Chimpanzee Island

Marshall Well Opening

Congo Town Elders

Brother Thomas (branch missionay), Elders Bosomtwe, Agyemang, Maurana.

Paynesville

The Paynesville Branch has been working on a "garden project."  They plant, grow, harvest, feed the needy, feed their families, save seeds for the next season and sell their surplus to give them some income.  A win-win-win-win project!

Sister Dingy cutting cabbage leaves and pounding peppers!  Peppers so hot they make us cry!

The Dingy family cutting cabbage leaves.  They are shredded very fine then used in soups with palm oil, dried fish, and lots of pepper.

Paynesville Elders

Elders Pishl, Price, Pearmain and Tolar (or should it be Polar?)

Liberia National Museum

This mask was worn by a "witch doctor" to tell you your future.

This is a "fertility God" that would be consulted when an women could not have children (it was considered all her fault).

All of these are used for fishing.

The Museum is housed in the original Parliament building built in 1864.

All the young missionaries get a day a week to "prepare for the week (P day)."  We as couples are to do the same but it NEVER happens.  We have to carve out an hour here and there.  All of the couple's took a few "P Hours"  to go the only museum in Liberia.

Bats, bats, bats

The tree on the left side of road looks kind of dead but look closely.  Those are not dead leaves or hanging moss those are fruit bats.  Hundreds of them!

We Have Fuel :) But Limited Water

The fuel tanker arrived at dock last weekend and the fuel was back on the street the first part of the week.  We spent about 3 hours in total in lines/queues for fuel and was able to get 15 gallons in total.  We had a few days at our apartment where the generators were off from 9am to 5pm to conserve fuel and ensure we had electricity through the night.  Electricity at night is nice for the light but especially the AC since it is summer here and nights without AC would make for one hot sleepless sweaty night.

Due to the dry rainy season the ground water is low this year and the wells are drying up.  A couple of mornings last week I (Elder Hezseltine) ended up in the shower with just a trickle of water to rinse the soap off.  Better make sure we have a bucket of water close at hand.

Where in the World is Your Missionary

Scarecrow African Style

Fuel

The tanker arrived at port and the diesel is back at the pumps.  What a relief.

Picket Fence?

On the way to Harbel/the airport we pass this house.  It looks so out of place here.  A home with a picket fence!  Someone has been watching too many old American movies!!!

New Art at the Airport

At the airport there is new "artwork" on the wall that surrounds the runway.  It is so bright and fun.

Beautiful Hair

Elizabeth is a sweet, quiet, Primary girl that comes to church by herself. She sits quietly (one of the few), answers questions, says prayers and ALWAYS has beautiful hair! A different "do" every week.

No Fuel

No or little fuel to purchase.  The rumour is that the next tanker will not arrive till Friday which means we could start to see it being available Saturday/Monday.  I waited an hour in a queue today to purchase 10 gallons.  Generators are not running 24 hours to conserve fuel, since you are never sure when things will actually show up.  Our mission facility supervisor has taught us to never let our vehicle get below half a tank for this very reason.  So, with the 10 gallons today we have a full tank.  This should get us into next week.  More fun in Liberia. Don't take things for granted - water, electricity, fuel, internet.  In Liberia no fuel means no electricity, no pumps to pump water in to the storage tanks, no internet, no transport.

Some Pictures

Bro. Kortu

Bro. Koening instructing a new Young Men's adviser on "Come Follow Me."  The YM adviser will then be helping the young man who will be giving the lesson on Sunday.

Creative Construction

Learning to work with what you have.

Sister Hezseltine & Baby Girl

White Bird

The first of December these birds started showing up everywhere.  They are still here and I am told that they will migrate elsewhere soon.  When I asked the locals what kind of bird they were or their name I got another "you are kidding" look.  They told they were called "white bird." They look like small cranes.  Some of the locals call them "cow birds"  because they always seem to be around the cows.

When they arrived it made me realize that there are NO SEAGULLS!  Liberia has a huge coastline and not a single seagull.  What a blessing!!!!!

Drive Up Building Materials

As you drive along roads both in and out of Monrovia there are building materials everywhere.  A lot of people make bricks (by hand) for an income.  The long poles that are laid up around the tree are used for supports. If buildings are more than one story the floors and ceilings are made of cement and the poles are  placed close together to support the cement floor until it is set.

Banana Tree

This banana tree is in the compound where the "Sisters" live.  It provides the land lady her own private supply of banana's.  I don't know what I expected but this is not what I thought a banana tree would look like.

Christmas Tree

I asked a Liberian friend what kind of pine tree this was and he looked at me with a shocked look and said "a Christmas Tree." It is the only evergreen type tree I have seen here.

Bat Season

The mango season is coming and the fruit bats have arrived.  Sometimes they will cover a whole tree.

Sister Wesseh and Family

Branch President's wife and 2 of their children returning home after church on taxi-bike.