Johannesburg South Africa

A month ago we went to Johannesburg for a Senior Missionary Event. Johannesburg is a 4.5 hour drive from where we live.  We do go there a bit for various meeting etc.  This happened to be a gathering of all the Senior Missionaries.  It was a great little get together. 

I haven't been totally impressed with JoBurg.  It is a huge city, Most Senior Missionaries are within a one or two hours.   There are a few of us in the east toward Swaziland.  For the past two and a half months we have been the only ones here.
There are a number of couples in the North East, and a few South of Johannesburg.  We have felt blessed to be where we are.

I gained some new perspective on JoBurg on this trip.  We took the Red Line Bus tour feeling that would be the best way to see things.  I am including a few pictures and brief comments.

Like many big cities it is full of high rise offices and apartment buildings.  On this trip it look  seemed cleaner, however, the streets are generally pretty littered and dirty.  The Nelson Mandela Bridge is in the middle of the city.  It is large.  
JoBurg was originally flat prairie lands.  Then "Gold" was discovered and people from all over the world migrated to the mines.  We were told that the city sits on thousands of old mine shafts.  If there were some type of upheaval in the earth the whole city would collapse.
The largest man made forest in the world is in JoBurg.  When the area was being settled they started planting many trees.  In many of the nicer areas of the city the streets are lined with beautiful trees and growth.  The townships lie on the outskirts and often do not have many trees.

 
The streets are busy.  There are many outside market places and lots of business going one.  The malls I have been to are modern and nice.  On thing that is frustrating is there are no directories in the mall and It is crazy trying to find a store. The meat trucks are interesting.  There are many little "butcheries" on the streets and the trucks just drive by and deliver a whole beef, lamb, or pig for them to butcher.   In the modern supermarkets it is just like home.  The meat is cut and wrapped.
 
 

The people here tend to be very artistic and the arts are prevalent.   The graffiti is very artistic and well done.  Much of it they leave up because it is well done and usually symbolic.  The carved heads on pedestals  on the left are done by people and they put them up.  We found Cape Town to be much the same, nice art- paintings, ceramics, sculptures, jewellery making.  On the top in the middle is a big converse shoe.  The are mega big here.

The fun part is getting together with the Senior Missionaries.  We have enjoyed getting to know them.  Some of these folks are on their 4th and 5th missions.  Oh My!  A number just sell their home and go from one mission to another.  President and Sister Omer are in the middle picture.  We like them a lot.  They are a neat couple and will be leaving in June, 2014. Good people.  We have met up with the Dummars from Sandy ( Elder Dummar use to be a soccer coach for Adam). I am not in these pictures because I am much too young looking compared to the others.

MEET THOBEKA

Thobeka  (pronounced Tho bega---the "K" is a "g" sound here).  She is three, soon turning 4 years old.
She is cute, spunky, and smart! And she is hydrocephalic.  It appears to date that the damage could be to her motor skills, a little shaky and head wobbles a lot.  The head could be due to the fact that it is too large for her body to support.  But, she is mobile and walks around.

Meet the Parents:  David Romeo and Ellen N'Kosi are members of our branch.  They are not active. Romeo comes when he can but I had never seen Ellen at the branch.  Both work in retail and are required to work most Sundays.  Because jobs are very difficult to get here, most people find themselves in the same situation.  Romeo and Ellen are very cool.  They have built a nice home, they are kind, and I know Romeo has a testimony.

In our journey together I learned that their 19 year old son was killed in a car accident two or three months ago.  He is Ellen's son, but David Romeo was the only father he knew.   This has been hard on them....I could identify with this.

Bob was the first to meet Thobeka when he went with a branch member to visit them.  When he came home he mentioned Thobeka and the fact she had an unusually large head.  One day as I was driving down the street in the township I saw Romeo walking with Thobeka home from the crèche (pre-school).  That was the first time I had met her.  I prayed about what to do and Romeo happened to come to church a couple of weeks later. 
I got my courage up and asked him what they had told him about Thobeka's condition.  He said that he took her to a doctor from Zimbabwe who was visiting the local hospital.  He gave them some water pills and told them that would make the water go away.  He thought it was working.
At this point I discussed my background and what the concerns are about her condition.  There would be further complications as she grew older.  Her head would get larger, she would probably lose her sight, and eventually it would impact her life expectancy.  I asked him if he would be willing to take her for a consultation with a neurologist just to make sure she was doing well.  He was very willing but, I could tell nervous about the cost. I told him that we would help with the evaluation and worry about the rest later. (I was nervous because I knew she would have to have a shunt, and thinking of US costs it could be pricey). I am very interested that people here are very naïve regarding medical things.  I have found the medical care we have received has been very good and sophisticated, but I have also observed some advice given by some doctors and it is very sketchy--especially in the government hospitals ( however, there also are great doctors there).  Many of the clinics in the townships are  staffed by nurses and many times they are ill trained.

 I called and the soonest appointment I could get was in late July or August.  I had Bob call and "the pastor" got an appointment on the same day.  Shows the little influence I have.
This doctor gave us an appointment at 6:00 pm.  He said to meet him at the private hospital.  We picked up Ellen , David, and Thobeka in the township and drove into the hospital. We had to wait a while because he was in surgery.  He kept calling and telling us to wait, he would be there.  He was doing  surgery on a broken back.  After a couple of hours he came to the hospital waiting room and got and took us into the physical therapy room.  Basically, he told the N'kosis the same things I had told them.  He explained the surgery.  He told them that her head would not shrink because the bone structure was already solidified, but that the head should stop getting bigger. I really liked this Doctor.  He was a young black doctor and a recent graduate.  He recommended doing the surgery at the government hospital because he also practiced there and it would be free.   (That caused me some concern because I have been there several times).  He assured me it would be fine and that generally things are good. (?...scary)
That was on a Wednesday, she was scheduled for a scan on the next Monday and surgery for the next day.  The parents had to work on the Monday she went to the hospital, we drove them in then they left to go back to work.  We went back about 2:00 pm to check on Tobega and she was pretty sad.  When we tried to leave, she would have none of it.  So, I sat there for a few hours, then had to leave to go fix dinner.     She was terrified so Elder Hunt stayed there with her until 8:00 pm when her parents got there.  It was better,  the female nurses were tough (onery),  there was one male nurse and he was kinda  trying, but, when he brought medicine in, she would throw a little tantrum. And it was a  good one.

Her parents stayed in town with us for two days for the surgery.  They do not say surgery or operating room here it is called theatre. "She will be going into the theatre." Guess it makes people think they are going in to see a movie or something.  Anyway, she was scheduled for the theatre the next day.  They did not take her in until 3:30 pm and she was not happy because she was hungry. She had the brain surgery and went home at 10:00 am the next day.  Guess there is no reason to linger here....I was terrified that it would not go well because of infection or something.  But, she has done well and I think her balance has improved.

If you look on the right side of her head in the picture with her little friend you can see the incision.  This little friend comes to church alone almost every Sunday, I didn't know she knew the N'Kosis until one of our visits.  Ellen's cousin takes care of her.  Her mother is an alcoholic and was not caring for her so this cousin took her off the streets. That is so common here.  Seems that many people are willing to take care of these little uncared for children.  Alcoholism is major problem here for both men and women.  Oh, there are so many tales to tell, I could never get finished telling them all.

But, we are very prayerful that this surgery will improve the quality life of little Miss Thobega.  Keep her in your prayers. She is a very cute little girl.   I will always remember her story.  She is one I hope to see again someday.

OFF TO CAPETOWN

The last week in February 2014 we took a little journey to Cape Town with Elder and Sister Baxter.  They were leaving in mid March, and truthfully it was a good time to get some
R&R.  It is always busy and hectic here, but it seemed that from December to February was really busy.   After be hesitant about going, I was really happy we made the effort.  It was an interesting and beautiful trip.   

We got up early to make the four and a half hour drive to Joburg to catch the plane.  When we got in the airport we were greeted by this sign.  The ANC (African National Congress, The party Nelson Mandel started after apartheid) had posted it in very visible location in the airport. 

The sign was in celebration of increase in the minimum wage.  Basically, it says that the average worker is makings 80 cents an hour or $37 a week if they work 45 hour weeks.  Talk about guilt's, getting on an airplane and being reminded that most workers in the country cannot make enough to feed their families. 

The flight from Joburg is a 2 hour flight.  The drive to the airport was 4.5 hours.  There is a plane from Mpumalanga (providence where we live)  but, the airfare was $600 more than flying from Johannesburg.
As you can see, it was an exciting flight, I had some go getter traveling companions.

Yep, I could tell they were ready to party. 
Elder and Sister Baxter and Elder Hunt.  They all even snore and they don't care who hears it.  They were zonked....Not me, I never sleep on the plane, I have to stay awake for the crash or the hijacking...what ever craziness my mind conjures up prior to a planned trip.

We stayed in a cosy little Inn at Green Market Square.  It was older, but had been remodelled for the World Cup soccer games.  It was nice.  It was surrounded by a very large African Market  and  little specialty shops that on the most part were very nice. 




When we arrived we went down to the water front for a
while, then just shopped around our hotel area.  There were some interesting people, but we felt very safe.  Cape Town the city is very clean compared to Joburg. They have street cleaners night and day.  It is listed as  the number one vacation venue in the world for 2014.  I am sure part of that is because the Rand is so devalued compared to the dollar.  (I can't see that, this little mission has cost a bit.)
I do understand the Townships in the Cape Town area are dangerous and dirty.  We drove by some to and from the airport, but did not really see any while we were there get a feel for them.

Our hotel is right across the street from this neat church. I took lots of pics  because the architecture was intricate and neat.  The hotel had a great view of the sky line.  We walked around and found this interesting little alley.  We went down it and found this nice little restaurant.  Note the pepper grinder.  The food on the trip was very good.

Day One

Because our time was very limited, we had the travel agency plan it.  It was great.  Every morning the van would pick us up and off we would go.
The first day was a trip to table mountain.  The ques (lines) were long!  But, because we had tickets we could go to the first of the line.....However, the mountain was closed.  Really, you are lucky if you are there when it is open.  It opens and closes all day.  It all depends on the wind factor. The guide recommended that we go see other parts of the city and they would call him if it opened and we would go back.  He did not seem optimistic. 

We did get to go back to Table Mountain toward the end of our tour.  They called and we rushed back up there,  we walked to the first of the line and went up.  It was a steep tram.  The views are spectacular. You can see for miles, clear to Cape Horn at the end of the African Continent, that's what they say, but I couldn't see it.  We went to some view points of Table Mountain.  It is on the list of one of the wonders of the world.  It beat our the Grand Canyon...not sure I agree with that...But, I am not the travel judge!

Part of the first morning was spent in the Malaysian District.

South Africa has an interesting history.  There was the period of time of the Voortrekkers (very similar historically to the Mormon pioneer movement and occurred during the same period of time but, in different parts of the world....that is a story for another day) but, years before Africa was very vested in the slave trade.  Not the slave trade of African Slaves going to America, but slaves were brought down the eastern coast to Durban, Port Elizabeth, and Cape town.  They were from India, Malaysia, and other parts of Indonesia.  This was the beginning of a very diverse culture.  During apartheid the Indians, Malaysians, Muslims, and others were persecuted the same as the black Africans.  In the struggle against apartheid all of these cultures joined together to get rights.  It is a fascinating story. 
The Malaysian District above was beautiful.  The homes were painted brightly, it was very clean and just fun.  The homes were very quaint.  To live in this area homeowners agree to very strict historical covenants with the city.  While here we ran into a little demonstration.  It was pretty interesting.  Where we do our work the demonstrations are burning tires in the road etc, but this was just some kind of little ralley.

Later that day we went to see various parts of the city.

 
 

 The Castle of Good Hope was an old castle built in the late 1700s.  It was a fort surrounded by rock walls.  They had many artefacts  and recounted a lot of history.  The tour guide is above.  He grew up in the Malaysian District.  Some of his ancestors were from Indonesia.  There was a lot of intermarriage when they got here, so he is considered "coloured".   He was very articulate and knowledgeable.   

 
 
 
This is a large government building built in the 1800s.  The architecture was wonderful.
 
The balconies below are on the front of this
building.  Nelson Mandela stood there when he gave his acceptance speech when he became the first black leader of a country that is 99% black and prior to him they were basically slaves in their own country.  

DAY 2

Day two was a long day tour about the Cape of Good Hope.  The Cape of Good Hope is the furthest  southern tip of the African Continent.  The ride was beautiful.  The ocean was spectacular.  Approximately 40 miles from here the Atlantic and Indian Oceans meet.  We were told that you can actually see a line where they meet and the each flow their own way.

The first stop was seal island.  We took a little boat excursion out to see the seals.  There were thousands of them.   The light house was the first one built in Africa.  There was a little band that greeted us as we got on and off the boat.....not great but, they gave it a good shot!

Then it was back into the van and off to Cape Hope.  The Ocean is not easy to describe, but it was spectacular.  The water ranged from deep blue to various ranges of blue-green.  The group picture is off the people on our tour.  We had the same people for two days.  There two newly wed doctors from India.  They smoked like troopers (not on the van, but when they got off).  They were cute.  A really cute girl from Australia.  She was some environmental engineer that had been working in Joburg.  Over all it was a fun group. Then off to see the penguins.  I had no idea South Africa had penguins....thought it was just elephants and lions, but there were penguins....lots of them.  I loved holding the baby Penguin! (actually trick photography by my Indian Doctor friend---clever)
The plants below were from the Cape Town botanical gardens.  They were beautiful and had the largest ferns and tropical plants I have ever seen.



Day 3

ROBBEN ISLAND

 



The third day was a half day trip to Robben Island.  It was a prison for political prisoners.  It got its claim to fame because Nelson Mandela spent 16 to 18 years of his 27 years of imprisonment there.  Political prisoners from all over were imprisoned there, but most were resisters against apartheid.

 

We caught a ferry from the "bumble bee" type house.  It was a 30 to 40 minute boat ride out to the island.  Notice the two old "fluffers" have not awakened yet from the plane ride.  It was a job dragging them along.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Robben Island is very desolate.  Not much prettiness.  It is surrounded by shark infested waters.   It made me think hard about people willing to give up so much for principles they believed.  I think there is some internal flame that wants freedom.  To gain an understanding take time to see the Nelson Mandela story "Long Walk to Freedom".  When you get off the ferry there is a long walk to the main gate where you catch a bus.  There is long sign about the resistance.  We liked the quote "Freedom cannot be Manacled!"  Despite being in captivity these men were strong to their believes.  The guide told of one prisoner that was a comrade to Mandela.  He was put in solitary confinement the whole time he was there.  He was not allowed to talk to anyone, not even the guards and the other prisoners were forbade to talk to him or make eye contact.  He lived in a six by six cell house and had a 9x6 yard that was surrounded by high fencing.  Every day the other prisoners walked past him.   Every day he would stand by the edge of the fence, stoop down and grab a handful of dirt and let it slowly sift through his hand.  It was his statement telling the others to be true to the land and their fight for freedom.

 

 

Some facts about Robben Island.

1. Prisoners lived in these rock barracks

2. This was a typical room in which 60 to 80 inmate lived.  They slept on floors until right before Robben Island was vacated, then they were given these small cots.

3. The showers and bathroom facilities were common....in my mind not nearly big enough for sixty people

4.  This was the room of Nelson Mandela.  He stayed in it the whole time he was on Robben Island.  The more risky prisoners were kept in isolated, single quarters (an 8x8 foot room)  They slept on the floor, had one little table, and one bucket for their human waste that they emptied once a day.

5. A guard tower

6 & 7.  Prisoners were assigned to hard work daily.  They harvested kelp from the sea.  This often resulted in cut and bleeding feet.  And, they worked in a quarry digging rocks.  The sun was usually blazing.   The guide indicated that during breaks they would go back into the caves and sit.  It is said that is where the first constitution was written by these prisoners granting freedom to everyone--- blacks, coloreds, and whites.

8.  Before Robben Island became a prison it was a leper colony.  Lepers lived there for many years isolated from others.

A place with an ugly history of segregating people for generations for one reason or another.

 

Every late afternoons and nights we went down to the piers.  They were neat....lots of shopping...

 

 

The African are very artsy.  You could find amazing sculpture, pottery, and art here.  Unfortunately, we did not get to stop in the art area. 
The elephant with the big white tusks is made out of tiny gray, white and black glass beads on a wire frame.(thousands of beads) 

 

We did liked Cape Town.  It was a quick trip and we did saw a lot.

But, we still like it best where we stay.  It is beautiful here. 

TO THE TEMPLE IN A TAXI

THE PLAN

We started in July 2013 to figure out how to take the youth to the Johannesburg Temple to do some baptisms. None of them (expect) one had been there.  I am sure most had never been out of the local area.  It was a great experience.  As the plan progressed we found out that there were three people that wanted to do their endowments.   One was an outgoing missionary that had just received his call.  

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    November, In December, and January we taught the temple preparation class (that was an event). Some had no concept of the special clothing, etc.   It was interesting.  Most really did not understand the process, so the teaching was slow.  Of the 18 people that went eight also wanted to get their Patriarchal Blessings.

 

Five of us left early on Friday. Sister Hunt the driver, President Banda, Sarah, Prince, and Sanele.  They were getting Patriarchal Blessing on Friday night and do their endowments early Saturday morning.  Poor Elder Hunt and Elder and Sister Mashego rode in the taxi with 15 jabbering teenagers. Eishi!!

 

The Temple

The Johannesburg Temple is a small Compound that includes the temple, the distribution center, the area offices, and housing for the area presidency.  They live in this huge mansion type house....interesting. In many ways the temple reminded me of the London (Preston), England Temple.  Small, cozy, and as every temple, very beautiful.  The chapel holds about 25 people.  The other rooms are also small.  We have been there when there have been a few people and on the Saturday of the temple trip, it was "jamming".  Lots of people from all over Africa.


The Temple grounds are beautiful.  Lots of streams, trees, and different flowers.

 

We stayed in Temple housing.  It was really nice.  They had just remodelled everything.  Staying there was at your own risk, you had no idea who you would be sleeping with,  luckily I was assigned to sleep with this aging, balding guy, but he was pretty nice.  We ate in the common cafeteria.  We took just some basic food.   Cereal for breakfast does not cut it here, but that is what they got, cereal and fruit.

These kiddos did a super job dressing appropriately and acting great.  One of the highlights was the patriarchal  blessing.  I sat in on all eight of them.  I can honestly say they were amazing.  Every single one was very individual and I really felt I was sitting among some very strong spirits.  I have to keep remembering where we do our work is a first generation church. It has only been in this area for about 25 years.  But, the church has a great future here.  These folks that got their blessing will be great leaders.   One person that got the blessing,  it was very clear that he would become the Branch President, and he did several weeks later.

The  Patriarch was Elder Hoffman.  He was the area medical official and also a Patriarch.  They were from American Fork. He was older, kinda like the aged one here.  But, he and Sister Hoffman were very kind to the kids and he gave really wonderful blessings.  I learned a lot from him regarding the lineage.  A number had a different lineage that was confusing to me and he explained a lot that I did not know.  He did eight blessing, 4 the night before and 4 early the next morning.  He was getting ready to go back home and he wanted to do them before he went. 

This was a neat experience for the youth and adults that went.  It was a neat experience for us also.  We appreciated the help from our Ward friends at home.  They helped make it possible.  We mentioned to someone it was one of goals and before we knew it we were told that busy bees had been at work.  Thank You!

 

                                                                

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EXTREME HOME MAKE-OVER

EXTREME HOME MAKEOVER

THE PLAYERS

 MARTHA---"SQUAT" OWNER

The full story of Martha is found on my blog entry the cleaning  lady.

Facts:

• Husband of many years forced her out of her home because he decided he was choosing a younger wife
• They were both endowed church members
• Husband threatened to have her done away with if she tried to get the 50% the court allocated her in the divorce
• Ran to hide, no money, no source of income, every thing she owned was in the "squat"
• Slept on the dirt  with a blanket for 8 years. (more later)

THE CONTRACTOR / NEGOTIATOR:

President Banda from the Branch Presidency found and negotiated with the builders.

THE FINANCIER   

Elder Hunt, with "a little help from his friends" acted as the banker. Additionally, on a few days he was the "labor boy".

 

 

 

 

 

THE CONSTRUCTION TEAM 

Lucas and his boys.

 

 



The famous "Loo" maker

Periodically, a few volunteers from

the Branch Young Men!
Sanele, Thabang, and Peace

THE DAILY CHEERLEADERS

THE HOUSE THAT MARTHA BUILD

When I first met Martha at church, she was reluctant for me to visit her house.  It soon became apparent that she had very little in the way of food.  Over the course of several weeks her story unfolded. One day a sister at church brought her some food.  I asked her if she had enough food, "Ishhh Sister Hunt, it is hard.  I have not money. I just find piece jobs and some times people will give me something".  She told me of after her husband ran her out of the house she came to this area because she had a sister that had given her a "stand" (lot in the USA) for R50 or $5 in the USA.  She rummaged around and found some old corrugated tin, boards and an old door and built her self a house.  I told her she should never be ashamed of her house, she built it herself and she was self reliant.  That was what the Lord expects us to be.  She need to be proud of that.  We started visiting her home and it was worse that I ever expected.

I hired Martha as my cleaning lady so she would have some income.  The rate here for domestic help is around R120 ($12) a day.  I struck a deal for one day a week and  at R150 a day ($15).  I am telling you the pay for domestic help and labor is shameful here.

Martha had lived in this "squat" for 8 years, sleeping on the floor with only a blanket, all the food she had you see above, no electricity, no refrigeration, she cooked on a kerosene burner about 3 inches in diameter, she toileted in the bushes (and yes snakes live there---how would you like that as a potential bite on the butt.) Her squat was in a dangerous area at night and she told of running in to the bushes in the middle of the night when some drunks would come down her road and would come to her stand.

Elder Hunt and I had many sleepless night about her condition.  She is a good lady, knows the gospel, sings hymns all day but what a life.

Elder Hunt said, if we do nothing else we are going to help her.   We had to have a local to negotiate with the locals so we didn't get robbed and we knew we could not be there because of our mission work.  Elder Banda became the one.  He pretended to be the one helping her and we are so thankful to him.  He was there daily to make sure the workers were doing what the needed to do and he gave hours of selfless physical work.

THE HOUSE THAT BANDA AND BOB BUILT

BARRIERS TO HOUSE BUILDING

TERRIBLE ROADS!

RUTS

5 FT WIDE IN SOME PLACES---INTERESTING GETTING DELIVERY TRUCKS THERE

ROCKS

BUT, IT WAS LIKE MANY ROADS WE TRAVEL 

 

THE WORST!!!

SCARY MONSTERS LURKING NEAR BY--

THE SEEN AND UNSEEN

Martha's daily guests.  She tells of waking up one night with a large snake in her squat on top of her blanket. She ran out side and slept there.  Now, I would have been long gone forever---We American ladies are faint of heart!  I did get use to these lizzies.

WEEK 1

 

MOVE ROCKS

DIG FOUNDATION

MAKE FOUNDATION

START WALLS

 

WEEK 2

FINISH WALLS

FRAME IN WINDOWS AND DOORS 

WEEK 3

MOVING ALONG

WALLS

ROOF

BURGLAR BARS

lots of neighbor visitors---They can't believe it is going so fast!

WEEK 4



 Electric Power is another story here.  She went to sign up for it and they said great.  They would come when they had an enough in the area that wanted some work done....We were sure it would be 6 month.  But, Heavenly Father knows!  Had it in 3 weeks.

Funny Story: 

After Martha moved into the house, she came to church the second night after getting electricity.   "Sister Hunt, Lucas (the builder)  he did not do a good job on the power.  We must call him."  Me:  "Why is that",   Martha: "Because all night these lights outside my window come on and off, on and off".  Elder Hunt had told Lucas to put in security lights on the outside so if there were people out there she would know.   I explained to her what was happening and she definitely wanted to keep the lights.

WEEK 5

GLASS IN THE WINDOWS

FINISHED THE LOO

AND MARTHA HAS A BEFORE AND AFTER HOUSE LOOK

Before she moved in and the house was complete, we came one morning and the squat was gone.  I asked her why she did not wait for someone to come and help here.  She said, " Sister Hunt I made this squat with my own hands,  I lived in it for 8 years, I wanted to be the one to take it down.

The toilet or "loo" was a major controversy.  Elder Hunt and I tried to convince her to have it in her house and then make a little tiled area where she could bathe.  She was concerned, she doesn't like those "bathroom sounds" in her house.  She also worried that it is not a clean thing.  We went back and forth for several weeks and she finally agreed to have it in her house, then one day we arrive and she had a loo built outside...not sure what the deal is with these folks and there out houses....(refer to a prior blog).

MARTH'S NEW HOUSE

To most of us, this is a humble house.  But, it is very typical for the area and Martha thinks she has the most wonderful house and that is all that really matters.

Martha loves her new bed and wardrobe.  From day one she just wanted some place so she could sleep in a bed and have a wardrobe.  Thanks to one of you it happened.

The refrigerator was beyond her wildest dream.  This was a gift from two couples that just heard about the house.

Even the Loo got decorated up!  She wanted an outside water source for her laundry and now she has inside and outside water.

Every week Martha reminds us that the Heavenly Father sent the Elder Hunt and me to answer her prayers.  She talks about laying in bed at night crying because she saw no hope.  She knew she would grow old and die in that squat and she did not want others to find her there.   She prayed incessantly that she could find a way out.  And, she is sure that we were the answer from Heavenly Father to help her.

I am not sure about that, but I am sure there was a lot of intervention from our Heavenly Father.  The make over cost about 6x more than initially estimated, but it has been the best money we have ever spent.  Every time there was something needed, prayers were answered by your generosity.   You will all be blessed.

There were many tears during these 6 weeks.  I rarely cry anymore, I think my Reid event used them all....but, there were constant tears of joy here. Every few days, to see Martha's excitement was more than I can describe.

Thank you, thank you for helping make this possible.  We know the best, caring people.