Good-bye and hello to the Elders

 We had to say good-bye to one of Thomas' favorite missionaries.  Elder Cambarame from Mozambique.  Thomas liked him because he was always so helpful to translate for the kids at church because he spoke English too.  He is a happy Elder, with a fun youthful spirit that the kids loved. 

Left to right:  Elder S, Elder Cook, Elder Cambarame, and Elder Alfredo 

 Elder Cambarame and Thomas giving hugs before he left, Thomas trying to be manly and hold his emotions together.

Here he is taking it upon himself to talk about his favorite scripture story to entertain the kids before a Saturday baptism at the church.  He also went on to translate during the baptism for the kids so they would understand everything. 

 The Noah's Ark puzzle--we completed it three times!  Our family has never done the same puzzle three times, but this was a fun one that G-ma and G-pa P. gave us for Christmas.  The Elders, especially Elder Cook, had a hard time resisting the desire to help before they went home after correlation meeting.  :)

 Now, in Elder Cambarame's place we have Elder Paulino from Mozambique.  He's only been a member for three years (all of the Elders from Mozambique are also pretty recent converts, having joined in the last seven years).  I expressed my amazement to Elder Paulino that he would come and sacrifice two years serving a mission after being such a recent convert.  His response was, "That's the beauty of the gospel!"  His smile is contagious.  We feel lucky to have weekly association with these young men in our home!  I feel like we're feeding an army every week with their healthy appetites, but we're glad we can provide a meal that they can count on!