No rhyme or reason - just pictures

 This cute little girl and her mother were waiting at the church house in Palmeira.  

 Typical street scene throughout our area.

 Shopping is along the side of the roads.  The wares are placed out every morning and most close shop around 8 in the evening.  Some have plastic overhead in case of rain, some do not.

 These handcarts are used for everything, as you can see.

 Had to throw this one in...our mission van us usually full of Elders going somewhere from something.  Elders Lynn, Ensolado, Cummings, Bender, Stubbs, Galland,  Ebmeyer ,Stubbs and Allen.

 This is Zone Conference the 28th of March at the Palmeiras Chapel.

 Are these two little ones so cute?

 The little boys play with tires and  bicycle rims.

 We see everything tied to the top of the chapella (the bus system) and off they go.

This is President Kretly.  We were at the Matola (in the Maputo area) chapel for an open house and he spent at least 20 minutes with these children.  They are so cute.

Church Garden

When we first saw the grounds around the Manga chapel, we were a little dismayed.  The space on each side and the back looked unkempt and over-grown.  We wondered about it because the rest of the grounds were lovely and well manicured.  

We have posted pictures of the rest of the grounds before (with the chameleon) in older posts.  

In another post I showed this spot with a woman from one of the branches who was pulling rice from this area.  The rice was growing throughout and just after the rainy season.  Now it has these wonderful garden greens growing.

We see members leaving every Sunday (that we are there)  with their hands full of produce.  It is really great!  I think it is a great use of the area.  

Scenes

Couldn't resist taking this shot.  I have had several items sewn here.  The tailors (alfaiate) or seamstress (costureira) I've used have a small tiny shops, but many are just set up under the trees where they have a little shade and oft as not, it is in a different spot next time.

We buy our tangerines and oranges from sellers like this along the streets.  This is Sister Snelson and look at those cute little girls sitting on the wall.

When we arrived at church on Sunday, I went ahead and Larry got stopped by this little girl.  She came right up and hugged his arm and talked and talked.  

I'm not a huge shrimp fan, but I do eat then.  This is called a Camarao Azul (Blue shrimp).  They are huge and have these long blue front legs.  They are fresh water shrimp and are caught in the rivers up between us and Chimoio.  It looked terrible to me and we paid Paulo to clean them for us.  I broiled them in garlic butter and they were really good.  A lighter taste than our other shrimp from the ocean here.

Variety in Life

 As we drove by one day - Wow this home on the corner had been given a face-lift!   It is so bright and eye-catching.  I love the color, just not sure about a home dressed it it.  

   This street is along the coast and just a block from us.  We pass by every time we leave, except if we go to the airport.  You can see what the house used to look like.  I love passing this corner.

 This woman lives in Manga. She is grinding and mashing  peanuts.  The put this into many of their foods and always in "couve".  

 These two pictures are our typical shops.  Along the street and under the shade of the trees.  Some shops have built the dirt up in places to keep their wares out of the mud during the rainy season.  This is a bicycle shop.  The bikes for sale are hanging from the trees and the repair takes place under another tree, on the road side or against a building wall along the street.

This woman belongs to one of the Manga branches.  The chapel has a large yard area that we thought was pretty unkempt.  But there are large garden plots all around and the them. This sister is pulling up rice shoots that were growing in the muddy water during the rainy season.  I will get pictures of the gardens and post them as soon as I can.  They really look nice now.

Sand

 This is the street in front of our apartment.  The woman is using a bundle of dried grass to sweep up the sand.  This is a common sight along all the roadways.  They take it home and use it there ( many make their own bricks to build with) or sell it.  

The task is finished and she is on her way home.  She lives in the neighborhood behind us.  There are always young men selling sand along our street.  During the early morning hours they carry heavy bags of sand from the beach to our street.  It must be illegal because they bring it in with the sun and change places along the street each day.  They and the piles are no where to be seen when a police truck drives through.

Inhamizua Joven FHE

 We helped the Inhamizua elders have a FHE for the jovens of the branch at home of one of the YW.

 We have power, now to figure out the screen......

 Elder Dille (Larry), Elder Thurston, Elder and Sister Snelson, Elder Toyn and Elder Lake (holding the projector).

 Elder Snelson was excited when everything finally came together for the video.  It took some doing and combined brain power to get it all functioning.

 This never did work, so they decided that the wall was the best way to go....(I was going to suggest that to begin with, but....)

Capulanas

These ladies have used their capulana as costumes for a period play about the founding of Relief Society by the Prophet Joseph Smith.   I only know what it was about because one of our young institute (waiting for her mission call) teachers came in dressed like the Prophet.

 Many times the women of a group will all have the same capulana.

 The children are so cute.

 The children always have a place to rest, the women always have a shawl for the rain or sun.  I was told that the always have one when traveling to sleep on.

These are the sisters from Beira 1 branch.  We are celebrating the RS birthday.   The meal is usually chicken, fried potatoes, rice and coleslaw.