21 April 2012

We slept with the windows open for the first time this spring and it felt good. We had thought there would be a lot of noise, dogs and people, but it’s was a pretty quiet night.

This morning we attended our church meetings. They were great. In Sacrament Meeting, Brother Hari Magar was released as Second Counselor in the Branch Presidency and sustained as the Young Men’s President. Gene has been serving as the Advisor and he was released, however, Pres. Bishnu did ask him to help Hari our for a bit until they sustain someone.

I was able to collect a bit of data for the branch history. Elder Tamang, the Branch Mission Leader will come and meet with us so I can get the baptisms and that will help a lot. I did talk to GC and he does have some plastic sheet protectors. I will be glad to get them – then I can actually put things in the book.

At church today there was a young man by the name of Mark who is from Provo. He has been in Nepal for a month and a half doing some trekking. He wanted to know a little more about water projects, so we invited him to come over after church, have dinner and talk water. Nick also dropped by so we invited him to stay as well. While Gene talked to them, I prepared dinner: spaghetti, bread sticks, broccoli and Mark had bought a watermelon. The breadsticks turned out yummy today. In fact, it all tasted pretty good. It gave Nick a sample of American food, a big change from rice and dahl.

What a surprise when our Skype was ringing about 5:45 PM and it said Tracey Ricks was calling. (That means that it's about 6:00 AM there) And they were at the church. We also talked to our Stake President, Pres. Staheli,  for a minute. They (the Young Single Adults) had had a special activity focused on Indexing of Family History Records. They had a special guest who introduced the program and showed them how to do it, then they spent twelve hours hands on. It was fun to talk to them. I hope they can all go home and get some much needed sleep. 

20 April 2012 Friday

We went back to the Social Welfare Council today. We stopped at the desk to ask for the registration number of the letter we had submitted back in February. The lady didn’t understand what we wanted and asked if we spoke Nepali. (No, we don’t and next time we will take Laxmi with us) We went upstairs. Mr. Basnet wasn’t in his office. We finally did see Mr.  Rimal, but he was in a hurry, on his way to Pokhra. He did tell us he would get back with us on a date for a PAC meeting. We told him we were looking for the registration number of the letter and he wrote a note for the woman downstairs.

When we took it downstairs, she just registered the letter we had taken in. Oh, such is life in Nepal and working with the government. When we got home, Rakesh called and said we should request a certain date. I guess that means another trip down there. I will be glad to get this done with. I’m sure we do need to get the PAC meeting held. Rakesh said that could influence the new missionaries getting visas. So it is important.

A lesson learned today: When we got home, Laxmi had gone to run errands. I decided to make some syrup. I mixed up the sugar and water and put it on the stove. Then I came in on the computer and completely forgot about it. Later, we heard a noise and wondered what that was. I had put wash in and heard the washer go off. I got up and could see smoke and then fire in the kitchen. I called Gene and we went in there. The sugar water had probably boiled dry, boiled over and caught fire. Everything was black and there was lots of smoke.

We were able to take the pan out the back door. It was filled with crusty black bubbly stuff. The burner on the propane cook top was also very black with a sugary mixture.. I worked at getting it in some water;  Gene went upstairs and brought the fans down to blow some of the smoke out. There was a distinct smell to go along with the smoke.

We opened all the doors and windows, trying to clear out the house. I was glad Laxmi was gone. It took me a long time to get the cook top cleaned up. I looked at the pan and decided it wasn’t worth it to try and clean it. I put it deep down in the garbage can, not wanting Laxmi to see it.

When she came home, the house was pretty much smoke free. I did tell her about it and she laughed and said that happens sometimes. She asked about the pan and said you can clean them with vinegar and baking soda. I told her I had hid it not wanting her to see it. I did pull it out of the garbage and  she laughed again.This afternoon she went with me to the Chowk and we bought a new pan.

Anyway, tonight I’m thankful again for the watchful care we have been blessed with. I know the events of this day could have turned out disastrous. We know we are being watched over and protected. I’ve learned a great lesson today. I should have known better. Next time, I will stay right there and keep an eye on things.

19 April 2012

Rakesh had stopped by yesterday and he called today and said that he had been to SWC and yes, we do need to have a PAC meeting. He suggested we go in and talk to Mr. Rimal and get something scheduled. We will do that tomorrow.

We taught English today and again, we enjoy that. Today our word of the day was ‘deadlock’. How appropriate as the government here seems to be in a deadlock as far as the constitution drafting process goes. Today we talked about the western calendar. They knew quite a bit about it, but still it was a good review as we had them come to the board and write sentences using words related to the calendar. They struggle a bit with writing sentences, but it seems they are more than willing to help each other out.  And since we aren’t teaching a University class, we let it go.  We did ask the women today what their favorite day of the week was and a couple of them said ‘Monday, because we get to come to English.’

I did sent an email to the Rempp’s today asking them if they would like to finish out the class. We are only half way through the book and I hate to hurry through it. The women would like to finish. Rempp’s said they would be happy to complete the course. The women will be happy to hear that.

Laxmi shared with me the story of one of the women in the class. She is one of the women who has just started taking English. She told Laxmi that she was married at 13, and had her first child at 15. She said she wasn’t an educated woman but that her children were all educated. One was working in the US, one in the UK and the other had a good education and a good job as well. She really wanted to learn English just in case she ever got the chance to visit her children. She also thought it would help and improve her life.

This afternoon, I made some potato salad. It’s sure good for a change. Gene went to PEC and I finished another pair of pot pads. I’m to the point where I’m having to put two different yarns together to have enough  finish a pair. I will have soon used up four of the big spools of yarn from WalMart. It’s been good to have them to do.

 18 April 2012

I called Raj Shah at READ Nepal (Leprosy) and asked if he would be available, that we wanted to stop by.  He said to come about 11:30 AM. We did talk to Raj for a few minutes. He is surely a ‘HERO’ that we have met here in Nepal. He is the man behind the leprosy clinic here. He has so many health issues himself but still he moves forward helping other people. He has had leprosy himself, he is an amputee, and he is on dialysis, four times a day and is in renal failure. He told us to pray for him. He had recently had a stroke that left his face partially paralyzed and said it is doing better with exercise. Now he is trying to earn money so READ Nepal can buy land for their own building. He said the government is going to take over the space where they are located. He just has so many challenges. His attitude is great. He sometimes people compare his life to that of Job in the Bible. He know of Father in heaven’s love for him and patiently endures his challenges and with a positive attitude. He asked us to pray for him and that we will do.