he be there with them. Mike feels the reason these men are here is to learn the gospel and then go home and be leaders of the church in Haiti.

Teacher Mama

I was visiting a little while ago and ran into some people from English class. I was introducing them and they called me “Teacher Mama”. I took that as a compliment. They love their moms and revere them.....so to be called “Teacher Mama,” was so sweet. (Simple joys of life).

Dogs

Every morning I wake up and go for a walk as soon as it is light enough to see. The first part of the walk is along the dirt road that runs into our street. I worry about dogs and people that live in the bushes. Last week a dog ran up to me, teeth barred, and barking. He hit my leg with this teeth, but actually did not bite me. I yelled and screamed at him, picking up a rock, and he ran away. Anyway since then I have been more aware and carry rocks when I get close to where he lives.

Then there is this dog who lives at the end of our little street. At first it would bark at me every time I went by. I did not like it because it would chase and bark every morning. I started carrying a stick for it and the many other dogs around the neighborhood. I carried that stick for a few weeks until I finally made friends with it. Now it bounds out to meet me and is such a sweet little dog. I laugh at it because it does so many funny things. Well, Yesterday morning, as I was on my way home, I saw it ahead of me, probably a hundred feet, and did not think anything about it. As I rounded the corner, something literally landed on my back leg and about knocked me over. The dog had been crouching down waiting for me and when I went past and turned my head, he pounced on me. He is so funny. In that way he is more like a cat than a dog. He wanted to play. Scared me to death!

Haitian Party picture 2,3.4

Last night after conference we were invited to Claud’s for dinner. We were very excited because 1) It meant I did not have to cook and 2) because we were really hungry and 3) we have tried to fellowship his family since we have been here. His sister and brother in law have been coming to church for the last while and we are hoping to see them baptized. None of his family had come to conference because they were all at home cleaning and cooking. Well we got there and had no idea it was not just dinner but a huge party. There was more food than I have ever seen at any ward party. (There was no alcohol, no smoking, no coffee. The biggest sin was Coke.....). There were probably only 25 people there but there was enough food for 125. When it was over everyone filled up styrofoam food holders and took enough home for at least one more day. I have no idea how much money they spent on that dinner, but it was huge. We felt honored to be a part. We asked if this was Haitian parties were like. They answered yes. We loved the food, the new people we met, and the sweet spirit that was there.

Aprive told us yesterday that when we left he would cry tears. I tried to tell him we weren’t leaving for a long time. He is the one that makes us laugh every time we talk to him. One of the problems of a language barrier is that often we don’t really know these men like we would like, what they think and feel. He is one that we wish we knew better.

We love you all. Have a great week!