We’ve just moved into another month so now we will change our special calendar one more time. It has been great to see the family pictures on the calendar, each time we move it a month ahead.
Today is General Conference but we won’t watch it for a couple of weeks. We do have satellite in our building, but the timing difference makes it impractical for people to attend so we wait for the DVD’s. The live telecast would have occurred from 6-8pm and from 10-12 midnight, with the priesthood session going from 2-4am. We did watch the first session with another senior couple, but that was all. In general, our attendance would be zero since it is unwise for anyone to be out in the dark, and the taxi service in the entire area shuts down at 7pm.
Mom taught Sunday school at one building and primary at another one today so she is pretty tired by the end of Sunday. We had a good testimony meeting in both of the branches, with good participation from the local members.
I finished my 6 financial audits this week so that will mean a 6 month break from that assignment. We continue to work hard with the teachers, encouraging them to stay with it even though it is very hard for them. Since our last email we have done a lot of traveling to teach our in-service lessons. Some of our teachers are doing very well, and others are really struggling. It’s a major commitment for them to teach and have students attend when no one has any transportation except their two feet.
About a week ago we saw approximately 60 baboons along side of the road. We would have loved to take a picture, but there was no place to pull over. You’ll just have to take our word for it!! Later this month (about mom’s birthday time) we have been invited to join with a group of seniors to visit Kruger Park. This, I believe, is the largest animal reserve in South Africa. We are looking forward to this trip.
Summer is about to leave us and Fall is just beginning. The mango’s have all been removed from the trees, but we do see a new crop of bananas in some areas. When we get out of our immediate area we notice that the grass is drying out a lot, especially in the desert areas. We had a couple very exciting thunderstorms during the past week. We get quite a bit of lightning and thunder here, as well as rain, of course. There are no heating facilities in our flat so instead of complaining about the heat, in a couple months we will probably be wishing for it to come back. We understand the person who lives directly below us might be moving out soon so we are trying to decide if we should move to the first floor. That would make the summers more bearable, but we like the view and security better on the second floor. We’ll probably decide in a few days.
As we travel we find road construction everywhere. I don’t know where the money is coming from, but roads in all directions from our city are undergoing major work. Gasoline is over $9.00 per gallon and will be increased about 10% this coming week. Everything we buy has a 14% value added tax built into the price. So I guess they find ways to finance things. They also have an income tax, but I don’t know much about the tax rates people pay for that.
This week we will spend a lot of time doing month-end reports. It’s crazy. We have a car report, a cash reimbursement report, a CES credit card report, seminary attendance and scripture reading reports, etc.
We generally have lots to keep us busy, but sometimes we can do only so much reading and teacher preparation. Mom finally broke down and bought a sewing machine the other day so this will give her a little diversity. I haven’t figured out what fun thing I can do yet! I guess I will just keep doing those reports!
We are including one more animal as an enclosure. See if you can recognize it. We understand that Kim has received all of the pictures we have taken to date so check with her if you have not received them.
Hope you are doing well.
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