Some favorable moments:
Yesterday at lunch time Rose, our cook, brought some of the jewelry she makes since Kim wanted to see it. As the girls were up by our rooms looking through the jewelry and trying things on, Joy (we thought it was Jys in the beginning…their accents have taken awhile to figure out) walked by and wanted to try on one of Rose’s necklace. I could tell she liked it a lot so I asked how much it cost. “25 Cedi,” Rose said, which equates to $7.60. Joy then went in her room wearing the necklace to look in the mirror and I went in my room to get 25 cedi so I could buy it for Joy, since I figured she didn’t have the money to buy it for herself. As I knocked on her door and asked if she would like the necklace, she said it was very pretty but she could not spend so much money on a necklace. I had the 25 cedi in my hand and asked, if she would let me buy it for her and she again emphasized that she could not spend the money on that. I asked if there was something else she would rather spend the money on and she nodded yes. So I handed her the 25 cedi and told her it was hers and I got the biggest hug ever and she knelt down on one knee like she was praising the Lord...saying thank you, thank you, thank you over and over again. Seven dollars and sixty cents. Makes me realize that we are so blessed, or so spoiled?
Also yesterday morning when we were working on the scaffolding in the front entry where the walls are so high, I was three levels up with Stanley, Emanuel and Agnovi and since I was closer to the middle, I was right in front of the air conditioning vent which was blowing lots of cold air out. Stanley told me I was working in my favorite place…the cold one. We’ve had so many days of extreme hot and sweat that the cool air felt great. The rest of them don’t like the cold air. In fact, later in the day while working in the large sealing room, Joy came to me and said she had to leave. She was physically shaking since she was so cold. She just kept saying, “It’s too cold.” Now her version of “too cold” is so different from mine, since I thought the room was just perfect (actually air conditioned for a change) and my dear friends were freezing, even to the point of hypothermia (at least if you looked at Joy). It’s interesting to me that you really do acclimate to the climate you live in.
Today the Nigerians passed their first test with the first finish. I made them do the Counselor’s office all by themselves with the first layer without me or Oliver (the Nigerian Temple Engineer). I think Oliver was a little shocked when I told him he would not be participating in the “test” since we didn’t want to add stress to him since he’s in charge of so many things during a shut down. I think it was a little hard for him, but I also think he knew it would be better and even though it was hard for him to let go…everything went better than expected. They had to find their own tools, their own product and at the end, clean up their own mess. It was all good. I asked a few questions in the beginning to make sure they knew what they were doing and then left them alone and told them they had to pretend they are back in Nigeria and there is no one to ask except each other.
I told them not to come and get me until they had completed the first layer and completed the “touch-up” or fixing of the first layer. 2 ½ hours later, I was very impressed. One week ago, I have to admit, I was quite nervous about them knowing enough. Sunday and Michael volunteered to be in charge (the two I would have chosen) and they all did fabulous as a team. I believe they have the skills for the first finish to do what is necessary in Aba. When Michael said to me, “You tell us it is excellent, but if you rate us between 0 – 100 what would you give us?” I replied 85% and the entire group erupted in a grand cheer with giant smiles believing it was perfect. I couldn’t have asked for more. They are going to do just fine when they need to do this in their own temple in March. When I asked Michael if this was a good test, he said proudly, “Yes, now I have confidence!” That’s what it is all about…believing that you can! That really is my secret in life, given to me by my father who always taught me that I could do anything in life if I wasn’t afraid to fail. It’s true…success comes by perseverance and confidence and a lot of bumps in the road!
I wish I could post pictures of the interior walls we are doing, but as you all know, this is not possible. They are so beautiful. The very high walls in the entry area are complete and the scaffold is now down and out of there so we can really see them. (Mom, it’s time to stop worrying!) All of the workers are very pleased with their work, as they should be. It is amazing what we have accomplished in just seven work days here. We have seen miracles and continue to do so. Both sealing rooms are finished with the wall finish now and we are ready for the designs (a three foot border with the leaf motif that is in the decorative paint on the ceiling and carved into the chairs). The scaffold continues going up in the Celestial Room as we move through the temple. Electricians are replacing the wall sconces in the halls that we completed last week and the building is slowly getting cleaned up. We are excited to finish our assignment and hopefully have time to help clean and put everything back together again so we can see the finished spaces. So often we miss out on seeing the finished project since the areas still look like a construction zone when we leave. This project, we plan to see it through to the clean, finished, organized building that it deserves.
The cute missionary couple, the Park’s from Centerville, Utah, who live a few doors down from our room brought us American spaghetti left over from last night and invited us over for homemade bread. American food…a great heaven send!
Alicyn
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