Been busy

We have been very busy, and it looks to just get busier!  That's good!  We have limited internet so I haven't been able to put up any pictures.  I hope to do that soon. 

We are enjoying the work, enjoying the local meetings, enjoying working with the missionaries, enjoying Bo.  Bo is a relatively quiet smaller area that is easy to get around.  There are 28 young missionaries in Bo & Kenema.  The Zone Leaders for the Bo Zone East live in the back in the same compound.  They are a great couple of missionaries, Elders Ellsworth and Stott. 

They have been so helpful to us, getting us oriented to the area.  Andrew, the daytime guard, is trying to teach me some Krio... he says he will only speak to me in Krio which makes it a little difficult!  He is Muslim, native language Krio, 2nd language English.  In this area and especially in Kenema (1 hr to the east) people also speak Mende.  Yesterday I learned how to say "bye-bye" in Mende... that will get me a long ways!

The Zone Leaders were showing me some of their pictures when Elder Stott wanted to show me one... they debated back and forth until I said "If it's not appropriate I don't want to see it."  They were quick to say it was appropriate.  Then Elder Ellsworth started over to show me and Elder Stott said  "Do you like cats?"  I said "Yes" and Elder Ellsworth did an about face and sat down again.  I could see they really wanted to show me, so I said "Oh, just show it to me."  Elder Ellsworth came back with the picture... a cat being roasted.  It was skinned but you could see that the head was a cat.  Elder Stott had taken 1 bite... Elder Ellsworth had declined.  We don't see many cats around.

There are huge rodents called "grass-cutters".  We haven't seen any yet, only pictures, but several people (including Elder Stott) have said that the meat is excellent, really sweet and tender, better than beef.  I'll take their word for it.

Last week Elders Ellsworth & Stott were in their kitchen having breakfast.  Their kitchen is separate from the living quarters... it's like an outside cooking area that has decorative bricks all around it... with a lot of holes in the bricks.  They had put screens in every single hole to keep the mosquitoes out and it was working well.  But that morning a lizard was on one of the screens.  They were peacefully watching the lizard when suddenly a huge bird swooped in, grabbed the lizard and flew off with the lizard still holding onto the screen.  They replaced the screen later that day.