Friday, Sep 13 and Sat, Sept 14 PA training articles for newsroom

Friday, after breakfast, Elder Murdock picked all of us up and we journeyed back to the office to work on our articles for newsroom. Elder and Sister Murdock started us off and then went back to their office to get some work done. Of course everyone had some problem or another. I tried to help Samantha and Elder Bybee with their problems, but there were some things none of us could figure out, so I eventually had to go and ask Sister Murdock. I encountered Prudence whose desk is when you walk in to the office. Prudence and her husband stayed with us during the David Glen Hatch visit to Durban. She is having a baby about the time we go up to the area office to work, so we have been teasing her a lot to make up for it. I grabbed Sister Murdock, who was visiting with the Olsens who came in to the office. After she came and checked it out, she basically said that was something she couldn't figure out either. She told us what we had to do to get rid of the item and the Bybees were set.

I finished one article and then started working on another. All articles will be in draft mode until we are totally finished on our end. We will then put them in preview mode for approval from all the other parties, eventually to the member of the Quorum of the 70 for final approval, and when all is approved, we then click on 'live'. Since my computer access allows live corrections, I was a little nervous about messing something up unintentionally, so I had to be careful not to click on 'live.'

Daryl from Angola was still unable to get on, but the Bybees problem was fixed. Daryl used Sister Murdock's computer for awhile and then said he was going over to the Distribution Centre to look around (It is attached to the area offices - quite convenient). We were due to leave for the shopping mall at noon to have lunch and so Sister Bybee could pick up some items that she does not have access to in the Congo; however, when it was time to leave, Daryl wasn't back yet. We sent some people to look for him, but no one could find him anywhere. After looking for 30 minutes, we finally got him on his cell phone and it sounded like he was close by and would be there any moment. After 15 more minutes, we called him again and he said he had walked back to the hotel but was on his way back and would arrive in about five minutes. After 15 more minutes, we all got in the van and went towards the hotel hoping to see him on the way. We got all the way to the hotel and still no Daryl. We called him, but he didn't answer. We all became worried that he got mugged or something. Elder Murdock took all of us to the place where we were going to have lunch and the went back to look for Daryl. He finally found him and brought him back to the restaurant. He was lost, we think. He never was clear on what happened.

The restaurant was a bakery and had lots of breads and pastries for sale. I ordered what looked to be a small meal on brochette with pesto, tomato, mozzarella cheese and ham and a small salad. It cost only $4.00. When it came, it was three huge pieces. The salad part was on the plate for me to put on top of the sandwich pieces. I was sitting next to Daryl. He had a wrap with chicken. Elder Murdock gave him his French fries, which were amazing. I asked him if he wanted two of my brochette's (that were both huge...I could only eat one) and he said yes. Elder Murdock asked him if he wanted half of his sandwich of chicken and avocado, which was huge and he ate that too. Elder Murdock then got desserts from the Pastry and Daryl ate most of that too. We just watched him with our mouths open. That guy can eat, but not a drop of fat on him. Most of the African men we've come in contact with seem to eat a lot. The women do too, but pay for it in inches.

We then let the Bybees shop and Daryl wanted to do some shopping too, so he went another direction. Afraid that he would get lost again, I followed him and waited at the entrance of the store he went into. After about 30 minutes, Samantha showed up and waited with me. When there was no sign of him 15 minutes later, she said she would go look for him. She came back and said he was buying some pants and was going to check out. After 15 more minutes, we both went to look for him and couldn't find him. We finally found him in the women's shoe department. He was looking for a present for his wife. We watched him look for shoes but when we stopped watching he disappeared again. We couldn't find him anywhere. We were all supposed to meet back at the restaurant at 3:30 and it was 3:25. We split up and canvassed the store. I finally found him checking out. We hurried toward the meeting point. It was now 3:30. When we passed the GAME store (like Walmart), he handed Samantha the bag of stuff he bought and said he would be right back, that he had to buy a bag to put all the stuff he bought in. The prices in Angola are very high, so he must have thought it worth it. He finally came out with a bright orange suitcase and put all his stuff in it.

We then took off for a fabric store that Sister Bybee wanted to visit. Sister Murdock only had directions from a woman at the area office. She did not have an address or name of the fabric store, but we took off anyway to try to find it. It was rush hour and bumper to bumper. We were downtown. Most of the time was waiting through stoplights that seemed to never end. An hour later, we had still not found it and so turned around and fought the traffic back to our hotel.
This photo shows the Mandela Bridge and the green sign on the building is for a garbage company 'Piki Tup." Quite a sense of humor.
It was a crazy day and a shame that we had to spend our last day here doing that, but Samantha and I had some interesting conversations. I asked her if she had Kombi taxis (van that holds 13 people and operates as a taxi) back in Zimbabwe. She said that they did, so I asked her if she rides in them. She said that she had rode in them, but has her own car now. She talked about how rude the two guys are who operate the taxi and get people to ride. She said that this one guy was so rude to her that she told him off and asked if he wanted to stop the taxi right now and take the argument outside (She was offering to fight the guy! Ha.). "What did he say?" I asked. She told me that he apologized and was nice to her the rest of the way. That was a pretty funny story. I wouldn't mess with her...Ha.

We finally arrived at the hotel and it was close to dinner time. We were on our own. Everyone went to their rooms. We were tired, so I turned on the TV for the first time to see what channels were available and miracle of miracles...there was a Diamondback game on! Of course it was two days old, but we thoroughly enjoyed watching it and they won, so great fun. We then went to the dining room and passed the Bybees going back to their room after eating. We were pretty much on our own for dinner, which was fine. I had a hard time finding something I wanted, so I mostly ate salad. Elder Kyle never has that problem, so he enjoyed it very much.

So, our training is over and I am feeling pretty good about knowing how to post a story on Mormon Newsroom and figuring out anything I don't know. I wasn't sure what to expect, but it's not so hard if you know your way around computers and are good at figuring things out. One thing that worries me is how long it takes to post a story. I really don't know how I can be in charge of all those newsrooms, editing and giving approval to take it live and do my own stories, plus all the traveling and financial stuff and Public Affairs stuff. When I get to Joburg I may never have time to blog again. I better enjoy the two months I have left here!

After breakfast (yummy omelette and fruit again) we went outside to wait for Abraham to pick us up and take us to the airport. The grounds are so pretty and this is the first time I was able to take some photos. After that, Abraham picked us up and it was pretty uneventful after that. It's fun to travel, but always nice to be "home" too. Next week we are going to Swaziland, so we'll try to relax a bit this week if we can. I'm not sure I know what that word means anymore...Ha.




This place is a big park-like setting in the middle of the city...amazing.