Dear Family and Friends
It’s my turn to write this week and the week has been full of many blessings that I’ll share with all of you. The last 6 weeks have been so hectic that I started into the week not sure if I could handle transfers and new missionaries and immigration and all that was on the schedule. Monday we were still trying to get information on our last set of missionaries and we so badly wanted to finish that up before the next set came in. Lynn made an appointment and filled out every paper, letter, and form we could imagine they might want over the weekend. We went to immigration and met with one of the dignitaries that said he would meet with us at 8 AM Monday morning. We left about 7 AM knowing that traffic that time of morning was challenging, but we were surprised when it wasn’t too bad and we actually were there 20 minutes early. We met with Mr. Wiseman and he went over everything carefully and took our paperwork into the back and met with some other people and came out and told us to come back later. We left and tried to get our Utilitiy bills (for the 4th time) but to no avail, part of them were ready but not all. To make a long story short though, after 3 trips to Immigration and 2 more trips (one on Tuesday and one of Wednesday) to the BBS Mall (where I pick up Utilities) we finally got approval on our missionaries and MOST of the Utilities were available. Immigration and BBS Mall are clear across town from our office and just happen to be the most stressful places we have to go each month. The lines are always long and we get anxiety attacks just knowing we have to go there. However, we were thrilled and greatful when by Wednesday evening we had enough of what we needed that we settled for the Miracles, and prepared for our new missionaries to come in late that night. Last transfer they didn’t get through the Border until 1:30 in the morning, but this time they didn’t have any trouble and arrived at the mission home by 11 PM and we were thrilled and again recognized the Miracle.
We got 5 new missionaries this transfer and we gave them and their companions a quick bowl of soup and some cookies, collected all of their documents and sent them to the Zone Leaders flat for the night. Lynn had to get up really early to copy all of their documents and get the forms ready to head off to Immigration again the next morning. The missionaries all came over at 9 and we fed them breakfast (banana bread and fruit), they completed their part on all the forms and we were Off! We go get passport pictures, then to the Police Station to have all of their documents notarized, then to the Doctors office for physicals, then to immigration. Everything went really well and by 1 O’clock we were at immigration waiting in line. Amazingly enough, we only waited a little over an hour and then it only took them another hour and we were done. We were shocked as we actually made it in one trip and they accepted everything we turned it as final. We are now getting Residency for all of our missionaries instead of 90 Day waivers that we had to re-do on all of our Elders so they can stay 6 months. If these all go through, President will be able to let them stay in Botswana as long as he wants and even move them around without having to send them back to South Africa. It’s been a lot more work getting to this process, but if it works, it should be much easier for all of us. We are hopeful and grateful that everything has gone so well this transfer.
By Thursday evening, we were both exhausted, but grateful for all the help we had received from our Heavenly Father. He had truly worked miracles in our behalf and we recognize His hand in getting the work done here in Botswana. Friday and Saturday we spent some much needed time on cleaning our yard, washing down the outside of our house, especially the dirty windows and window sills and scrubbing our fence. By Saturday afternoon I even had all the laundry caught up and the house cleaned inside and we went out to dinner to celebrate the fact that we had lived through the past 6 weeks. It’s not always this hard, in fact we are kind of thinking since all the training sessions are over, we are only going to have Zone Conferences once each 3 months and President will only come up for interviews every 3 months, Life might get boring around here! I’m kidding of course, but this should be the hardest 6 weeks we will have the whole time we are here and quite frankly, we have loved it but it’s nice to have it done. Lynn is busier with his new calling and gets lots of phone calls and assignments from President and we are always anxious to do whatever President wants us to. We will be going to Kanye (about 1 ½ hours away) this coming Saturday to help their Branch move into their newly remodeled building. They have been meeting in the living room of their missionary flat for church, but the church building maintenance group has finally remodeled an office complex area into a building for them and it is ready for occupancy this week. Lynn will go down and put up their sign and we’ll take the Bakki (pick-up) and the trailer and help them move all of their old chairs and tables and pulpit and etc. into their new place. Eventually they will get new equipment, but there is no money right now so they have to use their old stuff. The missionaries are going to be so happy to have their flat back and not have to have classes in their kitchen, their office, and their living room as well as sharing their bathroom. Kanye has only been a branch since February, but they have about 100 people at church each week and they are finding lots of Priesthood to teach and to lead their Branch. Right now they have an Elder as their Branch President, but they have a couple of choices when it’s time to change that situation. They have a great Primary President, the YW President just got transferred so that’s been hard, and their Relief Society President keeps cancelling each Sunday morning, but they have a great 1st Counselor. You can see that things are a bit shaky yet, but we are all praying for them and we go there as much as we can to teach and interview and talk with their investigators.
We are healthy and happy and love serving together. Lynn is such an asset to the missionaries here and they ALL love him. He is a real spiritual strength to the mission here and they truly look to him for advice and help in all of their situations. He even fixes their EVERYTHING! I hope some of them learn how to be “fix-it men” like he is, it’s such a blessing when a man knows how to keep things running and keep old things from falling apart. I think all the Elders want to be just him, they just haven’t had Dad’s that taught them how to fix things and they don’t have a clue! I am a lucky woman and I think all the Sister Missionaries want to find a husband just like mine!
So far this week, we have a busy Monday, some things to do on Tuesday, and really busy Friday, Saturday and Sunday, but we actually have some free time to catch up again and that seems really nice today. We went to Mafikeng to church (2 hours away and across the border into South Africa) and we did our planning on the way home. It actually looks like a “possible” week and we are going to fill it full so we are worthy to receive more of the Lord’s blessings. We feel his help in the work, and we pray for our family all the time. We’re so sorry to hear about Corbin breaking his arm; Corbin be careful and it will heal just fine. The picture of Garrett running with the football was fantastic and is now the screen saver on Dad’s computer. Mom and Dad asked if we are serving 18 Month’s or 2 years, our call is for 18 Months this time and our scheduled release date is August 22nd, 2011.
We love you all and hope you too can recognize the Tender Mercies of the Lord in your lives. He truly loves us and wants us to be happy, we just have to do our part; His promises are sure!
We love letters (even short ones) and pictures are always fun. Congratulations Dax and thanks for calling us and including us in your big news. Kricket, thanks for doing the blog, we get lots of comments from family and friends that love to read it. Thanks for everyone who has time to write and Thanks Roger for the great pictures of our place. It looks beautiful and I think it made me a little homesick. I had almost forgotten that we have a new home, we only lived in it for a little over a year and I think I've forgotten how nice it is and what green grass looks like. We stay busy, but we do love to open our e-mail and find letters from all of you. Our skype works fine, but our Magic Jack isn't working at all so don't try to reach us on that.
Mom and Dad, Granny & PaPa Lynn, Lynn and Lorraine
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