2 Feb 2016

We had a family night with our African folks this past week.  We had a dinner, short lesson and then some games.  We played Pictionary.  They laughed so hard I thought some people were going to loose it. 

We had a Temple Prep lesson where our three Africans laughed so hard one had to get a tissue to wipe away the tears.  We told them about treating the clothes with respect and dignity.  One said what should I say to my wife who is not a member?  We told him to give her the Temple pamphlet.  He said but she’ll keep on asking, what am I going to say?  The other two laughed so hard about his wife continuing to nag him about it.

We visited our friend who is a ghost seeker.  She showed us her “Ghost Meter” that measures when a ghost is present.  We taught her about the plan of salvation and read statements about what the prophets have said about the spirit world.  We actually enjoyed being with her because she is a humble, believing person.

We had our biggest class ever with English.  Over 10 people showed up to our English class.  It reminds us of Albania where we eventually got to over 30 people at the class and a referral to the missionaries every week.  One person who was at the class, Jay, came to Church this past week and enjoyed it.  Another couple (Francois and Michelin) and their son (Andrew) are coming over this week for dinner and a lesson with the Elders.

We had another good lesson about the Plan of Salvation as part of the Temple class with Joseph B.  I feel that God helped me with the words because they came out so clearly.

In addition to trying to find an apartment for Joren, we are helping Aziza and Maisha find an apartment.  They are easier because they have income and so are eligible for more programs.  In fact, it looks like we have a very good shot at one already. 

We continue with the Soup Kitchen atmosphere of feeding Africans and Elders.  We do at least 3 meals a week. 

Below are pictures of a walk we took at Kettle Beach this week. 

25 January 2016

Hi Everyone, 

We had a good discussion with Joseph.  The Bishop wanted us to meet with him to teach him about the Temple but he works on Sundays.  We went to his apartment on Sunday late afternoon to talk Temple preparation.  I was able to discuss the law of tithing with him clearly and understandably in French according to Sandy though there were grammatical errors.  I felt the influence of the Holy Spirit there.  I think the Lord has great things for Joseph through faithfulness on his part.

We met with the Human Resource people at Mercy Hospital and they were quite positive about opportunities for Phlebotomists, CNAs and MA.  We are hopeful that  some of these will pan out in jobs for our people.

We had good discussions with Janvier, Joren and Jan this week at our apartment.  We enjoy dinner and a discussion.  It was particularly good to have Joren and her boys to dinner.  The boys are active, inquisitive little folks who really enjoy the visit. 

We have not yet resolved Joren’s apartment issue.  I tried to get an appointment with General Assistance to understand more about the program and how we can help Joren better but the GA people are closed and difficult to talk to, unlike the Refugee Assistance and Public Housing people we’ve dealt with.  We’ve asked Joren to make an appointment with her GA counselor and we will go in with her.

We had the missionaries at our apartment this week for pizza during the regularly scheduled district meeting.  The meeting was an all missionaries in the world broadcast from Salt Lake.  We heard from some high powered general authorities and it was good.

If you look carefully you'll see an image of the Zumwalt class destroyer which is the new stealth destroyer they are building at Bath.  I've read about this and the technology is very interesting.  This picture is taken on a bridge looking at the Bath works.  

We did apartment inspecting including Belfast and Bath.  In Belfast we ate lunch with another couple, the Seamons, who are in a remote location in Maine.  They do inspections and we meet up once a month for lunch.  Listening to their experiences reminds me of our experiences where there are very few resources out here and a huge number of needs.  If we had the resources of a Bountiful or Farmington Ward out here it would be great.  As it is, the missionaries bring in wonderful folks but they often bring with them a lot of problems requiring a huge number of resources.  The wards and branches are already limited in the resources they can offer. 

18 January 2016

Hi,

We had an excellent discussion with Janvier this week.  He is a very thin man from Brundi.  He is sincere and thoughtful, but is having trouble quitting smoking.  We had dinner and a discussion at our house this week with him and Elder Hales and Webb, and Sandy and I both really enjoyed it.

We also had lunch and a discussion at our house this week with the Sisters and John McCauley.  The Sisters gave him a chart of things he has to do before he can get baptized.  This was perfect for him. 

We had a good dinner with Joren this week as well as looking for an apartment with her. Apartments are hard to come by but with persistence I’m sure she’ll get one.

We are going to miss our apartment inspections and the District Meetings when we are gone.  We enjoy traveling in Maine and visiting with the missionaries.  We have very much enjoyed being with the young missionaries in their weekly district meetings.  The meetings are organized well and uplifting to all.  We also feed them and appreciate their enthusiasm and dedication. 

Pictures were taken on the "Eastern Trail" which goes from one of Maine to the other and on into other states.  

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).