YSA Games

Oh yes, Young Single Adult Activities (YSA) are all fun and games until someone gets hurt! OUCH! The YSA taught us some of their outdoor games awhile back. Elder Gubler decided to show them how to play Steal the Bacon.  Elder Gubler made two lines of YSA, numbered them from 1-8 on each side. I put a "bacon" in between the two lines that were about 15 feet apart. Then I called #1s. Elder Gubler ran, picked up the "bacon" before anyone else moved and slid home, nose first. Thus ended the game of Steal the Bacon.  I checked to make sure that Elder Gubler was OK, laughed (what's a wife to do?) and then took a picture. The YSA couldn't believe that I laughed. Must not know me too well, huh.

Elder Gubler bounces pretty good! (Only thing really damaged was a bit of pride..
but doesn't pride goeth before the fall!)

The Okavango Delta

Hillary and Roger have come and gone allowing us to share in a whirlwind tour of the Okavango Delta in Botswana and Mafikeng South Africa.  They arrived last Saturday afternoon and flew out this evening.  We flew to Maun last Sunday evening and stayed overnight there.  We then flew into the Delta the next morning in a light 4 passenger airplane.  Flights are not allowed into the Delta after 4:30 pm.  The Okavango

The OkavangoDelta is the largest inland delta  in the world and is a mass of intertwined rivers, hippo ponds and islands.  We were able to see many of the animals that make their home in Africa while we were there. We used a dug out log canoe named the mukura as a transport from the island where our tents were through the hippo ponds to a large island where we then walked for a couple of hours hoping to see and seeing wild animals in their natural habitat.  We were able to see elephants, hippos, buffalo, impalas, wart hogs,zebras, Reebok, wildebeests, mole rats, huge termite mounds, baboons, monkeys and a variety of bird life.  What amazed us was the fact that we were able to walk among these animals and as long as we respected their space we had no fear.  It helped me to understand how the lamb and the lion could lie down together during Christ's Millennial reign.

Saying Goodbye to South Africa Johannesburg Mission

President and Sister Omer and Sister and Elder Gubler

Missionaries lined up ready to sing "Called to Serve" as the Omer's drive away

President Omer saying goodbye to the missionaries (the sisters are wearing traditional clothing.) Sister Joseph, who is ready to shake President Omer's hand is wearing my blanket and skirt.

This was such a sad day to say goodbye to the Omers. Not many mission presidents are as kind and loving as the Omers. We are so fortunate to serve with 2 of the best mission presidents in the church.

This was the last day for us to be members of the South Africa, Johannesburg mission. We have a wonderful meeting and luncheon. We were all teary saying goodbye. No one wanted to leave. It was such a bitter sweet time. President Omer had a HUGE mission to work with both in size of area and missionaries. He spent most of his time living in his vehicle going from place to place. 10 hour days just in the car weren't abnormal. Hopefully, the split has given him a respite. Botswana is the size of Texas but with a population of 2,000,000 people spread out all over the country. There are about 500,000 in the greater Gaborone area. The next large population is the Francistown area, and it is much smaller.

Our New Botswana/Namibia Mission

The newly formed Botswana/Namibia Mission with all of us at the Broadhurst building welcoming our new President.

These the Botswana/Namibia missionaries as of 1 July 2013. Our wonderful President and Sister Wilson are sitting next to each other in the middle. Sister Wilson is wearing a peach sweater. It's so fun to be a part of this mission! The missionaries are amazing and so are the Botswanan people that they work with. I love working with everyone here and look forward to the new missionaries that are coming in. We have 9 missionaries, 5 elders and 4 sisters, arriving next Tuesday. We are losing 2 wonderful elders. I have such a love/hate relationship with transfers. I just don't want anyone to move anywhere until Oct. 2014 after we go home. Oh well, learning to be flexible! (Oh, the reason the senior sisters are wearing red, white and blue is because it's July 4th!)

Water Water Everywhere

When we came to Botswana our new home was in a flat that was built by the Chinese. It was one of about fifty flats. The Taylors were already here in number 37 and a set of sisters were in number 17. Our new home was number 6. It’s a very nice 3 bedroom flat, two stories and about 10 months old. The Taylors were in front of the sisters and we were directly behind them. We were directly behind them. We were very pleased but we were also cautioned that the Chinese build fast, leaks. We had some nice rains storms last summer (December thru March) but no major leaking problems with the exception of some wet spots around the windows. About three weeks ago we were called by Sister Cook at about 6:30 in the morning to let us know that there had been a leak in their bedroom and the ceiling had caved in directly above their bed. Luckily, they heard the sound of water running about 1:30 am and had turned the light on to see what was going on and saw the wet ceiling. They quickly moved the beds to the other side of the room before the ceiling ruptured above where their beds had been. At that time they looked out of the window and noticed Sister Taylor ironing shirts in her flat. (This was normal for Sister Taylor. She only needs 4 hours sleep a night.) Anyway, they let the Taylors know and Elder Taylor got the

Security Guard to shut off the water to their flat. I was happy that Sister Taylor was awake and I hadn’t received a call until 6:30 the next morning. We checked out the flat and the damage was confined to two rooms, the bedroom and the bathroom next to it. We called Emily Liu that Chinese lady that manages the flats and the next thing we know some Chinese workers are at the flat repairing the damaged ceiling. They even painted the wet ceiling. I told Emily that they should have waited a couple of days to let the ceiling dry out. The problem had been a leak in the geezer (water heater) that was in the attic. I took a small fan over to the sisters flat and put it in the attic to help dry everything out, plus I left the attic trap door open. The Sisters moved their mattresses down stairs and box springs outside to dry out.

Two days later I received the first call at 1:30 am from the sisters. The Taylors had gone to South Africa to go to the temple with one of their Band of Brothers. Sister Cook said it’s leaking again. I went to the guard shack and had the water turned off. This time the water came down in the same room just in a different place in the ceiling. I called Emily the next morning about 8:00 am and told her that we had another leak again in the same room. This time I made it clear to her that she needed to let the room

dry out BEFORE the workmen re-sheeted the ceiling and painted it. I thought she understood but found out later that it didn’t matter because when I came back from the office everything was repaired again and repaired even though the ceiling was still wet. I called Emily and told her I was not pleased and that we would probably have mold growing in the attic. She asked “What’s mold?” I tried to explain that the sisters could get sick from mold but I’m sure she didn’t understand. She speaks very good English but her understanding isn’t there. I had considered moving the sisters to another flat but instead left the fan in the attic to help dry the place out. We did move the sisters to our flat for the weekend because by this time their flat was stinking pretty badly plus the light switch on the stairs was tripping the circuit breaker and I wasn’t sure how safe it was there. The repair men were supposed to come on Tuesday to repair the electrical problem. Monday was a holiday, Presidents Day.

On Tuesday morning we got a call again, this time it was about 6:30 in the morning.  It was Sister Cook again and yes, she said, we hear dripping again.  I was already up and dressed for the day so I told her I would be right over. When I got there Sister Gillis was in the shower so I told her to call me when she got out so I could see the bathroom where they thought the dripping was coming from.  She called about fifteen minutes later and told me the Chinese workmen were there and they were starting to repaint the bathroom and one of them was checking for the electrical problem.  I rushed over and found three men there.  One painting the bathroom, one in the attic looking at the geezer and the other one had taken the light cover off from the light fixture at the top of the stairs. The sisters explained that cover was completely full of water which he dumped on the floor. (electrical problem solved)  I tried to speak to them in English but they didn't understand me and I didn't understand them.  I finally told them to stop doing what they were doing and get out of the house. I must have had the gift of tongues or maybe it was my angry mannerisms because they seemed to understand this time.  I called Emily and asked her if she had another flat which she said she did.  I told her that three times was enough and I wanted the sisters to move as soon as possible.  She complied and the sisters are now in number 8, two doors down from us.

I have a new saying "Chinese build fast, leaks. Chinese repair fast, we move not fast enough!!"

The end (Elder Gubler)

PS The Rest of the Story:

Today, new tenants moved into the vacated flat. The Sisters think they should take over cookies and let the new renters know where to find the water shut-off valve. The flat it newly repaired (read painted) but the water problem isn’t fixed because the workers didn’t have time to fix the problem. Argh.

Goodbye Taylors!

Saying goodbye to the Taylors at the Airport with Pres and Sister Wilson

Well, the day finally arrived when we had to say farewell to the Taylors. They have been wonderful to work with and live next too. We wish we could have kept them here but they needed to go home to see their children and grandchildren. Hopefully when they submit their mission papers later this year, they will be able to come back to Botswana/Namibia. They have now served 4 missions together and they each served when they were young. Mochudi, the ward they served in, really misses them.

While we were waiting for the Taylors flight to leave, Sister Wilson and I noticed the monkey watching the planes. When we started taking pictures he ran down the upper walk way and peered over the edge trying to figure out what was going on down below. Gee, all you people in St George and the rest of the US usually only get an occasional bird!

Final Transfers!

The week following the "Launch" was the final transfer before the mission split. (The mission will be completely separated by June 21st ... we hope.)

This week started with a bang Tuesday morning at 6:45. The elders who were crossing the border into South Africa called. One of the elders had over stayed his stated time in country. Now, it's legal to stay in country for 90 days, HOWEVER, when he came in country, he stated that he would be here 3 days. So, he had overstayed by 87 days. The zone leaders asked me to bring 1000 pula to pay his fine. I had just gotten out of the shower when I had received the call so I quickly dressed and was on my way to the border.  Normally the border is 30 minutes away from our flat.  However, 7:00 am in Botswana is rush hour traffic and it took me an hour to get to the border.  I told the zone leaders to head to Jo Burg and I would take care of the missionary with the fine. They were already an hour and a half late and they had the luggage trailer for all the missionaries moving on transfer. There were four cars involved in the transfer with four Elders in each car.  Three cars moved on and the one stayed with me.  Normally the Elders leave at 6:00 am and arrive in Jo Burg by noon then the same vehicles refuel and two of the four cars with four Elders each leave at approximately 2:00 pm and return to Botswana arriving at the Border at approximately 8:00 pm if everything goes well, which makes a long day for those elders.  The  third and fourth cars stayed an extra day for a special zone leaders meeting with President Omer and the A P s. At the border I was told that the missionary and I would have to travel 15 K's back to a police station in Tokwein to pay the fine of 1000 pula.  After arriving at the police station we were asked to fill out some paperwork.  While the Elder was doing this I was escorted by a young female police officer to the other side of the building to pay the fine and get a  receipt for the border.  While we were walking she asked me if I had the pula for the fine.  I told her that I had 1000 pula and handed it to her.  She told me that I would only need 800 pula for the fine and that she was going to keep 200 pula (about $25) for lunch for her and her friends. I told her that the fine was for 1000 pula and I had given her 1000 pula and what ever she did with it was up to her. When we arrived at the cashier she proceeded to give him the 800 pula and told him the fine was for 800 pula.  He wrote out a receipt for 800 pula. On the way back I told the missionaries what had happened and we were all concerned about what was going to happen at the border.  At the border we handed the receipt to the border officer.  He mentioned that the fine was for 1000 pula and the receipt was for 800.  I told him that I had offered 1000 pula to the police  but was told the fine would only be for 800. He excepted my explanation and allowed the Elders to cross the border. However, I did not mention that the young police officer had kept 200 pula for her and her friends lunch.

That night I received a call from the border from the elders who where in the two cars returning.  Everything had gone well at the border and they were just calling to let me know they were in Botswana.  However, the next day I received a call at about 1:00 pm from one of the zone leaders in one of the cars returning.  One of the zone leaders that had received residency previously in Botswana had been in South Africa since last July.  He was told that his residency had expired because he had been out of the country for over six months and that he would have to go to the immigration office by 2:00 pm and reapply.  When I received his call I was waiting for Elder Watson to bring me our extra set of car keys because I had locked my keys in the trunk at a bank.  I told them that I would meet them at the immigration office.  We were told at immigration that although the elder had a residency sticker in his passport it was invalid because he had been out of the country for over six months.  I asked them if he was illegal at that time and they said no because he had residency sticker in his passport and if he reapplied he would be okay.  We might have had further problems that day if the other car with the AP's and the other zone leaders had come thru the border with them. However, they went thru a different more remote border post that night because they had to retrieve one of the zone leaders passports that had gone to another area by mistake. One of the zone leaders in this car had also been out of the country over six months.  We found out the next day that two other elders had been out of the country over six months but had crossed the border in the night time and had not been detained.  We have other issues at immigration but I have already gone on to long so I won't discuss them at this time.

We now have two AP's and a pair of office elders living in the Rand's (our CES couple that went home) old home.  They are here to help us get ready for our new mission president and help train him.  We took them over to our new mission office on Friday to show them the office that they would be working in and found some friends just outside of our fence in the back.  Baboons!!!!!