All in A Days Work

We start the day with a shower, personal scripture study, joint study, daily planning, breakfast and a little more study. Today we left the house at 9:00 am to meet the zone leaders an hour away. So at 10:00 we met the zone leaders and waded through traffic to review some apartments. We approved one that was newly re-painted and looked great... even had a toilet seat! The elders were concerned that others would beat them to the landlord and rent it before they got there, so we drove them directly to the landlord's home. While they were busy working arrangements out with the landlord, we went to the end of the block and took a peak at the South China Sea.

Driving through town this morning was a breeze!

 Fishermen coming in from a morning of fishing. 

 They hoped out of the boat and all lent a hand to get the boat out of the water and up on the sand. A few well placed logs and a lot of grunts and groans...

 ...and they got the boat out of the water and safely on the sand.

Other fishing boats have already come in and the fishermen are telling their stories of the day under a palm frond roof along the shore.

This man came in solo on a little raft. No big waves in sight, but if there was one he would be in for a swim.

The apartment agreement was finalized, so we returned to pickup the zone leaders and take them back to their apartment on the other side of town. We dropped them off and drove a half an hour to the next town to join the missionaries in their district meeting. The power is out, so no A/C or fans on this hot humid day. We shared a can of honey roasted peanuts with the elders during interviews and a couple of Hershey Kisses. It was a good training and the elders strengthen one another by just being together. We always enjoy being the investigators in the workshops.

After the district meeting we left the chapel with another set of zone leaders to review another apartment. the apartment looked great and we gave our hearty approval. While we were getting out of the car I saw the elders walking up the street and had to take a picture of the wonderful sight of these Sons of Helaman marching down the street on their way to proclaim the restored gospel of Jesus Christ to all the world!

 After the apartment inspections, back in the car, through town, down the "highway" to home for a quick bite of dinner. Whoa! What was that? It was a big flash of light followed by a deafening clap of rolling thunder. The clouds burst with the moisture they have been gathering all day and pour it down for hours. But the work goes on. We got our dinner and left home to meet the Primary president who will accompany us to the less active families and our reactivation visits. We got to the meeting place and waited in the car while the rains poured down. Our sister from the branch arrive a little late because there were no trikes to hire for her ride due to the heavy rains. She was faithful and found a way to get to us. We traveled down the road to a turnoff onto a gravel road, with lots of holes and no shoulder. We traveled on this road in the pouring rain about 3 Km (1.8 miles) and there we found our families. We visited for a couple of hours, talked of their conversion and their missionaries, gave a lesson, bore testimony and invited them to come to church next Sunday.

The sister on the left is our primary president and the other sisters are those we are inviting back to church. We had a very sweet experience with them, felt the spirit and shed tears of joy together. They know the gospel is true and love the Lord, but travel is expensive and difficult. We think they have the faith to do it and we know the Lord will help them find the way. He certainly delivered us today and know that somehow we will make it back to the highway and to our cozy little home.

We dropped the sister off at her home and got back to our home by 9:00. It was a busy day... a rewarding day... a day of deliverance of the Lord. We approved apartments that were exceptionally good. We met with the missionaries and lifted their hearts and they lifted ours. We bore testimony and felt the spirit all day long. We forged some flooded roads to meet some wonderful saints and shared a spiritual experience together. We were filled with joy all day. What a wonderful work we are engaged in! Thank you dear Lord for letting us be a small part of thy great work and receive such a bountiful blessing of joy.