Fish

Fish

When Elder and Sister G came to visit, we were standing by the open gate and a woman came by. When people come with things to sell, I’m always more open than when they come asking for a handout. She was selling tilapia fillets. Were they fresh? She didn’t understand that question, but they came from Bondo and likely were, and they were reasonably priced. So I bought a kilo. Well, a hefting-it-in-the-hand kind of kilo.

We had dinner planned that night… and I was just a little hesitant to use Elder and Sister G as guinea pigs in case the fish was not great. And I thought, Gee. I don’t know how to cook fish! But now I had this fish and I had to do something soon.

So I remember my mama cooking it with lemons sliced to cut down on the smell. I put some lemon essential oil into the water and put in the fish and added some basil and tarragon and steamed it. And by golly, it was GOOD! The flavor was very mild. E. Fox liked it. Of course he uses fish as a method of eating tartar sauce in the same way ice cream is a vehicle for eating chocolate sauce. And the kitchen didn’t smell at all. I wish now I’d gotten her contact. But I expect she will stop by the gate again since we bought from her.

Tender Mercies

I’ve been feeling especially blessed by the tender mercies of the Lord.

* Our internet has been very iffy the last few days. I needed to call our property manager at his request. I’d tried calling last night and the wireless modem was too weak to sustain the call. It was like calling people in Africa: Hello! Can you hear me? I can’t hear you. CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW? You’re coming through broken. I can hardly hear you. By now my decibels will cause hearing loss and every living thing has retreated from the area. I CAN HEAR YOU. CAN YOU HEAR ME???? Click. Alas. No.

But the next morning, I thought I’d try the first thing in the morning. And the Internet was up and I got through and we had a good conversation. And just as we were finishing up, the line went dead. So we were blessed with that short window to call.

* Our property management wanted to talk over the phone… usually not too good of a sign. Indeed, we’d lost both tenants from one of our duplexes. But, miracle of miracles, he has two new tenants: one lined up and the other already moved in. These are good tenants from other properties he manages so he knows their rental history, and they are accustomed to that area of town. So I think they will stay a long time in those units. He said, December/January is a terrible time to rent, we just got incredibly lucky. No. Not luck. The mercies of the Lord.

* Today we had our branch Christmas activity. It’s during the hot, dry season and so being on the top floor under a metal roof was a bit toasty. But we were blessed with the wisp of a breeze that would flutter through periodically and cool it off. We had about 150 people at the activity. That was a great turn out. Some were members we haven’t seen for a long time… or ever, and some were serious investigators. We had a baptism, watched the Saturday afternoon session of General conference, had some entertainment by some of the youth, and a very tasty lunch. After lunch, some played football and volleyball, some cleaned the church.

* And we’ve gotten packages from home and feel loved.