Saturday, April 18th

Hi,

Just a quick update. We spent the morning our at a stake girl's camp - they had 214 girls in attendance - they appeared to have had a great time. Pres. Nield's daughter was running things and she was really good at it.

YW Camp 2009 - Highlands Stake

The camp was in a nice spot about 45 minutes from Harare at a dam. The story is that a few years ago when the war veterans were taking farm land - they took over one that was a game farm and a crocodile farm. They released 5000 young crocs into the lake and then later when the farmer came back to his land he could only recover 300 of them so..... I don't think I would want to swim in that lake! People do waterski, boat etc. though.

the lake with the crocodiles

Jim with some of the Young Women having a rock throwing contest

One of the leaders had her baby there so she showed me how to wrap him onto my back. It really is a good idea - hands free to do other things. They also carry big loads on their heads at the same time. I saw a lady with a baby wrapped on her front and one on her back as well.

Nancy learning how to carry baby's African-style

Yesterday we met with a lady and we gave her a couple of cases of soap to take to some people that she looks out for. Jim put the soap (25 kg. case) into her trunk and she put one in as well. After she said to me: I notice that people from America do things differently; the men lift heavy things and the women don't. She had noticed that I didn't help with the soap. I told her that usually that is the case and commented that I have noticed in Africa that it is the women who lift heavy things and do hard work. She said that is true and that women regularly will carry a 20 ltr. pail of water on their head. It amazes me that they can even get it up on their heads. It is truly amazing all the different things you see them carry on their heads and how they can balance the load. They obviously have very strong necks and backs -- they do have very good posture!

The theme this morning at the YW stake camp was chastity. They really talked strong to the girls about HIV/Aids and sexual abuse. It is a huge problem here and they want the girls to feel like they can stand up for themselves and say No. They are taught to be obedient and respectful to their parents and elders and sometimes these are the ones that the abuse comes from.

If a man gets AIDS the village chiefs tell them to have sex with a virgin and it will cure them - usually the only virgins they know are their daughters! YIKES!! In the church we want to make sure the girls know what they can do and who they can talk to if there is a problem.

Jim playing Tommy, Tommy

We have been teaching a 10 yr. old boy, Panashe, the discussions so that he can be baptized. He wasn't baptized when he was 8 so needed the discussions. He has a 15 yr. old brother and also a 23 yr. old brother. Their dad died a few years ago. The mom is a great lady - she works at the British consulate. So, Jim is baptizing him tomorrow after church. There are three other children that are also being baptized that the Taylors have been teaching. We will send pictures on Monday. The mom's brother will be there and he is thinking of taking the discussions as well. (We just had zone conference and the elders in our zone are expecting 70 baptisms during this transfer).

The days are still nice and warm (75 degrees today, 83 tomorrow) but the evenings are getting cooler. We put an extra blanket on our bed last night.

We saw this been in our back yard - actually 3 of them. They were blacker than our bees and seems rather large.

Take care and hope all is well with you.
Love, The Bullocks