Sunday, April 28 through Monday, April 29

Sunday we listened to some more of General Conference (Remember, we don't get it live here and the wards show it for several Sundays after they get the DVDs). At 1:00 we had to go to the Mission office to deliver a summary of our Public Affairs training on Saturday the 20th of April to the Coordinating Counsel meeting for Stake Presidents, being conducted by the Area 70 who taught us at the PA meeting. Both Elder Kyle and I spoke about the role of Public Affairs in the Stake and the need for it. I think it went very well. The mission president wanted to know why Swaziland and Richard's Bay were not invited to the PA meeting and we told him that we were going there to train them next week. We came home and watched some of the Priesthood session of conference and then did some reading and later watched some amazing church videos about the blacks in Africa, their heritage and church history. They were so good, that Elder Kyle ordered them on Amazon and had them sent to our home in Texas.

Monday, another preparation day, so I washed clothes. Elder Kyle vacuumed the entire place up and down, which was a great help. We then sat outside for awhile as it was a beautiful day. It's hard to explain the beauty of this country. We've seen some really poor areas and really affluent areas, but regardless of where we go, the beauty of the land shines through. This really is God's country in more ways than one.

I would love to decorate the place we are in, but keep trying to hold myself back. It is made totally out of concrete...no drywall, so they run the wires along the edge of the ceilings. You can't hand pictures very easily because of the concrete. The kitchen is painted a horrible yellow color, and the curtains on the dining area windows are circa 1970, but I am trying to not pay attention to those things. It is the decorator in me saying, "Make it Pretty, you are going to live here almost a year." But I shall resist, for now.

We have made plans for our trip to Swaziland. We'll be gone from May 10th to May 14th with a stop on the way back in Richard's Bay. We set up meetings with our public affairs directors and the Stake Presidents to do the training that the Mission President wanted us to do. It's a 6-7 hour drive to Swaziland and I'm told we will probably see some big game on the way. Giraffes are supposed to be plentiful. We are looking forward to that and we could go into a game reserve as there are a couple along the way, but I don't know if we will have time...We'll have to see how it goes.