Weekly Update 4-7-08

Well another week has come and gone and rather rapidly I might add. Not much in the way of moisture this week which does not bode well for the maize and beans that really shot up after those early rains. The politicians are still struggling to get all the compromises in place to placate the powers that be but unfortunately it appears that the end result is a rather bloated cabinet which is not what a country based on subsistent farming and rampant unemployment really needs. This is especially true when the wages of the politicians are so radically more than the average income level for the nation. Maybe that will work itself out as the political system matures and moves away from the tribal thing if that is possible.

We got temple preparation classes started in all 3 branches this week but are not overly impressed with the turn out but they have been through them several times before. Realizing that we secured a date for patron housing in Johannesburg and started them working on securing documents for their passport applications right up front. We also got them started on some family history gathering so they will be prepared to to do work on their personal lines once they have completed their own work. The dates we got from the Temple are 1-6 Dec. which means they should have their passport applications in by Aug. if they are serious about going. They sure could use the spark that those blessings would bring to ignite church sustainability in the area. We completed our challenge by saying that Sis. Bishop and I are going then and we sure would like some of them to come and go with us. They could use your prayers on their behalf as this progresses so that they might understand how important this is to them and how serious we are to go all the way this time.

We are still struggling at generating support for the hospital in Kikoko as there are some challenges in getting the approval for the right kind of problems and their appropriate solutions. We even tried to get a short term specialist in to add some credibility as hospital care doesn't show up in our resumes anywhere but haven't gotten approval yet. Elder Pocock, the local charities dude, seems to think we need to expand the requests dollar amount so that it goes directly to Salt Lake avoiding the area offices in South Africa. Just a little frustrating at times when it seems we are back in the world of bureaucracy that I never much enjoyed in my previous career.

The kids here are coming up on their April school break which could mean a few extra trips up country to support their programs but it is a bit of a challenge to get their leaders leaning that far forward in the saddle but I appreciate the uncertainty that these folks hand to mouth existence fosters. We also have training scheduled for the branch presidents with Pres. Taylor here in Nairobi on the 16th with the hope that by expanding the window of exposure time between them that we can generate a little more enthusiasm and self evaluation of how each branch is doing.

With the Luke's presence here, who have the Public Affairs assignment, we have a little better connectivity for viewing conference so have been able to see both morning sessions so far. They think they were able to record the afternoon sessions and we are seeing one of them for FHE tonight which reduces my requirement for preparing a lesson for our turn in the barrel tonight. The challenge on the afternoon sessions are that they show up here from 11:00 pm to 1:00 am which is a little tough to stay awake for and still support the local members as most all have no way of viewing the proceedings so their church schedules are business as usual which demands a little more alertness than the late night hours allows. Of course the Priesthood Session doesn't even appear on our agenda because of the early morning hours here when it hits the air waves.

Well that's my thoughts for another week and I need to shift to preparing for todays' schedule which is going to have to include an across town trip to the embassy for a mail drop. Sis. Bishop and the IRS can rest easy now as I finished up the electronic submission of our taxes Saturday and just need to send some follow on paperwork now. We also act as couriers for some of the other couples as the changes in the support the Salt Lake Pouch provides has essentially reduced the viability of that option and the local postal service does not foster a lot of trust.

We miss friends and family but keep busy enough that the moments of self pity are few and fleeting. Thanks for all the brief notes and prayers on our behalf. We wish we could spend more time sending special individual thoughts to each of you on the other side of the world but our schedule only allows these brief communications each week. Please know that we do have special thoughts of each of you but they are of neccessity limited to "I wonder how or what questions" that we pose to each other during our 6+ hours of travel time on each trip up country. May God Bless all of you.

Love Elder and Sister Bishop