Hope everyone is still enjoying their summer. I heard it's still in the 100's in Utah. I'm sorry - hopefully it will cool down soon. It's very sunny and warm here during the day and cool at night but I'd compare it to May or early June. It's hardly a winter:) I've worn my coat once. It gets dark about 6 p.m. though and gets cool. I get so cold at night but I take a hot bath and climb into bed and am finally sleeping normally thank goodness. That whole week of jet lag was not fun.
We had a fun Saturday. We're trying out different grocery stores and I'm finding better ones all of the time. We went to a huge mall and the huge contrast between the very wealthy and very poor was made even more obvious. This mall was more extravagant than City Creek - I would never shop there - we'll probably never go back. On the other hand, we drove to the temple after church today and the poverty is everywhere. I know South Africa is doing all they can to provide jobs because there are two or three baggers for every check stand, guys in the parking lots guiding you to a parking spot and helping you back out. We always give them some money, not every does, but that's all they get - they're just happy the business will let them be in their parking lot. Then there are the people on every stop light or stop sign standing in the streets begging. There are just not enough jobs to go around and I guess the most educated and ambitious get the jobs in the restaurants etc. I'm still wondering what the white South Africans do. You are never waited on by a white person - in a restaurant grocery store - any store. I guess they must all be the managers and executives.
I'm afraid the temple block was a little underwhelming. They're working on the roof. I'm glad I'm here and not down there - it's all gated and protected but it is in a different and maybe scarier part of Johannesburg. Of course, that doesn't mean anything about the importance of the temple - it's the ordinances inside that matters.
The sweet AP's are fixing us an "African" dinner today - not just us but the Leavitts who live next door and Elder Fagg and Elder Reeve who also live next door. Elder Fagg (yes that is his name) is from London and as cute as a button and an awesome missionary. Elder Reeve is from Hurricane and very quiet but also a very good missionary. The AP's are great guys and have been so patient with me in the office. I'm always asking them questions (especially about convert data entry) and they are just kind. Elder Hill is from Logan and Elder Madsen is from Orem and they work so hard.
I successfully made my choc chip oatmeal cookies last week (with a little adjustment) and the missionaries devoured them. I made another version of my mint brownies to take to dinner (can't get mint flavoring here) and I think they're pretty good. Working all day in the office and baking on the weekends seems to be my jobs - the missionaries just need some homemade stuff:) However, I'm excited about our ward's service project in a couple of weeks. We're going to a homeless shelter to clean, paint, do electrical work (Elder Bishop will be a big help there) and make and serve them a dinner. I told the Relief Society President that I would be there with bells on.
We took inventory of the "consumable missionary flat supplies" and went shopping to replenish many of those items but there are a lot of things stored that they don't use. I'm going to ask if we can donate them to this shelter.
Well, you can see that we're getting right into the thick of things. It takes a while to figure things out but once we get it all down, I doubt that we'll have time to breathe. It's all consuming - that's what we're here for - we're here to be "consumed" with the work.
We love you all and are happy to be here doing the Lord's work and doing whatever we can to further the Kingdom. Oh, I wanted to mention how impressed I am with the talks and lessons in the ward. The members are amazing and so dedicated - I also like their accents. Sometimes it's a little hard to understand them but some people have a hard time understanding us. The cute little black waitress (they all speak some other language) couldn't understand our asking for "water" with our dinner. Then another said, "You're American right? I could tell by your accent." We have an accent???
We had a fun Saturday. We're trying out different grocery stores and I'm finding better ones all of the time. We went to a huge mall and the huge contrast between the very wealthy and very poor was made even more obvious. This mall was more extravagant than City Creek - I would never shop there - we'll probably never go back. On the other hand, we drove to the temple after church today and the poverty is everywhere. I know South Africa is doing all they can to provide jobs because there are two or three baggers for every check stand, guys in the parking lots guiding you to a parking spot and helping you back out. We always give them some money, not every does, but that's all they get - they're just happy the business will let them be in their parking lot. Then there are the people on every stop light or stop sign standing in the streets begging. There are just not enough jobs to go around and I guess the most educated and ambitious get the jobs in the restaurants etc. I'm still wondering what the white South Africans do. You are never waited on by a white person - in a restaurant grocery store - any store. I guess they must all be the managers and executives.
I'm afraid the temple block was a little underwhelming. They're working on the roof. I'm glad I'm here and not down there - it's all gated and protected but it is in a different and maybe scarier part of Johannesburg. Of course, that doesn't mean anything about the importance of the temple - it's the ordinances inside that matters.
The sweet AP's are fixing us an "African" dinner today - not just us but the Leavitts who live next door and Elder Fagg and Elder Reeve who also live next door. Elder Fagg (yes that is his name) is from London and as cute as a button and an awesome missionary. Elder Reeve is from Hurricane and very quiet but also a very good missionary. The AP's are great guys and have been so patient with me in the office. I'm always asking them questions (especially about convert data entry) and they are just kind. Elder Hill is from Logan and Elder Madsen is from Orem and they work so hard.
I successfully made my choc chip oatmeal cookies last week (with a little adjustment) and the missionaries devoured them. I made another version of my mint brownies to take to dinner (can't get mint flavoring here) and I think they're pretty good. Working all day in the office and baking on the weekends seems to be my jobs - the missionaries just need some homemade stuff:) However, I'm excited about our ward's service project in a couple of weeks. We're going to a homeless shelter to clean, paint, do electrical work (Elder Bishop will be a big help there) and make and serve them a dinner. I told the Relief Society President that I would be there with bells on.
We took inventory of the "consumable missionary flat supplies" and went shopping to replenish many of those items but there are a lot of things stored that they don't use. I'm going to ask if we can donate them to this shelter.
Well, you can see that we're getting right into the thick of things. It takes a while to figure things out but once we get it all down, I doubt that we'll have time to breathe. It's all consuming - that's what we're here for - we're here to be "consumed" with the work.
We love you all and are happy to be here doing the Lord's work and doing whatever we can to further the Kingdom. Oh, I wanted to mention how impressed I am with the talks and lessons in the ward. The members are amazing and so dedicated - I also like their accents. Sometimes it's a little hard to understand them but some people have a hard time understanding us. The cute little black waitress (they all speak some other language) couldn't understand our asking for "water" with our dinner. Then another said, "You're American right? I could tell by your accent." We have an accent???
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