OFFICE
We are working hard at the bureau to get things in order and many days have spent long hours there. We are hoping that as we get things running smoother it will ease President and Sister Granger's load a little bit and help the work go forward in this part of the mission.
One issue lately has been trying to figure out what to do about driving school. After a year in a French country an expatriate has to get a French driver's license. The license is good for life. You have to take the written test in French and pass a driving test. If you pass the test in a car with a manual transmission you are licensed to drive both automatics and manuals. Otherwise a person can't drive a manual in a French country for the rest of his life. The missionaries spend at least ten hours at the school preparing for the written test and ten hours driving. Some have never driven a manual before and it is nearly impossible for the missionary to practice other than with the instructor. This ties a set of missionaries up for at least twenty hours not to mention the high cost. If the missionary fails the test there is additional time and money required to repass the test. It is to the school's advantage to fail the missionaries which they do quite readily. One has failed four times. Elder Glade has been looking for a school which will test on an automatic only--especially for those missionaries who aren't from French countries. Just one of so many issues.
We have had lots of light-hearted times at the office, too. A member brought us a huge bag of pamplemousse--a sweeter and very seedy, juicy variety of grapefruit, and a great source of vitamin c. (We do worry about missionary nutrition.) Some of the missionaries weren't sure they liked them including the office elders. We encouraged them to try some with us. We didn't have a good utensils for eating them at the bureau so we sliced them and went outside to eat them.
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| Hope a tree doesn't grow for every seed we spit here |
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Consensus was--DELICIOUS! and we were able to give away a few more pamplemousse.
One day the toner wasn't working. Elder Glade had the Elders take the cartridge out and shake it a little bit to see if the ink would work better. Look what fell out! A couple of eggs which immediately hatched and the geckos scurried off almost before anyone could get a picture. How many offices have this problem?
This critter was on our car one morning and rode the several kilometers to the bureau. It was there for quite a while each time I checked, but wasn't still there when it was time for us to go home. It must have found another ride.   |
An excerpt from Elder Glade's Email. "This week flew by. Next week will too. On Friday Elder Lynn G Robbins and Elder and Sister Vincent O Haleck will be flying in. They will convene a “Special Stake Conference.” No one is quite sure why. Pres Guidi (Stake President) has asked us to drive them a few times when he cannot. They will meet with the missionaries for one hour on Saturday.
"Our only assignment from Pres Granger was to make sure all the missionaries had decent shoes, white shirts and pants for the elders and whatever for the sisters. Many of the Tahitian missionaries only have 2 pair of pants and 2 shirts. They are so dirty. There are holes in the pants and shoes with 75% of the tread gone. Although some have bought clothing on their missions, most of the missionaries we are trying to help don’t know where to go to shop. When we finally get to a store, they don’t have the right size, especially for some of our huge South Pacific islanders. One elder is 6 ft 7 in. The mission bought a sewing machine. Meg has two pairs of pants to hem.
"Meg has organized a major cleaning, planting, painting project for the office. Missionaries in our ward (on their p-day) will help, then we will share a meal. She really is making the place shine."
