March 20-26, 2023

 Monday 3/20: Today was such a beautiful day! Cool and a good breeze. The coconut trees really start to sway with even the slightest breeze. Looks like it wouldn’t take much for them to snap right off. Spent quite abit of time in the courtyard. Layton played hide and seek and ran around with some children he has met here. They played with Daniel’s Nicolee too I think! At one point the guard and his friend were racing on bikes back and forth in the courtyard. It was quite humorous to watch. Jared had clinic this morning. The dr wasn’t able to be there but he still went in case anyone needed more milk or “prescription refills.” As long as their dose hasn’t changed he can give them more without the dr being there. Today was a loud day. They are remodeling several apartments here in our complex. One is right beside us and one right below us. Alot of pounding, hammering etc. After awhile one just kinda tunes it all out! Outback where the new apartment building is supposedly going to go, there’s been a lot of metal grinding, down in the courtyard there’s more hammering and welding where a mistri is making new window frames for the remodel project. Plus overhead the planes and helicopters do not fail to disappoint. This evening we went to Parktown for supper with Elwoods before they head to Rajshahi. Jared and I tried Thai soup. Elwood and Melissa love to eat it with wontons! Tomato soup with cilantro, shrimp, chicken and mushroom. Quite spicy but the flavor was excellent. We got corn soup too… egg drop soup with corn and bits of chicken added to it. Layton enjoys the corn soup. He is getting quite adventurous with the foods he has been trying. He even tried a spring roll… Never thought I would see the day! Had a fun evening just talking and being together. 

Tuesday 3/21: Jared had clinic this morning. An older gentleman came in and wanted financial help for his daughter. Jared told him to bring in his current memos (hospital receipts) and he would decide. He brought in some memos and Miriam took one look at them and said she didn’t think they were any good. So Jared said “bring your daughter with you next time.” He wanted to make sure that there actually was a problem with the daughter. Well then the story was that his daughter was bedridden and couldn’t come. Miriam told Jared that she is pretty sure this man has tried this stunt before to get money. So no taka… (It’s not uncommon when we are stuck in traffic that people will go from car to car with a hospital memo asking for money so they can get treatment. Everything at the hospital has to be prepaid.) Had singing in the evening. One of the patients mothers was wearing a burka. She came and joined our singing group. The other ladies told her to take her burka off that it was ok to not wear it front of Jared. She really hesitated and then finally pulled it down just barely below her nose. She soon left the room. We sang for around 45 minutes which was amazing considering all the coughing that Jared Josna and Sumita did😂 It made for some good laughs. 

Wednesday 3/22: Spent the day doing normal things. The mistris were working in the apartment beside ours and were jackhammering away. The noise was absolutely DEAFENING. I really had to work on my attitude about the racket. Then the fighter jets roared overhead…. Awww…. Dhaka. We had chicken curry at the clinic for lunch today. Josna made fried eggplant. It was so good. The first time she made it I was pretty skeptical because it has a slimy texture but now I really enjoy it. Josna always says that “Duane boss” LOVED eggplant and ate “onek.” 😂 Spent the evening at home. Played games and relaxed. All was peaceful and calm this evening. Went and stood on the back veranda and about all we could hear was the bugs chirping. Was refreshing after the ruckus of the morning and afternoon. Jared got enthused to make banana splits so that tasted amazing! I thought it was cute this afternoon we met our neighbor girl on the street. She told me she had a project for school she needed to do. I asked her what it was and she said “I have to make something called a burger.” 😁 Their school hours are intriguing here. The younger classes are from 1030-1 and then as they move up a grade the days get longer. Our neighbor girl was saying she goes from 1230-4:30. Plus I suppose it depends on the school. Seeing all the different kinds of uniforms has been interesting. The school by the clinic lets out what appears to be all ages at 1. Often when we go there for lunch at 1 the street is packed with kids in their light blue and navy uniforms. Rickshaws and CNGs and Rickshaws pulling little carts are waiting close by to take the children home. Layton wondered if he would go home from school in one of those someday😁 

Thursday 3/23: This morning when we went out to ride bike we observed probably 50 bags of chipped up cement and tile out by the trash barrels. On top perched an old bathtub. Must have been what the ruckus was all about yesterday. Here they fill up old cement bags with trash. Jared took some more papers into the auditors office. That is usually an all morning plus affair so I was quite surprised when he was back in about an hour. For sure since it’s a Thursday. I thought with Ramadan starting tomorrow everyone would be out eating and doing as much as possible. Shurov came for sweet tea and a visit this evening. 

Friday 3/24: Today at church the hot topic was fasting. Ramadan started today for the Muslims. We weren’t sure which day exactly it was supposed to start as they go by the sign of the moon. When Shurov came over yesterday he said that yes it is Friday. It’s a month long period of fasting. Ramadan is a time of spiritual reflection, self-improvement, and heightened devotion and worship. I had to wonder if it is their version of revivals? The mosques are quite full with men saying more prayers in order to be more dedicated. Ladies aren’t typically allowed in mosques. On our way to and from Gulsane this afternoon there where flocks of men heading to the mosques. All with their white caps and long Muslim shirts. Muslims can’t eat or drink from sunup to sundown. Some will even spit out their saliva instead of swallowing it in order to avoid “drinking.” When they break the fast in the evenings they often eat dates and fried foods. Sounds like the ladies cook and cook all afternoon for the evening meal in order to make up for not eating all day. Those that are exempt from fasting are women who are pregnant or menstruating, if you are traveling, acutely or chronically ill or diabetic. Other activities that are banned during the fasting hours are smoking, drinking and romantic behaviors. Shurov tells us that his mother will go behind his fathers back and make him food to eat during the day since he doesn’t partake in the fasting since he is a member but the rest of his family fasts. He told us that people get pretty crabby in the afternoons due to hunger. Also people don’t go out and about as much in the afternoon as they are weak or not feeling well from lack of food and dehydration. Miriam is Catholic and she is doing a time of fasting now too before Easter. While Shurov and Miriam were talking about fasting I sat there and thought how glad I was that Jared and I were going out for American hamburgers and fries for lunch. 🫣 While we were at the clinic Jared had to take care of a few things… get milk for several patients, etc. Went to UniMart for groceries. Did a big haul since we didn’t go last week and with baby getting close we thought we better get extra. I feel like such a glutton when I go to the meat counter and ask for 6 lbs of beef. The meat people say “6 packages?!?!” And I say “yes please.” If my cart is full they really stare. What would they ever think if they saw all the meat we get from Sams at home?! Or the size of Walmart Pickup orders?😂Meat is definitely not a staple in their diet here that is for sure! Came home and crashed for awhile. It was a rainy afternoon so made for lovely napping weather! The rest of the evening we did the usual. Rode bike, read stories, made supper, colored… 

Saturday 3/25: Jared and Layton ran errands for the clinic this morning. I was glad Layton could go with him. He was full of energy this morning and going crazy so a good long walk was just what he needed. Sumita came to clean. It rained in the afternoon so we just stayed home indoors. I looked out the window and noticed the laundry was flapping on the line on the veranda. Did my Kansas soul good to see the wind! I printed off a bunch of school worksheets for Layton to do to keep him busy. I didn’t think he would enjoy them, but he sat down and did them all one after the other and asked for more. We were quite surprised. Since he’s left handed he forgets and starts writing his name at the opposite end of the paper then what he’s supposed to! So we will practice that. He was so enthused about his “papers” that when the neighbor kids went down to play he told them “I can’t play today, I have school work to do.” 😂 

Sunday 3/26: No clinic today since it’s Independence Day here. The painters have really been making progress on the apartments. The staircase and by our doors is all painted glossy creamy yellow. It looks so fresh and clean!!!! The outside of the building is the same as before. Tan/beige color. The neighbor kids were down in the courtyard today since it’s a holiday and they didn’t have school so tried to take Layton down there for at least an hour. They’ve been playing some neat games. I can’t quite figure them out but Layton has fun. Or they all get their bikes and scooters and fly around. I had to laugh because one day Layton was totally horrified. He came up to me and said “mom that girl drinks WATER FROM THE TAP!” We don’t ever drink tap water here just filtered water so to him drinking tap water was about next to a sin. I tried to explain to him that people that have lived here all their lives are used to the tap water so it doesn’t make them sick. But whenever he talks about that girl still hear him saying “that girl that drinks TAP WATER!” Jared did computer work for awhile. In the afternoon we got a CNG and hauled Jared’s big med order from Square Hospital and Maw Pharmacy to the clinic and unpacked them all and put them in the cabinet. There weren’t any patients since it’s a holiday. The sisters where just taking it easy. Friday when we had church we noticed our fruit dokan had probably 60 melons in front of it. Today there were just a few left. Last week we got one of the biggest melons I’ve ever seen. Not quite Esau style but close! We’ve been eating on that thing for days feels like. It’s so good though!! When we got back our neighbor lady came over and brought us two big plates full of food. Mostly fried. We couldn’t tell what it was. Some of it looked like it might have had mashed potato inside it and some looked like eggplant. There was a big pile of big dal with a sauce on it. I didn’t try it but Jared said it was very spicy. It was most likely their Iftar food. The evening meal that breaks their daily fast. 

March 13-19, 2023

 Monday 3/13: I was up most of the night solving world problems as I am prone to do occasionally. Sleeping good at night has never been my strong point. Suppose it’s from working so many late night shifts for so many years. After I got my boys breakfast I went back to bed for awhile. The car mechanic came and got the van and took it to his shop for a service job. He did an amazing job. Fixed a bunch of small things, cleaned out the inside and buffed out the scratches on the door. He brought Jared the papers for the cycle so Jared can drive it if he needs too. Clinic wasn’t as busy today as sometime. Jon stopped in this afternoon to pick up more papers for Trevor and Miss Kalli’s visas. Never mind Miss Kalli leaves in a few months.😂 so it goes… sometimes it’s almost seems easier to fork out the money for their exit visas then to try and get their work visas but we want to be law abiding citizens. We don’t want to be like the one situation we heard of where all of a sudden the police showed up and said they had an hour to get to the airport to leave the country. Jared talked to some people from Missouri last week that are here now working at Lamb Hospital. They found an online language school that would let them come  under their program with student visas for two years. Jared wonders if we should try that route. In order for that to work, some schools would require you to come to class several days a week and some it’s all on line. So ya the visa situation continues… We just submit what they ask for when they ask for it. Sometimes it’s one paper and then the next time it’s an entire 2 inch thick packet. Then all of a sudden finally we will get something that we have been waiting for! Keeps us guessing😁

Tuesday 3/14: Clinic this morning. I got enthused to make a jello poke cake to take to the clinic tonight when we go sing. Thought it’d be fun to have snack with them because they love that sort of thing. I rummaged around until I found a recipe for a white cake from scratch. Betty Crocker and I are BFFs when it comes to cake mixes so I hadn’t ever made a white one from scratch but it turned out ok. More dense than the mix. Then Jared got home from clinic and he said singing got canceled because one of the sisters had a bad cold. Meanwhile, while I was baking and cooking Layton drug out a ladder and spent quite abit of time digging through some of these tall cupboards in this apartment. He dug out old birdcages, old light fixtures, old empty boxes, etc. It kept him entertained for quite awhile… for sure when I told him to put it all back where he found it. (I’m a fun mom that way.) I was quite pleased with myself because while the cake was baking I got supper in the crockpot so I would only have to heat the kitchen up once today, then Jared wanted to go out for supper since there wasn’t singing so now I have supper ready for tomorrow. Blessed are the flexible! Haha! Went to Olive for supper. That’s always so good. Moved Layton into the teacher room  for night since there’s an air conditioner in there. It was a cooker today. Hardly any breeze. Jared says he misses the wind in Kansas. 

Wednesday 3/15: Not long after breakfast it started to thunder a lot. Layton was very nervous and thought it was a Kansas thunderstorm coming. Tried to explain to him that a “thunderstorm” in Dhaka is completely different than a thunderstorm in Kansas. He didn’t believe us one speck.😂 So he hid under a blanket for awhile and wanted me to read Ralph and the Motorcycle. Reading to him seems to be his security. Anytime he’s scared or upset he wants me to read to him. Only rained a small bit but boy the breeze that accompanied the thunder felt amazing. Jared spent the morning at the auditors office getting papers signed. It took him an hour and a half to get home as the traffic was crazy so he missed lunch at the clinic. Josna sent home chicken curry with Layton and I for “boss.” So he quick ate it and we headed to Square Hospital for my apt. The dr was happy that I have made it past when Layton was born. We are too… a sense of relief. Jared and I had a good chuckle at Layton this evening because he put probably 10 smiley face stickers on a piece of paper and gave one to each of us. He said that every time we smile during the day we are supposed to cross one off. So I’m not sure if we’ve been too serious or what for him?!😂 It’s a good reminder though. 

Thursday 3/15: While we blissfully slept, God was busy at the Mission Board meeting placing missionaries. Woke up to the exciting news that Kellys have a replacement for when they go home in August. Neil and Carl weren’t sure if they would have enough names or not so we were all preparing ourselves for no one coming. But we prayed anyway that God could work something out and sure enough He did. Doyle and Krystal Barkman from Nova Scotia. They have a 5 year old, 2 year old and 6 month old so they will be a splendid addition to the family.🥰 I am so thankful that they have a child Layton’s age. However, it was saddening to see the long list of needs with no one’s name beside it. Praying those can get filled in a timely manner. Jared ran a few errands this morning but he was feeling under the weather so stayed close to home. Not sure if he caught the cold bug that Trevor’s and Kelly’s and Sumita have or what it is. Shurov didn’t come for sweet tea as he is ill as well. The guards say people get sick now “because the seasons changing.” This afternoon the air conditioning mistris came and serviced ours and the guesthouse ACs. Jared thought they would bring an air compressor and blow the dust out but they used toothbrushes and paint brushes and got the radiator really clean! Then they dumped buckets of water over it to get the rest of the grime out. They definitely work much better now. The one they couldn’t reach from a veranda they just yanked it out of the wall, hauled it down to the courtyard to wash and then they shoved it back in. This afternoon Layton and I went down to the courtyard and watched the painters mudding the side of the apartment. The drivers, guards and the caretaker were watching too! They had their bucket of mud tied onto one of the bamboo rungs. 

Friday 3/16: We had to cancel church this morning. Was disappointing but with Jared, Shurov and Sumita sick it didn’t make much sense to have it. Jared is feeling better this morning… just fatigue and a nagging cough. It rained during the night and this morning when I took Layton out to ride bike it was so nice and cool. Even an occasional breeze! We skipped our usual grocery shopping run today. Jared needed to rest and regain his wits. Elwoods come Sunday and I told him I’d rather him lay around all day and get better than go go go and not be able to enjoy them while they are here. Because Elwoods are a pile of fun I tell you! You don’t want to miss out when they are around. It’s probably a good thing we were home all day because the painters were in and out of the house working on the verandas. Layton amused himself with shredding up a piece of styrofoam he found. I just looked the other way… 

Saturday 3/17: Found out this morning that Daryl and Brenda Toews from Bloomfield are our new field secretaries. Was exciting since we know Cassie! Neil’s have been on for 9 years. It’s sad though that they will be off but at least Carls will stay on! Annual Meeting is sure eventful when you’re in the mission. Never know what you might find out next. Lucky was able to come cook this morning. I was so glad! Went to buy her the vegetables she needed. The vegetables that are available now are different than the ones a few months ago when we first came so it’s been interesting to try and figure out which ones make a good sobji mixture. I’ve noticed Josna has started adding pumpkin or papaya and long green beans to her mix so that’s what I got for Lucky to use. Limes and Cauliflower are looking pretty rough so will experiment with different veggies! I kinda keep an eye on what Josna puts in hers so I know what to get. Here the ones that are in season are the ones that are available, it’s not like at home where Walmart always has pretty much any sort of fruit and vegetable available whether it’s in season or not. Anyways… seems like I always end up writing about food, but when your a housewife that’s what you deal with! I took Layton outside for awhile to stay out of Sumita and Lucky’s way. He was determined to catch a bird so he got an old birdcage and propped the door open in hopes that a crow would hop in. Then he went into the kitchen and got Lucky to give him the pumpkin seeds from the pumpkin she was cooking for lunch and used those for “bait.” We are still waiting…😂

Sunday 3/18: This morning was cloudy. All of a sudden the sky got dark and it poured rain for quite awhile. Jared was already at clinic so Layton and I went and watched it rain on the veranda. The neighbors were all standing on their verandas waving and smiling at each other. Looked like everyone was happy for the rain. One couple even sat there and drank their cha!  Sumita says every time she comes to clean that it needs to rain so people don’t get sick and the dust settles. This morning was the first time that it just actually let loose and rained. The last two times it’s just been a little tiny bit not even enough to get the whole courtyard yet. The rest of the day was uneventful. Elwoods flew into Dhaka from India and were able to get a 30 day visa so we are glad! They are coming to finish tying up loose ends at their Rajshahi post. Layton and I went up to the roof and he had the time of his life jumping in the huge puddle up there. I kept waiting for a Bengali to holler out their window that he was going to get sick if he got wet but we played uninterrupted! The other day he was trying to wash his bike in the courtyard and the moyla lady saw him scrubbing away to his hearts content. She came over there and grabbed the brush from him and told him to back up he might get dirty. She scrubbed and scrubbed his bike. Finally she gave the brush back to him. We just kinda stood there and didn’t know what to do.🫣 It was kinda funny but we were glad when she went on her way, bless her heart! She is a sweet lady so she probably thought she was saving him from a “chore” and didn’t realize it was something fun for him. 

March 6-12, 2023

Monday 3/6: Jared had clinic this morning.  Saw around 30 patients. He had to set up some guidelines with some that are involved with our work here as they kept asking him for meds for personal use. He told them they could ask once a month for meds just like the patients. He told them we have a budget we have to stick too, so we can’t just give out meds to you every little bit even though you work hard for us and we really appreciate you! Hard to know what to do sometimes. Our employees are our friends, family and colleagues so having to make a new rule is hard. Maybe it’s called “new missionaryitis.” While Jared was gone Layton and I did odd jobs around the house. Cleaned out his bedroom and that sort of thing. Got some popsicles in the freezer… “hot cocoa popsicles.” Basically chocolate pudding and marshmallows layered. Sumita came and cleaned so it was nice having her buzzing around. I think it’s taking her a bit to get used to a little boy that can make some hefty messes. She’s a good sport and laughs and says “moyla moyla!” We try to have him clean his stuff up before she comes. Got the teacher room ready for Miss Kalli when Trevor’s come into Dhaka in a few days and did some laundry. Strawberries are in now. Found it interesting that they are in season the same time as at home! They are so good so we’ve been eating our weight in strawberries and ice cream. They are around 350-400 taka ($3.50-$4.00) for 1 kg. Jared picked me up some more when he went to Farmgate this afternoon. Want to freeze a bunch for smoothies. This afternoon I took Layton out to ride bike like usual and the dokan man flagged me down. A lady from Kulna that Trevor had seen at his clinic had been referred to Islamic Eye Hospital here in Dhaka. She somehow ended up at the guesthouse which is right across the street from his dokan. Not sure how she got there because we never let patients come to our house or the guesthouse. They have to come meet us at the clinic if they are wanting assistance, even if they show up after hours. Anyways I called Jared because the lady was completely clueless as to what she needed. All she had was the referral paper. He ended up taking her to the clinic for the night and then Dr Elizabeth will see her tomorrow morning during clinic and they can make a plan. Usually when they come from Kelly or Trevor’s clinics they know where they are supposed to go or they call Jared ahead of time or family comes with them to help them. But this lady was elderly and showed up all by herself. It seemed like she had no idea what was going on! We were surprised she even made it to Dhaka by herself. Spent the evening at home just being us. 

Tuesday 3/7: Clinic day today! Jared was able to get the elderly lady that I talked about yesterday a ride to Islamic Eye Hospital. Layton and I went through the magazines and books to see what sorts of treasures we could find. Oh, the things that collect in a mission house😂 Found at least 50 or more old hearth and homes clear back from 2002. One of them had our cousin’s Jesse’s birth announcement in it! Jesse is in the youth now. Some said “Sheralyn Nikkel” or “Chelle Johnson “ on the front. I kept them all for now, kinda interesting to read through and find new recipes. Gave Layton all the old magazines to cut pictures out of when he gets bored. He found a hunting magazine and was very impressed. Sang tonight with the sisters then went to Hotel Shuktara for supper. We got there right at dusk so it was fun to sit on the 9th story roof where the restaurant is and watch the lights of Dhaka. It’s a Hindu holiday today…. “Holi” (the Festival of Colours) Holi symbolizes the celebration of spring, friendship, family, and the victory of good over evil. They throw colored powder or water at each other. We didn’t see much of that here in Dhaka but Trevor’s said their neighbor kids in Kulna came and dowsed their children good! Wish we could have seen more of it. Sounds like a holiday that could have the potential of getting pretty rowdy based off of what other missionaries have said. Sometimes there are drugs involved to help elevate the party spirit! It’s so intriguing learning about all these holidays. 

Wednesday 3/8: Jared had business at the clinic to tend to first thing this morning.  Still dealing with the Islamic Eye lady. They ended up telling her to go to a government hospital where it would be much cheaper. Jared didn’t feel like the amount of money he could give her would go very far if she continued to dr at Islamic Eye. It’s a Muslim holiday today so his plans of picking up the audits from the audit office were spoiled. This morning when we were riding bike (Let’s make this clear… Layton rides, I waddle along behind to ensure his safety😂) we noticed some painters had their long bamboo ladder hanging down the side of our building! The 10 bamboo “steps” or “rungs” are maybe 5 feet long and then tied to a rope at evenly spaced intervals maybe 4 feet apart. The ropes are tied to two gigantic sand bags that are up on the roof.  The men were climbing up and down that ladder like a bunch of monkeys. We stood on the veranda for awhile and watched them! Looked like today they were just scraping the outside. Curious to see how they will paint it. Usually they paint the verandas all one color and the rest a contrasting color. Then in our backyard by the mango trees a group of men have a large metal tripod set up with a rope and pulley system. They have a heavy cement block on the rope and then 4 men heave and pull up and down and use the block to pound their pipes down into the ground. We think they are trying to dig a well or something. They’ve been moving the apparatus to different parts of the backyard and repeating the process. They’ve been cleaning up down there the past while… tore down an old building, burned many piles of leaves… so who knows what will end up back there! Went to the clinic for lunch… we were starving! There’s nothing as good as a big plate of chicken curry, rice and sobji that’s topped with dal when your ravenous. Josna’s dal is perfection. Not too thick and not too runny. Layton is doing better with eating the vegetables. I realized he wasn’t eating them because they were “mixed up”🫣 So I told him what type of veggies were in there and then he ate it! Silly boy. The tumeric makes it all look yellow for sure potatoes, cauliflower, papaya, etc so it does look all the same. Josna always gets a big smile on her face when Layton asks for third helpings on the food! Didn’t do much in the afternoon. Trevor’s came to town to drop off their company. After they were done at the airport, we went over to the guesthouse and I helped Lisa and Miss Kalli make strawberry jam. That was a lot of fun! Jared and Trevor went to the new Pizza Hut that’s about a 15 minute walk from our apartment and got pizza and wings for supper. The pizza looked and smelled just like at home. 🥰 Trevor’s and Kelly’s go there a lot when they are here but we hadn’t tried it yet. We stayed late and visited. It feels good to talk about adjustments and emotions with others that are going through them too. We are thankful we are here. 

Thursday 3/8: Jared spent the morning and afternoon running errands… auditors office, bank, buying milk for the clinic, etc. Shurov came for his usual Thursday afternoon talk and sweet tea fix. He always hopes I have “something homemade” on hand too. I don’t always then he has to have boughten cookies with his tea… On a different note… sometimes I wonder if I should be doing more “for the gospels sake.” It feels like I keep house and take care of things just like at home. Seems like Jared is the one that is out and about more amongst the people and runs the clinic. We can’t really go around passing out tracts etc here. Our clinic is our outreach. Carl and Neil encouraged me to just be friendly with the people I do come in contact with and make friends with the other ladies in these apartment buildings. So I’ve been doing my best. Saying the few simple things I know to the moyla lady, the moms at the clinic and the moms I see walking their children back here to our apartment. It’s been giving me a sense of fulfillment for which I am thankful. For so many years I’ve been a nurse and that gave me fulfillment so not doing that now has been more of an adjustment than I thought it would be! I have really enjoyed being able to be more of a present mama since I’m not working. 

Friday 3/9: Church today… stayed for quite awhile afterwards. Layton sat and colored in the kitchen and Josna and Sumita joined him and wanted to color too. They tried to teach him the name of the colors in Bangla. It was fun sitting there and talking to them. Or trying to anyways! Miriam was telling me that she had taken a 3 piece to the tailor to get sewed. She told him she wanted it loose fitting. But when she picked it up it was tight around the waist and flared out at the bottom. She concluded the story with “man has no brains.” 😂 it’s fun to laugh with them! Went to Lola’s and UniMart. After some good naps, Jared went to the clinic to get some things for the two patients that were there. Spent the evening just relaxing. 

Saturday 3/11: As soon as we got up I raced (waddled) around the house and got things tidied up before Sumita came to clean. In the evenings my energy level is comparable to that of a sloth so I just let the mess go after supper. Layton did a great job of helping. Jared went to the clinic for abit to take care of some things and then headed to Computer City to buy a new printer. We were hoping this printer would last awhile yet but it completely gave up the ghost. So he’s been having to go to the printshop to get his papers printed. I think Davey bought this printer so it is a bit aged.😂 When he came home Layton was beside himself with excitement with watching Jared hook the thing up. You know… cords to plug in, buttons that light up, wires to connect… all the things that he loves. 

Sunday 3/12: Clinic day… The painters were busy scraping and washing in front of our apartment this morning so that provided some entertainment. How they don’t fall off their bamboo rope ladder is beyond me. This morning when Layton and I were out for our morning bike ride one of the drivers was all excited. A tiny “meow meow” had climbed up inside his car and fallen out. He thought I should take it to my house, I briefly considered it but it was so small I would have had to give it a bottle or something. Wasn’t sure I should start that up and become the apartment cat caretaker. This afternoon Jared got me 4 kg strawberries when he went to run errands for the clinic. Got them all cleaned and cut up and froze for smoothies. Otherwise a normal rest of the day. 

February 27- March 5, 2023

 This past week we were down with a nasty bug for a few days. I didn’t write anything since taking care of myself and my men was the focus. After the bug passed we had some other unique challenging days (that are funny now) but now we are back to normal life! Just needed time to recover and relax and regain our dignity and our senses. The week has ended better than it started! Anyways I’ve been compiling a list of thankfuls over the past few weeks so thought I’d share them this week. 

🔹 The way the guards wonder where Layton is if he goes a whole day without riding bike in the courtyard. The grin on their faces when they see him makes my heart happy. The days he was sick they asked me at least twice in one day where he was! 

🔹 Layton’s enthusiasm for learning Bangla words.

🔹Seeing the other missionaries when they come into Dhaka. It’s like family has come home! 

🔹Being able to tell the dokane man what I need. 

🔹hanging up laundry on the veranda first thing in the morning and seeing the neighbor lady doing the same then catching her eye and waving at each other.

🔹”The God of the day is still God of the night.” This song came to me one night when I couldn’t sleep and was worrying.

🔹Our members here… they give us such a boost. 

🔹Riding on rickshaws… (as long as they know where they are going.) 

🔹Hearing the morning sounds when we wake up… crows cawing, roosters crowing and doves cooing, the whisk whisk of the ladies sweeping the courtyard. 

🔹the hot pink flowers on this cactus thing that’s on our veranda. 

🔹Sumita coming to mop our tile floors three times a week so our feet aren’t constantly black. 

🔹Layton: “Do you know what I need to do as soon as we get back to Kansas? I need to go to church and school and see if the ice maker lids open and close up and down or if they slide open back and forth like the one at grandpys church.” (🫣) Honestly, this child’s brain leaves me in the dust most days but then again that doesn’t take much.

🔹the way the whole apartment complex smells in the mornings… garlic onion and turmeric cooking. (We won’t mention the awful smoke smell that permeates our apartment in the evenings when they decide to burn leaves behind our flat.🤢) 

🔹On days when there’s struggles and challenges that you only would ever have in a foreign country but knowing that there are a lot of people back home praying for us. Knowing that someday we will look back on the things that stressed us out and how we will laugh because they really do make a good story once the dust settles. 

🔹At church on Fridays, Layton passes the offering basket during the last song and then afterwards picks up the chairs and songbooks. He loves his church tasks and takes them quite seriously! Shurov thinks this is the funniest thing for some reason and just laughs and laughs at “Mr Layton working.”  For some reason a child doing chores here must be unheard of. Layton made a hideous mud mess on both verandas one day and I told Sumita she wasn’t allowed to clean up either veranda because Jared and I don’t want Layton to think that just because we have a housekeeper that he can make a mess and then not clean it up. (Part of the reason he had to clean it himself was because there was disobedience involved in the mud making.) She laughed and laughed and thought it was funny that he had to clean it up himself. So who knows what they think of us trying to make him be responsible but with all his energy it’s not going to hurt him anytime soon to do chores.😂

🔹 Fans! Full speed… it’s been 90* for the past week or so and it’s amazing how much fans can keep things quite comfortable. 

🔹 Our verandas. One has a big water spigot that Layton spends hours playing in and the back veranda has a big tub of potting soil for him to rummage in. It’s one place I can send Layton to play by himself that I don’t have to constantly keep an eye on him or be with him like I do when we go down to the courtyard. 

🔹Seeing the moms and babies at the clinic. Seeing them one day and they have a bad cleft lip and then a few days later after their operation their lip is closed and it makes for the most beautiful smile you have ever seen! 

🔹 the rows and rows of bright colored fruit and veggies at the dokane. No one needs to give these men any class on product presentation.

🔹a freezer full of food for after the baby is born. Simple meals but it was fun to make it all knowing that we would eat it when our baby is here. 🥰

🔹UniMart… a fun place to grocery shop on Fridays. Has pretty much any thing we need for cooking. There’s some random things that aren’t available but it’s been easy to do without! 

🔹NOAH… our van… seems funny to drive such a big rig for the three of us but when we pick up visitors and suitcases it feels up fast! We haven’t broke out the cycle yet but Jared hopes to eventually. Seldom need to drive anywhere here in Dhaka unless it’s to the airport, auditors office or UniMart. 

Have a good week! Our love to you all…🤍

February 20-26, 2023

Monday 2/20: Jared had clinic this morning. I had Layton help me in the kitchen while Sumita cleaned. He is quite a dandy helper when he wants to be. He helped me with the laundry and browned up some beef. I asked him if I made him work too hard and he said “it makes the time go by fast.” Not sure what that means! Haha! He misses Jared when he’s at the clinic. He likes to dump toys in Sumita’s mop bucket and then try to wash his feet in the shower while she cleans, then after she is done cleaning he comes behind her and scrubs the sinks again. So you can see why I try to keep him busy.😂 This afternoon Jared did computer work for CSI  things and I did the usual mom things. Made a pizza for the freezer. 

Tuesday 2/21: Happy Birthday Clarke! If I was home I’d make you some apple pie bars! Jared didn’t have clinic this morning since it’s a national holiday. Had some stores I thought it would be fun to go to since he was home plus I wanted to get out of the house. But alas, then we remembered in addition to it being a holiday it was also a Tuesday. For some reason here most markets and some stores are closed on Tuesdays. Then the electricity was out so Jared couldn’t do bookwork. I remembered that I needed an ultrasound before my drs apt next week so off to the hospital we went. There was quite a wait. At least 1.5 hours. While we were waiting Miriam called Jared and said he needed to come to the clinic for 3 patients that needed money for their pre op testing and powdered milk. Him and Layton took a rickshaw to the clinic and took care of the details and I stayed at the hospital to get the ultrasound done. I didn’t mind waiting, it was fun to just sit and people watch by myself. So many ladies that are covered in black burkas with barely a slit for their eyes. Some even wear black gloves so their hands don’t show. Makes me even more grateful for my bright colored dresses and ornas and just girlie pretty things in general. Even a little girl that looked maybe 8 years old was in a burka completely covered. For some reason seeing the little girls like that really saddens me. I had to wonder though if the women were wearing burkas because of being pregnant or because of their husband/father in law’s instruction. I’m still learning what’s considered modest for women here. After the apt we came home and behold the electricity was back on! Jared did his book work and Layton and I took naps. Some neighbors moved out of their apartment today. Layton and I watched the massive teetering truckload of earthly possessions drive down the street. 5 men perched on top to lift up the high line wires that were crossing the road.😬 Those men have obviously played Tetris with the way they packed that truck. The bed on the truck didn’t have very high sides so most of the load was up over the sideboards. It was phenomenal. Very little was put into boxes. They just stack and stack and restack until it all fits. Who needs a u haul trailer? Just lots of rope to keep it all secure. Had singing at 5 with the sisters this evening. That was fun… Kelly’s came into Dhaka midafternoon to pick up Lanae’s brother and his wife from Suncrest. Miss Trish is spending a few nights with us while they are here. 

Wednesday 2/22: Jared spent the morning doing paperwork that the SP officer called him about. They wanted more papers for my visa. Jon came over and had coffee with Jared then they went to the bank and took care of some things. It’s amazing how much it takes to keep our CSI programs running smoothly. A few paperwork jobs that Jared is responsible for is Clinic paperwork, getting money to Josna for all the clinic meals she makes for us and the patients, paying both the clinic bills and our apartment bills, making sure the other posts have enough money in their accounts, checking the budgets (gospel tract and CSI), sending reports to Neil, keeping the clinic supplied with milk and meds, wiring money to various other projects, making sure the other missionaries have their security clearances and visas (this is probably the biggest trial and issue) keeping the vehicles and cycles up to date on registration, taxes and other things, financial audits, immigration paperwork for new missionaries and teachers, just to name some. Some weeks it’s like he can hardly stay on top of it all and then other weeks like the past week he is caught up until Jon sends him another grocery list of things to submit to the NGO office. Went to the clinic for lunch with Kelly’s. Josna made beef curry, egg curry than the usual trimmings. Sumita made sure I noticed the egg curry because she knows it’s one of my favorites. It was so fun to sit and talk with Jaylens and Kelly’s. For sure since Jaylens are our age and are from Kansas. When visitors come it’s always neat to see and hear their first impressions, makes us realize how much we have gotten used to in just 3.5 months. Makes us feel not quite so pathetically new. The children played hard like usual. In the evening we had them all over to our house and had snacks for supper. Meat, cheese, crackers, cookies and coffee. We don’t eat much Wednesday evenings after our big clinic meal! Smoothies and quesadillas usually… Rice settles heavy on the stomach sometimes. Of course Layton was in his glory with his Thomas and Krista here. 

Thursday 2/23: Jared spent the morning doing paperwork and computer work. Layton and I did various things that seem to keep us hopping all morning. Finished up making food for the freezer this afternoon so that feels good to have that done now. This afternoon Jared met an eye patient at the clinic. Jared agreed to give him some money to help with testing. He needed some special contact lenses, so Jared went with him to Islamic Eye Hospital. Trevor’s came into Dhaka to pick up some company. Think their company is the last run of company for the summer. 

Friday 2/24: Church day! Jared’s inspiration was on Job and how no matter how successful we are on earth we can’t take our riches to Heaven. Trevor’s and their company came to church so that was fun to have a full room. Josna and Sumita always seem to like the extra company too! Stayed and visited awhile. Afterwards went and did our grocery shopping. Maybe someday we will get adventurous and try new restaurants and stores but for now we are sticking with the familiar places. Saw some of our friends in UniMart again! They are American missionaries here in Dhaka. Not sure what church they are affiliated with. We often run into them on Fridays there. Took it easy the rest of the day which felt so good. Layton doesn’t like it when we “take it easy” he likes to be up and doing and going from morning until night. 😬 I told him that when he is a daddy he will understand why it’s feels good to not always be so busy. 

Saturday 2/25: Busy morning! Layton made a new friend here in these apartments so I let him go down to the courtyard with her. I gave him strict instructions to stay where I could see him from the veranda and to not go inside her house until we know who her folks are. She looked like she was maybe 8? She talked pretty good English. So they were in and out and up and down. At one point when I looked over the railing they were standing there both eating chocolate popsicles.😂 It kept him entertained for several hours so that was super nice. Sometimes I get weary trying to figure out things for him to do here. He’s pretty creative with playing on his own but sometimes he just needs a playmate. And sometimes mom and dad are just boring…In the afternoon we went to the jute store. They sell things that have been made from jute that was grown and then made into bags in Bangladesh. I think the factory that makes it all is in Dhaka maybe. Bought a bag to use for a diaper bag. I had brought a diaper bag with me from home but it is way too big and cumbersome with all the walking we do. Plus I don’t need the whole closet with me when we go out and about… or do I?🫣

Sunday 2/26: Jared had clinic today. A few babies but mostly ladies. We didn’t do anything too exciting today. 

Hope you all have a good week! Thanks for the emails… 💖

February 13-19, 2023

Monday 2/13: Elwoods, Carls and Neil’s left at 4:30 this morning for India. They took CNGs to the airport so that Jared didn’t have to get up at an unearthly hour to shuttle them all the to the airport. They are going to check out some of the posts there. Spent the morning doing much laundry from our fun week. Realized this morning how much Layton has grown and got out his size 6 shorts and size 5-6 shirts. His 4T shorts were well above his knees. Kinda looked more like boxers than shorts.😂 Not that it matters here! He said “I feel so grown up in my new clothes!” Was glad I had some leftovers in the freezer for lunch. Sumita came to clean. Jared spent the morning doing computer work and then Jared and Jon went to the bank to pay taxes. The rest of the day we just rested and prepared for the coming week. 

Tuesday 2/14: Jared had clinic this morning. Next week he will start doing it three days a week instead of just two. A lady came in asking for financial help and provided memos of her medical bills. If they can’t show a memo they don’t get any help. When Jared gave her some money she said “Thank you!” Usually they think it’s never enough but this lady was so grateful he wished he could have given her more. Kinda refreshing! Layton has been looking forward to Valentine’s Day for weeks now. He’s been adamant that we make a chocolate cake with Nutella frosting. Not sure where he got this idea, but we whipped up some chocolate cupcakes and frosted them with Nutella, made a pizza and got some pomegranates. (Our favorite fruit here). Needless to say my boys (and me too) were very thrilled to sit down to that lunch! Layton said “mom you are a good cook but for sure on Valentine’s Day!” Now he is already wanting to make “cupcakes with something spooky on top for Halloween”😂 This evening we had singing at the clinic. Nurse Miriam, Josna’s sister and then another lady came, so we had a good sized group. Jared lets them decide how long we sing. Usually after 20-30 minutes they are done but tonight we sang for an hour! They were full of laughter and were joking with each other. We could understand some of what they were saying so it made it funny for us too! Afterwards we went to Parktown for supper. It’s a 10 minute rickshaw ride from our house. Lots of ladies were wearing yellow or fancy SaRis. They must have been celebrating Valentines Day too! 

Wednesday 2/15: Jared ran various errands this morning. He went to Farmgate to try and find a place to make keys but no luck. We know there has to be one around somewhere but finding it seems to be the trick. Needing more keys for the guesthouse. The language barrier makes things like this a bit tricky. Layton and I spent the morning digging through drawers and organizing some more areas in this apartment. Nesting has hit me in full swing. Jared told me I “was supposed to rest after revivals and not do much until the baby comes.”🫣😂 you would think after almost 10 years he would know I have a hard time doing “nothing.” and that I will always find something to rearrange or organize. 😂 Had lunch at the clinic with the ladies. Chicken curry… Miriam said Layton was a “Bengali babo” because of how much he ate. Later in the day we went to my dr appointment. Got a rickshaw like usual. 3/4 the way there the rickshaw driver veered off on a side street. Sometimes different drivers take different routes but not usually on the way to the hospital. They all take the same route. So we kept on and it soon became evident that he was lost as can be. Jared tried to tell him where to go but he just kept on going, eventually he ended up down the street aways from Square Hospital. Then on the way home Jared told that rickshaw driver to take us to “ec number gate, Monipuripara”. Well this gentleman went past ec number gate and all the way to our apartment. I have no idea how he knew where we lived. Jared didn’t know him either. So one extreme to the other!😂 While we were at my appointment we asked if we could have a tour of the OB ward. It was all very clean and orderly. We had to change into hospital shoes to walk around in there. 

Thursday 2/16: Jared set out on another key making expedition this morning. He went to KaWran Bazaar and this time he was successful and got keys made for the gate and the guesthouse door. Layton entertained himself and I just rested (orders from “Dhaka boss”😂) In the afternoon Neil’s and Carls flew into Dhaka from India. Their flights back to the states left in a few hours so they decided to just stay at the airport. Jared took the rest of their luggage to the airport since they hadn’t wanted to haul it all to India. In the afternoon I did some baking and cooking for the freezer for after the baby is born. 

Friday 2/17: Church today… Jared’s inspiration was on “the sower and the seeds.” Samir from Kulna was in Dhaka for business so he came to our service. He is such a likeable chap. Speaks good English… We did our usual grocery run in the afternoon. Glad we could go today because the next few days there’s supposed to be a lot of political rally’s on the streets. When we were stopped in traffic at one point we noticed one of the butcher shops had at least 30 goats up on the roof. It was probably a 3 story building. No fence or railing or anything! Looked like they might have been tied to something maybe? The rest of the day was quiet and relaxing! A bit too relaxing for Layton’s liking. 

Saturday 2/18: Sumita came to clean and Lucky came to cook. I don’t always know what to do when they are both here at the same time. Lucky takes up the whole kitchen with all the yummy dishes she makes so I can’t really be in there and Sumita is busy sweeping and mopping so we kinda play “dodge the wet floor” room by room! I’m very very thankful they both come though. I ended up doing some laundry and then taking Layton outside to ride bike to stay out of their way. If he goes a whole day without riding bike the guards wonder when he will ride bike again. I think they enjoy watching him! The minute we drove through the gate when we got home from Golpagonge last week the guard said “babo cycle khelbo?” (Will the child ride bicycle?)😀 Layton and I went and looked at the fish seller outside our gate and all his big metal bowls of fish swimming around. Every morning a vegetable man, chicken man and fish man come and park their wares outside our gate and sit there all morning. They usually leave with empty bowls and empty carts. The street cats and dogs are never far away in hopes of a tasty morsel from the slaughtering of the creatures! Found an old pair of roller skates in the storage room so Layton kept himself entertained for awhile with those. I puttered around the rest of the day doing some things for when the baby comes and such like. 

Sunday 2/19: Jared had clinic this morning. Said it went really well. Had quite a few cleft lip babies. Sometimes it’s mostly women needing vitamins or meds or lab work… Layton and I ran some errands this morning. Made him walk the whole way to try and get some of his energy wore off. In the evening we all went up to the roof and Jared grilled a bunch of chicken for me to put in the freezer. His paperwork and computer work has slowed down for abit so that’s been nice.  It’s definitely starting to warm up here! Put away our quilts and fuzzy blankets. Won’t need them until November or so… It’s supposed to start raining in March. Everything is just coated in layers of dust and grime. The trees in our courtyard are grey/brown from all the dust. Underneath it all they are still green! Even in the house, it’s crazy how dusty and gritty everything gets. 

February 6-12, 2023

 Monday 2/6: Went to UniMart this morning to get some things to take to Lisa and Lanae. I needed a few things too so between the three of us I had a good sized grocery list. There’s definitely more traffic than on a Friday but it wasn’t terrible. Did have to sit in some jams on the way home. Took maybe an hour to get there and then an hour home. Jared had canceled his language class so we didn’t have to feel pressured to be home at a certain time. Layton is learning to patient while we sit in traffic. Emphasis on the learning!!! While we were waiting in traffic I noticed a man on a bike pulling a “flatbed”. Instead of it being stacked with boxes or other cargo, he had his maybe 1 year old child on the back. 🫣😬 I tried to not think of that baby bouncing on that trailer through the Gulsane traffic. The rest of the day was pretty low key, spent time in the courtyard so Layton could ride his bike, made a pan of bars to take along to Golpagonge, laundry, the usual… 

Tuesday 2/7: Jared had clinic this morning. Sumita came to clean. She thought it was hilarious that Layton was wearing ornas around the house. I’ve tried to explain to him that only ladies wear them but he still thinks it’s great fun to wear them and then wash them by hand and hang them up to dry. Spent the day packing and taking care of some things before we leave tomorrow morning. Elwoods flew into Dhaka today from India. They were able to get through immigration after quite sometime… we were all so grateful! Their visa situation has been pretty dicey. They came for supper. It was so uncertain whether or not they would be able to stay in Bangladesh due to their India visa that I hadn’t made any plans for supper. So quick whipped up some cornbread and sausage gravy for us all. 

Wednesday 2/8:Left the house for Golpagonge at 6:45 am. Josna and Sumita rode with us. Shurov called Jared and said he was sick so he’ll come on the bus when he is feeling better. Kokhon said he would come by bus as well, so hopefully the Dhaka group will all be reunited tomorrow. Layton had fun seeing how many mosques he could see on our way out of Dhaka. I heard him mutter to himself, “thousands and thousands of them.” We were glad we had gotten up early to get through town. Didn’t have to stop even once for a jam!! Which in Dhaka is quite a feat. The drive to Golpagonge is really beautiful. Crossing the Padma Bridge was fun. The air was clear enough we could see the boats, barges and sand drilling rigs. Had to think of all of Carl and Neil’s stories about waiting 6 hours in line for the ferry there before the bridge was built. Now we zoom across! So much to see and observe. One just finally has to focus on the sights along just one side of the road. It never ceases to amaze me how once we are on the “freeway” people are still climbing over the guardrails and trying to dash across the road in between cars and buses. The nurse in me visualizes the trauma which could possibly occur. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing all the rice patties. Lush and green! Quite a contrast from all the grey dirty cement in Dhaka. Layton could not understand why you would want standing water in a field. Jared told him “Rice likes to have wet feet.” Got to Kelly’s at 9:45am. The road that leads to their house is very narrow. Part brick and part dirt. Barely wide enough for a “mini bus.” Then we met cycles and people walking along the road yet too that all deserve a spot. Kelly’s older children were in school when we got there so Layton and Krista amused themselves. They dug and dug and dug in the dirt. Jared and I just let Layton get filthy… he was having so much fun being with other children AND being able to play in good clean dirt. I wasn’t about to tell him he had to stay clean!  Lanae’s housekeeper made us all lunch… chicken curry, pumpkin, rice and dal. The rest of the afternoon we were at Kelly’s. Elwoods came by bus mid afternoon. In the evening we all went to church and had supper there together with some of the Golpagonge members. Due to the size of our group Kelly’s rented a church. It’s a Nazarene church. This one is much bigger than their church building. The “sanctuary” is upstairs and the kitchen and eating area is on the main floor. There is also a school room off to the side. I will not write about the joys of learning to use the squat pot in the restroom. All I will say is… be thankful for western toilets.😂 Before supper the men laid out the carpets on the floor, set up chairs, etc. Supper was fish curry, sobji (with large dal and peas in it), rice and dal. We are used to Josna and Lucky’s dal that is thick. This was very runny! More water than Dal. They poured it out of a tea pitcher. I could see why they gave us plates with high sides. At the end of the meal, you just slurp it out of your plate. Before supper I was standing in the doorway of the kitchen watching the ladies cook. They had a big fire in the back of the kitchen with a massive rice pot on it where they were cooking the rice. Then on a large gas burner they had another huge pot. The pots were so big I think Layton could have sat in them. Off to the side they had a large mound of probably 20 heads of cauliflower and a bunch of cabbage, tomatoes, potatoes and all sorts of sobji. I was intently watching out of sheer amazement and Melissa sidled up to me and said “looks just like the kitchen in the Hesston church doesn’t it?!” We had a good laugh. We are staying at a motel across the road from the church.  The other missionaries and members are scattered between several other places. 

Thursday 2/9: Trevor’s, Carls and Neil’s came this morning. Kulna is only an hour away so that worked fine for them! We had a loose schedule we attempted to follow today to keep the revival moving. 8:30 breakfast which ended up being more like 9:00 or so. It was Khichuri (rice, Dal, and vegetables all mixed together) with a boiled egg on the side. Very good and not too spicy to eat first thing in the morning. Layton was pretty leery of it because he doesn’t like dal, but there was just enough to make the rice yellow but not all runny. He actually ate some with a bit of convincing. 9:30 we started our church service. Neil had the message on Light and Darkness. The interpreter really put his heart into his job and used lots of expression and hand motions. Every once in a while they would have to rephrase something to make sense. 11:00… cha and biscuits (crackers) and then visits with different members. Carls, Neil’s and then the couple in charge of the post along with the member visited for awhile. Felt kinda strange to sit in on a visit and listen to other people share their hearts. I was thankful that they humbly shared things even though Jared and I were sitting there. 1:00: lunch (chicken curry) and then rest time. (Before church started, Jared and I had observed the “food committee men” out back butchering the chickens.) 4:00… cha and biscuits again and more visits then church service at 5. Carl had the message on hearing and knowing the voice of God. Supper at 7 (fish curry.) After supper Jared had another visit to sit in on so Layton and I came back to our motel room. He was needing some quiet time. I enjoyed visiting with Ang and Judith for awhile while we waited on the men. Neil’s and Carls are staying at the same place as us so we had our visit before we retired for the night. 

Friday 2/10: Todays schedule was much the same as yesterdays. Some more members were able to come today. Neil had a sermon on Repentance in the morning, and Carl had a sermon on the Church in the evening. The men continued with the visits in between meals and cha. Had a members meeting this afternoon. “Gol meeting” (circle meeting) we all sat in a circle and whoever felt like sharing could. The decision was made to go forward to Communion tomorrow. They were wondering how we did it in America, if all the members couldn’t attend would that close the door to Communion? Neil explained that it was what everyone felt on their hearts that determined whether or not we could proceed with Communion versus how many were physically present. Had more rice, chicken curry and fish curry! Bangla food is oh so good, but boy eating it all day for 2 days in a row makes one feel pretty fluffy.😂 I tried not to eat so much but my rice:dal ratio was always off. Too much Dal so I added rice to sop it up, then too much rice so I needed more Dal to moisten it. And on and on it went…. Kinda like chips and dip. Layton has been loving cha. He drinks two cups every time. This is cini (sugar) cha (tea).Basically piping hot sweet tea. The first time he drank it was Wednesday evening. Jared and Elwood took him to a cha dokan. Didn’t think to tell him that this cha isn’t strained and that the tea grounds were in the bottom of the cup. He drank it all and soon was hurriedly spitting out mouthfuls of grounds!! Now he carefully sips it.😂He told someone “my one granny makes hot tea and the other Grammy makes cold tea.” 

Saturday 2/11: For breakfast we had rice and dal and then alu borta. (Balls of mashed potatoes with onion and then something to add some spice.) Had a members meeting, self expression and then communion this morning. It was a neat experience and we were glad we could be here to partake of it. It was really special to me because one of our Dhaka sisters came up to me after Communion and hugged me and said “I love you!” Had beef curry for lunch. The beef was unusually good. Sometimes mutton here can be tough and lots of fat and bones to pick out. Layton and I went to lay down at the motel for a bit before the 2nd wave of activities hit. We packed up and headed to Kelly’s for the afternoon and evening. Layton couldn’t wait to go back to their place and dig in the dirt!

Sunday 2/12: We left Kellys around 1:45pm. Elwood, Neil, Carl and Tessa all took the bus from Golpagonge to Dhaka and then Jared and I took Melissa, Ang and Judith with us plus all the luggage. Got home around 5:15. We hit Dhaka right when the traffic was starting to pick up for evening rush hour. But we inched along and eventually we were home!💖  I was so thankful Layton could get to play with a bunch of other children for several days.