Week 31 - Feeli Feeli, No more Leaky-Leaky, Movies & Lead with style

FEELI-FEELI

Eventually, all roads in foreign countries lead to Kentucky Fried Chicken!  It's a well known establishment and fairly consistent around the world.  And to date, we have not been disappointed.  Yesterday we had a little Feeli Feeli Meal.  There are billboards around town advertising it as Feeli Feeli Feeli Feeli Feeli... so we had to try it!!  It was great to have a little taste of homeland food.  It was not disappointing!

       

LEAKY-LEAKY

Our shower floor has had some serious problems since we arrived many months ago.  It was an old plastic pan and unfortunately, did not have a solid foundation underneath, so over time had cracked in more used and stressful areas.  We weren't sure anything could really/or would really be done about it, so just put up with it until we could no longer stand the pain.  LOL!  The shower floor had several cracks in it, so when standing in the shower, the cracks would pinch the bottom of your feet and hold on!  I tried taping it for a while to get us by.  The leaking below also created piles of water outside the shower.  We hated to think what must be lurking under that shower pan with stagnate water sitting for months on end.  We reported it and luckily, the management team took fairly swift action.  Within a few days, we had a new shower floor made of tile, with a firm foundation.  We are so happy with the outcome!  Wahoo!!

                   

GUILTY PLEASURES
Senior missionaries need some down time on the weekends!  One of our favorite things to do after all the Saturday chores of laundry and shopping, and Jordan gardening on the patio, is to occasionally go to a movie!  The theaters here are a step back in time for sure, but we are just grateful there is one!  So far we've seen:  A Man Called Otto, Dungeons & Dragons, Guardians of the Galaxy, Little Mermaid, Indiana Jones & Mission Impossible.  Yesterday was no exception and we finally got away for a movie called Grand Tourismo.  Just as the movie was to hit the final climax, everything went black and the power was gone.  As there were only 4 of us in the theater, we laughed and waited for about 10 min.  Finally, the theater team was able to restore the film to an earlier time in the movie, so we could once again, roll into the heroic moment of truth without interupption.  Gotta love Africa!!

Clearly posted in the movie theater foyer are these rules:

LEADING WITH STYLE

We have some sweet young women who lead the music in Sacrament meeting and do a great job.  We particularly love this little gal Liberty.  She has a flare and movement that cannot be replicated.  It is awesome and sometimes we forget to sing because we love watching her.  Had to capture the moment today!  

FINAL THOUGHTS FOR THE DAY

When possible, we tune in each Sunday evening for our Alpine 6th Ward meetings being held in Utah.  We usually get our dinner ready and sit on the couch in our pajamas to watch and listen.  It keeps us feeling connected to our ward family.  We see missionaries coming and going, hear awesome new members of the ward be introduced, watch callings change and move here and there.  Helps us feel like we aren't missing a huge part of our lives by falling behind for 18 mos and not knowing the dynamics.  We are grateful our ward continues to Zoom the meetings every week.  

Today, we were blessed to tune in to Stake Conference.  Our dear stake presidency of many many years were released and a new stake presidency were called.  I'm reminded how wonderful it is to have patterns within our church that allow many individuals to serve and grow in various callings.  We look forward to learning from this new group.  

There were 2 visiting area authorities.  Here are some things I gathered today:

Elder Thomas B. Morgan - Consider where you are on the covenant path. Don't be too concerned with where you are on the path that you forget the most important thing... that wherever you are on the path, be firmly planted and sure-footed and walking forward.  Be ALL IN!  Come unto Christ with full purpose of heart!  Cheerfully do all things in our power to serve God.  Then stand back and watch God do His work, with utmost assurance that all will be guided under His Hand.  

As disciples of Christ, we: 

-Love God more than anything

-Love all people

-Make covenants

-Accept callings

-Serve in temples doing family history and redeeming the dead

-Repent daily

-Show kindness to family and others

-Be quick to forgive and apologize

-Have actions that model the Savior's life

Be ALL IN the gospel of Jesus Christ!  He knows us, loves us, and will heal us.

Elder Michael T. Ringwood - In Acts 27, Paul is on a ship in a storm.  The people were afraid.  Paul reminds them to Be of Good Cheer and that they will be safe if they stay on the ship.  They cast down 4 anchors to weather the storm.  Consider the achors we have in our life that keep us safe and anchored in the gospel of Jesus Christ?  I would like to talk about one such anchor.

Sacred Hymns of the gospel - Hymns allow us to sing praises to our God.  There is power in the hymns.  Be joyful and sing!  Experience the spirit of God that comes through the messages in the hymns.  Hymns can lift us, inspire us, give us courage and console those who are mourning. The hymns teach us the gospel, so don't just sing, but listen to the teachings within them.  

Sing the songs of redeeming love!  While singing, the spirit can speak to us, inspiring our minds and hearts with messages from our Savior and Heavenly Father.  There are so many beautiful messages.  Messages of truth.

God communicates His love to us through the sacred hymns of the gospel. 

We love our time here in Africa!  We love and miss our family and friends back home!  But we continue to know that we are here for a purpose and will continue to serve as best we can.  Thank you for your love and support!!!

💓💛💚