May 13, 2013

We got to skype with Sterling for an hour on Mother's Day.  It was so good to see him and talk to him.  It was a little bit hard to hear him because he had to speak into a mic and with five of us trying to ask him questions it was a bit crazy, but it was good.  We got to see a few of the people from the branch which was cool and we could see the part of the church where he was sitting.  Everyone that walked by him would rub his head!  He says they like to do that because they think his hair is soft.  Most of the people just shave their hair and the women wear wigs. He seems to be doing well although he says it’s hard work – not physically, but spiritually.  He told us that they spend most of their time working with less active members and with referrals.  He said that they’ve only done two days of finding while he’s been out.  The branch has about 400 members, but only about 100 are active. The area is really poor and most people don't have couches or bathrooms. Only about 7 families in the branch have cars.  But most everyone has a cell phone!  Mama Maxine's baptism was delayed for one week so he's looking forward to that this week.  He's tired of ramen noodles and oatmeal so if anyone has easy microwave or stovetop recipes, he would love them.  Food is pretty expensive, especially fresh fruit, but he says they eat quite a bit of mongo (mango- but not too much or you get runny belly).  They just have dry milk and processed cheese.