Monday, November 18th

We spent most of our last week in the office going over files and projects.  There are certainly a lot of good projects on the go.   The missionary couple in Nigeria is leaving to go home in a couple of days and we have no replacement for them yet.  Any volunteers??    There is a couple called to replace E/S Burns in Sierra Leone in the new year and so we are grateful for that.   Also the couple in Liberia will go home  in a few short months and there is no replacement yet for them.    We plan to go to Sierra Leone and Liberia in a month or so to meet the couples and to look at their projects so we can get a better idea of see them for ourselves.  The Travel department will start working on Visas for us.    We understand that Liberia is the poorest country in the world and Sierra Leone a close second.  I am afraid we will see poverty like we have not seen before.    There have been 6 civil wars in Liberia in the past 17 years and they have pretty much destroyed any infrastructure, dams, etc.   There is much to do there to make sure people have clean water to drink and other things to help them.    They grow food to sustain themselves but there is no work.  The couple there get electricity about 2 hours a day.   The couple in Sierra Leone are doing some interesting water projects.  I will write more about them another time.

Friday afternoon we went to the temple which is a 30 second walk from the Area offices where we work.  It was beautiful, quiet and so clean.  There is some beautiful woodwork there and some really beautiful wood furniture.  We enjoyed the peace that is found there.

Saturday we went on an excursion with some other couples.  There were 18 of us  and we drove in 4 vehicles.  We went with the Kradolfers.  The plan was to go 2 1/2 hours away to a Celebration where there would be a Parade of Chiefs, however; we never did find it.  We may have missed it by a week or so.  :)   That didn't ruin our fun though.  Kradolfers like to just get in their car and drive to new places and see things they have never seen before.  We found an old Dutch fort that was built in 1790 and walked through it.  It was right beside the ocean and so we ate our lunches sitting on the granite rock on the shore.   As we drove we also saw many people fishing in the bay (that was shallow for a long way out).  We saw some really interesting things.  It was a good outing.   When we got home Jim and I went for a swim in the pool here at our apartment complex.  It is the first time we have been swimming for years and it felt good.  The pool is big enough to swim some lengths. 

This week Bro. Buah is back and tomorrow we will do some serious training and planning.  He is off to Nigeria again on Thursday though. 

There are also several Church real estate people here for a few days - from France, Britain and Salt Lake.  They are looking for properties to buy for the Church to build chapels on.  The Church is growing fast here, with Sierra Leone being the fastest.  In the West Africa Area we have 240+ Wards and 296 Branches.  There are 30 Stakes and I am not sure how many Districts.   They used to get an update monthly on new units but now it is changing so fast that they get them weekly so they can keep on top of things.   It is amazing.   We feel fortunate to be a part of all this. 

Love to all,  Elder & Sister Bullock