Ammon:
ray a loh, wen to chu. Noh a loh o peopo, no prima, plae dah pho.
[Ammon is speaking in Liberian English. Continue reading on how to interpret this.]
LaReita:
I woke up and read a text in my sibling group chat. President Nelson has graduated and returned home! Oh, what a dear man! Whenever I would feel lonely for my dad, I would listen to a talk by Pres Nelson, and my heart would be assuaged. Dad and Pres Nelson LOVED people, and were so optimistic about life! I really am going to miss our dear prophet!
We woke up to HEAVY rain – cats, dogs and elephants rain, which continued non-stop for 2 hours. Good thing it happened today, and not yesterday on our trip to Brewerville. I found online an 11:30am church time. One of our taxi drivers took us (only a 5 minute drive). We got there quite early, but spent time greeting others (especially the missionaries), and being greeted warmly by others. One tall, large, white missionary approached me (from England), but was speaking in Liberian English which caught me by surprise! We met 4 other Utah-based missionaries. One of them only 1 week into the mission. He said he was excited to come to an English-speaking mission, but this was not English! He hasn’t been able to understand a word!
Liberian English (or pigeon English) is spoken through the back of the throat/nose, and the last consonant of a word is dropped. Also, speaking the end of a sentence goes up, not down.
The branch we attended usually has 100 in attendance, but there were only 20 there for sacrament meeting due to the cat, dog & elephant rain. No Primary today for Ammon. He sat with dad in Elder’s Quorum, while I went to the Relief Society room with one other sister, Theresa. She has been a member for 3 years, and said, “nothee kee me froh chur”. [Say it out loud to yourself – this is Liberian English.] I taught her a little bit about what happens now in church leadership since President Nelson passed away today. My accents today were a mix of American, Ghana, and Liberian. She was probably so confused and most of the time she nodded while I ‘spoke’.
I asked her some questions. She is 56, and has 5 children. Her first-born is 42. Yup you read that right. Her first child was when she was a child herself, at age 14. That’s pretty ‘normal’ here. A child born in 1983, and a 2nd child in 1987 – just before the start of the 1989 conflict/war. I can’t imagine trying to keep myself and my children safe/alive during that vicious war. No wonder she says that she never misses church. I’d also be thankful to God every day for my life and my children’s lives.
We came back to our apartment. Dave read & took a nap. Ammon worked on building a (online) plane with engineering principles. I typed up the last 2 days, made contacts for the next 2 days, and rehydrated one of the split-pea soup packages we brought. One of Ammon’s complaints from our July 2024 Ghana trip was “I was starving the whole time.” Yeah, spicy Ghana food is hard for a kid. Before we left the USA, I packed one side Ammon’s suitcase with dried soups, freeze-dried meals, and small packaged snacks. We have used them all up over the course of our Ghana and Liberia days.
It has been a good day of rest for us. Definitely needed.