Let there be light ......Please!

We have been in the dark for awhile now. The power has gone out once again so it must be time to write our letter for the week. We went down to Johannesburg this past week for a Mission Presidents seminar. We had a good meeting we met with Presidents from five other missions around Africa. It was nice to hear from others and see that we are not the only ones who have challenges. I don't think I would trade any of our struggles for any of mine. We are all in this together. The work is going well and we feel that we are making a difference. We are going over to Malawi on Tuesday for conferences. We will travel up and down the country for for the week. We have set up meetings withe the District Presidents and some of the Branch Presidents. We are looking forward to seeing the Missionaries. It is a good time to interview each of them and review what they are doing. We are hopeful that the country will settle down and the unrest we stop. They have many problems and the opposition and the current leadership have different ideas as to the way things should be done. We pray everyday that they will be able to solve their differences and that we all may live in peace. I know I sound like a contestant in a beauty pageant but when you live here and see the difficult circumstances these people live under it really tugs at your heart. We have seen things here that we will never forget. We witness the poverty and the sickness and you learn quickly just how blessed you are. We have so much and we are so blessed. We have learned that a mission is a great blessing. We have also learned that a mission will change you. It changes the way you look at things. It changes the way you see the world. A mission is here is not for the faint of heart. It is a difficult assignment. It takes a toll on you physically and emotionally. The stress level reaches off the chart. Today on the way home from Church Arlene looked over at me and told me how gray my hair was getting.