Hi All,
Been thinking of you lots. My typhoid and malaria are finally on the mend. It has been a long two weeks. I reacted to some of the meds I was taking so had to change meds a couple times. (nothing new for me, my body doesn't like meds, never has) I went to another doctor yesterday and got perscriptions to rebuild and strengthen my blood and body. I have been so week this past week, it was a bit scarry, but knowing there are always people here with me and the doctors are good and close by I was never too worried. Dennis and Shelby were able to cover most of my studies. The kids are doing well, Hunter had Malaria last week but being a strong little guy he pulled through fast after taking the first meds. For myself I reacted to the first two meds and by the time I started the third I really was needing to detox from the too much med. That is what I am doing now, just mending and getting stronger.
I found the following list from Jeff Foxworthy funny, thought you'd enjoy! It sure made me laugh and almost smell the dunkin donuts coffee........
Forget Rednecks ...........here is what Jeff Foxworthy has to say about New Englanders...
If your local Dairy Queen is closed from September through May, you live in New England.
If someone in a Home Depot store offers you assistance and they don't work there, you live in New England.
If you've worn shorts and a parka at the same time, you live in New England.
If you've had a lengthy telephone convers ation with someone who dialed a wrong number, you live in New England.
If "Vacation" means going anywhere south of New York City for the weekend, you live in New England.
If you measure distance in hours, you live in New England.
If you know several people who have hit a deer more than once, you live in New England.
If you have switched from "heat" to "A/C" in the same day and back again, you live in New England.
If you can drive 65 mph through 2 feet of snow during a raging blizzard without flinching, you live in New England.
If you install security lights on your house and garage, but leave both unlocked, you live in New England.
If you carry jumpers in your car and your wife knows how to use them, you live in New England.
If you design your kid's Halloween costume to fit over a snowsuit, you live in New England.
If the speed limit on the highway is 55 mph -- you're going 80 and everybody is passing you, you live in New England.
If driving is better in the winter because the potholes are filled with snow, you live in New England.
If you know all 4 seasons: almost winter, winter, still winter and road construction, you live in New England.
If you have more miles on your snow blower than your car, you live in New England.
If you find 10 degrees "a little chilly", you live in New England.
If there's a Dunkin Donuts on every corner, you live in New England.
If you actually understand these jokes, and forward them to all your New England friends & others, you live in New England.
--------
A big thankyou to the ones who have been emailing Shelby and Lorelle. We now have internet access at the house so they are able to go on at times when you also may be on, it is great to be able to email back and forth like conversation.
We are looking into getting one of the "eye cams" for the computer so maybe we can email and you can see us.
Hunter is here with me today and would like to send a message :)
Hi Guys,
I have poptarts in America and Africa. Macaroni and cheese, too. We have popsicle sticks too, like the icecream truck at the beach in America. I love you guys. Did you ever read Little Mr. or Little Miss books? I like them the best. I like you all very much. I love American food. We used to eat hamburgers and chicken nuggets at Burger King, they had a place to play. I love the beach here, River Number 2, we call it the ocean. I can swim without floats, I try to stop waves, but they keep getting near. I like our house here, we live right here, at Mommy Samura's, she is our landlord. Behind this house is Aunty Bolas House, Inny and Isreal are her family they are 6 and 8.
( he says he wants to do a sign language "good bye" :)
I am so glad we have this avenue of communication.
Love to all, keep warm New Englander's :)
Lorie
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
In the New KH
This has been such an exciting and busy week! Last Saturday I left for Lungi by ferry to meet Dennis at the airport. Sunday the kids hosted the last meeting in our house. Dennis and I came home Sunday afternoon. (Kadi and her daughter Jessica stayed over with the kids Saturday night). The kids said it was the longest and loudest clapping they had heard when the brother announced the thanks for using our home and that the next meetings would be in the new KH. :) This Sunday there were over 200 in attendance at the new hall, more than 20 brothers stood as there were not enough chairs. There are more chairs ordered, as the new hall will seat 300 easily.
Saturday on the ferry I started to get a migraine headache, I figured it was just from the heat and the hectic schedule with the ASL class Saturday morning and then rushing to get to the ferry. But then I got bad fever Saturday and Sunday and flu symptoms Sunday..... The symptoms were confusing all week and I never lost my appetite, so we thought I just had a bad flu... but on Friday I went to the lab for bloodtest and I "get the prize" :)
Both Malaria and Typhoid, go figure, no wonder I was so exhausted all week.... I started on the meds and am feeling much better, just really tired and some headaches.
We don't post all the sickness here to over alarm or worry anyone, it is just if we are not open about it then people might hear through the "grape vine" and then worry. Please be assured we are well cared for here, the medicines are redily available, and there is a brother in the cockerell north congregation who is a doctor. We have his number in our cell phones and have no problem contacting him 24 hours a day. He even came to the house last night to check on us and write some prescriptions. Lorelle is having a cold/sore throat and Hunter has been dealing with some skin irritation from when we had the puppies.
Dennis and Shelby are enjoying volunteering at Bethel on Mondays, and Dennis goes in on Weds. also. The ASL class has been marvelous, the whole family is really coming along well, it is a lot of fun too!
Weds. afternoons I have a study with an older woman who sells food she is cooking along the side of the road. When we have the study she calls to the neighborhood children to join, we have anywhere from 4 to 8 children join the study. It is so amazing! I hope to take a picture as it is really hard to imaging, we are sitting along a dirt road with tin/cement block housing one on top of another and so many people around, yet these ones take the time to focus on God's word.
Hunter has really been talking more and more, he still comes out with the cutest things though. Like the other day his teacher came to teach and she had on a pink and white striped shirt, he asked "is your shirt pink with white stripes or white with pink?". Then another time he asked "why do chickens have three toes"? Today he asked to come to the market because he didn't want me to forget the poptarts or mac n cheese, well there wasn't any mac n cheese or poptarts in the market again this week. We are learning that if there is something you like, buy as much as you can, cause you never know when it might come again to Africa.... he did find Soft Oatmeal cookies, ginger cookies, pringles and starbursts :)
Service continues to be very productive, almost too much if I dare say..... Thursday I went out just for an hour because of my exhaustion, yet I started one new study, re-established another and got two new rv's.
One of the studies I have with two young people, a brother and sister, ages 16 and 17 has been going very well. They have requested that I come twice a week and the last two studies there has been another young man joining in.
Dennis has been very busy revisiting his studies, they are doing well. There were a number of brothers that called on them while Dennis was away. It is so wonderful to have such a loving brotherhood.
Thankyou for the personal emails, I am not able to reply to them right now, but please know they are truly appreciated! More than words can say.... also a big thankyou to those who sent small items and card, pictures back with Dennis, what a wonderful blessing! It was a joyous time for the whole family! We may be ocean apart but our hearts are still joined.
Love, Swift Family
Saturday on the ferry I started to get a migraine headache, I figured it was just from the heat and the hectic schedule with the ASL class Saturday morning and then rushing to get to the ferry. But then I got bad fever Saturday and Sunday and flu symptoms Sunday..... The symptoms were confusing all week and I never lost my appetite, so we thought I just had a bad flu... but on Friday I went to the lab for bloodtest and I "get the prize" :)
Both Malaria and Typhoid, go figure, no wonder I was so exhausted all week.... I started on the meds and am feeling much better, just really tired and some headaches.
We don't post all the sickness here to over alarm or worry anyone, it is just if we are not open about it then people might hear through the "grape vine" and then worry. Please be assured we are well cared for here, the medicines are redily available, and there is a brother in the cockerell north congregation who is a doctor. We have his number in our cell phones and have no problem contacting him 24 hours a day. He even came to the house last night to check on us and write some prescriptions. Lorelle is having a cold/sore throat and Hunter has been dealing with some skin irritation from when we had the puppies.
Dennis and Shelby are enjoying volunteering at Bethel on Mondays, and Dennis goes in on Weds. also. The ASL class has been marvelous, the whole family is really coming along well, it is a lot of fun too!
Weds. afternoons I have a study with an older woman who sells food she is cooking along the side of the road. When we have the study she calls to the neighborhood children to join, we have anywhere from 4 to 8 children join the study. It is so amazing! I hope to take a picture as it is really hard to imaging, we are sitting along a dirt road with tin/cement block housing one on top of another and so many people around, yet these ones take the time to focus on God's word.
Hunter has really been talking more and more, he still comes out with the cutest things though. Like the other day his teacher came to teach and she had on a pink and white striped shirt, he asked "is your shirt pink with white stripes or white with pink?". Then another time he asked "why do chickens have three toes"? Today he asked to come to the market because he didn't want me to forget the poptarts or mac n cheese, well there wasn't any mac n cheese or poptarts in the market again this week. We are learning that if there is something you like, buy as much as you can, cause you never know when it might come again to Africa.... he did find Soft Oatmeal cookies, ginger cookies, pringles and starbursts :)
Service continues to be very productive, almost too much if I dare say..... Thursday I went out just for an hour because of my exhaustion, yet I started one new study, re-established another and got two new rv's.
One of the studies I have with two young people, a brother and sister, ages 16 and 17 has been going very well. They have requested that I come twice a week and the last two studies there has been another young man joining in.
Dennis has been very busy revisiting his studies, they are doing well. There were a number of brothers that called on them while Dennis was away. It is so wonderful to have such a loving brotherhood.
Thankyou for the personal emails, I am not able to reply to them right now, but please know they are truly appreciated! More than words can say.... also a big thankyou to those who sent small items and card, pictures back with Dennis, what a wonderful blessing! It was a joyous time for the whole family! We may be ocean apart but our hearts are still joined.
Love, Swift Family
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Dennis is home
Hi this is just a quick entery to let everyone know that Dennis made it home safely. He is doing very well and adjusting to the time change. Everyone is sooo happy to have him home again.
Lorie is not feeling well, but not to worry she will be back to her old self again soon. We will be getting sick alot because whem you move to a new place yur body is not used to the types of colds and sickness in that area. But nothing serious, just colds and annoying running noses.
The ASL class on Saturday was very nice. Our heads are swimming with everything we are learning. Shelby worked in Bethel again Monday in house keeping, she really likes it.
Like I said it is short but nothing exciting, exsept Dennis being back has really happened. Oh Sunday it rained, during the last meeting at our house,and we had a bad storm that night. It is very unusual that it rains this early in the year.
We send our greeting to all of you,
The Swifts.
Lorie is not feeling well, but not to worry she will be back to her old self again soon. We will be getting sick alot because whem you move to a new place yur body is not used to the types of colds and sickness in that area. But nothing serious, just colds and annoying running noses.
The ASL class on Saturday was very nice. Our heads are swimming with everything we are learning. Shelby worked in Bethel again Monday in house keeping, she really likes it.
Like I said it is short but nothing exciting, exsept Dennis being back has really happened. Oh Sunday it rained, during the last meeting at our house,and we had a bad storm that night. It is very unusual that it rains this early in the year.
We send our greeting to all of you,
The Swifts.
Friday, February 8, 2008
Blessings and then some-
Hi, this is Shelby. Sorry that no one has posted in a while the internet server has been down. Mum and Hunter haven't been feeling well, and we thought it was a cold, but we now know that they are allergic to dogs. So we had to give Eagle and Ludo to some friends in the hall. We are all very sad, the puppies were doing so well and everyone loved them. But we cann't have Mum and Hunter be sick. So it is for the better. We had a toy dinosaur for the dogs that we jokingly called there sister Lucy. The kids saw it today and were sad that Lucy was all alone now. So I told them that Lucy was now our only pet and that they would have to play with her more now that Eagle and Ludo were gone. It seemed to knock the edge off.:)
I am going to Bethel to work every Monday. It is really enjoyable and a bleesing from Jehovah. I have worked in Laundry and House Keeping, I enjoy doing both. Everything that is done for Jehovah is not work but refreshing. The whole family is encouraged by the stories I bring home each time.
I have one new study with a guard, he is doing very well. I will turn him over to a brother soon, brothers study with men and sisters with women. It is just better that way.
My study, Anitia, her employer is moving to Kenya in March and asked her to come. She was thinking about it but desided that she couldn't leave her son and husband. I was very happy to hear this, because her study is coming a long so well and I didn't know what would happen to her. She is now looking for a new job, we will have to rearrange were we study as I usually study with her Thursday afternoon at her place of work. But that is much better then her moving and not studing at all.
Here in Seirra Leonne the only real problem we have run in to, is that many of the ministers here tell people that Jehovah Witnesses don't pray. We are able to nicely explain that we want to talk to people about God and who he really is before we pray with them. Kind of a funny thing happened with Anitia, I didn't really know how to ask about praying when I started the study, but after a few visits and at the end of Chapter one " Who is God?" in the Bible Teach book, I brought out how it would be good to pray before we study. She said Yes, I want you to pray but I was afraid that if I asked you would go away. We both laughed and I was able to tell her that it was not true, that the witnesses do pray.:)
ASL class is so much fun, there are about 40 of us in the class. It is the first forgein language class in the country. Br. Wright is very enthuastic and fun. We also went to the deaf bookstudy, it was amazing. It is so odd for me cause no one talks, and you have to get up and go to the front to give your comment so that every one can see your hands and benefit.
There are four deaf baptized and at least five or six more who attend the book study. One of them is Kareen, she is 11 years old. She comes to the bookstudy every week even know her school beats her and fines her 300 leones for not going to Saturday classes. They also purposely failed her on her last exam. Yet, she is all smiles and wants to be a publisher soon, with the goal of baptism in the future. Her courage and endurance is really remarkable!
A deaf sister that Mum met on her first trip here. We even went to her sisters wedding and she know has a baby girl. Is coming later this afternoon to make my hair. She is going to cornrow it. It is really nice to be able to talk to her know in ASL we have known her for four years now, but it was always difficult to speak with her.
We are all excitedly awaiting Dads return. Hunter asked every hour or so, is is Sunday yet? It is very cute.
We hope you are all doing good, and continueing to stay warm, enduring the cold. We now have the hotest time of the year coming to us. It is at least 90 everyday and not much breeze, it will get warmer and warmer til the rains in May. It is hard to imagine that it hasn't rained scince the end of November.
Warm Christian Love,
Swifts.
I am going to Bethel to work every Monday. It is really enjoyable and a bleesing from Jehovah. I have worked in Laundry and House Keeping, I enjoy doing both. Everything that is done for Jehovah is not work but refreshing. The whole family is encouraged by the stories I bring home each time.
I have one new study with a guard, he is doing very well. I will turn him over to a brother soon, brothers study with men and sisters with women. It is just better that way.
My study, Anitia, her employer is moving to Kenya in March and asked her to come. She was thinking about it but desided that she couldn't leave her son and husband. I was very happy to hear this, because her study is coming a long so well and I didn't know what would happen to her. She is now looking for a new job, we will have to rearrange were we study as I usually study with her Thursday afternoon at her place of work. But that is much better then her moving and not studing at all.
Here in Seirra Leonne the only real problem we have run in to, is that many of the ministers here tell people that Jehovah Witnesses don't pray. We are able to nicely explain that we want to talk to people about God and who he really is before we pray with them. Kind of a funny thing happened with Anitia, I didn't really know how to ask about praying when I started the study, but after a few visits and at the end of Chapter one " Who is God?" in the Bible Teach book, I brought out how it would be good to pray before we study. She said Yes, I want you to pray but I was afraid that if I asked you would go away. We both laughed and I was able to tell her that it was not true, that the witnesses do pray.:)
ASL class is so much fun, there are about 40 of us in the class. It is the first forgein language class in the country. Br. Wright is very enthuastic and fun. We also went to the deaf bookstudy, it was amazing. It is so odd for me cause no one talks, and you have to get up and go to the front to give your comment so that every one can see your hands and benefit.
There are four deaf baptized and at least five or six more who attend the book study. One of them is Kareen, she is 11 years old. She comes to the bookstudy every week even know her school beats her and fines her 300 leones for not going to Saturday classes. They also purposely failed her on her last exam. Yet, she is all smiles and wants to be a publisher soon, with the goal of baptism in the future. Her courage and endurance is really remarkable!
A deaf sister that Mum met on her first trip here. We even went to her sisters wedding and she know has a baby girl. Is coming later this afternoon to make my hair. She is going to cornrow it. It is really nice to be able to talk to her know in ASL we have known her for four years now, but it was always difficult to speak with her.
We are all excitedly awaiting Dads return. Hunter asked every hour or so, is is Sunday yet? It is very cute.
We hope you are all doing good, and continueing to stay warm, enduring the cold. We now have the hotest time of the year coming to us. It is at least 90 everyday and not much breeze, it will get warmer and warmer til the rains in May. It is hard to imagine that it hasn't rained scince the end of November.
Warm Christian Love,
Swifts.
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