Thanksgiving

Life continues in much the same manner.  We love serving the Lord as missionaries.  Our days continue to be long but filled with joy and satisfaction.  On a recent day trip, Elwood focused on taking pictures of children which were mostly school age and seen everywhere.  Many of the pictures are from the village of Ilewo-Orile just outside of Abeokuta in Orogun State, southwest Nigeria.  The kids were admiring the missionaries' new bicycles are from Ajangbadj (Lagos State).

We now have 30 missionaries on bicycles...  And they love them, but are so hard on them that they require constant repair.  One missionary complained after the bicycles were "trued".  (For non-cyclists this means adjusting the spokes so the wheel does not wobble.)  He said he was just riding along and all of the sudden three spokes on the front tire popped out.  He said, "The mechanic tightened the spokes too much and they just broke."  (The old Adam and Eve story... not my fault.)  I asked him if he hit anything and he said no.  Further investigation revealed that he went into a deep pothole and hit a sharp edge while exiting which broke the spokes.

We are looking for good surge protectors for the missionaries.  Electricity goes off and on so frequently that electrical appliances die quite often.  They call and cry that their appliances are "spoiled". We respond with "sorry," which is the Nigerian standard response for sneezing, coughing, dropping something on the floor, or anything negative that may happen in life.

We are trying to get a Pathways program started in Lagos.  It is a way for students to get a degree from BYU Idaho by taking online classes.  It does require a presence of teachers here for the students to meet with weekly for the first year of the program.  There is a lot of interest here, but the closest program now is in Ghana.

We miss you all and love you.  One of the senior couples went home last week... we really miss them.
May the Lord bless you all.
Elwood and Penny