Meeting President and Sister Morin and Independence Day

Our district with President and Sister Morin

Another week gone and so many more experiences under my belt.  It’s been a great week here in Fidjrossé.  Lots of things going on.  Well ok, not really, but there’s been a couple of cool things.

First off, President and Sister Weed left last Tuesday at about 9:45 p.m., and since we’re right next to the airport, I was able to go up on the roof (about 4 stories high) and film their airplane taking off.  President and Sister Morin got here about an hour and a half before (they all used the same airplane).

Then, at about midnight, we got a call from the Assistants that we would be having a district meeting the following morning at Fidjrossé with President and Sister Morin.

So, the next morning we got up and got all of our stuff ready and were at the branch building with the Aïbatin sisters at 9.  A few minutes later Elder Ritchie and Elder Kognani (two of the Assistants) showed up, and then a few minutes later again Elder Rybin drove up in President’s car with President and Sister Morin.  We greeted them and got right into our district meeting.

It was kind of fun for me to see how different people were holding themselves in this situation, hahaha.  But President and Sister Morin are both very nice and friendly so it was all good.  After our district meeting President Morin wanted to go out with one companionship, and since I had mentioned President Kazotti (our branch president) in our area report, President Morin wanted to go with us to visit him.  So we did! We had a great visit!

Family Home Evening at Presdent Kazotti's

What was weird for me to think was that President Morin hadn’t even been in Africa for 24 hours!!!  Haha but I remembered at the end to introduce him to bissap (my favorite drink here, made from a flower-Sister Kazotti also makes a KILLER bissap), and he fell in love!  Haha. So yeah, that was that and then we went back to the branch for a type of mix and mingle with our district, the Assistants, the office elders, and President and Sister Morin.  It was a blast!  We had some delicious chawarmas and got to know President and Sister Morin better.  They’re from Quebec, Canada (their accents are a bit interesting, especially Sister Morin’s-it’s very strong).  I’m pretty sure he’s been in business his whole professional career.  I believe they said that they have 8 kids, but I’m not sure (I didn’t take notes).  So yeah that’s about it.  Oh yeah, they’ve had kids serve on every continent except Africa, so they figured they’d eventually end up here, but they’re so grateful for it and so willing to get started with the work here.

We decided to have 4th of July grill party and it went splendid!  Elder Silvas and I started preparing as early as last Monday.  We separated the work into two parts, each of us on one: the kitchen and the grill.  I took the role of wife in this situation and got to work in the kitchen while Elder Silvas was on the grill (well, that's at least how it is in my family).

After getting the potatoes boiled, I got to work on mashing them.  MY whole life, I've had a Kitchenaid at my side ready to help me.  But not now.  And boy do I have more respect for Kitchenaids.  It's hard!!!  I broke into a good sweat.  But that's kinda how food is here, if you don't sweat hard and have muscle aches after making food, you haven't merited a real meal.  Adding in butter and milk made it a bit easier, but they turned out delicious!  I then got to work on the garlic cheese bread and the gravy.  Both were easy and done in minutes.

Mashing potatoes is very hard when you don't have a machine to do it for you!

Meanwhile on the grill, Elder Silvas was tearing it up with those steaks.  They were soooooo good.  The chicken was not bad at all either.

The 4th of July grill!!!!!

Look at dat STEAK!!!!!!!

We had some chicken, too. (Mexican style thanks to Elder Silvas)

The Grill Master

After everything was ready, we set the table and brought everyone out.  We started with the Nathional Anthem and a prayer and then got our chow on.  It was a very satisfying meal.  Unfortunately it was already late, so I didn't have time to make green beans and a salad, but oh well, I made up for that last night for dinner.

Our dinner: steak, mashed potatoes, gravy and GARLIC CHEESE BREAD!!!!! (We got REAL cheese from Erevan. It was delicious)

Our apartment together.

That was my last 4th of July as a full-time missionary!  Wasn't bad either.

Anyways, it’s been a bit of a normal week until today!  Several missionaries all went to Tokpa (the huge market, like in Togo, but this one had a different feel about it.  Not as crowded).  So I took the liberty today of buying two new pagnes to be made into outfits and a new tie (for a dollar)!  We had a fun walk around that area and then kind of a hang out at our apartment with several of the missionaries who are going home in less than two weeks!

Two new pagnes from today!

  

I love you all so much, and I hope you all have a great week!

Avec amour,

Elder Jenkins