Sweat, Smiles, and Speeches November 7, 2022
Thank you for your continued support and prayers. We feel the blessings of many prayers. We especially feel thankful to our Father in Heaven and His Son for sustaining us and guiding us.
A full week. I'll share some of the best parts.
Wednesday evening we felt so blessed for the technology that allowed us to view Lauren's funeral. We saw on video many of you. Yet again we witnessed Vera Lyn's amazing faith, despite loss, as she courageously spoke. She stood as a sure witness of trust in God. Equally inspiring were the messages from Tailyn, older sister, and Kenyan, older brother. Our hearts found comfort in seeing and hearing them, knowing that through faith in Christ we are supported in our trials.
We went to LAC on Thursday for their Thanksgiving celebration. Bro. Foday Dukuly Branch 2 Elders Quorum president rode with us.
The LAC group, striving to become a branch, meets in a school. Brother Dukuly spoke about ministering. Ministering is the means by which members look out for one another. Each family is assigned two ministering brothers who ideally keep in regular contact with their families to support and strengthen them. Each adult sister is assigned two ministering sisters who see to her needs and concerns. Bro. Dukuly's message was kind of long, about 90 minutes.Then the full time elders took about 10 minutes to talk about member missionary work. Encouraging members to love, share and invite their friends and neighbors to hear the gospel message.
The meeting was scheduled to start at 10:00, but it was probably 10:30 before we began. Many families were there and lots of children. That group is about 60-65 members. I made 75 cinnamon buns to contribute to their meal. We figured probably 100 plus people came. After the meeting the social/activity part began. A little distance away is a field where the young women played kickball and the men played soccer. All those children who'd been sitting for more than 2 hours were restless. When we saw two boys begin to tussle, we started some circle games. Ring around the Rosies, Froggy in the Meadow, Hokie Pokie, Wheels on the Bus, Do as I'm Doing, everything we could think of. We must have had at least 35 children circling and playing with us all wanting to hold our hands. We played for about 45 minutes or more. The sweat was pouring off of us in gushing rivers. Not because of physical exertion, just because of the heat and humidity. Finally we had to leave so we could get back to Buchanan before dark.
The miracle of that day for me was that while it was a slightly tiresome meeting in a cramped, stuffy, schoolroom, the heat sweltering, and all kinds of elements to contribute to frustration and irritability, I felt nothing but joy, and love for these people. Extra energy and many blessings.
We drove home through part of a rubber tree "plantation" as they call it. We saw trees being "tapped" with little cups attached to them below a slash in the tree where the sap can drip out. The sap is a pale blue color. Fascinating!
I was asked to speak at a young women's program/activity Saturday afternoon . All of my thoughts about what to say in conjunction with the theme "Trust in the Lord" centered around our niece, Lauren. Here in Africa halfway across the world, her exemplary influence was felt. I created a PowerPoint including several photos of Lauren. I felt honored to share the goodness of her life, the lessons we've all learned, and the power of our Savior to carry our sorrows.
Later that evening Alan and I taught a Book of Mormon class. The two branches here are trying to increase doctrinal learning and bolster faith. We've been doing this for 3 weeks now. This is the first one we've taught. We know there is great power in reading the Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ. We know it is truly the word of God. We talked about how the Book of Mormon is the keystone of our religion. If the Book of Mormon is the word of God, then Joseph Smith really was a prophet, and the Church of Jesus Christ of latter-day Saints really is Christ's Church on the Earth today. We shared part of a talk by our president Russell M Nelson, where he promises that if we read the Book of Mormon every day we will make better decisions every day.
Today we were on the road the entire day. We left about 6:45 this morning to help with transfers. Transfers are when missionaries are reassigned to new areas. One of our responsibilities is to help transport missionaries. We were supposed to meet our first contact at 8:30. We got there about 8:45. From the other direction they had terrible traffic delays and didn't get to us until after 11:00. We had another 5 hours of driving after that where we dropped off an elder and picked up another Elder and brought him back here. Tomorrow morning we take three others to Monrovia and pick up two to bring back here to Buchanan. So a couple of long days to start this week. However we enjoy talking with these young men who are very exceptional. They have great stories of faith. They love the people here. They teach us many good things. We appreciate their examples.
We are healthy. We feel increasingly at home. We're learning and growing. Again we thank you for all your support.
Lots of love,
Elder and Sister Erickson
Photos include the activity at LAC, a tapped rubber tree, lower left is the sap cup, cute girls at church, and an attractively painted home.
