Dear Friends and Family,
Two months have come and gone in this very interesting and different place called Moriba Town... Rutile Sierra Leone. Jane and I are slowly growing used to the pace, customs, language and way of life among these remarkable people. Moriba Town is far away from Freetown and Bo... the 2 largest cities in Sierra Leone 2 hours on a dirt road and then another few hours on paved roads in order to get here. So we are somewhat isolated from many comforts of life easily accessible to those in a bigger place. Now please do not compare comforts here in any place to those found in the states. The gap is rather large.

There are no power, water, sewer or gas lines available here. Water comes from underground wells mostly hand dug just like 200 years ago by the people near their homes. They drop a bucket tied to a rope down the well and pull it out. If you are able to afford a water tank placed high above your home on a cement tower you will be able to have a small amount of water pressure to shower.
We have one....So lucky....Sewer is underground septic or weaved palm leaves wrapped around some tree sticks outside the home with an opening. If you are one of the lucky ones to have any electricity, that will come from a small solar panel that is powerful enough to charge your cell phone or run a small fan.

Once in a while you will find someone with a generator that runs on expensive petrol or diesel fuel. We have the great fortune to have both good solar panels and a large diesel generator to power our home. No doubt about it... we are the spoiled Americans here. The cost of diesel is 30 leones a liter. That is $1.30 per liter...there are 3.785 liters per gallon so the Church pays $4.92 a gallon for fuel in our Generator... It is by far one of the most expensive items.
We try to use as much solar as we can to cut costs. It is safe to say that we could be in a time warp when we visit some of the places here and except for some of the clothing we see with Nike or Gucci logoed on them, we would not know if it is 2024 or 1824. Oh yes... the small solar powered flashlights and radios laying on the ground in the hot sun soaking up the rays also reveal we are living in a more modern time. It is a very simple and slow paced life that seems to fit well here.

Some of the Villages we travel to for service are over 300 years old and older. The way of life there has not really changed a whole lot for most. The photos shown here are very typical. Cooking and meals are prepared outside over an open fire and cassava is still pounded into paste by a large rounded stick in a hollowed out log shaped carefully for the job. Rice and potato leaves and other vegetables are also pummeled in the same manner to be prepared for eating.
Some of the missionaries tell us one of their most favorite dishes is the cassava paste over rice. Grannuts (peanuts ) can be found in many a front yard all laid out to dry in the hot sun hoping that they can sell them to a buyer who will take the shell off and put them in a small bag to sell for 2 leones. 8 cents.

Chickens, goats, and sometimes pigs run all over the place allowing us to play dodgeball with them as we drive down the dirt roads. Jane asked about how they milk the goats? The answer was.....we do not milk goats... we eat goats. We tasted goat this month. Not too bad. Very lean.

We visited a woman named Dorcas a few weeks ago. She is an elderly lady who has a bad knee and walks slowly with one crutch. Her Job is teaching at the Medina School in Mosenesie Junction ...One where a local branch of the church is growing. She walks about a mile each way, slowly slowly to her school on a very bumpy washed out trail... (road) and home again each day. Today she stayed a little late so that she could attend our temple preparation class that Jane and I teach each week at the church. It is on her way home. We drove her and two others home after class and found our way driving over moab type 4 wheeling terrain that would challenge many a red rock rider.
No wonder we are working toward our 10th flat tire in 2 months.

The faith of this woman is amazing. She desires to attend the temple in Ghana this spring. The church has a temple patrons fund that helps these kinds of people from all over the world make it to the nearest temple.... When I learned this was Dorcus, the same woman who was in so much pain at our 1st meeting, my heart leaped, just thinking about the sacrifice she is making to earn money to support her family. She must be at least 60+ or older. WOW.
Jane and I took 3 eye patients to a small village named Serabu to see the eye surgeons who have come from the States to perform mostly cataract surgeries.

An amazing woman named Cathryn Lewis and her husband Tom have built a clinic with a school and computer center in this small out of the way place to serve the people there. 3 surgeons will be there for 3 weeks offering free help to all who come. They tell us that 100s of people will come from 5 different countries to have the operations. They started this 36 years ago and have been in Serabu for 18 of those years. Alice is a member from a tiny village near Mokanji where we serve. We took her there last month to be diagnosed. She had cataracts in both eyes. She now sees very well out the one and will have the other one operated on Feb. 12th. The other two did not need operations but were helped and given the necessary medicine to assist them. Tom and Cathryn in my view are true Catholic saints with a remarkable mission.
Tom spent some valuable time with us telling us their most inspiring story and how they grew this service into something huge. WOW again.
Our time is spent doing a wide variety of tasks each day, from helping find people to mend all the church buildings that are run down and partially destroyed to calling Michael the Generator man (who does not understand me over the phone) to go help the Missionaries fix their broken down generator, to training, coaching and assisting the potential missionaries and leaders in their roles. We have 9 areas we serve... Moyamba on the north about 100 K away 2 hours .....to Matru Jong on the south 1 hour away and across the river by hand powered ferry.( they are building a new bridge as we speak.) The territory we cover has many small villages along the main road and some off the road where no one would ever know they existed. It is remarkably beautiful and crazy at the same time.

We have been led to some wonderful people who are prepared to listen to and hear the message of the Gospel. It is very obvious that those who are prepared to listen and learn will do so. Those who are not prepared by the way they live and believe... to listen and learn do not respond so well. We have nothing to do with this. God is the one who helps to prepare them. When they live with faith and look to heaven for light and truth and are open to learning from God... it is amazing how they respond. They are able to see through spiritual eyes and feel the Holy Ghost lead them.
We met a man and his family named Joseph with his wife Alfrida. He is the headmaster at the main school in Mokanji village. His wife is also a teacher at the same school. They are educated and sharp... just the kind of people who can assist in establishing the Church here.

Jane was with one of the members visiting a sick woman in the village who is his cousin. He was there with her at her home and asked about what Jane was doing. He came to the church that Sunday and heard President Jarvis, our mission president, his wife , Jane and me speak. We just happened to be there at this small group (not yet a branch) for Sunday Service. Please know that this (church) is a very old abandoned home off the main road down one of the Moab trails where no utilities exist and life is very simple.( photos with the Primary outside Jane helping.) Joseph listened to the talks about the Restored Gospel and how the Savior has once again established his Kingdom here on the earth.

He was moved by the spirit and has been coming back each week ever since. Jane and I have been sharing the lessons with their family each Friday when we visit. He announced to us very matter of factly that he has decided that he will join God's church and become a part of it with His wife. He has been studying the Come Follow Me manual for 2 weeks and did not have a Book of Mormon to study with it. They both now have them and can learn at their own pace. In one lesson we were asked to read John 3:16 and share how we feel about it. We did not have a new testament and before I could look it up on my phone app, Alfrida offered to share it. She quoted it word for word with a powerful spirit with 3 of her children sitting by her side. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life."
The spirit was very strong for all of us there who witnessed her speak these words with power and conviction. God is moving in Africa... WOW AGAIN.
To say that this is easy would be a lie. The truth is, every day we are faced with challenges and trials on many fronts. In fact as I think about it, and believe you me I commiserate with Jane more than I should....I have never seen so many real life challenges like this in my life. We are so spoiled by our access to solutions and help... right at our fingertips all the time back in the states. This is not the case here. It takes patience, waiting, praying and constantly helping to move the needle. The "All these things shall give thee experience and be for thy good " quote is quite appropriate here.

We are so grateful to some of the amazing saints here who help us and protect us. They are wonderful people who are anxious to serve and assist however they can. The good news is... the Opposition in all things teachings are helping us come to know at a whole new level valuable lessons that I hope we will learn. We are learning so much from the life we live here. Our gratitude for simple things is coming into focus more and more all the time.

Today, I just sat , very still during a lesson with Loretta and her family, under the shade of a huge Mango tree and felt a velvet-like gentle breeze flow over my cheeks and arms. It was just slightly enough to feel some small cooling from the hot and humid air that is a constant here. Sometimes I imagine that God gives me these small blessings so I can keep going on His errand. I feel gratitude to be here as one of his servants. He is directing His work.... that is for certain. Wow again as I close this epistle.
Thank you all for being amazing..... and running the race of life like you all do. Thank you for your friendship and good works.

We send our love to you all.
God Bless.
Jane and Paul