Melody and Buddy

Lilly picked Buddy, Melody and I up tonight. She is the wife of the head elder of their church. Her family is very active on the church and does a lot to keep it going. They are such wonderful people. We drove up the road, and watched the green lush mountainous country while Buddy went over his health talk. Before we came to our site, we stopped at a little shop for supper. I still have a hard time believing this, but every night this little place closes just so Melody and Buddy can have their supper with out any disruptions. I have one word for the meal: "Sadop". It means "good" and Melody repeated it all night long. I asked them if there was another word for "good" so we could have a little variety in our vocabulary, but I already forgot it! Served in a red bowl was some rice noodles with some carrots, mushrooms, bok choi, and veggie meat. Then the lady took our bowls and poured some soup base over top. She said "Tonight, we eat soup." It was pleasing to the eye and more importantly pleasing to my stomach. So simple… but Ooooh so good! We took a picture with the kitchen staff and then crept back up the mountain. Melody kept asking me to pray for her during the sermon, because it was going to be a big appeal night and she has a persistent deep cough that could erupt at any time. Buddy presented the topic on Tobacco and it went very well. The translator informed Melody this week that Buddy is their new pastor! I sat on the front row with 12 other kids and listened to Melody's sermon. Melody was telling me that every night the kids have to take turns as to who gets to sit beside her. It is quite a coveted spot! I got the privilege of sitting next to Baby, Wrexy, and Elanie. Baby's real name is Estretchalyn because she was born on a stretcher. But we like to keep it simple. Surprisingly, Melody only coughed 3 short coughs, and the appeal went very smoothly! I was excited to know that one of the ladies on my row checked the box for baptism. At this church they have air conditioning (quite nice if you ask me). One of their church improvements is to have the speaker wear a suit. The first few nights, Melody was swimming in it, but then they found a much more fitted one. Before we drove home, I took a bunch of pictures of Melody and the girls. As we pulled up to the hotel, I knew that we were the last ones back, because Becky Brousson and Jonathan Farquhar were already there, and normally they are much later than the rest.

-Ceri