11 January 2016

Hi All,

11 January 2016

Salvatore Hakizimana was baptized on Saturday!  He is a neat guy from Brundi that the Elders have been teaching and we have been trying to help him find a job.  He asked me to baptize him which was, of course, an honor.  The Ward was touched with his humble testimony which he bore on Sunday following his confirmation.  Unfortunately, he had to be taken to the hospital after Sunday School because he had an asthma attack and ran out of asthma medication.

Joseph Bizimana got great news this week.  The insurance company is going to pay him $5,700 for his vehicle!  He only paid $3,000 for the vehicle.  There has been a lot of Divine intervention in this: Stopping by to talk to the unhelpful property manager who’s little friend mentioned grace periods for insurance; tree falling on Christmas Eve one day before the grace period expires; receiving a very generous settlement—I looked through Kelley blue book and talked to a claims adjuster in the ward and thought we would be lucky to $3,000. 

We had another hopeful event with Maisha.  Maisha and I went down to the Jail to talk to a Lieutenant whom I had previously talked to.  She was really impressed with Maisha and said she would personally see that his application gets moved along.  It would be great if he could get a job as a Corrections Officer—it pays $16 per hour plus benefits which would allow Maisha to move out of the dump he lives in with his wife, son and new baby girl. 

Joren has returned.  We picked her up at the Logan Airport in Boston and she is staying with a friend.  It will be very difficult to find immediate housing for her.  Once a person leaves the shelter you have to wait for 90 days to get back into the shelter and her 90 day period isn’t up until February.  We looked at an apartment with her this morning and we’re hopeful but there are very limited opportunities.

The Bishop asked us to see what can be done to help another person—Sarah.  She is in her late 60s, has no family and is having a great deal of trouble maintaining her apartment.  We took her to Aging Services this week and hopefully got her some services. 

We are also trying to help Anaclet get a job.  We have been filling out applications but I need to start making some personal contacts when I get time. 

We are enjoying the Temple Preparation classes.  We are teaching a recent convert, Andrew, in his home and this is going great.  We’re also teaching two recently called missionaries—Brian and Sam.  We are also teaching three Africans—Jean, Jean Marie and Evariste 

4 January 2016

Hi All, 

Today is Sandy’s birthday.  She is a wonderfully caring and loving person and I am so happy we are married.  We plan to eat out at a Thai restaurant this evening.

This has been quite the week.  On New Years we got a call that Joren is coming back and she has to come back this week because her Visa will expire the end of the week.  Things have not worked out as hoped for in Utah because Joren could not get the services she needed so she is coming back here where she can get General Assistance and she can get some free legal help to apply for status.  This situation is fraught with problems and issues but it’s Joren’s decision and she will have to find what she needs here in Maine.  We are picking her up at the Boston Logan airport and driving her to her friend’s apartment where she will stay.  She will then have to apply for Asylum and General Assistance immediately.  After discussing this with Sister Edwards and the Ward Council, we all determined that we would drop her off at her friend’s house, who has agreed to let her stay there, and then we will back away from this and have Joren make arrangements.  We’ve spent a sleepless night worrying about this one. 

On more positive notes, we participated in a discussion on Saturday with our old friend John M.  He disappeared after Christmas, we’d invited him over but he didn’t respond to any calls or texts.  He called up on Saturday to say that, once again he quite his job and found a new one much closer to where he lives (Dominos Pizza) so he can walk there.  On Saturday he had time to come over to the house and the Sisters taught him a discussion.  He says he wants to be baptized before Sandy and I go home, but he’ll have to progress a lot before then to make that work. 

We had another discussion with the Sisters with Lisa.  She is an older woman who has made a lot of progress since being taught the Gospel.  We enjoyed being with her. 

We also enjoyed very much teaching the Temple Preparation classes.  In English we are teaching the class to a wonderful recent convert named Andrew Bassford.  He just got called to be the Executive Secy and is so dedicated and faithful.  Anyway, we are going to his home to teach him.  His wife and children are not members so we are hoping these discussions will have a positive impact on his family.  In English we are also teaching a neat young man named Brian Curry who is preparing to go on a mission to France. 

We are also teaching some of our African friends the class—Jean Marie, Evariste and Jean W.  We enjoy teaching them and they just about split a gut laughing when I told them I am looking forward to teaching the Gospel in the next life and want one of them to teach with me. 

We were very pleased to hear that Evariste’s daughter wants to be baptized.  Her father is a faithful member but has not pushed any church on the children.  They have been over to our house several times for dinner and games and on Christmas they really enjoyed playing games, watching the Church’s Christmas video and singing a Christmas song.  They said they would come to church after that.  They did come to church.  I saw them in Primary because I play for the Primary and they both came up to me afterwards and asked for books of Mormon and Emma expressed a desire to be baptized to her Primary teacher. 

We had a different experience this week with one of the people we are working with.  We are helping Pierette learn sufficient English to take the TOEFL.  Her husband who is a Doctor in Africa came here this week and wanted our help in filling out an application form to work for the CDC.  It was interesting to hear a bit about the Congo’s medical system.

We enjoyed doing some apartment inspections this week.

 

Joseph’s car was declared a total wreck.  We are now waiting to hear what they will give him.  We hope it’s enough to help him get into a decent vehicle.

There is a different kind of beauty in the winter here in Maine when it snows which it did this week

My name is Bond, James Bond

. 

27 December 2015

Hi All,

We loved Christmas dinner at our apartment.  We had four of the young missionaries and Joseph Bizimana as well as Evariste and his children Emma and Kenzo.  We enjoyed playing a few games and eating roast beef, but the highlight was showing the Church’s short Christmas video and afterwards singing a Christmas carol together.  There was a wonderful feeling in the room.  Evariste’s children said they wanted to come to church afterwards (Emma has not been baptized though she is ten years old; Evariste doesn’t push them). 

On Christmas Eve we had a party at the Community Center with the people who are learning English.  We made a lot of food and had four different games for fun and learning English.  We also brought notebooks and other things as gifts.  It was very successful.

A disaster occurred on Christmas Eve.  A tree fell on one of our African member’s car (Joseph).  Joseph had an old clunker which is essential to get to work at Walmart (his shift starts at 4 am so the bus is not an option).  Hopefully, we can get the apartment owners and/or insurance to replace this vehicle.  In the meantime, he needs help to get to work.

Also on Christmas Eve, Evariste, Emma and Kenzo dropped in to our house because they thought that the dinner was Christmas Eve, not Christmas Day.  Though in pajamas, we quickly heated up leftovers and played games. 

We had a great discussion with another lady, Kathy, this week.  Sandy met her at the African party at Lillian’s house two weeks ago and Kathy expressed interest.She is a pale face in the apartment with all other africans.  We had her over to the house for dinner and afterwards essentially gave her the Restoration discussion.  She really enjoyed the discussion and said she would come to church and also wondered if we could teach her son.  We didn’t see her at church this week but we think there was a lot going on for Christmas so it’s still very encouraging. 

Earlier in the prior week the Ward had an interdenominational fireside that was great.  We had the Methodists at the church.  Their Pastor gave the opening prayer and they had a little choir that sang songs.  We Mormons had a Choir and our Bishop gave the closing prayer.  It was really a neat evening.  I talked to the Pastor who was very gracious and gave her and several others the link to the Church’s Christmas video.  Several investigators also came—Gizelle and Salvator. 

We were with the missionaries earlier for a lesson with Gizelle.  She is from Burundi.  She was tortured and brutalized and then taken to the woods where both of her legs were broken and was left for dead.  She was able to escape with help.  The discussion went very well and Gizelle seems quite interested. 

We helped Salvatore fill out a Walmart job application.  It took about three hours because Walmart has a psychological test with 65 questions.  He did not understand many of the questions so I had to help  (see I have a purpose here—I help people fill out Walmart job applications).  This is the fourth Walmart job application done at our apartment. 

One of our African members Jean De Dieu gave a moving talk in church about focusing your life on religious things.  He related how when soldiers came to kill his Uncle, his Uncle asked for 10 minutes to sing, “Nearer My God to Thee” and pray for forgiveness for the soldiers.  He was then executed.   Jean reported that several of the soldiers later became Christians after that.  Sounds like the Anti Nephi Lehis, huh?  

7 December 2015

Hi All,

We enjoyed a Saturday evening social with some of our African folks.  Lillian and Jan organized a get together and invited two old people (that’s us).  We ate African food and socialized.  It was great. 

On Sunday Lilian and Anaklet bore their testimonies at church.  I was sitting next to Anaclet and had a feeling I should encourage him to bear his testimony (In the time we’ve been here, no African has spoken in Church or borne testimony).  I was about to lean over and suggest this to him when he got up and bore his testimony.  Lillian also got up and talked about how the Book of Mormon is a light to her and her African friends. 

We had another discussion with Joseph Bizimano and his friends.  I asked Joseph if we could come to his apartment and read the Gospel Principles manual with him for a few minutes since he works on Sundays.  Joseph asked us to teach two of his friends about the church.  With Sandy correcting my imperfections we went through the first discussion and then showed the First Vision.  One of the young men, he is from the Ivory Coast, told us that he has been confused and seeking for some time.  He took a Book of Mormon and said he is interested in learning more.  We will give his name to the Elders.  We really enjoyed the evening.

As we mentioned previously, Joseph was also the source of another teaching—Janvier.  Janvier is coming to church and progressing with a baptismal date. 

We are also accompanying the Elders in teaching a young woman named Felista.  She converted from Muslim to Christian in Tanzania.  She says her parents would kill her so she came to the United States.  She is a very sweet young lady but difficult to read what she is thinking.  She has also been coming to church. 

We’ve been working with another African, Maisha and Azziza, to try to get them another apartment.  They live in very substandard housing and are expecting another baby in December.  We’ve been getting them to fill out applications for Section 8 housing and public assistance housing.  We’ve also been looking on the websites to help them.

 

We’ve enjoyed the English classes.  We have one at a Community Center and another with several of our African sisters to help them learn Gospel language.  I enjoy doing it and also continue to improve my French. 

We visited with a woman and her son in Scarborough this week.  She is going through a divorce right now and is a bit lost and confused.  Hopefully, we can help. 

Some of the African dishes we’ve enjoyed and want to try are: Sambusa, Fufu, Isombe (Kasava Leaf Stew).

  

30 November 2015

Hi All,

We had two lovely Thanksgiving dinners—one at 4 pm with the young Sisters and another at 7 pm with Evariste and his two children as well as Elders King and Lawrence.  The Turkey was soaked in brine the night before and when we ate it, it was very succulent; even the white meat was very tender.  We enjoyed chatting with the young Sisters.  We also enjoyed playing games with Evariste and his two children as well as the Elders.  Evariste’s wife is in hiding somewhere in Uganda (?); Evariste has the two children Kenzo and Emma.  These children were delightful to be with. 

We also had a delicious Anniversary dinner at a Thai restaurant in South Portland.  It was to die for.

 

We took Jan to Higgins Beach last Monday and, can you believe it, there were surfers.  It was fun to watch them and good that Jan could get out of Portland and see some of the beautiful sites in this state.  This Monday, Sandy and I went to a beautiful beach called Kettle Beach. 

Sunday we taught Gospel Principles and had a good discussion.  One of the Sisters, Lillian, laughed so hard at something I said I thought she was going to explode.  See, I have a purpose—I provide comic relief….

We are assisting the Elders teach a man from Birundi, Janvier.  He has a baptism date and is making good progress.  We are also assisting the Elders in teaching a young from Tanzania—Felista.  She became a Christian and because her parents were Muslim, she said they wanted to kill her so she fled.  She is almost child-like in her faith.  Both came to Church and enjoyed it.  

By the way, here is a picture of the pond by our apartment without the beautiful fall leaves:

23 November 2015

Hi All,

We had a wonderful visit to the Temple.  We took two missionaries, Elders Harper and Johnson, and three African members, Anaclet, Beatrice, and Jane, to the Boston Temple for Baptisms for the dead.  The three of them brought names of their relatives.  This was particularly meaningful to Anaclet because he had the names of his parents and his brother who had all been killed.  While waiting for our turn to do the baptisms, I went out and got some scriptures.  Anaclet told me when he opened his scriptures they opened to D&C 138 verse 30 which talks about the Savior sending missionaries to spirits in the spirit world.  This was very meaningful to him.

We had several good meetings this week.  On Tuesday we had an appointment to visit Joseph Bisimano—we wanted to read from the Gospel Principles manual since he has to work on Sundays.  When we got to his home, two of his friends were there and wanted to learn about the Church.  Sandy did a wonderful job explaining the First Vision and I piped in occasionally.  Joseph’s two friends, Janvier and Olivier, have been taking the discussions from the Elders and Janvier has been coming to church.

Later in the week, Joseph came over for dinner.  He told us his sad history in Burundi.  He was a deputy mayor in his village and disagreed with the ruling party.  He had to flee for his life and his wife and children are in Uganda in a refugee camp.  He hopes to bring them over sometime in the future (how you can do this making $9 an hour at Walmart, is difficult to imagine).  Later, we helped him move to a different  apartment which is actually quite a bit better than the one he was living in.

We’ve been reading about Burundi and the wars between Hutu and Tutsi (Joseph is a Tutsi) which have caused the deaths of over 300,000 people so far.  President Obama also made an impassioned plea to the Burundi government which is on YouTube.  

We also had dinner with Susan Chinchette and the Relief Society President at our house.  Susan has been an active member in times past but is somewhat afraid of commitment.  We ate a lovely dinner.  She said she wants to learn French so we invited her to our Gospel Principles class.   Also, we are going to invite her to listen to the discussions in French.

We also had a good evening with another inactive, Bonnie Kline.  She was active at one time but with the death of her husband and caring for her mother she feels overwhelmed and just doesn’t feel she can do anymore.  She is interested in painting so Sandy might be able to encourage this and she would still enjoy visits.

We had another entertaining discussion with a less active, Eileen Ladeau.  Her family is active out west but she just doesn’t feel it.  She is very interested in ghosts and spirits.  She says there is a ghost in her house and she has used a pet clairvoyant.  Next time we visit we’ll have some scriptures and teachings of the Presidents on this subject.  By the way, we are dying to see her “ghost meter” that she tells us indicates when there is a ghost. 

Another of our African members, Evariste, is looking for a part-time job.  I called Walmart again and they would love to interview him so we hope this will be another happy Walmart employee.

We’ve also started another English class with Jane, Beatrice and Aziza to help them learn religious terms.

We had a lovely Ward dinner this week.  Someone sent some clothes for the African members and so we set them out for people to take.  It was a successful day.

As part of our work with Catholic charities we are helping a lady, Pierette, study for the TOEFL.  This tests your ability to understand and converse in English at a College level.  Sandy primarily works with her.  She is a lovely person and I wouldn’t be surprised if she eventually wants to learn more about the Church.

Our English class at the Community Center is going well.  We are getting a system down that seems to work well.  Doing this also helps me with my French.

Sandy and I also went to Higgins Beach this past week looking at the Ocean and the beach.  It was very relaxing.  We bumped into a young mother from the Ward with three children.  I actually think she enjoyed talking with adults for a few minutes rather than just with the little ones.

We taught the Gospel Principles class this week.  It went well.  Sandy does great job.  

9 November 2015

Good things have been happening. 

Joren got baptized on Friday and immediately left for Utah.  She asked me to confirm her and it was a very spiritual experience for me.  Joren gave a lovely testimony based on Matthew where Jesus says “if you’ve done it unto the least, you’ve done it unto me”.  Joren expressed appreciation for everything people have done for her and afterwards sent us a text with kind words.

John M. also got a job this week.  He is working at Ruby Tuesdays!  This is a big step—as we mentioned he’s had an addiction problem.  He’s been working hard and actually got another job also.  He’s really trying to straighten his life out and get back with his wife and daughter.  It is very difficult because he’s dug quite a hole for himself.  For instance, he applied for an apartment and the background check came back and he was denied.  He’s living at a motel where they don’t do background checks. 

Joseph Bizimano got the job at Walmart! He texted us about how happy he was to get the job.  He needs money to support him and send back to his family in a refugee camp in Uganda.  I can’t imagine anyone in the family rejoicing because they got a job at WalMart.

 

I went to a Zone Conference this week held at the Joseph Smith birthplace (Sandy went to Brandon’s baptism).  A General Authority, Brent Nielsen—Karla’s brother-in-law—and his wife made an excellent presentation.  His wife compared kids going out of the home and marrying with getting new companions.  She made the point that the in-laws don’t have to follow the culture that was in the Nielsen home to be loved and accepted obviously comparing this to mission companions.  Brent talked about working with members and his experiences.  He also pointed out that Joseph Smith learned as he translated the Book of Mormon.  For instance, after translating the comments in the Book of Mormon about infant baptism, he went to Emma and comforted her with this news as they’d recently lost a child.  That evening the Senior couples got together and had a dinner.  Brent and his wife talked to me about how grateful they are to have Karla as a Sister-in-law.

Bruce and Connie Latham came down for a short visit and we had them eat dinner with one of our African members, Anaclet, at our apartment.  We enjoyed the evening a lot and hope things will go well for Bruce and Connie.

We also did apartment inspections.  We enjoy the visiting with the Missionaries and seeing this beautiful countryside.  We’ve set up an incentive program which we’re hoping will improve the cleanliness of a few of the apartments. 

I had a spiritual experience last night.  I went to pick up a young man to assist in giving a blessing requested by a member.  As I was driving past a street I felt I needed to stop by an inactive we’ve been trying to visit for a while.  We’d been by several times and called.  We knew someone was there but wasn’t answering so we’d written them off.  I dropped by the house (I was alone since Sandy was still in Utah).  The woman answered the door and was very kind.  We set up a time to come back the following week. 

Also, when I got back from the blessing, I felt I should text one of our African members, Norbert, who had gone to Texas.  He texted back that he couldn’t find the church.  I contacted the Bishop who will set up someone to pick him up.  Norbert genuinely wants to do good—he is endowed and wants to be faithful and active.

Also, while trying to contact a less active, we talked to the handyman working on her house.  He was very interested in Genealogy and had also just been talking with his son about life after death.  We talked a lot and gave him a Book of Mormon and other contact information.  Hopefully, he’ll be interested. 

Hope everyone is doing well....