Up in the 'Belt

Greetings from the Copperbelt of Zambia!

This place is so much different than Lilongwe. First of all, I have not yet been in a house that is lacking a television set, or even electricity for that matter. But with money comes pride, and we've been told it's the biggest issue that we'll face here.

For the most part, Sister J and I have just been driving our little corolla around trying to get the feel of the place, and mostly we've been to visit the less-active members. But we're making progress, and we are gradually getting on our feet!

Sister J, my new companion, is fresh from Uganda, and she's a very sweet girl! She is so eager to learn, and to try out the best parts of the work for herself. She's pretty much ready to start swimming on her own, I just need to point her in the right direction.

The bus ride to Zambia took fifteen. flipping. hours. And you know how I get on long road trips. At one point I was just leaning against the window wanting to be anywhere but where I was. But then one of the elders distracted me by talking about action movies.

There were no chickens on the chicken bus, but there was a lot of Afro-Gospel and boy band music. Have you ever heard of the band West Life? Well neither had I before then, but now I think I may have all their songs memorized...

This morning I forgot that the H's have a washing machine, and I did all my whites by hand. And now I have these painful sores on three of my fingers that are actually making it hard to type. But hey, the point is that we learn from our trials, right?

One thing that I'm a little down about is the fact that I'm not driving a truck here. And there's a ton of speed bumps all over the place! I have to almost stop so that our little corolla doesn't hit the bump when I go over... One thing is for sure: it's a nice car, but I don't want one of my own.

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If there is one thing I'm learning up here, it's that persistence is key. "Just do your best and God does the rest".

Sister Adams