February 22, 2010 and February 26, 2010

February 22, 2010

This morning Bigboy, our wheelchair expert, and his wife, Susan, came in to learn about the church. We ask him what had prompted him to ask us if he could come in and talk to us about the church. He said that he has decided he needs to attend a church and he has seen missionaries doing service work in the community and is interested in learning more. He told us that he used to drink a lot at nights and his wife and children were worried about him. He decided 6 months ago to quit. He called his wife and ask her to pray for him because he was not going to drink anymore. When he was late coming home she would call and ask if he was drinking but he never did take another drink after his initial decision.

Bigboy also told us that in 2004 he had a stroke and ended up in the hospital. He told us how he was/is in the business of helping people with wheelchairs after they have strokes, etc. and suddenly he was unable to move his left side. He prayed to God and told Him that his livelihood was helping people and he needed to be able to walk. The next day when he woke up he could move his arm and he could stand up. The Doctor couldn’t believe it. His one side is not quite perfect but he is able to carry on. He works with a wheelchair organization and assembles and fits chairs to all sort of disabled people. He goes around the African countries training technicians to be able to do the same.

We taught them the first discussion. It went well. We thought he lived in Harare but he lives about 60 Km. out but is not too far from Bindura and there are two branches there. He has a vehicle so that helps. We arranged to go to their place on Saturday and meet their children (2 teenagers) and we will review or teach them more.

Jim is busy typing up contracts for the projects that we are working on. Mostly it is fill in the blanks and of course, give some details but it is a bit frustrating. They have to be approved in SA by the church lawyer before they can be signed.

February 26, 2010

O man!! A lot of people here have some sad stories. Lawrence, our policeman investigator, came in to see us. His parents died when he was 14 yrs. old. From that time he has taken care of himself and his younger sister. He quit school and got a job gardening so he could support them and he paid school fees for her so she could stay in school. He managed to do his school at night. He got a job with the police about a year ago and because he has some accounting education they have him working in the office. He really wants to go to school and get a degree in accounting but.........how can he? He is now 27 and his sister is 21 and she is married with a baby boy. The husband is not working and they live with his parents. Lawrence was planning to get married (saving labola) in April, however, his girlfriend, Doreen, is 3 months pregnant. Her parents found out and ‘chased her away’ and she is now with Lawrence. The $200 he had saved towards the labola had to go to the clinic so that Doreen can have maternity care and delivery of the baby. He has a ‘stand’ (small plot of land) that he bought about 6 years ago. If he does not start to build on it by June he will lose it. He needs $240 so he can just even have water and meter run onto the land and that would be enough to keep it. As a policeman he is paid $150/month. His rent is $60 and utilities about $20. The rest goes for food, transport, etc. It just isn’t enough but the gov’t. is not paying more than that. Teachers here also get about $150/month. Some teachers are on strike right now, trying to get more money but unfortunately it is the children who suffer as they are not getting their schooling. It is hard to hear these sad stories AND there are a LOT of them. We wish we could fix things and help everyone but we just can’t. There are a lot of child-run families because of death (due to AIDS a good share of the time).

Mayfields had a wonderful young man come in and apply for a PEF loan for school. He is supporting 3 or 4 younger siblings and wants/needs to go to school so badly but has to work to feed the family. I don’t think they could make it work for him because to get a loan you have to be a returned missionary and he could not serve a mission because he has to support the family. Perhaps they can get an ‘exception’. I’m not sure what has happened with it.

Anyway – sorry, enough of the sadness of Zimbabwe! The auditor is back again this morning to finish off. The SA fellow from the church left this morning early. The audit is going well and they only had 3 or 4 questions for me and I was able to find what they needed. I’m relieved that it all seems in order!!

The electricity is off a lot lately but we are coping. They run the generator here at the mission office when it goes off so work carries on as usual here. At the flat we try not to run the generator too much as it is noisy and we don’t want to irritate the neighbours. We use it to pump the water from the tank for our shower (love having our tank!!!!) and we use it to quickly cook something and then we shut it down. We are doing fine!! Mayfields have moved into the flat next door as of yesterday. It will be nice having them there – nice and close for playing a card game or getting together for a movie night (if we have power!)

I must get back to work. We need to start preparations for our district training assignment a week from tomorrow in Gweru. The topic is ‘the temple’. Elder & Sister Taylor left a nice file of information so that will be very helpful. We just need to come up with a plan/presentation that will take approximately an hour.

Love to all, The Bullocks

----

I have posted 2 other letters below as well! Kim

Saturday, February 13, 2010

Just a quick update.

Our policeman investigator, named, Lawrence, texted us last night and wanted to come today with his girlfriend, Doreen, so that we could explain things to her. We gave them the same discussion as we had given Lawrence already. Doreen is really quite shy and quiet but she seemed to understand. They committed to go to church tomorrow morning.

I helped organize some things from one of the containers that Reeve, Lolly, and CC brought over from SLC. There have been a lot of people out there working on it most of the day. I think they have one container done. There are a lot of good medical supplies as well as numerous other things. It is a big job. It will help a lot of people here in Zimbabwe. They had one empty container and put all the medical supplies into it and then sorted the other things and put them back into the first container.

We have talks to give tomorrow in Kadoma and are putting finishing touches on them. We are also invited and need to leave soon to go watch Ishmael play a squash game against the #2 player in Zimbabwe. That should be good. Ishmael is #1 in his age category. They are really quite amazing to watch. We are also invited to go watch Bro. and Sis. Sharp's daughter ballroom dance with the Bell's son. They are super good too and won all the competitions in SA recently and are now headed to Europe somewhere to compete. I don't know that we can
get to both events though. (The squash is closer so... we will try that first).

We went to Sharp's earlier so that Elder Bullock could do a polygamy interview for a lady who wants to get baptized. She works there. While we waited we were given juice, potato chips, small pancakes with syrup and when we left we were given a box of wonderful chocolates
(which we aren't eating - but Mayfields will enjoy them for us!). Sharps weren't home but the domestic help were treating us well. Nice!

Love to all, The Bullocks

January 17, 2010 Sunday night

We are home at our flat and there has been no electricity here for more than 24 hours. We are hoping it comes on soon so we don’t lose any food in the fridge. We did turn on our generator for about 1 ½ hrs. this evening to cook supper and let the fridge cool off some. We do keep jugs of ice all the time and put them into the fridge when the power goes off. We went to Masvingo yesterday morning and just got back about 5 p.m. today. We had a nice time there today at their meetings. The branch president has shuffled people around in the branch and there are new Relief Society, Young Women, and Primary presidencies. My friend Elizabeth is the new R. S. President and will do a great job. Change is good!!

Saturday about 5 p.m. we decided to go for a drive up passed the Inn where we stay. There is a dam up there not far that we can see from the Inn. It is quite the sight but I left the camera behind and got no pictures. We drove over the dam and a fair ways up the road on the other side. It is beautiful up there. When we left Harare yesterday morning we put in several hygiene kits, T-shirts, a few stuffed animals and 1 soccer ball (a really nice soccer ball that Reeve Nield gave us to give away). As we drove along we stopped and gave Tshirts to some kids that looked like they could really use one. Some kids were scared of us and would just run away – too bad. We gave hygiene kits to the moms we saw working in their fields/gardens or walking along the road. They are all so appreciative. BUT the best give-away was the soccer ball!! We saw two boys about 12 yrs. old walking along the road and I asked Elder Bullock to stop and go back. We asked if they were brothers and they said they were so we handed them the soccer ball. Well, my goodness!! – you should have seen them!!! I have never seen anybody so excited. It was so fun! It made tears come to my eyes to see their joy and excitement. As we drove away they took off as fast as they could towards their home with their ball.

Some kids we gave T-shirts to on our way to the Inn on Great Zimbabwe

More of the group. They appear to really need the shirts, don't you think?

Nice clear view from the Inn on Great Zimbabwe

This past Tuesday the new school term started here for the kids. They go for about 3 months and then have one month off (3 terms per year). Zimbabwe really had a good school system in the past but with all the troubles here schools have suffered. A lot of kids don’t go to school because they can’t afford the fees. While we were driving yesterday there were 3 or 4 kids that came to the truck window asking for school fees because they really want to go to school badly. Anyway – Tuesday morning as we were driving down the road from the office to an appointment we saw Panashe (our 11 year old boy who was recently baptized). We pulled over and ask what he was doing and he said he was coming to see us. I ask why he was not at school and he said he couldn’t go because he didn’t have the school fees ($30). Big tears started running down his cheeks even though he was trying really hard not to cry. His mom had told us that his uncle was going to pay his fees but Panashe said that he wouldn’t but that he did agree to pay for his school uniform. Panashe had left home before day break and had walked to our office which had taken him about 5 hours (it takes us a good half hour to drive to his home). We had him stay and work in the garden by the office until we got back from our appointment and then we brought him some food and took him home. We paid the $30 school fees for him (my friend Ruth had ask before Christmas if she could send money to help someone). We explained to him where the money had come from. He was one happy boy!! He knows how important it is to stay in school and wants it so badly.

Wednesday we had Zone conference and we had Elder and Sister Renlund from the area presidency here. They are going on the zone tour with Pres. and Sister Dube as they tour the mission (as they do every six weeks). We had a great conference and supper with all the missionaries.14 Jan 2010 - Girl bringing maize to the new grinding mill at Kadyamadare School

14 Jan 2010 - Waiting for maize to get ground. 3 came with maize while we were there. That is great!

Then on Thursday night Pres. Dube took we three couples out to supper with the Renlunds. We had a really nice visit. Elder Renlund has had a lot to do with the young people (YSA) in the church and has done of thinking and research in that area. He said it seems like as these young people are dating and looking for a spouse that generally they know fairly quickly when they meet the ‘right’ one and so it is important to have activities and regional get-togethers so that they can mingle and meet. He talked about keeping them active and getting them back into activity. He referred to Moroni chapter 6 where it talks about how we need to 1) number them, 2) name them 3) know them, and 4) gather them. We need to realize that “It is NOT all about me” and teach that to our young people. We don’t go to church and to activities just for ourselves, but we should go to fellowship and help others. If we can teach this and assign these young people to go and friendship someone it will help those who are shy or reserved to reach out to others and have a purpose. It brings them out of their shells and suddenly we start seeing results.

On Friday we met with the sister missionaries as they gave a discussion to the Dzikamai. He has a baptismal date for Jan. 29^th. He is feeling a little unsure as he thinks he needs to know ‘everything’ before he is baptized but we explained that baptism is just a start and there is a lifetime of learning ahead. He is doing well and we can see him feeling more positive about life. He has been kind of depressed, knowing that he blew the chance of a lifetime when he didn’t finish school at MIT in Boston. He had a breakdown while there and had to come back. He lost both his parents when he was 17 and still grieves over that loss. He’s had a hard time. He is 25 yrs. old. I told him that he is still young and shouldn’t give up on his dreams. When he came to church two Sundays ago he showed up clean shaven and looking really sharp so we could tell he is feeling better about life. I don’t know if there is any way he could go back to school or how he managed to get to MIT in the first place or who sponsored and paid for him to go. He must be a pretty smart guy to have been given the opportunity.

Monday morning: Still no electricity at the flat!! We ran the generator again for a while this a.m. It usually isn’t off this long so hopefully it will come back on today. It did rain a little on the weekend in some places. The country is in desperate need of a lot of rain. Usually they get a lot in December and January but have not received much this year and there is a lot of concern. They need it for the wilting maize and to fill up the wells. One community member in Goromonzi said that the government should call for a day of prayer. We suggested that they could do that in their own community and fast at the same time and perhaps the Lord would send rain to their area.

I better get this sent off as I haven’t written for a week or so. Love to all. Elder and Sister Bullock

Friday, December 11, 2009

December 11, 2009

We have been without internet for about 3 -4 days this week but it seems to be back up and running now. It leaves a lot to be desired but I guess we will take what we can get.

Elder and Sister Watson were here last weekend for the Harare Stake conference. Elder Watson is a counsellor in the SE Area Presidency. We actually didn’t get to the Sunday meetings as we needed to be in Kadoma but we did get back in time to have dinner with them and the Stake Presidency & wives and also President and Sister Dube at the mission home. (We got invited because Elder Bullock is a counsellor in the mission presidency). We had a nice visit after dinner. Before Elder Watson was a Seventy he spent 30+ years as secretary to the First Presidency and the quorum of the Twelve. He had a few good stories that he shared with us and talked about things that happened in his younger life that helped prepare him those responsibilities. The Lord definitely was preparing him.

Monday we had Zone conference and it was good, as usual. We give our regular report on what LDS Charities has been doing and had lots to report this time as we have 6 projects approved now and are working on some of them.

We paid a down payment to Precision Grinders so that they will start building the mill and dehuller for Kadyamadare Primary School. The people out there have pretty much gotten the building secured and are now putting the electrical wiring, etc. into the building. As soon as they are finished (Monday) they will call us and we will then take the Zimbabwe Electrical Co. People out there so that they can connect the building to the main line (well actually they are increasing capacity for the mill). We have had to buy quite a bit of supplies to make this happen. Hopefully everything is about ready. It was a real experience shopping for the supplies as we had to go to several different places to get the things. The shops are in the “very busy” part of downtown where traffic is a nightmare, to say the least. It is amazing that anyone can get anywhere down there. Once the power is hooked up then the mill can be installed and we are hoping that it will be done before Christmas. The people out at the school really have come through and done a lot of work. We are pleased about that. The school head took us to his ‘plantation’, as he called it. He has a nice place (for Zimbabwe). He took us into his home and his granddaughter offered us Mazoi juice but we declined as we have to be really careful about the water and besides, I am not eating sugar. Their houses here are nothing like ours but they are really clean. Their painted floor shines. They have no electricity but they have a solar panel that charges a battery that they use to operate their radio and they had a small television. They have a nice looking field (probably a couple of acres) of maize that is starting to grow. They have chickens and he has 2 turkeys that he hopes will start reproducing.

The grinding mill motor that we bought and had installed at the Old People’s Home in Mutare is about done. We were hoping to have the ‘turn-over’ ceremony today but they weren’t quite ready. A belt was the wrong size and they had to get another one in from Harare. The ceremony has been rescheduled to this Wednesday afternoon. I guess we (LDSC) are buying some refreshments for the occasion (at least enough for the special invited guests). We will take biscuits (cookies) and Mazoi juice (a concentrate that they mix about 1:4 with water). They love that drink here. It reminds me of the punch that grandma Godfrey used to make.

We took the Sister Missonaries with us to teach Carol, Ellison and their neighbour. It went well and the Sisters are meeting them again this afternoon. We thought we would be in Mutare but since we aren’t we may try and be there as well.

Zvikomberero and Panashe are getting baptized tomorrow afternoon. We are excited about that. We will go to their branch Sunday morning for the confirmations but will have to leave right after and head to Highlands Ward because we need to meet Carol, Ellison and their mother Mavis there. They are coming to church for the first time. The neighbour is coming too as well as Mavis’ friend.

Merci has invited us to dinner on Sunday afternoon (for Elder Bullock’s belated birthday).

That is about it for our week – at least that I can remember at the moment. I will admit that I have felt a little homesick this week, shed a few tears, and wished I could go home, but..... we still have a few months to go and LOTS to do so I will just get over it and carry on.

Love to all, The Bullocks

Thursday, October 29

Just a quick note to say that I sent a bunch of photos and notes to Kim to put on the blog so check that out if you want. All is well - keeping busy. We checked on the progress the school/community are making on the building for the grinding mill. They are doing alright but we will hold off ordering the mill for a few more days.

Yesterday we had a visit from Pastor Mhike from Muzarabani (up north). He is the one who originally came with Seka and wanted to be taught the gospel after we had given them Book of Mormons. Seka quit his church and moved here but Pastor Mhike hasn't done that yet. He had some questions though and did say that he is having a hard time because he is teaching his congregation things that he now knows are not right. He says he knows that the LDS church is true. He wants to get things to a point that he can move to a place where our church is and find some sort of employment. He needs some land as well so that he can produce food for his family. He is missing Seka as they used to be able to have discussions about what they were reading and he says that Seka is better at understanding than he is. Good man!

We are giving another discussion to Seka after his work today and Bishop Spencer will join us for the discussion. That will be great.

We loaned Seka one of our 'wind-up' flashlights (with a radio) and he thinks that is pretty neat technology. He was trying to study by candlelight so the flashlight will help a little. Also he was feeling a little lonely and too quiet where he is so the radio will keep him company. That is the flashlight that we got at our Christmas time gift exchange when we had our get-together with sisters & husbands and Rob and Wendy.

This weekend we head to Mutare to help train at their district conference and then attend Sunday meetings at one of the branches. We will stay at Holiday Inn - pretty good place!

On Nov. 21st, the 3 couples here, are going to Masvingo to the Ruins on the Great Zimbabwe. Jim and I have been once but it will be good to go again. It is our weekend to go down anyway and we can show the other couples the area. The Ruins are something that they need to be sure and see while in Zimbabwe. We will stay over at the Inn on the Great Zimbabwe and they will like that. It will be fun to get away. We couples seldom take P-days so we have to plan ahead when we want to get one.

Jim is taking a little nap on the office floor at the moment. I guess he is a little tired. I need to quickly do my October financial report for SA so I can send it tomorrow. We didn't spend much money this month so it won't take long. When we get some projects going we will be spending a LOT more.

Kowoyo Clinic (Juru) old borehole pump and tank.
This is a clinic where we hope to replace their transformer (it was stolen) and get their borehole up and working again.

Well they are having dug -- now down about 20 meters - still no water.

Surface of hand-dug well.

Kowoyo Clinic.

Sink and tap in clinic, but NO WATER.

Fridge is run by gas.

This baby was crying - the kind of cry that said I am sick!

Birthing room - when it is an emergency and there is no time to send them 60 km to next facility.

Sign on wall by vaccines -- they have had power failure since January!!

Maturi Dehwe School - We hope to fix the borehole here for them. The cost will be about $1,000.

Kids by the truck window.

5 second later by the truck window!!!

Another 5 seconds and I have a crowd wanting their picture taken.

Bruce (our borehole guy) and Elder Bullock juggling for the kids

Notice the albino girl. We see a few of them but a lot more guys than girls.

I am never going into our backyard again at night -- at least not without shoes on!!! Elder Bullock saw these when he went out to turn off the generator.

Big spider in back yard.

Toad in backyard at night.

Slug in backyard. YUCK!

Kids at Kadyamadare School practising for a 'traditional' dance competition.

The drummers for the dancers.

Fixing and securing building for grinding mill.

Reimer clinic community stats

Love to everyone, Elder and Sister Bullock

Ox-cart Ride Pictures (Part II) and more

Heading home

Stopping to let donkeys have a drink

Pulling hard up the hill

Landscape

Sister Bullock in cart

We were on our way back to Harare in the truck and saw these kids sitting on their step and gave them a toy. We had taken some toys with us but never took them out on the ox-cart as there were too many kids there to have enough for everyone. They were pretty happy.

Meeting with community at clinic near Juru (transformer stolen) to talk about how they would take care/security if we replace the transformer for them at the clinic and repair their borehole. We were impressed because they had gotten together and collected some money to have a fellow come and 'hand-dig' a well for them. He hadn't reached water yet and he was getting down pretty deep.

Digging of a well

Fills up the bucket and sends it up

Climbing out of well (hole).

He's out!

This is how they weight the babies at the clinic

Main street of Juru

In town of Juru

More of Juru. As you look down the dusty main street of this town it looks like it could be right out of an old western movie.

Hi, Just a quick note. We are on our way to Masvingo this morning and will do visits to inactives with the branch president. We will stay overnight and go to church there tomorrow. We like the Inn we stay in there so it is an okay get-away.

I just sent Kimberley a bunch of pictures for the blog so check them out. I haven't been able to send pictures very easily lately but have discovered that if I do it early in the mornings before the internet gets busy they will go through better.

We spent last evening with Seka and showed him the first Work and Glory movie. He liked that. We will teach him another discussion when we get back on Sunday. He's doing well and trying to convert everyone he works with. He's already invited a bunch of people to his baptism on Nov. 14th.

Must run. Love you all. Love, E/S Bullock

Monday, October 19th

We had a good weekend doing our Kadoma Branch conference. All went well but glad it is done. We stayed overnight in Kadoma as it is 2 hours away. We were not really too sure about the hotel but we decided to try it. It was mostly okay except that we didn't have a drop of water in the morning to take a shower or anything. They wouldn't give us a discount on the room and we had prepaid (as that was the requirement and now we know why!).

Sat. evening when we were having supper in the dining room - a movement caught my eye and I told Jim that perhaps a geiko was under a table as I thought I had seen a tail disappear. There was one other table of people and suddenly two of the ladies were jumping up on their chairs to get away from something. I didn't think such things bothered Africans. Anyway the next thing we knew they were standing ON the table and having a fit about something. We thought it was a geiko but I guess it was some other critter (maybe it is good I didn't get a good look or I might have been on the table too). They described it at kind of 'cat' looking with a face like a rat, a weird tail, and stripes like a leopard. No one seemed to know what it was but apparently it had been seen around the place for the past week or so. We never did see it - don't know where it disappeared to. Weird!! The ladies wouldn't come back into the dining room and finished their meal somewhere else. As we were leaving one of the men ask about our name tags and we explained what we are doing here. He said that one of the ladies at the table would probably like to talk to us. It turned out that she is the Director of nursing for Zimbabwe (she wasn't one that jumped on to the table). Anyway, it was arranged that we would meet her at breakfast, which we did. We chatted and exchanged phone numbers etc. They would be interested in working with us if we do a Neo-natal project next year.

We have been looking at two clinics in the rural areas where both have had their electicity transformers stolen so they have had no power for several months and consequently no water as they need power to run the borehole pump. We were there today with a meeting with some community members. It might be a project that we could do - it would help a lot of people. They got a quote on replacing the transformer etc. and it is just over $4000. We don't know if that is a decent price or not. We also have to take our borehole guy out and see what he thinks about fixing that up and what it would cost.

Tomorrow is our trip out into the boondocks to take some humanitarian supplies to a village by 'oxcart'. We are just deciding what we should take. We just talked to the Pastor and he says there will be 300 people (we thought there was 150). We can't take enough to do for all of them but I guess we will do what we can. Should be an interesting day. I'm sure we will be exausted by the end of it. We will take pictures.

We taught Seka a discussion last night and played Elder Holland's conference talk for him. Yesterday was his first time at a church service and he liked it all. He is doing great. His baptism date is set for November 14th. Merci has gone to Uganda to visit her sister for 3 weeks and Seka is holding down the fort for her. She has closed things up but has domestic help that live on the premises. Seka is living there too now and it seems to be working okay. He gets 'tea' (breakfast) and lunch provided at his work so he is fed on weekdays. He is staying in a garage type building and has no way to cook. I ask Sunday night if he had eaten all day and he said, "No, but I'm alright as it is only one day". The other lady brought him something though. A lot of people here only eat 1 or 2 meals a day and I guess they are used to going without when there is nothing.

Emanuel called us this morning saying that they had no food and could he come and do some work. We have no work for him. It is really hard here sometimes to know what is best to do. We can't give them money and we don't have food. We have given Emmanuel some work in the pat and let him earn a little and we've given him some vegetables from the garden but we can't let him get dependent upon us as it cannot be an ongoing thing. We did get him an interview with Bishop Spencer to work at his store but he has no place for him right now.

On Thursday Bishop McMullin, from the presiding bishopric, and our Area Authority, Elder Koelliker, are coming to visit and we are to show them some projects we are working on. However, it doesn't sound like they will be here long so I don't know how much we can show them. At least perhaps we can get some ideas from them as to what they will approve. We think we have some good projects in the works so we can discuss those with them. OH YES, I don't think I told you that we got our school grinding mill project approved. The school was thrilled when we told them and they are already working on getting their building secured. We told them we would be back in 2 weeks to see how they were coming along. We don't want to order the mill until we know that they are doing their part.

We must get going and load up some things to take tomorrow. It is getting late.

Love to all, E/S Bullock

Tuesday, August 11th

Good day,

We have had a busy morning. We went out and met our Bishop from the Apostolic Church - well actually he says he is a prophet and got his call from Peter in a dream. Elder Bullock talked to him for about an hour and you could see his eyes light up as he understood what the Book of Mormon is. He taught him about authority and our living prophet on Earth today - I think it did give him something to think about. He says he wants his people to have the true church and he does want to talk more and learn. We told him we would have the missionaries call him and set up a time to meet him and that we will come along as well. He will continue to read the B of M and it will make more sense now that he understands more about what it is and where it came from.

Pastor Seka (no longer Pastor) was in again and wants to talk some more. He has to head home but will be back again in a couple of weeks and will come for Elder Holland's fireside on the 28th. He really is hungry to learn more but understands that it takes time and that we always are learning. What a great experience to be able to teach him and see the light in his eyes.

We walked this morning with E/S Deppe. They are eager to walk each morning and that helps us - she is a good inspiration to me. She just lost a bunch of weight with Weight Watchers so we have something in common and we can work on it together.

We are having a good day and must get on with it.

On the way home from Kadoma on Sunday we passed a field burning - seemed a bit out of control but no one seemed to concerned. We could feel the heat as we drove by this fire.

-Later-

We had a nice visit this afternoon with this family.

Li, Cathy and Ali with Elder Bullock

He works here in Zimbabwe at the Chinese Embassy and his wife is here to visit him for 4 weeks, with their child. She teaches English in Beijing with a couple that we met at the MTC and they were hoping that we would be able to meet the family here and have a chance to talk to them about some eternal things. We were able to do that and gave them each a book and some pamphlets. They are a really nice family. We
will keep in touch with him while he is here.

We have had a full day. It is a holiday here (yesterday and today) so shops are closed and the internet is working much faster than normal as no one is working - except us.

We will head home and stop to see Merci on our way.

Love to all, The Bullocks
Love, E/S Bullock

Saturday, August 1, 2009

Hi to our family and friends,

We are about to wind up our P-day. We went grocery shopping and bought a few things - oranges, apples, cabbage, potatoes, butternut squash, yogurt, cheese and eggs.

We came to the office to meet a girl who we had given a wheelchair and it needs a new front wheel (we think she must have banged into something and bent it). We couldn't find a ratchet anywhere to fix it so we took her to her friend's house not far away, only to find out that the friend had passed away this morning. (We had met the lady before too as she works for the minister of health - apparently she had a stroke. - Too bad she was a lady that did a lot of good here in Zimbabwe). That, of course, was upsetting to her. We then took her to her uncle's place and left the replacement parts with them and hopefully he can fix it. We were late for an appointment so couldn't hang around. She will call and let us know.

We then went to meet Linda. She has a sister in Canada that works with Darwin Hawryluk (Kimberley's father-in-law). She is a really nice lady. We talked about our mission and what we do and a bit about the church but she didn't seem interested in learning more. They go to the Salvation Army church. She has two young daughters. Her husband was not there as he was working. We will have to try and meet him sometime.

This past Wednesday we went to a lunch where Pres. Dube was introduced as the new mission president to Gov't ministers and some ambassadors of other countries. Everyone felt like it went really well. One minister gave the closing remarks (at his request) and said he didn't
realize the church was even here and did not know about all that we do here. He offered his assistance if we ever need anything. That was a really good thing!! Someone was there to take pictures of the event so who knows, it could end up in the church news.

Yesterday we taught Merci another discussion and she is excited still for her baptism date and we are excited too. Our other family from Epworth, the Kureva family, are doing well and are postponing their baptism 1 week so that they can all be baptized together. It will be on the 15th of August, the same day as Merci. Won't that be a great day for us - 4 baptisms. We went to visit the Kurevas on Thursday afternoon and the son, Panashe, ask Elder Bullock if he would help him with his testimony. Elder Bullock ask him what he knows and Panashe bore his testimony just fine on his own. He's a smart young man - seems older than his 11 years sometimes. We asked him what the missionaries had been teaching him and he said chastity". We asked him what that meant and he held up his hand and counted off 4 things: 1) no kissing 2) no sex before marriage 3) no pornography, 4) don't go naked (dress modestly). :)

We have a new office couple coming this week to replace the Taylors. We will help Taylors get a flat ready for them with a bit of food and a fresh bed etc. They are the Deppe's. Sister Deppe doesn't know this yet but she and I have been asked to prepare supper for Elder Jeffrey R. Holland the night he stays in Harare, after an afternoon fireside that he will do here. The supper will be at the mission home. I have also been ask to play the keyboard (organ - hooked up to the sound system) for the fireside and for the choir. YIKES! I guess I will practice all month and then pray a lot!!! Elder Taylor played for the choir at their stake conference last month but he won't be here so I guess I am next up.

Elder Holland will do a fireside here on the 28th and then got to Mutare early on they 29th and do some District training there on Saturday and then conference on Sunday. We will be going there with him (probably not in the same vehicle). Sis. Taylor is working with the District president's wife, Sis. Chadambuka, to find a place for everyone to have supper in Mutare -- there are not a lot of options to choose from and no place to really be able to fix a meal ourselves. The missionaries will likely to invited to eat with us as well. (We will meet Elaine Edmonds nephew on that trip as he is serving there.)

Mutare District is one of our new assignments as Elder Bullock is now a counselor in the mission presidency. We will be going there fairly regularly (probably once a month at least) and attending meetings and doing training. We will also be assigned Masvingo branch. The
branch president was just released there last week (after 14 years) and the new one is feeling rather overwelmed and some new callings have been and are being made so they will need help with training. It will be a stretch for us as well - we will spend lots of time reading the handbooks!!

President Dube is out of town right now so Elder Bullock had his first situation to deal with yesterday with a missionary that wanted to go home. He has already been sent home from one mission but Pres. Dube felt like he is a good young man and decided to keep him here to
finish his mission. (his home is only an hour away). The AP's had talked with him and he was walking out to go home when Elder Bullock went after him and sat on the grass outside and talked for a while. He came back in, hugged his companion, and they left together much happier. Today we haven't heard anything so we are assuming that 'no news is good news'.

Tomorrow we are off to Marondera for church and Elder Bullock has to do the branch audit. Next week he will do the one in Kadoma too. Hopefully they go smoothly because I am suppose to be at the choir practice at 3:30 p.m. with my keyboard.

We are hoping some of the white shirts that have been sent to us arrive soon as we really would like to give one to Panashe and his dad when they gets baptized on the 15th. We will cross our fingers or try and search for some in the clothes we received in the container. I know there is one there that will fit the dad but nothing for Panashe and he would be so pleased to have one. I think there are some ties in Pres. Nield's container.

That's about it for our week. Hope all is well back in America with our loved ones!

Monday, July 20, 2009

We got up at 5:45 a.m. and went for our hour walk, had breakfast and headed to our office. We were excited to pick up our brand new Isuzu diesel truck today – twin cab with a topper on the back. It will be nice to have it. We need to go buy some diesel coupons now. We will buy a book of 100 coupons – each coupon is for 20 litres of fuel. I suppose using coupons helps to keep from having to handle the cash and probably is a method of security for the fuel companies and their employees. If you don’t have a coupon you can always buy one from one of several people trying to sell them at the entrance to the gas station but they likely cost more.

Our new LDSC truck

Pastor Seka came in again today. They ask if we would help them out as they (their congregation, I guess) are supporting 3 college students. We gave them each a blanket, hygiene kit and a few items of clothing. Pastor Seka was also anxious to talk some more about the Book of Mormon and some other literature that we gave last week. He has read it and knows he has found the truth. He said he is prepared to make a sacrifice. He wants to come to Harare and be taught. He said he was sitting in church yesterday and he looked out at his congregation and he thought to himself, “I don’t belong here anymore –these are not my people”. He is willing to find any job he can do so he can support his family here in Harare where he can be taught by the missionaries. When he was out by the container he grabbed Elder Bullock and said, “I love you”. I asked him if his wife was okay with moving to Harare and he said she is though she doesn’t understand about the church yet but is willing to learn. They have two children – 9 years old and 3 years old. While he was waiting for us at the mission office he was talking to the elders and they were talking to him about some gospel principles. He was just eating it all up.

Elder Bullock and Pastor Seka

When he was in last week he said he wanted to be baptized and we told him that there were some things he needed to learn first. Today when he came in he had the pamphlets in his hand and said he now realizes that there is a lot to learn and he is eager to get started. It is thrilling and humbling to be part of this and see the Lord work on this man. He will be a great asset to the Lord’s kingdom here in Zimbabwe.

We taught Merci another discussion this morning and she is doing just fine. She really is a ‘golden’ contact that we know we were led to and she feels that as well.

Our family from Epworth were at church again yesterday for the fourth week in a row. They are doing well – Panashe and his mom are coming along faster than the dad. He has some word of wisdom problems to conquer and because of work (selling fruit) he hasn’t been in on all the discussions. He is going to church though and is doing okay.

Answer, our other contact, has been to church 3 times now and we need to get the missionaries teaching him. He called us last night to tell us he had been to church again.

Isn’t this just the greatest? These people are so good. O yeah – we are suppose to be humanitarian welfare missionaries doing water projects! We are working on that too, believe it or not. We just need the Lord to help us find where we are suppose to do a project. We thought we had a good possibility but are not convinced. We are trying to get hold of someone at Zimbabwe Water Authority to see if they can advise us on where there is the greatest need. We noticed in reading a couple of past projects that the couple had worked with them so..... We may have to just go to their offices as no one will answer the phone number we were given for the ‘ground water’ division. Tomorrow we are meeting with some people regarding a request to replace a borehole pump at a school and do a borehole at another school. They are in the city of Harare. They are hooked up to the city water system but since no repairs have been done to any water systems for years the water mostly just seeps out from broken underground pipes and runs down the roads and is wasted. This is a common sight. It is a sad thing as there is such a need for water.

Off to bed! We actually have had power all evening! Here are some pictures you will find interesting of a shoe brush business:

Small business of making shoe brushes

They use cow's tail

Cut, bend in half and wire the hair and then insert into drilled holes in the block of wood

They are making these shoe brushes

P.S. We can finally announce that Jeffrey R. Holland is coming here at the end of August. He will be talking to the saints here in Harare on the 29th and then going to Mutare and from what we understand he will be changing the district there into a stake. His security people are coming a couple of weeks early to check out everything here and were happy to hear that we have an X-policeman here who can possibly help them with the security for Elder Holland. After what happened to Russell M. Nelson in Mozambique last month they are being very careful. The people here are going to be excited to have an apostle visit. We have told our pastors about his visit and they want to come too.

That's all for now. Love, Sister Bullock/mom