Sorry 'Bout That...

I didn't mean to cause any panic... the title of that last post is some song lyrics that seemed to fit how things are going for us lately. Things may be tough (dashboard's melted) but good will come out of it if you look for it (we've still got the radio). [I probably should have thanked Modest Mouse for the lyric, but that may have caused even more confusion because I'd bet most of you haven't heard of them.]

I promised I'd share some of my thoughts... I've been doing a lot of thinking the last few weeks. With the big (ginormous, really) project I've had at work, that's about all I've been able to do besides that project!

But first, some pictures because I made you wait so long for an entry!

These two are from October 2008's trip. Aren't they exquisitely beautiful children?

Nathan's giggling while Daddy blows on his belly.....


Apparently we're not allowed to marry them to each other, but they still look cute sleeping by each other and pushing their hands into the other's face. (I don't think that nurse had any idea I'd still be getting laughs out of her comment months later)
Brent's doing his paragliding anniversary present this weekend. I was so busy the last month that I didn't tell you when our friend, Tia, brought him over a package of Depends - "just in case he needs them for the paragliding flight". It was awesomely funny.

We also had some great help from Brent's company - they allowed us to have another shipment of FMSC rice delivered to their facility. Since part of what they do for a business is shipments they have the big docks that allow tractor trailers to unload really easily which helped to save us a bundle in the shipping cost to get it here.

And we had a family member of one of the adopting families offer to pay for the freight - so a blessing all the way around!

We also have received some nice financial contributions to the orphanage. It's so wonderful to see people willing to stretch themselves to help "the least of these, their brethren". I hope these children can feel how much they're loved by so many people in America.

Oh, and, if you wouldn't mind.... the husband of the sweet woman who has made so many of the donations for the orphanage's Etsy store was just laid off. She's made literally hundreds of cards and donated them to the orphanage as well as other items. If you could add them to your prayers. They've been doing so much for these kids and helping us to answer our prayers of being able to raise funds to keep them fed and healthy. It would be nice to share some prayers with them that they'll be able to find employment quickly.

Only 40 days til the trip!! Can't wait to kiss those little cheeks!!

Water Mage

Dear Dave,
I wish you could have seen the reaction here in Haiti to your filters. We had some time while we were waiting for a family that wasn't on our flights to get checked in and we were all hanging out on the parking lot of the hotel. Nadia, the orphanage owner was sitting in the open back of a little pickup truck (on a chair... there were a couple of them propped in the back there. I do imagine it would be more comfortable than sitting on the floor while traversing the bumpy, potholed roads, but it's definitely not safer!) Harry and his wife, Pascal were there as well and they were translating what I was saying into Kreyol for Nadia.

I pulled out one of the sport-sized water filter bottles you sent and told Harry that you could put "any" water in it and it would come out clean. He looked at me skeptically and so I took the lid off and motioned dipping water up from the street, and then putting the lid back on and drinking it. (we were in a parking lot - no water around). Nadia obviously could see where I was going and she started laughing like that was the most ridiculous thing she'd ever seen me do. (and she's seen me do some ridiculous things!)

I explained to them that the Church sends these out with missionaries now and that they sell them at the Missionary Training Center as well. That convinced Harry. He translated to Nadia. While I was explaining to Harry that he can order them for the missionaries in Haiti, Nadia and Pascal were talking rapidly back and forth. Pascal finally interrupted and said, "What about brown water?" Apparently she and Nadia had been discussing the filters and had determined that you still wouldn't use them on just any water, because that obviously just be dumb and Lori obviously doesn't understand what she's saying. :) I said, "Brown, muddy, nasty water from the ditch on the side of the road... YES. You could filter that and it would be CLEAN." Harry translated all my adjectives and their eyes got wider and wider with each. They hooted with delight at this new marvel!

We made it to the orphanage. When I took the filter back into the kitchen to see if it would fit, to my horror I discovered the faucets in both the sinks (I didn't remember there were two sinks in their kitchen, but there are) are different than what we've seen before. They're going to need a female-to-female adapter to connect the filter to the faucet. Harry's working on that (He hasn't actually been able to look yet because we had him booked today and tomorrow he and Chareyl from our agency get to attend an historic meeting on adoption between Haiti and the USA where the State Department from both sides will be signing an agreement on how adoptions will work and what is expected from both countries going forward. Hopefully that will clarify the process a bit for future adoptions. But I digress...)

A bit later I finally had Harry and Brent together and Brent could demonstrate the black bag water filter. (For those of you that have no idea what I"m talking about, it's a bag you can take camping and then hose is antibacterial and then there's one of the wonderful Seychelle filters at the bottom so you can get clean water from anywhere again. The bag allows you to get a larger qty cleaned at one time than with the sport water bottle size.) So Brent pulled out the three pieces and he said, 'You take this bag and you attach this and then you attach this second piece" as he was assembling it for Harry. When Harry could see what he was doing, he clapped his hands in joy and he said, "And you can take it WITH you!" He was so excited! The grin on his face was priceless.

We'll get the piece we need to get the filter hooked to the faucet. Harry's very resourceful. I'm sure they'll figure it out. But you've given them something they couldn't do on their own and that is "get clean water from the kitchen sink".

May God bless you and all of our other angels who have given Christmas money and time and energy and sacrificed to make and give things or buy things from the store to help save these children. Haiti is a world where "survival of the fittest" plays out every single day. And you've helped to increase the odds for all of our babies. Thank you so much!

I’m Small, I Know, But Wherever I Go the Grass Grows Greener Still

A couple of people have asked me recently how they can give to our orphanage as part of their families' Christmas celebrations this year. I thought I'd post the info here so that anyone interested can get the details.

We still don't have our non-profit org set up. In order to get a receipt for your tax-deductible donation, it should be sent to:

Wasatch International Adoptions

3755 Washington Blvd. Suite 300

Ogden, Utah 84403

Please sure to indicate that you'd like it donated to "Hope for Little Angels of Haiti" as they deal with many orphanages and are a non-profit organization themselves. Indicating your intent will help them allocate it as you'd like.

Thank you for caring about our kids!

Some of the things we're working on right now:

1. A water filtration system for the orphanage. The O got giardia after the hurricanes earlier this year and that comes from unclean water. We want to help them meet their own needs and not be forced to BUY bottled water when funds are so tight to begin with.
   
2. A generator for the orphanage. Electricity in Haiti is spotty at best. There are periods every day where the orphanage doesn't have power. That means no ceiling fans, even, to try to keep the tropical heat down. In the evening, the children go to bed when the sun goes down because they don't have power at night. Imagine how cranky and uncomfortable you feel when you're hot and sticky and then magnify that by 50+ to try to get a gist of what they're dealing with.
   
3. We've recently had an English teacher start teaching at the O. This is a benefit to not only the children, but also helps the Aunties who work at the orphanage as knowing English will help them to improve their own lives and provide different job opportunities.
   
4. Of course, food, food, food. Everything is so expensive in Haiti. For a few months this summer and fall the O was only able to feed the children one meal per day. We want to keep that from happening again.
   

The title of this post is from a favorite song from my childhood. The song is about a little stream who realizes that, even though he's just a little bit of water he makes a difference with what he does. We feel like a tiny stream right now trying to quench a parched desert. With your help and support we can make a difference - little by little.

Words Do Not Suffice

I've been raised among heroes. My father is a veteran. My mom's brother was killed in Vietnam. I have grandpas who served in WWII.

My uncle Niel B. Riggs was a medic in Vietnam. He was killed by a sniper while trying to reach an injured soldier named Bobby Shelton. His name is two right of Niel's on the Wall.



Over the last year or so, my mom was able to develop a friendship with the men that served as medics with Niel. She has learned the specifics about how Niel was killed from these men. She's learned that it was only because of these men that Niel's body made it on a helicopter so it could begin the long trek home to be laid to rest in Provo, UT.

My mom was able to meet these men and some of their families this last year at about the 40th anniversary of Niel's death. Gilly, Doty and Goody (the Bobs) have become legends in our family. I'd say they'll never know what a gift it has been for my mom to be able to cry with people who knew Niel right up to the very end, but that's just it - They do know. They "get it" and they earned that understanding in ways that no man should ever have to face.

I got a voicemail from my mom the other day. She wanted me to know that one of these dear men just found out about the situation with Lexi and Nathan. He said, 'I don't know how much pull I've got with the Man Upstairs, but please know I'll be on my knees praying for them until this is resolved for your kids."

Words cannot express what it's like to find out that some of the noble and brave are praying for you and your little ones in Haiti.

Thank you, to the Bobs, for what you have done and are doing for our family.

It's a Small World After All...

I went to get my hair done this afternoon from the same place I've gone for years. I walked in and there was a woman there just finishing up with another stylist. I said, "Your last name is Beckstrand, isn't it!"

It was so exciting for me. This woman lived in Florida when I was a missionary 14 years ago. Her family moved out here at some point and she's been going to the same salon for years as well. We've never run into each other until today.



She and her family are LDS and they took very good care of the missionaries. At one point, my companion got very ill and the doctor wanted her on a special diet. Missionaries have a very limited budget to live on, so we were concerned about how we were going to get these special foods for her. Sister Beckstrand just showed up with hundreds of dollars of food for her - as soon as she caught wind that there was a need - she went into action.

She shared with me her current family picture. The little girl that was 4 when I was there is going to college in a few months! Her daughters have grown into beautiful women and she has a gorgeous brood of grandchildren.

It was nice to remember what their family had done for me, personally, as well as the example that they set for those around them. You never know how something you do with impact or touch someone else's life.

Many hands make light work!

I had the opportunity to help some dear neighbors prune their orchard this morning. The ward (That's what we call a "congregation", for my non-LDS friends) went over this morning and took care of their trees. They're just the sweetest people, but they're getting up in age and Lamar's had his hip replaced and Jeanette is on chemo right now - it's just been a rough time for them.

It's fun to do something like that in a large group. Everyone has an opinion on how they've "always done it" and obviously, there are a variety of methods that work as trees in pruned orchards have been thriving for centuries! Allicen and I just found our own trees a bit away from the Great Pruning Debate and went to town. It always feels good to see the progress with something like that. Quite a few families came and brought their children. The kids had a great time dragging the pruned branches down the rows to a central spot.

When we're helping others, we're happier. It was a nice morning.