Hello From Harare!

 There has been so much progress made on the temple construction since I have been here.   Wednesday night they tested the angle of the lights.  The temple was lit up for the first time.  This won't happen again until it is opened, probable early 2025.   Our new mission president, President Davis, and his wife arrived Thursday.  The senior missionaries combined efforts to prepare a delicious Mexican meal for them.  It, like many social events,  was held at our house because our apartment is bigger than most, has the biggest table and Diana has decorated it so beautifully.   They spent Friday and Saturday traveling to 4 areas to meet all of the missionaries and hold the first zone conferences.  I helped with one on each day.  As they shook the hand of each of the 130+ missionaries, including the seniors, they called us by name without looking at our badges.  They had studied our pictures and names for the past 3 m...

 This Elder loves our English Connect Zoom lessons.  He is so motivated to speak and understand English well.  When he does pronounces difficult words correctly and I praise him, I see this fabulous smile on my screen.  I receive so much joy from teaching these young Elders and Sisters.     Wonderful things are happening in the mission as a result of the humanitarian projects provided by the church.  A school was about to close because there was no water.  Boreholes were created to bring water to the school and it was able to stay open.  Another school was in need of extensive renovations in order to stay open.  The work took many months.  When it was finished, there was a ceremony with local community leaders and church representatives.  This girl was selected to give a speech thanking The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints.    These boys performed a traditional tribal dance.   Parents, s...

These three missionaries have completed their missions and will be going home this week.  On Monday, Bonnie and I taught them the Self-Reliance Class to help them be prepared when they returned home.  I taught personal finance and education.  Bonnie helped them create a CV.  We fed them breakfast and their favorite pizza for lunch.  It is a day of celebration and so much fun!  From left to right:  Elder Ngwenya from Bulawayo Zimbabwe, Sister Makura from Leribe Lesotho and Sister Rafanomezansoa from Antsirabe Madagascar.  They will be missed.    On Tuesday, Lori and I had to pick up a young sister who lives in a little town about 30 minutes from Harare and take her back to Harare to get money from Western Union that her dad had sent because she needs some dental work done.  She is from South Africa.  This was my first time in downtown Harare.  The traffic is terrible and there are no stop lights.  Intersections ar...

Yesterday, Bonnie, Lori and I left at 10:30 to go to Epworth to help some sisters with family history.  We put the address in our phones and headed out.  It said we would arrive in about 30 minutes.  Google Maps took us onto dirt roads with rocks too big to go over and holes too big to go through, but little room on either side to go around. We turned around and tried to get Google to re-route.  We ended up not knowing where we were and Google not helping.  After an hour we finally got to the town of Epworth but could not find the chapel.  Again, Google was no help.  We were about to go home (if Google would tell us how to get there) but pulled to the side of the road and Bonnie said a prayer.  We drove for about 5 minutes and look who we saw standing on the side of the road.  They got in the car and showed us how to get to the chapel.  While driving, they sang to us.  Come Thou Fount Of Every Blessing and The Spirit Of God.  I...

The most exciting event of the week was the arrival of 19 new missionaries.   They arrive at the mission office "excited, scared and exhaused" as one missionary replied after being asked how she was feeling.    The first thing we do is get them fed lunch.  Chicken sandwiches and chips (fries) from Pogos are always a hit.    After eating, they meet with the Finance Secretary (Diana, my roommate) to get their money and instructions on what it is to be used for.  They also meet with the Tech Elders to get their phones and instructions on how to use them so they don't run out of data and air time. The missionaries from Africa meet with me to determine their English proficiency and given the option of meeting with me on Zoom for help with their listening and speaking skills.  Most of them want to improve their English so they can be able to enroll in BYU Pathway after their mission. They come in all sizes. After interviews with President...