Deric's Christmas Gifts

We got to use Skype to talk to Deric for almost 2 hours on Christmas. His internet connection was slow and something was going on with the webcam on our end so Deric couldn't see us, but we could see him. Because he had no video, we weren't able to show Deric his gifts.

Grandma and Grandpa Flinders went to South Africa for a temple trip at the end of October. Since the 2010 FIFA World Cup (soccer) is in South Africa, they bought this hat for Deric. He is a real fan right now because soccer is the only sport in Honduras. It's nice that the US and Honduras will both be competing in June and July.

The mask and the cuff links are from Mom and Dad. I found the mask outside the Uchumi (market) a few days before we came home. It looks very African and I thought Deric might enjoy a fun souvenir. The cuff links are from the Kazuri Bead Factory. They are made out of clay. Women, mostly single mothers, form and paint them by hand. They are fired in a kiln after drying in the sun and then again after painting. The women then put the jewelry together by hand. They were stringing necklaces and bracelets when we went on the tour. It was very interesting.

Now an update on Deric. When we asked what he was doing for Christmas, he said that he had been eating. He showed us a tamale. It was the size of a large burrito here in the US. It took up most of the plate he had. He ended up eating about 10 of them over the course of a few days. He really likes the food and has stopped losing weight. He thinks he might even be putting a little bit back on.

Deric and his companion were both talking to families. Elder Fernandez was on the Internet phone talking to his family in Chicago. Deric was on Skype with us. The only problem was that the microphone piece kept falling off of his headset. It was quite amusing. He has promised to buy his own headset before we talk to him for Mother's Day.

The work is continuing in Honduras. They had to teach a lesson on Christmas afternoon. They had a baptism scheduled for the next day. Transfers were on December 30. Deric was pretty sure he was going to be transferred, but it was his companion. We don't know anything about his new companion yet. We will get information on Monday, January 4.

We did take some pictures of Deric on Skype. We were using Felycia's computer so we still have to figure out how to get them into the blog. We will work on it this week and see what we can come up with.