Week # 67 - Papa Lynn

Week 67

Dear Family and Friends,                                             30 May 2011

                I am happy to say that this past week has been a little different.  Today we got back form a 2140 kilometer trip.  We left last Thursday the 26^th of May and went as far as Francistown and I had a second interview that was a tuff one.  We then stayed with Elder and Sister Riser from Roosevelt Utah that are serving up in Francistown.   They are the replacement for Elder and Sister Cardiff.   They are great and are full of lots of new ideas.  They are on the ball and keeping very busy.  We stayed overnight with them and then the next morning Elder Riser and I took the keyboard to the Francistown building and put the keyboard stand together.  Then went back and picked up Mom and Sister Riser and went to look at the purposed building of the Francistown branch and the purposed building for Monarch if is gets split off of Francistown.  Then off we went to head or Kasane.  We arrived at Kasane about 5:00 PM and Sister Cornelia Rotenbach who is the same gal that took us on the boat safari last December when we were then for the couples conference took us to her home where we stayed for two nights.

                We hurried and changed and she took us in her Toyota all-terrain vehicle and she didn’t tell us where we were going or what we would do when we got there.  We headed almost straight east for 9 kilometers and ended up in a beautiful valley called Leshuna Valley.  Cornelia said only the local people know about it as they want to keep it special and untouched.  After getting the valley we saw many elephants, kudu, Cape buffalo, impala and other animals.  We found a spot in the open and she parked and said here we are.  She got out and took a shovel out of the back and prepared a spot for a fire.  We had a great evening watching the stars in the heavens that were so numerous and very bright.  We had a wonderful braii and spot lighted several animals close to camp.  We could hear the animals in the background all evening.  We had an elephant walk so close to us that we could see it from the light of the fire we were using to cook.  Cornelia was a little nervous as she said you never know what an elephant in the wild will do.   I walked on past so there was no problem.  We didn’t get back to her place until about 9:30 so you can tell we had a great evening in the wild.

                The next morning we got up early to go on a game drive into the Kobe National Game Park.  It is a game park that doesn’t have any boundary fences so the game is able to go anywhere they want.  We saw lots of animals and I took many pictures.  The evening we went on a boat tour of the Kobe river, and I got lots of pictures again.

                We took Cornelia to dinner at an India restaurant.  The first time Mom and I have had India food here on our mission.  It was good and Cornelia loved it as she has eaten there many times. The next morning we went to church at a members home and there was 8 in attendance plus the Riser’s and us so we totaled 12 people.  Elder and Sister Riser spoke first and Mom and I also spoke.  Of course we didn’t know that we were the speakers until we got there.  It went well and we love traveling and meeting people of the different wards, branches and even this group.  I think the early morning game drive on Saturday must have given me a cold (my first sick day in this mission). I am recovering and hopefully I will be over it soon.

                We left directly after church and headed back to Francistown and I felt so impressed to go back on the second interview that I had last Thursday night.  I am so glad that I did because there was clearly a miss communication between me and the candidate becoming ready for baptism.  The second time it went really well.  Mom and I stayed that night in Francistown and got up early this morning and got back home here in Gaborone about 2:30 this afternoon.

                It was a fun trip and we had great missionary experiences in meeting and working with members of the Kasane Group.

                Just for your information I have read my 7 pages each day and even read them on the day they were supposed to have been read.   Lori wrote and said she liked the book mark that keeps track of where you should be while you read.  I am sorry if this letter is unorganized as this is the way me head is working with it being all stuffed up with this cold that I am fighting.  Well I will close with my love to each of you.

Love Out Of Botswana, Dad

Week # 67 - Papa Lynn

Dear Family and Friends,                                             30 May 2011

                I am happy to say that this past week has been a little different.  Today we got back form a 2140 kilometer trip.  We left last Thursday the 26^th of May and went as far as Francistown and I had a second interview that was a tuff one.  We then stayed with Elder and Sister Riser from Roosevelt Utah that are serving up in Francistown.   They are the replacement for Elder and Sister Cardiff.   They are great and are full of lots of new ideas.  They are on the ball and keeping very busy.  We stayed overnight with them and then the next morning Elder Riser and I took the keyboard to the Francistown building and put the keyboard stand together.  Then went back and picked up Mom and Sister Riser and went to look at the purposed building of the Francistown branch and the purposed building for Monarch if is gets split off of Francistown.  Then off we went to head or Kasane.  We arrived at Kasane about 5:00 PM and Sister Cornelia Rotenbach who is the same gal that took us on the boat safari last December when we were then for the couples conference took us to her home where we stayed for two nights.

                We hurried and changed and she took us in her Toyota all-terrain vehicle and she didn’t tell us where we were going or what we would do when we got there.  We headed almost straight east for 9 kilometers and ended up in a beautiful valley called Leshuna Valley.  Cornelia said only the local people know about it as they want to keep it special and untouched.  After getting the valley we saw many elephants, kudu, Cape buffalo, impala and other animals.  We found a spot in the open and she parked and said here we are.  She got out and took a shovel out of the back and prepared a spot for a fire.  We had a great evening watching the stars in the heavens that were so numerous and very bright.  We had a wonderful braii and spot lighted several animals close to camp.  We could hear the animals in the background all evening.  We had an elephant walk so close to us that we could see it from the light of the fire we were using to cook.  Cornelia was a little nervous as she said you never know what an elephant in the wild will do.   I walked on past so there was no problem.  We didn’t get back to her place until about 9:30 so you can tell we had a great evening in the wild.

                The next morning we got up early to go on a game drive into the Kobe National Game Park.  It is a game park that doesn’t have any boundary fences so the game is able to go anywhere they want.  We saw lots of animals and I took many pictures.  The evening we went on a boat tour of the Kobe river, and I got lots of pictures again.

                We took Cornelia to dinner at an India restaurant.  The first time Mom and I have had India food here on our mission.  It was good and Cornelia loved it as she has eaten there many times. The next morning we went to church at a members home and there was 8 in attendance plus the Riser’s and us so we totaled 12 people.  Elder and Sister Riser spoke first and Mom and I also spoke.  Of course we didn’t know that we were the speakers until we got there.  It went well and we love traveling and meeting people of the different wards, branches and even this group.  I think the early morning game drive on Saturday must have given me a cold (my first sick day in this mission). I am recovering and hopefully I will be over it soon.

                We left directly after church and headed back to Francistown and I felt so impressed to go back on the second interview that I had last Thursday night.  I am so glad that I did because there was clearly a miss communication between me and the candidate becoming ready for baptism.  The second time it went really well.  Mom and I stayed that night in Francistown and got up early this morning and got back home here in Gaborone about 2:30 this afternoon.

                It was a fun trip and we had great missionary experiences in meeting and working with members of the Kasane Group.

                Just for your information I have read my 7 pages each day and even read them on the day they were supposed to have been read.   Lori wrote and said she liked the book mark that keeps track of where you should be while you read.  I am sorry if this letter is unorganized as this is the way me head is working with it being all stuffed up with this cold that I am fighting.  Well I will close with my love to each of you.

Love Out Of Botswana, Dad

Week # 66 - Granny

Hello to ALL;

This has been a pretty busy week as we had transfers and we lost 8 of our Missionaries and received 8 new ones.  The biggest problem was that 5 of the ones that we sent back to Joburg were out of time on their passports but we were told that we didn’t have to worry about it anymore as Immigration was working on it and we would be given extra days now until they could get their paperwork processed.  We have been just going along, not worrying, and thinking all would be alright.  At 5:30 AM on Wednesday morning, we did breakfast for the departing missionaries and sent them on their way by 6 AM.  About 7 O’clock we received a call from our Zone Leader at the Border saying they weren’t allowed to leave Botswana because their paper work was expired and they were going to have to pay fines for each day they were delinquent.  We tried to call our Immigration Specialist “Stix” that the church hired, but of course, he works on normal hours and only answers our calls when he want to anyway.  To make a really long story short, we had to meet our Missionaries at the Police Station to pay the fines; but the Police Station didn’t have the receipts the Border Patrol wanted so we all had to come clear back into Gaborone to the main Police Station only to be told that the lady we needed to see was headed to a meeting and she would see us when her meeting was over.  We waited (no other choice) and then we got the receipts signed and sent the Elders back to the border and we came on home.  About an hour later, we got another phone call that two of our Missionaries that are from Kenya and Uganda needed proof of immunizations before they would be allowed back into South Africa.  We tried to fax them to the Border Office, but their Fax wouldn’t work so they told our Elders to go back into Botswana and ask if we could fax the information to their office, but their Fax wouldn’t work either so we had to scan it to one of the Elder’s E-mail address and he opened it up and got it off for them.  It is not 11 AM so it took us 5 hours, but we did get them through the border.  Of Course, they missed their training meetings in JoBurg, and also the transfer meeting, but they arrived about 4 PM, just in time to meet up with their new companions and go to their new areas.  About 5:30 we got a phone call saying that the Elder that drove one of the cars down to JoBurg had taken the keys to his new area way up North, was driving with an Elder that had turned off his phone during the transfer meeting and we couldn’t reach them at all.  So we decided to have all 8 of them stay in JoBurg for the night as they would be traveling all the way in the dark and no one had ever been to Botswana before.  They spent the night with Missionaries there in JoBurg and by 9 O’Clock we still didn’t know where the key was so President Poulsen made the decision to have Dad fly to Joburg the next morning at 7 AM and take another key to the car so they could all drive up to Botswana together.  We got up at 5 AM again and I drove Dad to the airport and he flew to Joburg, rescued the stranded Missionaries and they all made their way up here by late afternoon.  It was quite a big day for Dad but he did get some quality time with our new Missionaries on the way back to Botswana and I was able to have dinner ready for all of them when they got here. Life is an adventure in this mission and I guess we’ve just endured another “experience.”

We were able to visit our YSA Branch today as it was their Ward Conference so we spent a wonderful day with our wonderful Bishop Motswagothata and with our Stake President, President Hall and his counselors.  They are all dynamic men and they each gave excellent speeches today in Sacrament meeting.  Last night they actually called a special meeting with all of the Auxiliaries of all the Branches and Wards here to discuss “tranditions and customs” and it was too interesting to tell you all about on paper; but we had some really good discussion about how the members of the church need to take a stand against “traditions” like feeding all the relatives for 8-10 days when there is a funeral and also the “witch doctor” practices that go on at the burial sites and a few other strange things that are happening at their funerals.  The second half of the meeting was spent discussing the “Labola” or Bride Price traditions that are making it absolutely impossible for our young adults to marry at all.  It was two very touchy subjects; but President Hall handled things extremely well considering he and us are white and everyone else in the chapel was not.  He was careful to identify everything with a Gospel Principle and try to teach the people that it wasn’t a matter of “Our Church against Their Traditions.” It’s a matter of not doing anything that goes against the Laws of God and to always identify what the Principle is and how to always try to help their families (especially non-members, but not always) to keep Gods Laws.  It was a very difficult situation, but our leaders did an excellent job and things never got heated and hopefully everyone went home with good feelings.

We also had a couple of visitors over the weekend from two different missionaries that have served with us up here in Botswana, but are now finished with their missions and are touring a bit with their parents.  They had each been gone for about 10 months, back serving in other areas in South Africa so it was really good to see them and see how much they have grown in their missionary work and their over-all attitudes and life skills.  Both Elders had delightful parents and we could definitely see why they had been such good missionaries.  One was Elder Bryce Michael Call and he lives in Boise so hopefully we might get to see him again sometime after we get home. 

This next week we will be traveling on assignment clear up to Francistown (5 hours) on Thursday we will drive on up to Kasane (another 5 or more hours) for training on Saturday, Priesthood business and attending their little “group” of about 20 on Sunday.  We will pick up the Riser’s from Francistown and make the rest of the journey together.  Lots of work to be done there, but hopefully a little time for maybe a boat ride on the Chobe River or a little 2 hour game drive if we are lucky.  We aren’t looking forward to all the driving, but we’ve been told that when we get that far up North we will see some “wildlife” and even elephants crossing the road and etc.  We’ll see if we are lucky!  This is the same area that we had the couple’s conference last December, but we flew to Kasane last time and this time we are driving.  I’m always a little nervous about the training part and hope we can understand their needs and be able to help them see a bigger vision of the church for themselves someday.  I think dad sent you a KSL news-clip of the Kasane Branch a couple of months back of something that was televised and run during the break between Conference Sessions.  I’m not sure if you could down load it or not, but it was done well and told of their secluded little Branch clear up in the Northern most part of Botswana and all they are doing to try to do missionary work and bring their friends into the church..  Anyway, we will write next week and tell you how it went and what we got to see (if anything).

Time is passing too quickly and we are enjoying our work here.  Every Day is an Adventure in Botswana and I think everyone of the other couples in our Mission wishes they could serve up here with us.  Actually, we could use a little Adult company once in a while; but we love what we are doing and we are doing it the best way we know how.  Thanks for all of your prayers and your support.  We absolutely could not do what we are doing without your help.  Tell all of your kid’s thanks for their prayers too; we feel their prayers in everything we do.

We Love You ALL,

Mom and Dad, Grannie and PaPa Lynn, Lynn and Lorraine

Botswana Testimony - Granny

Dear Family,

     It’s not my week to write the family letter, but you have been on my mind so much this week that I just have to write to all of you.  I am so thankful to my Heavenly Father for the blessing that you are in my life.  I’ve had the opportunity to bear my testimony a few times this past week to members and investigators.  Every morning I pray that Heavenly Father will place people in my path that I can tell how much the gospel means to me and tell them of my love for my Heavenly Father, for my Savior Jesus Christ and for the witness of the Holy Ghost in my daily life.  I realize that our time here in Botswana is getting short, and I want to have done EVERYTHING that I promised Heavenly Father that I would do while I was here.  I know that I knew in the pre-existence that I would serve a Mission in Africa and I certainly hope that I am living up to my end of the bargain and that I am keeping all of my promises and covenants that I made with Heavenly Father.

     I want all of you to know that when I tell people about Families being Forever, that I bear witness to them of the support and love I feel from my own family.  I tell them that because my children are all member of the church, they have married in the Holy Temple to worthy companions;  that you are raising ALL 36 of my grandchildren and my 1 great grand-daughter in the Church; that you go to church every week; you love each other and look out for each other and that I recognize the blessings of Heaven every day in my life.  I tell them because Heavenly Father has given me so many blessings and because the Gospel of Jesus Christ means everything to me, I am here in Botswana to share all that I know with the beautiful people here.  I tell them that they too are sons and daughters of God and that Heavenly Father has looked hard and long to find a way to bring them the Gospel and that they should hang on to it with all of their being and never let anyone pull them away from the church.  I tell them about the pre-existence and that we are all brothers and sisters and that we knew each other before we came to earth.  I tell them that we were all taught at the feet of our Heavenly Father and our Savior Jesus Christ and that we knew about the Gospel before we came here.  When they hear the messages of the Missionaries of the Restored Gospel and about Joseph Smith and The Restoration; it all sounds good to them because they have known it in the pre-existence.  Their Spirit’s remember, even though the veil is drawn and they can’t personally remember all that they knew. 

I tell the Sister in Relief Society how much I love being in the same room with them; and how much the Relief Society organization means to me.  I tell them that we were placed here as Sisters and we are to love and look out for each other.  I tell them how much I miss being with all 8 of my daughters and even how I miss being with my Sisters in my Relief Society Room at home.  I never hesitate to mention how proud I am of my two grandson's that have married beautiful women in the temple and that I also have a grand daughter that is married, also in the temple  We are so proud of the legacy you are building for the rest of our grand children and I love to tell our famailies story to the people here.  It gives them faith and hope for the future and something to strive for.

   I gave each of the Sisters a small wallet sized picture of the Savior when I’ve visited them this time around  to our 5 Branches and 3 Wards; and they absolutely loved the pictures and acted like it is the only picture they have ever had of Him.  It probably is!  Gay sent in some 5 X 7 pictures also, and I’ve framed some of them and given them to special people in each of the Branches as we visit and they really love and appreciate them as a real treasure.  They especially love the ones where the Savior is hold the little black baby and also the one where Christ is walking with the little black girl.  I love these myself and hope to have one framed and hung in our home as a reminder of our wonderful 18 months here in Botswana, Africa. 

Anyway, I’ve been so grateful for each of you in my life.  I thought that I’m telling everyone in Botswana how much I love my family and how much the gospel means to me and the most important people that I want to know that are all of you.   I am a blessed woman and I want ALL of you to know that I recognize how blessed I am.  Heavenly Father has given me so many blessings and I am thankful to have all of your support while Dad and I are serving this mission.  We would not be able to be here if we had to worry about things at home.  Thanks for all your love and support; we love each of you and we tell people how wonderful our family is.  Thanks for loving each other; thanks for taking such good care of your children, your church jobs, for working so hard to provide a living for your family and for recognizing the things that really matter most.  When all is said and done and when you are “old” like Dad and I, you will know that all the “things” you accumulate won’t matter at all, it just becomes “stuff”.  You will want to walk away from all of that and serve your Heavenly Father and all that really matters is that your children have testimonies of the gospel and that they are living the commandments and loving each other  like all of you are.  That’s why our lives are so good and that is why we can serve our Heavenly Father full time on this mission.  We thank you and we love you with all of our hearts.  I just want to make sure that there is no doubt in any of your minds, that I know the Gospel of Jesus Christ is true.  I know that we have a Heavenly Father who loves each of us and that we also have a Heavenly Mother who prays with her companion over each of us.  I know our Savior lives and loves each of us and that His atonement makes it possible for us to return to live with Him and our Heavenly Parents Forever if we keep our covenants and follow their teachings.  Joseph Smith is a Prophet of God who restored the true church of Jesus Christ back to earth; including the Priesthood of God which your father holds and honors with full fidelity.  Thomas S. Monson is our living Prophet today and he truly talks with God in our behalf.  The Book of Mormon is the most true book on earth and as we study it, our testimonies of the Gospel will become more precious to us every day.  The Holy Ghost is the testifier of truth and as we listen for His voice and follow his promptings, we will receive more and more of our Heavenly Father’s guidance and blessings.  Know that I love you and I want you to know of my testimony and for there to be no doubt that your Mother knows this church is the only true church on the face of the earth and I love it with all of my heart.  I also know that each of you have testimonies and it warms my heart.  I am so proud of you and I am so grateful for each of you in my life.  You have taught me a lot and blessed me beyond measure.

Last but certainly not least; I want you to know that I love your Father.  He makes my life wonderful, peaceful, and I pray every day for Heavenly Father to help me be worthy to be his Celestial Companion.  He works so hard here to do all that he can to keep the Botswana end of the mission running.  He is constantly in demand on the telephone, at the front door and doing all the running required by 45 missionaries, their cars, their apartments, and also doing 2^nd interviews for President Poulsen, buying plane tickets, bus tickets, recording gas purchases and sending reports to the Area Office as well as finding buildings for meetings houses and buying property to build on in the future.  I don’t know how he stays on top of everything, but he does!  The Missionaries all love him, the Branch President’s all rely on him and his opinion on everything; and our Stake President Pres. Hall calls him to take care of all kinds of Stake business up here also.  I think they all think he IS the Mission President; but he constantly reminds them all that he is not; but that he will do his best to communicate with President Poulsen and do what he can for them.  It’s is such a treat to serve this mission at his side and we are thoroughly enjoying our time together.  Someday we will look back at our experiences here and wish we could return for another “go-around” but this time will never come again and we know it so we are working hard to do our best and make the very most of each and every day.

Know that we love you,

Sincerely,

Mom

Week # 65 - Papa Lynn

Dear Family and Friends,

     Every other week I have sent a letter home with thoughts ideas and happenings in the mission field and I want this one to be different.  I am offering a challenge to all to follow the reading schedule listed below starting of Friday the 27 of May.  Seven pages a day and you will have completed The Book of Mormon between then and when Lorraine and I get home on 12 Aug 11.

The start date is the 27th after everyone should be out of school for the summer, if not it will be close.  I know the Lord will bless us as a family if you want to join in and read along with all in the family.

READ THE BOOK OF MORMON BEFORE GRANNIE AND PAPALYNN GETS HOME
PAGE	DATE		PAGE	DATE		PAGE	DATE
INTRO	27-May-11		182	22-Jun-11		364	18-Jul-11
7	28-May-11		189	23-Jun-11		371	19-Jul-11
14	29-May-11		196	24-Jun-11		378	20-Jul-11
21	30-May-11		203	25-Jun-11		385	21-Jul-11
28	31-May-11		210	26-Jun-11		392	22-Jul-11
35	1-Jun-11		217	27-Jun-11		399	23-Jul-11
42	2-Jun-11		224	28-Jun-11		406	24-Jul-11
49	3-Jun-11		231	29-Jun-11		413	25-Jul-11
56	4-Jun-11		238	30-Jun-11		420	26-Jul-11
63	5-Jun-11		245	1-Jul-11		427	27-Jul-11
70	6-Jun-11		252	2-Jul-11		434	28-Jul-11
77	7-Jun-11		259	3-Jul-11		441	29-Jul-11
84	8-Jun-11		266	4-Jul-11		448	30-Jul-11
91	9-Jun-11		273	5-Jul-11		455	31-Jul-11
98	10-Jun-11		280	6-Jul-11		462	1-Aug-11
105	11-Jun-11		287	7-Jul-11		469	2-Aug-11
112	12-Jun-11		294	8-Jul-11		476	3-Aug-11
119	13-Jun-11		301	9-Jul-11		483	4-Aug-11
126	14-Jun-11		308	10-Jul-11		490	5-Aug-11
133	15-Jun-11		315	11-Jul-11		497	6-Aug-11
140	16-Jun-11		322	12-Jul-11		504	7-Aug-11
147	17-Jun-11		329	13-Jul-11		511	8-Aug-11
154	18-Jun-11		336	14-Jul-11		518	9-Aug-11
161	19-Jun-11		343	15-Jul-11		525	10-Aug-11
168	20-Jun-11		350	16-Jul-11		531	11-Aug-11
175	21-Jun-11		357	17-Jul-11

 

Good luck and may the Lord bless you.

Love Out Of Botswana

DAD

Week #64 - Granny

Hello to ALL!!!

This has been a good week, but a hard week.  We got Mariah back with us and we have missed her.  She is definitely a strong spirit and a sweet girl; but she is definitely 18 and it’s been a while since we’ve had to deal with that.  She is doing good though and trying to make good decisions; but the school thing in Gabs is just not working as we have all exhausted our resources for finding her a place to stay here so she is going with her 2^nd choice to go to school in Kanye and “we hope” stay with a 23 year old new member girl (Dorothy) from the Branch.  They don’t know each other too well, but I had gotten to know her through training and visiting their Branch and I asked her if she knew anywhere for Mariah to stay and she thought Mariah could stay at her place.  She said he mom agreed and we thought all was well, but an Uncle passed away this weekend and today they were doing the “funeral thing” which in Botswana take a week of having people camp out at your house while you feed and entertain them and pay for everything.  We did stop today after church and pay our respects and the mother said she was too tired to visit with us today, but we could come back on Tuesday.  We told her that was fine as we had just wanted to meet her and we would come back later to talk about Mariah staying with them for the next 8 months while she went to school.  Dorothy is going to the school part time, but she also got a job working there so they could go to school together and walk to and from as her house is close to the school.  So, we’re still in limbo, but please help us pray that things will work out there as it seems to be our ONLY CHOICE at this point.  We had to leave Mariah in Kanye today so we took her to the Elders to change out of her nice clothes and she went through her suitcases and just took a couple of every day outfits to keep with her and asked us to keep all the rest of her stuff  with us until we come back on Tuesday.  This week will be crazy as we have the President and Sister Poulsen coming to town on Tuesday evening for Zone Conference on Wednesday and the Riser’s from Francistown arriving Tuesday to stay with us for two nights so this situation with Mariah is getting critical and we have to get it worked out.  She did get to take a Career Work Shop here this week so that helped fill her time.

On our trip to Kanye today we did the usual (count donkeys)  and we got 187 just on the way there.  On the way home I got to noticing all the things that are different from home and tried to remember what I haven’t mentioned already.  I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned the piles of wood along side of the road that people gather up and sell for winter heat and cooking during the cold season.  Lots of people are gather this time of year and today we saw several ladies with stacks of wood piled on their head and some of them just walk along without even holding on to it.  It is basically just tree limbs and old dead branches from all of the trees and bushes that are thick along the roads on both sides.  Sometimes so thick that we can’t even see the goats, cows and donkeys. 

Then I thought of something I haven’t even talked about and that is all of the little old Grandma’s wear dresses and they walk along the roads with their shawls and their heads wrapped with bandanas and they tried to flag down cars to give them rides.  Not just a few of them, but lots, everywhere; that is how they get around I guess.  Sometimes there will be 3 or 4 of them together and a pick-up with stop to give them a ride and they all just climb in and away they go.  People are really good to stop and give other people rides; it always makes me wonder if they are really as safe as they seem.  Men, Women, children, young guys, young girls, they all seem to be out flagging down rides and they just jump in with whomever stops and offers.  I think in Botswana your children could disappear and you’d never know where they went.  There are bus stops along the roads to the villages, and the people congregate there and when a car or truck stops, they all run to see who can get in first.  I guess if they don’t get a ride before the bus comes, them they get on the bus; but it’s much cheaper if they can get a free ride.  I don’t know, maybe they give the guy with the car a little Pula for gas????/ Never tried it; just don’t know!

And then last night we had about 10 -12 of our YSA come over to just “hang out” and they got a real good conversation on dating and what is a “real date” in Botswana.  Lynn and I tried joining in on the conversation and definitely found out that we are either “too old” or from a  “foreign country” to take part in the conversation so we just fixed them ice cream and cake and listened.  At some point they were all talked Tswana loud and laughing and we couldn’t tell if they were speaking Tswana because they were more comfortable speaking in their native tongue or if they just didn’t want us to know what they were saying.  They just kept laughing and some of them tried to explain what the conversation was about, but we just said “go ahead and enjoy yourselves and get everything worked out.”  Soon it was time for them to go and they started figuring out who need to take which Kombi to be home and tried to make it so no one was traveling far alone and I guess that’s how they make life happen in Botswana.  It’s no wonder they can’t date; no one has cars or money so they just love to come over and talk at our place.  They hugged us and thanked us so much for letting them come over and said they had really enjoyed the evening and wished they could do it more often.  We assumed they had enjoyed themselves and we’ll have to consider doing it again.  I wished I could have turned on a tape recorder when they were speaking their Tswana; you would be amazed if you could hear how fast they talk and how unrecognizable any word is at all.  At one point, I just had to say “Can any of you actually understand what each other are saying?” It was fun & we really love them.

And then there is today, Mother’s Day!  As I said before, we spent the day in Kanye and just got home about 5 O’clock in time for some of the missionaries to come over and call their mom’s.  That’s when we really get in on the languages and the laughing from country to country.  We had Sister Chirchir from Kenya come and call her mom and her Native tongue is Swahili when she talks to her mom and another dialect from Kenya when she speaks to her dad.  I found myself wonderful how she could talk all of those languages and she knows English so well and she is also picking up the Tswana better than most of the Sisters.  We have French speakers from Madagascar and New Zealand, Elders from Swaziland,  Uganda, Kenya, Australia, South Africa, a few from Zimbabwe and one from Ireland.  I doubt if I remembered everyone, but that is mostly the countries represented here as well as several from the United States.  We’re quite a colorful mission and it’s fun to get to know and love them all. 

Along the food line, I have to mention that I actually found some Heinz Cream of Chicken Soup this week but it was almost $3 per can.  I did splurge and buy two cans and made some Chicken Enchiladas for President and Sister Poulsen when they came to town.  Also, we have started finding Ketchup instead of Tomato Sauce and it taste really good.  The Tomato Sauce is quite light colored and a little runny and not too much flavor.  It costs about $2 a bottle instead of $1 like at home, but it’s totally worth it.  I also found a ham a couple of weeks ago; I’m sure they were just shipped in for Easter as they were very expensive and we bought one and wished we had bought another one, but already I can’t find them in the stores again.  I guess that’s our one and only ham for our duration here, but it sure was good.  I found Tortilla Chips also and they were $8 for a very small bag.

We have more people coming yet tonight to use the phone so I’m going to close and visit with the companions while the others make their calls.  It’s a great place to be serving the Lord and we are happy.  Someone please tell the Bowcutt’s that we are happy for them and their call to serve in the office in California.  I’m sure they will love it and will do an amazing job and be a great asset to some President.  Our president leaves on the 29^th of July and we will get our new President Omer.  We will probably only meet him the first time he comes to Botswana and then we will have to train another couple to work with him.  We will do our best and leave things in the best shape we can.  We are working hard and want you to know that we love the Lord and we are grateful to our Heavenly Father for ALL of His blessings in our life.  We count you as our greatest blessings and are grateful for your example to us.  Please know that we love each other and we are very happy serving here.  It is a great time to be in Botswana and we are still working very hard to become a Stake.  Maps are being prepared for some divisions that would let it all happen so it’s getting close, but probably not close enough for us to see. 

LOVE,  MOM AND DAD , Grannie & PaPa Lynn, Lynn and Lorraine

Week #63 - Papa Lynn

This is my week to write so I thought I would get it started a little early.  Last Saturday we went to Mafikeng to spend the night and go to church on Sunday.  We had a meal Saturday evening that Mom took down, meatloaf, baked potatoes and wacky cake.  They loved it and this always makes Mom happy.  We did a flat inspection while there.  President Poulsen was there three days earlier so the flat look nice.  We stayed in a place called the Get Away about two blocks from the flat.  All in all it was a good time to go there.  We were a little nervous about the border because we have heard that the government employees are on strike.  We didn’t see any of this in fact we got through going and coming easier than usual.  It is about a 20 minute drive between the border and the town of Mafikeng and once before going down we say a black mamba snake crossing the road and by the time we got stopped to take a picture it has crawled off into the grassy edge of the road.  We got a picture but no a good one.  This last Saturday we saw four giraffe out in a big field that had a big fence around it so it must have been some kind of game reserve.

                This week has been a little more of a slowdown as President and Sister Poulsen were here last Friday for him to do interviews.  Then Friday afternoon they flew to Francistown leaving there care here at the airport.  They went to Francistown and Kasane another 5 hours farther with the Risers and had a family home evening Monday night then drove back to Francistown and flew back here to Gaborone on Tuesday evening.  They arrived late and tired so we didn’t even see them.  They left about 7:00 the next morning from the hotel so again we didn’t see them.  I have a presidency meeting by phone at 3:00 this afternoon so we will get the results of their traveling.

                We have spent a little time this week in trying to find a school for Mariah to go to.  After not coming up with any good schools that could help her we didn’t know what to do.  Later that same evening Melissa and Mariah called us on skype and Mariah wants to go to the GIPS school which she signed up for before she left.  I think she will most likely go here in Gaborone instead of Kanye which will be lots better for her.  It will keep her away from her family which isn’t good for her. They leech off of her every time they see her, especially after she has spent time with us.  They ask her for money and anything else that they think she has.  We are always careful not to give her money or anything but sometimes when she takes a bus back to Kanye we help her with a ticket and what is left over they ask for.  It is very sad because Mom and I know as you do that family is so important and it is fun to get together and just have a good time.  Her family doesn’t work (she has an aunt that has a job in a chicken factory) and she must provide for most of them.  As hard as I try I can’t understand how her family functions.  Mariah says there is no love in her family at all and they hate each other and they don’t share a thing.  Well enough about Mariah’s family she is coming home Friday night about 8:35 and we will pick her up and have her stay the night then of Saturday Mom and I are doing some leadership training in Kanye and while we are doing that she will visit her family and come down to the church when she is done and join us and then come back to Gaborone with us so we can go to the YSA ward the next day.  We are doing all we can to find her some place to stay here in Gaborone to keep her out of Kanye.

                Last Saturday on the way down to Mafikeng we stopped in Lobatse and I had a second interview with a lady by the name of Sophia that was baptized two days later in their branch.  Tomorrow we travel to Mochudi and I have two interviews that are second interviews that if they doing well they will be baptized this coming Sunday. I will close for now and write more later.

                This is now Sunday the 1^st day of May and it was just last Friday that we picked up Mariah at the Botswana airport.  We were concerned that the Atlanta to Johannesburg flight might not give enough time to catch the one to Botswana, but she showed up when we went out to the airport to pick her up.  We had a nice visit that night and we all went to bed.  I set the alarm so she could use the bathroom and the missionary office but told her not to go out of the hall door that would be locked.  The next morning after both Mom and I had a good night’s sleep we found out Mariah didn’t sleep very well at all.  The next day which was Saturday Mom and I had a training meeting up in Kanye.  Elder Oketa one of our full time missionaries serving as the branch president had more than 90% of his leadership for the branch there at the meeting. The plan was to take Mariah to Kanye to visit with her family and we would do the leadership training and then he would walk down to the church at 2:30 to 3:00 so we could bring her back with us to Gaborone.  All went wonderful at the meeting but 3:30 came and still Mariah hadn’t called or come to the church.  Finally at 4:00 we had to leave so we went up to her grandma’s place and she wasn’t there.  Finally two young girls about 10 and 11 years old said they could take us to find Mariah.  She was at a wedding with several of her friends and when we saw her she said I’m ready now.  Then she walked away.  I holler to her and she said in a minute.  I was parked in the middle of the street so I had to move and so Mom and one of the four Gaborone that helped in the training walked back the couple hundred yards and found her again.

                Much to my surprise she told Mom that her Mother was sick and she wanted to go see her and two of her friends wanted to go as well.  We found out it was a long way away in the opposite direction so Mom told her that she would have to get there on her own.  We had planned to have Mariah go with us to the Young Singles Ward this morning but she didn’t show up.  She send us a text message on a friends phone this morning and said she wouldn’t be able to make it home in time to go to the YSA ward.  We text her back and said tomorrow is a holiday so just plan to stay with your family and come home Tuesday and we would see what we can help with.

                We have been worried and prayed about what schooling she needed like redoing her Form 5, or going on with the program that she signed up for in Kanye or have her take a class offered here in Gaborone with the same company.  We have worried and prayed about where she would live either here in Gaborone, or in Kanye with a friend or with her family.  It seems that everything blew up in that few minutes when she decided to go and see her mother.  I was very frustrated and when we were on the way home it didn’t take long for us to just decide to let Mariah do her own thing.  We will help and offer advice where and when we can but we are backing way off and letting her do her own thing.  I think she learned some independence in the States and she wants that same freedom here.  After all she is almost 19 years old and can make decisions on her own.

                This is not meant to be cruel or uncaring but we must face reality and need to back off.  Again we will keep the family informed as to what she is planning but for now we just don’t know.  We have to much missionary work to do to baby set someone that doesn’t want help.  We will see. The Gospel is true but the people in it make it difficult.  I love serving and we feel we make head way each day but sometimes we get to take a couple steps backward.  Usually we can only blame ourselves.  We did what we felt was under the direction of the Lord.  We felt good about doing all for Mariah because that is what she wanted.  She wanted to have her baby adopted by our family and she saw many miracles happen to have this happen.  We don’t owe Mariah anything for what has happened but we want to help her to make her life the way she wants it to be.  We will continue to help when she wants help but I don’t want to force anything on her.

                Tomorrow or Tuesday when she comes to see us all may be changed back to her wanting us to help.  We will see.

Love Out Of Botswana,

Dad and Mom

P.S. Braxton we can't open your letters.