Clapping & Singing at the Alpha Pharmacy

It is very common to see religious tracts from various churches displayed at offices and stores. I went in to the pharmacy yesterday and it sounded like a revival meeting. They were all having a great time so I decided to record a little as I was leaving. If this were going in the U.S., one might expect the ACLU to be out picketing in front of the store. It's just good ol' gospel music here. I enjoy their enthusiastic style of singing.

Happy Times for Emmett

Daughter, Alicia, and son-in-law, Josh, were both happy, smart kids. So it's only natural that they would end up with a happy, smart child of their own. This is how he looked when he got blessed. I made the little outfit he wore, and Alicia knit the white blanket for him.We are quite certain that he will also inherit some musical talent from both sides of the gene pool.

The stickout tongue is definitely a Krupp trait, though.

He is definitely a bright boy. He looks like a future valedictorian like his mom or a med school student like his dad.

The lack of hair could be inherited from either Grandpa Wes or Grandpa Kurt.

Emmett can say "I'm Two" and Now He Is

Happy Birthday to our little Emmett. He's too young to read this, but we know his mom will show it to him. We hope Emmett knows he is loved and missed by his grandparents in Africa!

Independence Day - Nigerian Style

Wednesday, October 1 was Independence Day. Most businesses were closed, except some retail stores. We worked at the mission office, though. There was lots of noise and commotion coming from Opebi, and it turned out to be a parade. I missed most of it, but managed to snap a photo and take a little video.

There were several activities at the church that day. In the morning, the Stake had a Young Women's activity upstairs in the back part of the church. I didn't ever go and see what they were doing, but it looked like a good turnout. At the same time, our ward Primary had a "sports day" activity in the cultural hall, which seemed very popular. Sports means that they played different kinds of games. They fed the kids a bottle of soda pop, which is customary. The bottles tip over and spill pop all over the floor and sometimes they end up with broken bottles. That's what they like, though.

At 4 p.m. the Stake Young Adults had a big activity with loud music and dancing. They had a young man from one of the wards acting as MC, and they called girls up to ask them dating type questions. I couldn't understand a lot of what was being said, but I thought it was somewhat lame. It reminded me of those Stake dances when the kids won't dance with each other. I explained to the MC and the DJ about doing a "snowball" dance. They had never heard of such a thing, and of course they don't know what a snowball is. I don't know if they ever tried it out. They catered a dinner with lots of spicy rice and chicken, but we left and went home to our nice quiet apartment and food that we are used to. Yes, we are showing signs of being old fuddy-duddies.

A Sweet Birthday Treat

I was so surprised and excited to get a package from Margo and Kenny on my birthday. It was a box of Alene's chocolates from them and our other friends in the ward. Amazingly, they weren't melted or badly smashed up. We shared one with the office Elders (Elder Quansah on the left and Elder Afangbedji on the right). We also shared with President and Sister Jones. The rest we hoarded for ourselves. They are almost gone. What a "sweet" friend Margo is to us and everyone she knows.

Okada Driver's at Rest

These guys make their living giving people rides, wherever they want to go, on these small motorbikes. They are called Okada's ( pronounced Oh-cot-tuh) The men know addresses everywhere. If we get lost, you can pay one of these drivers $1-$2, depending on the distance to your address and they will lead you there. You pay them after you arrive at your destination, not before! Think about it. Why would they lead you where you needed to go if they had your money. There are thousands and thousands of these in Lagos. All of the Africans who have any money at all use them to get places, quick.

We were surprised to see these men resting or sleeping on their bikes. Linda counted at least three or four on their bikes. One is resting or sleeping in the tree. We have never seen that before. They normally work from first light in the morning until after dark every day. This picture shows (in the back ground) the black and white concrete barriers that divide the traffic, otherwise drivers would go both ways on both sides of the street. We still see them coming head-on toward us, or we see them backing up against the traffic to get to where they want to go. It is really crazy to see these bikes or cars going the wrong way all the time. If you cross this street, Opebi Road, on foot...you must look both ways before you go to the middle of the road. You can only go 1\2 way, stop, look both ways again, then go the other half of the way across. As we were waiting in the middle of the street to finish crossing, we saw an Okada with a driver, and a passenger carrying a huge, live sheep\goat. It had long curvy horns like a mountain goat and longer hair like a sheep, but it was larger than the man holding it on the bike. Too bad the camera was tucked away in the bag. We love all the funny sights we see as we walk or drive around this city.

New Convert, Christy

Elder Quansah, left, and Elder Afangbedji, right, taught Christy. She is a single young lady who is friends with a recent convert, Tayo. It's nice to see new member's be missionaries, too.

Even though we didn't teach Christy, she asked Kurt to baptize her. They started filling the font a little late, so it was a challenge to get the job done in knee-deep water.