Thursday, April 2
No Internet access this afternoon so I will type a word document and then copy and paste it to email. I am actually learning to do a few things on the computer!! We gave away our first wheelchair this afternoon to a man named Fred Raini. That gave a boost to our day. He had one leg amputated in 2007 due to an infection of some sort. He has been walking with arm crutches but that is difficult for him. He was very grateful. He is an investigator at the Enterprise Branch. The branch president took us to Fred’s home. Fred told us that now he could get to church easier and that he would be attending more regularly now.
The branch president also took us to the meagre of homes of two children who need wheelchairs - a girl of about four and a boy that is seven. We don’t have wheelchairs small enough for them. We will have to see what we can do – we will email the lady in charge of wheelchairs in SLC and see what we can do. Actually we only have 4 wheelchairs left so we need to get some more.
Turners were looking into a place in Malawi that may be able to manufacture them there and it would save a lot of shipping costs – if the chairs are acceptable. It is looking pretty positive. We would be able to get so many each month instead of waiting for containers of 250 at a time. Lots of children living in the area that are in obvious need of better clothing, etc. They like to have their pictures taken and then see themselves. That makes them smile and laugh. Just a note about this branch president: He is 27 yrs. old and told us that he is hoping to get married this year. His girl is the only member in her family and he must pay a dowry to her parents of about $1000 U.S. He is hoping to be able to do that. He is also hoping that with this next generation that this tradition can be changed. We have another bishop that is 24 yrs. Old. He is married and they are expecting a baby. These young men have served missions and are becoming the leaderhip here – good men!
We have felt a little discouraged lately – still trying to figure things out. I went to bed last night feeling frustrated – can’t seem to get/keep the paperwork in some semblance of order. I prayed for help and I woke up this morning and knew what I needed to do; so I got up and started working on it. After about an hour the zesa (electricity) went off so I opened up the curtains and had enough light to carry on. Jim got up shortly thereafter and we worked until about noon but I think we finally have the paperwork organized and know where things are. I don’t know that it is perfect yet but it will definitely help us.
A couple of people have ask about sending seeds or whatever over here. We can use almost anything here but a huge need in the wards/branches is white shirts/ties for Aaronic Priesthood boys (new or good used ones). So if anyone wants a project – we can use all you can send. According to Pres. Nield we could use hundreds, if not thousands of them- but any at all would be wonderful. We got some that came but they are large (like men’s 18 and 20) and they seldom need any that large – the smaller ones went really fast to only one branch.
Friday, April 3rd
We have been helping Pres. Nield and his workers unload his container and load it into other vehicles to be taken to a hospital and to an eye doctor and a dentist. There were a lot of medical supplies. His daughter also took some things to an orphanage and even with all that there is still a lot left to deal with. There are a lot of used clothes still – they will finish cleaning stuff out on Monday to make room for our container full that should be arriving. I was telling Jim yesterday that it would be fun to carry something with us and when we see little kids (just 2 or 3 at a time) we could just pull over and give to them. If there is a crowd of them, like always is the case, when we visit places, we can’t ever have enough of something. We will see what we can figure out to give when our container comes.
The driving continues to be an adventure at times. We just pray every day that we will be safe as we travel. Jim says I should drive but I haven’t gotten brave enough yet – I suppose I should though just in case something was to happen and I needed to drive us home.
Hope you are all fine and doing okay.
Love, Elder & Sister Bullock, Mom/Dad, Jim/Nancy
Thanks for sharing the pictures Nancy and your letters with regards to an answer to your prayer about the paper work. IT gives me good goosebumps.
ReplyDeleteAnd thanks for letting us know about the needs over there for shirts and ties.
Hi. I was just talking with our son Corey and he says he wants to collect the white shirts and ties for the people over there for his Venture Scout Service project.
ReplyDeleteI will help him spread the word asking for donations.
We have a few questions and you can just e-mail us with the details WHEN you have the time. No rush. We will just get things started at this end.
Questions:
What is the best way to send them? Several small packages? Or one large one? Do we send them directly to you? How long will it take for them to arrive?? Any other details would be helpful. Thanks! We appreciate the opportunity to help out in some small way. We sure are blessed over here.
Dear Elder & Sister Bullock & Family reading the blog: Imagine driving for 45 or 50 years on the right side of the road. Now try driving, turning and parallel parking on the left side of the road, from a position on the right side of the car, with a gear shifter in your left hand. It takes a long time to change your brain around. At the Area Offices in Johannesburg where we and Elder & Sister Ward are assigned in Area Auditing, we sisters also have not taken the wheel yet. In fact, of 14 couples, only one sister drives now, though we all drove back in the States.
ReplyDeleteElder & Sister Alan & Laurie Johnson
of Saratoga Springs, UT & Detroit, MI