Time is getting short...

This may be our last blog entry or penultimate.  Time is getting short.  A few weeks ago, we attended the wedding of a young man with whom the mission does business.  There are some interesting pictures of a traditional Yoruba wedding.  The groom had to prostrate himself before both sets of parents.

The next set of pictures shows us going to Snake Island, which is just outside of Lagos.  We were looking for a building to rent for a church meetinghouse.  We rode in a small motorboat to reach the island and a motorcycle (okada) once we got there... a fun experience.

Every two weeks we travel to small branches of the church to give help and support.  The pictures show Penny in a primary age children's class.  We visited members in their homes and got a firsthand look at poverty as we had not seen before.  We visited a few compounds - multiple housing building with common areas.  There were dirt floors, bare block walls and hardly any furniture (2 small children were resting on a dirty mattress on the floor).  They cook in a common outdoor kitchen.  There were no bathrooms other than an enclosure with a hole and buckets of water.  It is amazing that the people seemed happy and were definitely enjoying being together.

We have been busy teaching, training, and traveling to zone conferences and mission Leadership Council meetings.  The work never ends nor does our desire to help hasten this wonderful work.  We are both well and happy.  We can hardly wait for our children (Jeff, Angie, Shireen and Brett) to join us in Johannesburg for our safari in April.  We will then return to our mission as we have extended for a few weeks.  We will have more in our last blog.

Love to you all,
Elwood and Penny

Girl with tribal markings on her cheeks

Penny and Isaac at his wedding

Groom prostrates before his parents.  He also did this before the in-laws

The bride

Bride kneeling before her in-laws

Ready to go to Snake Island just off Lagos 

Elder and Sister Logan getting in the boat

Penny in the boat 

Ready to go

On our way

Snake Island, inhabited by 14,000 people in four villages

Penny and me on an Okada (motor cycle)

Building to possibly be rented for one of our church meeting houses

Here is how to mix cement.  They wer elaying a large slab around a building. 

All of our missionaries along with Elder and Sister Bednar, Elder and Sister Clayton, and the Area Presidency of Africa West Area.  See us on the left of the 5th row.

My what a bus - comfort plus 

Typical street scene, vehicles and people competing for space 

Penny at Ilese Branch Primary.  The church is very small in this area.

Primary children

We visited some members homes.  These pictures give a poignant picture of poverty.  Common areas dirt flooring, bare block walls, almost no furniture, no running water, no indoor bathrooms. 

Bedroom - see dirty foam mattress

Kitchen.  Young man making FUFU.  Very hard work.

FUFU.  This is made from pounded yams and cooked over an open fire as you see.

People that live in the compound

Penny in the compound yard

Kids in the compound 

House and yard at the start of the compound

Several families live in a building like this

What a way to travel.  This is the back of a truck.