Emails

 Email for week February 2, 2025

Dear Friends and Family,

     I hope you are all doing well and that you are tolerating the cold.  I suspect there have been some pretty cold temperatures.  In Sierra Leone we are certainly in the dry hot season.  Elder Thacker often says,  "when the rainy season ends it's like a faucet.  When it turns off, you don't see any more rain, not even a drop.

    Life here is always interesting.  We both find ourselves marveling over the resilience of the people.  They are resourceful. They are compassionate and very friendly.  I find that I always have why and how questions.  For example, how am I going to retain all that I have learned about simplicity in life? 

   Each day it seems there is something new to learn or experience.  This past Sunday as Elder Thacker and I were meeting with a branch president and his counselor, the counselor opened a tithing envelope.  In the envelope was a 5 leone currency  bill.  5 leone would of course be 10 percent of 50 leone. 50 leone is just short of $2.50 so 5 leone is around .22 cents.  My mind was taken to the story of the Widow's mite. Do I have the faith of the widow's mite?  

   We have found that part of our mission is finding ourselves in the local hospitals with different members.  We have come to have so much respect for the medical services and doctors in the United States after our experiences here in Sierra Leone hospitals.  I can not properly describe them to you other than telling you just one of our stories.  Our friend was told he needed an amputation and they kept him in the hospital for a week asking for more money and delaying the surgery.  In the end, they released him telling our branch president (not the young man) that he had cancer.  They gave him pain medication and said they didn't know how long he would live.  Can you imagine the hard conversation to give as his spiritual advisor?  

  Long story short, we were able to take him to a different hospital for more tests and a second opinion.  He does not have cancer so that is wonderful news.  Ultimately he does need the amputation, but the sad news is he was given an antibiotic that he was resistant to it when the injury first became infected.  This sick foot could have been healed with the proper medication and follow up.  Regardless, this young man and his family did not have the means to properly take care of the foot.  The medicine costs .88 cents for 10 days worth and there simply was not enough money in the family to pay that amount.

   Just as a funny experience.  Today at church I was impromptu asked to lead the music.  Here, there are very few keyboards in the meeting houses because there is no power.  To begin singing the hymns the chorister sings the first 2 lines so the congregation can hear the tune, then the chorister says "2, 3 we go!"   This is not my comfort zone to sing a solo, but I have found I can do hard things.  Well, the song was Beautiful Zion and I could not for the life of me remember the tune of the first two lines.  I had to turn to the Branch President and ask how it began!! In our American world, we rely much on our experienced pianists.

  We are doing well and are happy!  Thank you for the support and prayers.

Love, Elder and Sister Thacker

Here are a few pictures:

   1.  typical bathroom for a set of houses

   2.  Found this sign on the way to a church house today

   3.  A glance at one of our hospitals

   4.  A YSA friend at her baptism