It Is Coming To An End

Only 4 more weeks before we leave Sierra Leone.  We are going to miss it so much, but are looking forward to seeing all the family again.

The Church is Still Growning

A lot has happened since our last blog.  When we got to Sierra Leone nearly 2 years ago, there was 1 Stake (in Freetown) and numerous Districts in the mission.  Here in Bo we had 2 Districts and 11 branches of the Church.  A year ago a 3rd District was created in Bo and we had 15 branches.  A month ago, 2 of the Districts in Bo were made Stakes.  There are now 12 wards, 7 branches.  A week ago the Freetown Stake split.  There are now 3 Stakes in Freetown.  There are 5 stakes in Sierra Leone.  Here in Bo we have 2 Stakes, 1 District.  We are  getting ready to create a new District in the Sierra Rotile and Moyamba area.  We now have 23 wards and branches that we support in Bo and Rotile.  This gives you a picture of why they call the Africa West Area the fastest growing area of the Church in the world.

Holiday Season

We haven't blogged since September.  October and November just flew by.  While they do not know Halloween here, we did enjoy a touch of it.

Jack-O-Lanterns are still fun here even though the pumpkins are green.
November we had guests here in our apartment over the Thanksgiving time.  They also do not celebrate Thanksgiving here.  We had a great dinner with roasted chicken instead of turkey.  Mashed potatoes and gravy.  Jello Salad.

The Jack-O-Lanterns became pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving.  We ate too much but it was a great Thanksgiving that we shared with good friends from Church Headquarters.

Christmas is coming and we have our "tree" up by Dec 8.  They do not do Christmas here like we are used to either so we make do.

We have had our nativity up for several months since we finished having it made.  We first of all purchased the figures from a West African craft store in Freetown.  We wanted a stable to go with it that looked like a stable would look in Sierra Leone.  We had this made by our local carver in Bo.  We love it. It feels nice to see it and think of Christ every day, not just at Christmas.  

You add the Christmas music playing on the computer and if feels like Christmas anywhere.

We hope you all have a very merry Christmas.