Elder Richter has a family friend living in Luanda. Kathy Ryan invited him and his companions to help her at a downtown orphanage. Elders Richter, Anhanha and Bauer had so much fun teaching the children and playing with them. Of course the kids just loved the tall missionaries who could actually speak their language. Hopefully all the missionaries will be able to take advantage of this great service opportunity in the coming months and years.
Thanks to Elder Allison, we actually got a picture of the baptism in Lubango. Yes, they have baptisms, but just not when we have been in town. Ameilia's family is amazing. They were investigating for the longest time and then all of a sudden they have been committing to being baptized one by one with help from Elders Harper, Allison, Davis and McAllister. They are amazing! In Luanda, we had 3 baptisms last Saturday. Elder Anhanha and Eckman provided a beautiful musical number and Elders Tolman, Rainbolt and Guente and newly called missionary Maer were there to support their investigators.
A fond farewell to Elder Schioser, possibly the best teacher I have ever seen in a mission. He will be missed by the missionaries and the members. Our zone leaders, Elders Anhanha, Bauer and Richter, came out to see Elder Schioser off. He has one family that especially will feel his absence in Luanda!
Flying back from Huambo, we caught a couple of pictures of how Luanda looks from the air. It isn't the prettiest city, but it has a unique charm and things are changing! As I mentioned before, slowly but surely, Colonel Sanders is making his appearance in Luanda. The missionaries are already planning a visit to KFC when it opens!
A weekend with the members in Huambo was an enjoyable experience. Casal Violin drove up from Lubango to get to know the members, like Edine and Aurora, and the city they will be watching over. There were 26 people at their Sacrament Meeting and they had enough children (actually all boys) to have the first-ever Primary. Without any advance planning Sister Violin taught them the song "Once There Was a Snowman" ("homem de neve") and then told them the Easter Story with pictures. It was wonderful even though she had enough time to do it all 3 times. There were more nonmembers at church and the spirit was wonderful. Some day soon they will become a branch!
Missionaries can be good cooks. Elder McAllister has become the Pizza Master in Lubango. So he volunteered to create some great homemade pizzas for all of us. He did have the help from the other Elders, but they mostly ate the cheese and watched him cook away. The pizzas were delicious and President Walton was impressed. Missionaries also make due with what they have and with not many glasses in the house, they all use the same water bottle but drink without touching the top of the bottle. They call it water-falling. Elder Richter tried to drink while swallowing at the same time, but it was a little difficult for him. Elder Harper can drink a whole bottle without stopping!
