Blog: Death by Pineapple (Dec. 5, 2010)

Breakfast yesterday consisted of hot breakfast cereal, granola and soy milk,
corn bread with honey/soy milk, AND like 1/3 of a large pineapple as well as
2/3 of a small guava. Wow. My belly was so full that I could hardly
comprehend the Sabbath school lesson about temperance. I really think I
needed to hear that too. Living in Africa for three months can teach a
person so, so much. One thing I have learned is that one of the hardest
things to do as a missionary is to just get along with the other
missionaries. How sad! God has really worked in us, though. I've been
learning a lot about the power of prayer. I'm sure God loves to answer our
prayers. Time is going as fast as ever. The food here is getting better and
better. I'm becoming much more of a teacher. The other missionaries and I
are growing closer together. The Holy Spirit is amongst us often. My heart
is changing. These-and so many others-are His answers to my prayers. I've
found at least one opportunity to study for the MCAT. We're planning an
exciting Christmas tour of Cameroon that will begin in less than 2 weeks.
Yesterday we trekked to a beautiful little waterfall just a few minutes from
our house. God is so, so good to us here. Another thing I've learned here is
the concept of African time. At the end of last week, we all rode to Nkor
for 2 days of teachers' meetings or workshops. The first meeting on Friday
was supposed to begin at 8 am. It didn't start until 1 pm (which is when the
presenters arrived from Kumbo). So Thursday morning was spent in the Barnes
and Nobles of Nkor (the Noone Literacy Center of Nkor), a very nice facility
with a small collection of American books. I spent a good hour or two
studying from my MCAT biology book. The afternoon was spent in these really
boring meetings; there's no way workshops for teachers back home are
anything like that one. Friday we arrived later in the morning for the
workshop. It was a similar meeting-stressing the importance of teachers
teaching and testing from the government national syllabus alone, no more
and no less. We left by noon to go back home and prepare for Sabbath.
Sabbaths here (and weekends in general) are such a blessing! There are less
than 2 weeks left of school before Christmas break. I can't fathom that.
Goals for the new year include: teaching more from the government syllabus,
making myself more available for the Spirit to change me, being more
involved with the people around me, and eating a little less pineapple