Days of Our Lives - Final Day 10 (Countdown begins)

Today found us cleaning the apartment.  All around us people burn their garbage in open fires, thus we have a soot build up all the time.  This is the last time to clean the black grime from things.  We also started cleaning out our closets.  There is a nice big bag of clothes we are leaving behind.  I will be so glad to get some other clothes.  I'm really tired of the skirts and blouses I have been wearing for 18 months!!!  Remember, I have written often that they don't sell clothes in hardware stores.

The stuff we have collected that won't fit in our suitcases.

We are giving kitchen and other items we have purchased to other senior missionaries.  It's great how you have someone who needs your items just as badly as you did when you arrived.  We were grateful for previous humanitarian missionaries for all the supplies they left for us.

We just finished a very informative FHE conducted by Elder Vinas.  It's impossible to express the number of things we learned, but his focus was on senior missionaries and their value and also their weaknesses.  One weakness is to be assigned to a branch and "go in and take over".  Throughout our whole mission, we have tried to remember "shadow leadership".  It is important for us to recognize the presiding priesthood authority -- branch and district presidents.  The second principle taught tonight applies to the Church worldwide -- traditions.  We, meaning all Church members, need to steer clear of creating traditions such things as always standing during the intermediate hymn.  This is a tradition here, but the reality is that if the presiding authority authorizes this, it's appropriate, but also it is appropriate to not have an intermediate hymn or to have various musical numbers.  The tradition is doing it week after week.  Anyway, we all understand these things and senior missionary couples need constant reminders about our roles just like every missionary.

What a wonderful experience to be taught in an informal gathering, chatting about the Church.  It can only happen in the mission field -- hint, hint to those who are reading this blog and are of such an age to serve!

Gineups -- It's the season for this fruit.  It's a little larger than a red grape, has a hard outer shell that you pierce with your fingernail, has a slimy fruit and a large seed.  You suck the slime off the seed.  Actually, a good ripe gineup is fairly sweet, but there's not much there to eat.

And so ends day 10.