Brother L's baptism was on Saturday, and it was a wonderful experience. He looked so happy, and when we told him he'd be able to baptize his wife in two weeks he looked near overcome with joy! It certainly made me really happy to be there (regardless of a bad flu), and I realized that the L's are the first converted family I've helped teach since first contact! I guess that is the show of being on mission for just about six months.
Here is the story behind the monkey skull and the pictures from our Zone trip to Lake Malawi...
I had my hat, a certain hat that made me feel like Indiana Jones. I'd found a nice stick, one that I could walk with and poke things. I also had some kind of strange ball-shaped fruit thing that was very hard and that made me feel like I was out to discover.
So there I was, with my stick and my ball thing and my hat, jumping over the big rocks and feeling like Malawian Jones. I and my beautiful assistant, Sister S, knew that there were baboons nearby, so we were being cautious as we explored. We wanted to discover!
I spotted a tree that I thought myself clever to climb, and as I rounded a large stone to approach the base, we were greeted by the sight of some long-gone creature of local origin! We were fascinated by the spectacle, and we as we examined more closely I, the great Malawi Jones, was able to identify the creature as once being a baboon, the very animals that were now terrorizing our mission trucks in search of food.
I took my stick and poked the skull of the creature, turning it over and grinning like a schoolgirl. There was a hole in the base, just the right size for my stick! I speared the thing, and stood tall as I took it to show the other missionaries.
The reactions were mixed, and the best was a certain Canadian acting Hamlet.
President P at first wanted to claim the thing from me, but I was adamant, saying that I wanted to send it to my family.
You see, I had already begun to formulate a plan that would result in shocks for my family, and lots of laughter for me. I would send the skull without telling them, and hiding it in the package with something else seemed like the best way to do it. Therefore, President P advised me to let the thing sit in bleach for a bit, thus cleaning the skull of any unmentionables.
And thus it was sent.
I walked away from the post office that day giggling like a child, imagining the looks on my family's faces when the package finally arrived and they saw what was inside.
(Note from Naunie- Cassie put the skull with a couple of Chitenjes for Marie and I, but didn't tell us what else was in the box we received last week - imagine our surprise to lift the first fabric and have the skull staring up at us.)
This week we were working with a sister, and we were trying to get her to figure out about our Heavenly Parents on her own. This is the girl that goes silent when she's shocked about something--literally speechless! She kept saying, "Sisters, this is all so much." Do you know those cartoons where their eyes pop and their jaws fall to the floor?
Ndi Makukondani! (in chichewa, that means 'I love you!')
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The thoughts I leave with you this week is a tidbit from the March Home teaching message. The hymn Master the Tempest is Raging. This powerful song testifies that no matter what trials come our way, if we are built upon the foundation of Christ we cannot fail. We cannot fall. This I also testify to you, and seal this letter with my love,
Sister Adams
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