There were 9 baptisms in our building yesterday!  Six of them are in our branch, so they were all confirmed today in church. 

The baptismal confirmations were followed by our monthly “testimony meeting” where members have a chance to share their feelings on the Savior and His gospel.  The testimonies shared were beautiful simple testimonies of the gospel, all from converts to the gospel.  Most of them joined the church less than five years ago.  Recently, some of them, including our branch president and his wife, had the chance to go to the temple for their first time (to the Johannesburg, South Africa, which is our nearest temple).  It was wonderful to feel the spirit as they talked about their feelings of the temple and how their testimonies were strengthened even more by going.  They encouraged everyone in the branch to do what they could to save money so they could go too.  It is definitely an expensive trip, so I admire them even more for the sacrifices they will have to make to get there.

Thomas and Rhea also bore their testimonies, in English, with Briant translating into Portuguese, followed by Bri giving his own.  This was the kids’ first time ever sharing their testimonies.  I think my girls have looked to Thomas to work up the courage to do it, but Thomas is a little shy and afraid of being in front of a large group of people, so it has taken him a while to work up the courage.  But he told us when we lived in Virginia that he wanted to bear his testimony in Angola.  One of the last things he said today was, “I know that Heavenly Father will help me learn Portuguese while I’m here in Angola.”  I have to say that I believe that is true.  While our girls seem to do well with languages, Thomas has always seemed to struggle more with having it “stick” in his brain or even to be able to pronounce words correctly—to a frustrating degree for him and to those of us trying to teach him.  :) Over the last month, he has really shown an increased interest in learning Portuguese and amazingly it is not the frustrating experience it has been.  We’re not expecting fluent Portuguese from our children by the end of our time here, but we certainly would love for them to understand more of the language and feel more comfortable speaking it—for their benefit.

We love being able to be a small part of the missionary efforts here.  The kids and I made bookmarks out of felt with stitching that spelled “Elder” on them to let them know we love them.

 Briant continues to enjoy working with the Elders and having their weekly correlation meeting and dinner.  These particular Elders we have had in our area for a while, so sadly we’re anticipating some sort of change this next month.

This last week, we had the missionaries over for correlation, along with Augosto from the branch presidency, and Illario our Elders Quorum president.  Illario also brought his wife, a native Namibian who only speaks English, and their adorable baby.  Seriously, his eyes and lips are amazing!  I told Briant that I think we continue to get other members of the branch here because they’ve heard about his cooking!  Surprisingly though, the Angolans and Mozambiqian Elders are not fans of American brownies!  Elder Cook, the only American missionary, was loving his life that night as he got to eat all of their brownies.  :)

The girls and I bought some Angolan dresses!  We love how comfortable they are!  The dresses are long on the girls, but still they each insisted on having one.  They definitely won't ever outgrow them.  The kids' primary president at church named Bea was wearing a dress with a headwrap a few months ago and I complimented her on it.  Her mom sells them she told me, and asked if I was interested in buying one.  I of course was, but then she left the country for a few months.  She returned and remembered to bring us some dresses to look at.  These are the ones we selected, along with one other one that I bought for myself with a headwrap (that Bea has to show me how to use).  A lot of women wear these dresses, although the masses here have a more Western style of dressing.  As a local pointed out to me a few months ago, Angola is different from other African countries in that they are more influenced by the West, especially Brazil.  They are concerned about fashion, having a good figure, etc. (too bad I think).  So while we see these dresses here, they are more commonly worn in their homes and not necessarily out in public.  We've decided that these dresses are wonderful for lounging around, especially on those days where you might feel a little bloated.  :)

We had a visitor welcome us home from church today—a monkey!  A wild monkey.  Briant had seen a monkey crossing the street just yesterday and came home telling us about this monkey he saw and how he felt like living in Africa was kind of like living in a Dr. Seuss book.  You never know what you’re going to see!  As we were nearing our apartment building, Briant retold the story of seeing the monkey the day before to our driver.  We got out, got our bags, and walked toward the doors of our building.  Sitting on a ledge by the entryway was a monkey.  The same monkey Briant had seen!  Seeing a few guards and now three smaller humans (children), the monkey hopped down from a ledge that he had been sitting on and walked toward our kids.  The kids were hardly quiet in their excitement about seeing a monkey right here in the middle of a city and in front of our apartment.  So because of the excitement and maybe the bright pink color of Rhea’s dress, he approached the kids and went up to Rhea and smacked her dress leaving a very dark, dirty paw print.  I was relieved that he only hit her dress and didn’t scratch or bite her before I could tell the kids to back up.  This all happened very quickly as Briant and I were still getting our bags out of the trunk when our kids first approached the building.  Anyway, all was well, and we enjoyed another 10 minutes or so watching the monkey eat some dead sticks from a plant on the ground (and spitting them out when he realized they weren’t very appetizing).  A fun sight for us to come home to!

These kinds of days are rare here.  Clouds, rain, lightning...it was wonderful to cozy up on the couch and listen to the rain in the dark as the lights flickered on and off with the indecisive electrical surges coming and going.  This isn't like listening to the rain back home in a suburban neighborhood where you can literally only hear the rain on your windows or roof.  Here it's mixed with the sounds of sirens blaring and horns honking.  But nevertheless, I appreciated it.  Poor Briant, the Oregonian, wasn't able to because he was down in bed with a stomach bug of some sort (poor guy has been hit with this a few times over the last month.  It's something that is very common unfortunately with the adult expat community here.  He went to work this morning only to return home a few hours later).  The constant sun for an Oregonian is "oppressive" he says, but he has been slow to complain about the constant sun here, knowing that it is the norm and there's nothing he can do about it.  I'm proud of him for that.  I do find him salivating over pictures of the northwest every now and then, so he gets his "fix." 

Loving the raindrops on the window.

The streets slowing down and filling up like parking lots because of the rain.

One huge issue that we’ve had to deal with since we moved here, is the long rides that the kids have to get to school.  The kids drive with other embassy kids.  It’s only 9 miles away, but it takes no less than 45 minutes on a GOOD day because of the traffic congestion.  The problem is that there aren’t very many “good” days.  A few days ago it took the kids 2 hours to get home from school, and the day after that it took an hour and 15 minutes.  As I sit here writing, I have no idea when I can expect them home or in what condition I can expect them to be in.  What's funny is that I'm thinking back to when we lived in Las Vegas.  At one point, Briant and I threw around the idea (along with some friends) of him working in Las Vegas while actually living in St. George, Utah.  It would have been about a 1 1/2 hour commute, traveling 120 miles.  We decided that the quality of life doing that "miserable commute" every morning and evening would be too much for him, especially day after day.  And here we are now in Angola, asking our children to do it!  What kid likes to be cooped up in a van with 7 or 8 other kids (all between the ages of 10 and 5, having different likes, dislikes and idiosyncrasies) after a long day of school for at least an hour drive home?  Oh, and then they have to wake up the next morning and do it again, going to school and then coming home.  And one more thing—they have to do homework when they get home because the bus ride is too bumpy for them to do it on the way home and they all complain about being carsick.  :)

Needless to say, the commute to school is not my childrens' favorite part of their day and their weaknesses have come out a bit during the long drives—of course it’s ridiculous to expect perfection or even close to it with this issue at their age.  The noise of all the children cumulatively is too loud and the drivers have complained about that, fearing an accident caused by distractions.  They’ve also complained about bickering and “fighting” between the kids on the bus.  And every day the kids come home and I get to hear all about it.  After a few months of us parents talking with each other to try and understand the issues on the bus (“She said she hates me,” or “She won’t share her DS,” etc.), we reached our exhaustion point with lecturing our kids and hoping things would be better the next day.  After talking, most of the parents agreed that the technology brought by some of the kids was causing a lot of the issues and that it would probably help to prohibit tech stuff on the bus.  There are just too many kids without adult help to work through the fighting.  So feeling somewhat helpless, we decided to start by eliminating the technology.  The second thing we did was get all of the families together for a little "pow wow" and have the kids come up with their own “vision statement” and commitments on how they would behave appropriately on the bus.  This “activity” went well as we all designated Amy as the parent leader.  She used material from Covey’s “Seven Habits for Happy Kids/The leader in Me” program.  The kids each shared their goals and then one of the moms went home and created a visual with these goals to post up in the bus for the kids to remember what we talked about. 

 “Pete the Peacemaker” is the adorable superhero character she created (I wish I had a pic of it!).  After a week we reconvened and discussed how the kids thought they did.  We had treats for them and made it like a party to celebrate the good behavior.  As parents, we were all very pleased with how the week went because we didn’t hear any complaining from our own kids about any other children!  We will keep up the weekly pow wows if we have to for a few more weeks to keep them focused on their vision of a peace-filled bus.

These kids have my complete empathy.  I know I couldn’t handle that drive twice a day, five days a week!  I dislike that drive A LOT and avoid going that direction as much as I can.  So we are trying to be understanding of how much we are asking of our children (besides the fact that we're asking them to live in Angola), but do hope that these issues with continue to improve!  

These are my English students!  Right now, there are 58 students, with more coming as soon as they return from their leave.  When I applied for the job, I was told that they normally have about 25 people sign up, so this is considerably more than I was planning on.  All is well though.  I have about eight that don't speak any English at all, and then about 25 that can speak at the next level, and then another 15 intermediate speakers, and 10 at an advanced level.  So I'll be lesson planning for four classes, two hours of instruction for each level, each week.

Before we moved here, I was told about the English Instructor position at the embassy that would be open when we arrived in Angola.  After considerable thought, I decided to apply for the position.  I felt that with my kids going to school all day, I would need a purpose to keep me going beyond keeping us the house and preparing for their return from school.  Angola, I was told, with it being a hardship and high crime post, does not have regular every day opportunities to explore or socialize with others.  Because of this, many spouses of the diplomats will work in some capacity at the embassy.  Luckily for me, they have been without an English teacher since the end of last spring, so with my teaching background and love of teaching, I decided it could be a good fit for me.  I felt that teaching would allow me opportunities to get to know the Angolans more intimately and feel rewarded through my interaction with them.  So far, all of this has come true.  I met with all 58 students last week.  I assessed their English reading and grammar abilities with a 20 question written test, and then assessed their speaking ability through conversation.  I had about 15 questions that I asked each of them (I felt like I sounded like a broken record and was living out my own version of the movie “Groundhog Day” with Bill Murray by the end of the 5th day :) ).  Even with the quantity of repetition, and sitting for long periods of time, without a lunch or even a bathroom break, I enjoyed myself immensely.  I felt like I was connecting with these locals and they were excited and grateful for the classes that I would be teaching.  I am so impressed with them.  To test their grasp of how to use the conditional word “would,” I asked, “What would you do if you won a million dollars?”  Almost every person laughed at first, but then went on to give thoughtful answers about how they would use the money to help their children go to a university and how they would help their community build schools or recreation centers for the kids and teenagers here.  Most also mentioned that they would like to have a house of their own and a car so they wouldn’t have to take taxis all the time.  They also amazed me with the number of kids they have and how they LOVE them so much.  One man, that didn’t appear to be older than 30, told me he has 7 kids.  ALL BOYS!  He’s actually 42 (Angolans look younger than they are!), and said that each of his children is a “gift from God.”  I have heard this many times since being here.  It is remarkable to me that despite the burdens they carry to provide food and clothing for their many children, the Angolans talk so reverently about them and seem to truly know their preciousness.

I look forward to my time teaching here in Angola.  During one interview a man said, “God sent you.  I have been waiting to learn English and now you are here.”  A woman I assessed also said, “We are fighting to learn English.  To learn English makes us free.”  These locals want to learn English because they can improve their job/career opportunities and their ability to make more money if they speak English.  They are trying to improve their circumstances as much as they can.  I'm grateful for the chance to be a small part in that process.  And yet again, I feel very grateful for the ease with which I have been able to live my life and am reminded of all that I have taken or do take for granted.  I think I'd be a fool if I didn't realize that I'M the student here.

Thomas started taking an after-school yoga class for free at the International school the kids attend (it should be free for the cost of tuition right?!).  We tried getting him into a swimming class and a 3D design class as well but there were waiting lists.  He was actually very interested in signing up for yoga—I think it stems from doing some yoga together during our year of home schooling last year when I tried to get the kids to calm down and rest physically and mentally every now and then. All of the kids love yoga—they love stretching and showing the ways that they’re getting more and more flexible.  So Thomas has taught us some of his stretches from Yoga class. :)

Savannah, talking to grandma Marlene in her cardboard chair she made, next to her cardboard box house entrance.  We are happy to finally have our Magic Jack phone set up through our internet to call the States for only $35 or so a year—all the way from Africa!  It’s awesome and we love being able to call our family, as long as we can hook up despite the time differences!

We discovered a snow cone place a block away from our apartment.  It has European owners and is not surprisingly in the area of the city where a lot of English and Portuguese live.  We have seen a few gelato places open up near new expensive apartment buildings also.  It’s $4 for a little cup, but it tastes like home and the kids have stepped up their good behavior in hopes of earning these cones as weekend rewards. :) 

More weekend playdates with our friends Kallen and Kara.

Since getting our HHE, the kids have pulled out the plasma car and ripsticks to ride around the apartment.  It’s NOT my choice of activities inside our apartment, especially with the loud echo of the toys on tile along with concrete walls that don't absorb any noise.  But the kids don't have anywhere outdoors to ride them here.  We would stand out even more than we already do, and make ourselves targets of thievery moving around the city on toys that don't exist here.  Yesterday I saw two kids on bicycles for my first time since moving to Luanda!  Plus I don't have enough bandaids for the kind of harm we would incur trying to move around on torn up sidewalks and roads.  There are also very few open areas to move around without hundreds of people commuting on foot or selling their wares on the sidewalks.  So I feel bad for the kids--they need to be able to move around as if they had a yard to play in.  The embassy provides a safe atmosphere to play, but we aren't able to get there on a daily basis with it being a long walk each way with the kids.  After their long drive home from school, we don't have the time.  So the flat painted white walls show Savvy’s handprints from teaching herself how to ride the ripstick and the neighbors downstairs have to deal with a bit more noise.  I’m hoping they’re still at work when the kids get out of school!  So far, no complaints.  Here's to hoping... 

Here’s Savvy helping Bri prepare dinner, in her swimsuit that she was wearing practicing gymnastics beforehand.  Savvy loves cooking and baking, especially if it helps her feel like she has a say in what she eats.  :)  She frequently prepares muffins, pancakes, smoothies, eggs, oatmeal, etc. on her own.  She’s very competent.  She’s been preparing scrambled eggs since she was six years old, cracking the eggs and all.  She was determined to learn how, so Bri taught her.  We’re still working on having her clean up after she makes the mess in the kitchen!