Friday, April 5th, off to Bloemfontein, Africa

Visit to Free State

Bloemfontein & Lesotho

After a rocky night waking up three times because my mind would not shut off and jet lag had set in, we got up and went into the area office with the Hatch's. Sister Hatch trained Sister Murdock on the computer and we attended another meeting with Sean Donnelly and Ukhozi FM radio, a local radio station who are community based and try to supply people who need help with those who can help them. We told them about the church and our desire to help people and suggested that they partner with us to help those in need. We gave them a tour of the area office and told them of our humanitarian efforts in Africa, as well as Helping Hands projects.

They were sweet people trying to make a difference and hopefully the church can find a way to help them. The Hatches went to the airport to head for Utah and we packed up our stuff and headed to Bloemfontein with the Murdocks. It was a five hour drive, so we got to see some of the African countryside. We learned about DLA (deer like animals), because there are so many varieties of deer that no one can identify them all. Other than cows, we didn't see any other animals and we could have been in the United States, as the countryside was very similar to places we have been in Arizona and Texas. We stopped at a large, very nice service station for gas. It had a Wimpy's restaurant, which is very popular in Africa and considered fast food, but no food is fast in Africa. They operate at a slow pace in the way they talk and serve at restaurants. So far most people have spoken English, but we still cannot understand most of what they say. Zulu is also a popular language. Afrikaans is a white person language that sounds like German (very long words), but is supposed to be Dutch. There are plenty of them as well in South Africa and especially Bloemfontein and Cape Town. After about five hours, we arrived in Bloemfontein and met up with three other couples for dinner at a mall restaurant. The mall was VERY upscale and the other couples kept saying, "This is not Africa." The entire town was very nice and just like being in the States. It was very hard to believe we were in Africa, except for the large number of Africans working in the mall. The couples were very nice, some were there there as MLS (missionary leader support) and some as office workers or temple workers. They were a fun group and we had a nice dinner. Everett had a plate piled high with shrimp, at least 30 good sized shrimp. The food was delicious. We then went to a hotel and stayed the night. We were very tired.