Biltong for Days...........

Venison jerky

Biltong is what the South Africans call jerky.  It is NOT the same as the jerky that you buy in the United States.  In South Africa (at least in the providence of Limpopo) they do not trim the fat off of the meat.  They just cut it all up together and dry it out.  It looked SO disgusting to me that I could not even give it a try.  The Africans love it.  The fat on it is there favorite part because they say it is where all the flavor is.

Bottled Venison

My husband killed a mule deer this year in Wyoming.  He spent hours cutting up the meat himself and we have been freezing some of it, canning some of it (for the first time ever) and we are making jerky with some of it.  The top picture is of batch #2 with who knows how many batches left to go.  We dry the jerky in our smoker that only has four racks (much to my dismay as #1 a batch takes 6+hours to dry and #2 I smell like a smokehouse for the rest of the day).  If you have ever made your own jerky you will understand one of the many reasons as to why it costs so much to buy at the store.  It takes hours and hours to make.  Everyone who eats the jerky LOVES it and always begs for more.  I posted a picture of what the canned venison turned out to look like.  I am not a meat eater so I am not sure what to think of it.  My Dad on the other hand is thrilled beyond thrilled to try a bottle.  He is a good guinea pig HA!  There is quite a bit of meat in each quart and you can see just how lean the meat is by what little fat is at the top.  I am a terrible protein eater and with my diabetes it would be a really good thing if I could stomach eating venison.  I don't mind the jerky but this canned stuff........hmmm BLECK!  I guess I can't knock it until I have tried it eh!

Madi's email

LEAVING SAN PABLO ABOUT KILLED ME LITERALLY...

I am officially moved into my new sector and all is well! i love my new companion Hermana Torres. we actually knew eachother before because we were from the same district! she is from argentina so my spanish accent will be more argentine now than chileana. i am grateful for her and her example she is really shy so i do a lot of the talking and start all contacts which at times is frustrating but its forcing me to learn spanish faster which is a blessing really.

OUR HOUSE IS INFESTED WITH SPIDERS. i am convinced that from here on out all my house i stay in will have a name. we found so many spiders in our house thursday that you can get your bottom the next day i went out and bought some spray and killed them.. i still spray everyday but i refuse to get bite by one because the outcome is nasty an hurts really bad because my trianer once got bite by one. my new comp HATES THEM. she hates any bug really so i have to take care of it all but its not to bad (:

This week has been kind of me just following her around and trying to find people to teach. We do have some really interesting investigators right now and i have found out real quick why i have come to Rio Bueno. The people here have really strong personalites so you have to be really direct with them and demand to be heard... which for all that know me is not a problem. my first day here within 20 minutes we were in a lessson with a lady that my comp said would never listen to the lessons but with me she listened and even had some really good questions. Later in the week we went with a  less active to her friends house Judith that is also investigator. she wasnt home but her husband was and my comp tried to contact him but he just didnt want anything and before he closed the door i asked him about his really nice motorcyle he had right there and asked if it was his and he said yes why? and i said because my dad has one and we just hit it off right there! he is about 66 years old and loves that i am a farm girl!! we talk alot about stuff like that and it has been a blast we left and tried saturday to find both at home! his name is Alfonso and his wife Judith. They were home so we decided to teach them the plan of salvation.. we taught them a really good lesson with the spirit but they didnt want to accept a date for baptism but i think they will later on. i have a really good feeling about them and have so much faith that he will want the gospel because i shared the story of my family disowning me and he immediately said well you have a father now right the one your mom is married to and i said exactly he is the best and has taught me so much and he then said plus you have heavenly father and us because we are all family.. my heart grew a million times bigger. he has a huge heart and he just loves me haha.

WE ALSO HAVE A BAPTISM FOR THE 10TH OF OCT.  a 10 yr old girl named crystel! i hope she keeps progressing we taught her an awesome lesson of the gospel of jesus christ and she loved it so we will keep working with her this weeek and next!

Rio Bueno is quite ghetto haha its a bigger city and has a lot more people. i get whistled at and kissed at even more because there hasnt been a gringa here in a long itme... i also am loved to death by everyone especially people that want to learn english or for there kids to learn english so i have a lot of english classees coming up and im really excited. i really miss my quiet farm town but im learning to love the city. the people are not used to having a gringa and really miss the other latina hermana that was here but its part of the mission and its always so hard for people its starting to warm up here in the south.. its still cold but not as cold which is good but it rains like crazy still. the sunsets are beautiful here. i dont have a lot of time but i will write more next week when my mind is more settled (: 

LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH

Madi with her new companion Sister Torres