Only in Africa.  The neighbors of a pair of Sister Missionaries told the missionaries that their Jojo (a big water container) was out of water. The neighbors said they should contact the landlord to get more water.  It turns out the reason the neighbors knew the Sisters were out of water is because when the neighbors moved in last January, they tied into the jojo and have been using the missionaries water for 6 months!

We fixed both problems: we got the sisters more water and disconnected the neighbors from the Jojo.

Our missionaries are taught to be BOLD.  They boldly proclaim the doctrine of Christ and the need for a restoration of all truth.  They boldly invite people to church and to be baptized.  Africa is the highest baptizing area in the world, and Southern Africa is the highest baptizing part of Africa.

In May/June we opened 7 new missionary flats in Botswana and two in Namibia. We’ve grown from 70 to 104 missionaries and will be close to 150 by the time we come home at the end of the year.  The most effective way to find new flats is to work through the members and landlords.  We offer them a finders fee and when we have a signed lease we pay the finder the equivalent of 90 to 120USD.  That’s a great bonus, here.  And it’s a great deal for us, because there are no For Rent signs nor Want Ad pages.

We need new senior couples in Botswana.  It is by far among the best of the African missions.  We are south of the tropic of cancer; thus most of our mission falls outside the area where malaria is transmitted.  We are south of the countries that deal with ebola and yellow fever.  The people in Botswana are very humble and very friendly.

Having said that, we do have to deal with the infrastructure and supply chain issues.  While our family was here, we were driving between the Mission Office and the main fancy shopping mall here on the North-East side of Gaborone, which is the ‘rich’ part of town.  The main road was dotted with potholes.  ‘Dotted’ is the wrong word.  Strewn is better.  It makes driving challenging, as you have to drive all over the street to avoid driving into a wheel-flattening hole.

Before coming here to serve, Sister McCuistion was a Tax Professional, being credentialed as an Enrolled Agent (E.A.), meaning she could, if needed, represent her clients in front of the IRS.  Our grandson, commenting on the driving:

You’re dodging potholes like taxes!

Guess you had to be there.

We often get items in the Mission Office that need to be routed to various parts of the mission.  They get staged at the front desk with name and Zone area labels.  If anyone visiting is going that way, they grab the items and take them with.

One Elder ordered some items, which arrived at the Mission Office.  Mark sent him a note so he could rejoice (delivery is spotty and slow here) as well as start his expectations.  The box was staged, and the Zone Leaders for that area were in the Office, so they grabbed it.  Then, radio silence.  The box went missing.  No one knew where it was.

The Mission Leaders went up north to that zone in preparation for Zone Conference and started asking questions.  Sister Neuberger's response:

Solving mysteries here. Elder XXX’s garments were given to Elder YYY to take to him in Maun- Elder YYY thought they were being given to him and he is wearing them. Funny dinner convo.

That’s a funny story.  Unfortunately, we have a lot of them.

For example:

Electricity is done Pre-pay here in Botswana.  Mostly it’s a response to the economic status of most of the citizenry.  Yesterday, Mark went to purchase some electricity for the Senior Couple in Kanye.  The closest gas station has not been able to order electricity for a few weeks, but the one down the road at Sebele Mall has been able to.  Except yesterday.  Mark went to the local gas station, the one down the road, Sefelana, and Pic N Pay.  All of them were unable to sell electricity.

How is it possible that no one can sell electricity!!!???  Sorry; We’re fresh out of electricity today.