Email Day

 Email

December 29, 2024

Dear Friends and Family,

    I hope that this Holiday season finds each of you well and feeling the Christmas spirit of love and giving.  We appreciate each of you as well and the emails that you send our way.  Elder Thacker and I are finding Christmas feelings are not the same here in SL.  Things are just so different.  We are not complaining, just simply writing to share our experience.  The weather is hot, with the days being around 85-90 degrees and the evenings are not much less.  There are no Christmas lights, Christmas trees, and very little music.  There is no Christmas shopping. We actually are enjoying the simplicity of the season and spending it together in our own little SL world.  We are told that there are celebrations with Christmas foods and that the children go around from house to house and they recieve small treats.  It sounds a little like Halloween to me, but we will see.  We will be visiting members on Christmas day.  Just doing a bit of ministering and sharing our love of the Savior.

   Loving the people of SL is so easy.  We get the pleasure of working with members, Branch Presidents and their families, mission prep candidates, and the YSA. (young single adults).  One of our friends is a young man named Mustapha.  We met Mustapha at our first mission prep class.  He is such a kind, friendly young man.  He is not able to read, but the last senior couple missionaries, which were several years ago, taught him to write his letters and his name.  He asked me one time, "Sister Thacker, can you teach me to read.  I want to read the Book of Mormon before I go on a mission."  Wow, this was a touching moment for me.

   Well Mustapha has one other hurdle to go over before he can serve.  He has an injured foot that is debilitating.  In fact, it is infected from a hole in the heel of his foot.  It is a significant open wound that he has had for years without proper antibiotics and care so it is not healing.  He hobbles around everywhere he goes.  A week or so ago we found him walking to an activity.  It was apparent he was in much pain and the foot had gotten worse. By the end of the week we learned he was at the hospital.  Upon our visit, we learned they will amputate the foot.  Elder Thacker and I cried and tears still come when I think about it.  He will die if the foot is not amputated due to infection.  As we visited they told us that they needed blood donations for the surgery.  We needed to find 4 donors and pay them 200 leones ($20) a piece before the surgery could take place.  Think about that, in the US we volunteer to give blood, here it is a job so they can feed themselves or family.  Currently, the surgery is on hold until they find the best way to do it as it will be complicated at best and in bad hospital conditions.  I'm not preaching when I say, please be grateful for our medical facilities and trained doctors.

  There is much joy this time of year as well.  There is a man in Freetown that invites all of the Senior Couples to his home for a Christmas party.  This was so enjoyable to attend and celebrate the Christmas season with him.  As couples, we grow close friendships with each other since we all have the same things in common being away from our families.

   We get the opportunity to travel the mission looking for places where the church can grow.  Our last trip was by motor boat ride to an island.  What a fun little get away!  The Island says it has 27,000 people and almost made me think that we were a little closer to the United states.  It had brick roads.  Everyday, we are surprised by something in SL.

    I wrote this email a week or so ago, This is why the old news and not updated for Christmas.  I hope that your Christmas was wonderful.  We love and appreciate you all very much.  We feel your prayers.

Love, Elder and Sister Thacker