This week we had 3 zone conferences for the zones of Maputo, Matola and Nampula.... For which I had to give a training for each. Somehow I ended up giving a training in each conference with my new mission president.... We weren't able to plan or coordinate or study together before hand... Hence the description of 'train wreck'. Thankfully by the third we had a kinda rhythm down and things went smoothly. The best part of the conferences was the food at the first, a TON of steaks, sausages and chicken which Elder Sharpe grilled (with me trying to help). Overall it was pretty dang fun and once the conferences were over it was really nice. After that we went to the hospital with a member to give a blessing to a child of a nonmember friend of his. It went well. The child could not walk and did not talk. After that we drove to Mozal to have a meeting with a landlord. We had to get some information and talk about some problems. Then we went back to the office to help out with more transportation. We then went back to the mission office to get some more work done. We have been very busy and backed up lately because of transfers and zone conferences. We are averaging about 5 hours of sleep a night. We had a meeting with President Senna. It was about 2.5 hours long and we came out with a huge to-do list.
The main thing from the week which was a bit crazy was our midnight attempt to drive to a city called Xai Xai. We got a very early call at about 00:05 on Sunday morning from an Elder in Maxixe telling us that they were stranded at the Xai-Xai bridge. Xai-Xai- is a city about 4 hours away from Maputo if you are driving a decent speed. We did not know where the bridge was so we asked them and they told us it was about 1.5 hours away from Maputo. So we packed up and left really quick to go and get them. About 3.5 hours later we still had not gotten to the bridge. We had to turn around to get back to Maputo at about 03:30 so we could take the A.P.'s and the new elders to the airport. We had to be back at 6:30 at the latest. We got back at 6:00. On the way there we were pulled over 5 times at random checkpoints. We had to pay some "small fines" because one of the officers (I use that term lightly with them) wanted to take Elder Sharpe's license away. I had to drive back because Elder Sharpe was falling asleep... I have only driven here on a straight road... twice for a few minutes. I had to use Elder Sharpe's license (because I forgot mine, all white people look the same its fine). We did give a Book of Mormon to an officer. It was an adventurous morning. Then after we took those guys to the airport, we went to church. But right before the sacrament we got a call from President Senna telling us he needed something urgently. So we went and did that. Then we went back to church in time for the sacrament. Then we went back the office to grab some more stuff and take it to President Senna's house. Then they gave us lunch. It was the first thing we had eaten since lunch on Saturday.
I also was asked to mention the fact that I kinda lost like 400,000 Meticais... That was a rough first day at the office really doing stuff.... Thankfully Elder Sharpe caught the mistake. Nothing like loosing tons of money to really help you remember how to do things right the next time. After that things went smoother, we cashed 650,000 Meticais worth of money...so we took lots of photos like we were rich then carefully put it all away... Within the week it was all gone though... It looks and spends like Monopoly money.
That's the quick highlights from the week. Hope everyone is good at home, Thanks for the email and letters!
Elder Howell
Our 'Gangster pics' that we enjoy taking while counting our "Petty cash" from the bank.
650,000 Met.... Like 10,000 USD worth. Quite nice.
This is a nice stack of said "Petty Cash" on our way (enjoying the journey along the beach) to buy printer ink. It looks, feels and spends like Monopoly money.
This is a nice little photo from us grilling a ton of steaks, sausages and chicken from this crazy expensive apartment balcony (mission President's home) for zone conferences.
30 steaks, 50 chicken heart kabobs, about 100 pieces of chicken, and about 40 sausages. It was super good.
This is my comp Elder Sharpe marrying Sister Espadas.... Just kidding, for now he will just carry an empty dress to someones house for them to use. In the future though.....
Elder Nielsen helping us pull a car out of the sand (not ours this time).
Random message left on my blanket by another missionary.
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