The Trapani's in Timor Leste

The baptismal font on our churches patio is bigger than most. We only filled it up once before and at that time we let the water run at half volume overnight. This time we let it run most of the day and when we checked on it again it was all the way to the top of the font, much higher than it should be for the baptism of two children. I hoped that the level would go down overnight because the drain plug was nothing more than a plastic bag covered by a brick. Unfortunately, the next day Sunday, the day of the baptism the water was still just as high. Anticipating this possibility I brought my bathing suit and goggles to the baptism. I went to the bottom of the font, removed the brick and the plastic bag and then let it drain for about a half an hour. I then went back under the water and replaced the the bag and the brick and everything was fine. Daud and Diana were the remaining two unbaptized members of the de Silva family who were baptized about 2 months ago. The father Janua

We have funded a small project to teach English to a rural Village just outside of the capital city of dili. There are two classes. The first one is for school-age children and the second one is to the Village adults. The classes are held in the village`s School. The picture above is of the school. There are three buildings and an open area in the front. This is the main road or path to the school. Needless to say the school doesn't have or need a parking lot. This is the school cafeteria or lunch area. The food is cooked on wood fires. If the menu is like all of the other rural schools it would be rice and vegetables daily. No protein. This is the eating area. The school had modern bathrooms for village standards. Both boys and girls bathrooms had the same fixtures. Outside of each classroom is a hand wash station. On the upper left is a small bucket for the soap. There was one of these outside of each classroom. Here's a picture of the adult Engl

This is what our walk home from dinner looked like. We had a visitor in church. Whenever we get a visitor they always want a picture to take home to their Ward and show them what it's like here. His name is Jared. He is from the US attorney's office. He's here in Timor-leste  to give training. We don't get very many visitors here because we're so hard to find. Because we're not registered in the country we're not listed on the Church website. About the only way we get found is if someone contacts the mission home. This young lady was one of three who interviewed me. This happens once every few months. A college English class gives an assignment for their students to interview English speakers. Four of our more advanced English students are going to be teaching our English lessons to a rural Village and school two times a week. In preparation for their classes we gave them some teacher training which was then followed by them teaching two of ou

When we showed up for the closing ceremony for this Village Water Project we were greeted by flowers being thrown on top of our heads. We walked through an archway that had been decorated with local flowers. This is one of about 10 water stations throughout the village. Technically it is called a tap stand. It was decorated for our ribbon-cutting ceremony. I along with some of the local dignitaries got to cut the ribbon. Most Village Water projects also having and accompanying latrine project. Cheryl had the privilege of cutting the ribbon for the toilet. Here are two of The Village Elders demonstrating water use. The entire Village was in attendance for the closing ceremonies. Cheryl and I got to speak through an interpreter. Here are some of the local school children. They are also very grateful for the water system. The children many times are the ones that have to retrieve the water. Often they're late for school because of the time involved to get the water.