March 7, 2011 It is about time...pictures from Botswana!!

Hello Family!

I am sorry to hear that you still have snow all over the ground, I remember how that felt at BYU and it was always wonderful when the sun came out and the snow left!

Alright, well I just tried to attach 3 photos. I know it has been a long time since I have sent photos, but if you were able to see the places that I email, you would understand why I hesitate to send photos.

The first one is a photo from yesterday. We had a water pipe that leads to our city burst on Friday, so our entire city minus a handful of taps was out of water and it was a pretty intense situation. We found ourselves with about 5 liters of water and no shower or shaving for 3 days. One of our investigators really needed some water, so we took a few buckets from her house and waited about an hour in line at one of the only working taps in the city. As you can see in the background, that is the new stadium in our area. To the side of it (not sure if you can see it in the photo) is monkey hill. Where I saw the mini cheetah.
Photo #1

The second photo (if they hurry and download before my time runs out) is just a photo of the attention that we get as white people when we walk down every street. This was when we were sitting in the car trying to find contact information for an investigator of ours. Many kids flocked in the 2 min we were in the car.

The third is probably my favorite. This photo was taken in the village of Malipowabajawn. We were trying to track down a members home and we started talking to this lady on the side of the road. I enjoy that photo.

A couple days ago I took the coolest photo of my life on a donkey cart, driven by a guy that didn't speak a word of English (don't ask how I convinced him to let me take a photo without using words). But after taking the photo's we left and the camera didn't save the photo!

I am now going to have to format my letter similar to last week so I can cover all the needed information.

1. I need a photo of a green mamba sent to me. Two days ago Elder Finlinson was unlocking our gate to our house, so he had his arm reached through the gate when he felt something fall on his arm from the tree above. He paid no attention until he took his arm out and realized that it was a green mamba! (we are about 50% sure it was a green mamba), lucky for him his reaction was to jump and the snake fell on the ground and quickly left. If this truly was a green mamba then....yes, very intense story, green mamba would....But it was a baby snake, only about a foot and a half, green.

2. Can you scratch my Dr. Scholes order from last week and send me a size 11 instead of 10? Whenever you send the package of course. As well can you include some Paul Cardal music? He happens to be a legend even here in Africa.

3. Friday night when the water went out, the power was also out for a while. It was pretty sweet walking around with candles in our scary house! We did companionship planning and wrote letters by candle light...I thought that was pretty exciting.

4. No news on the sister missionaries yet. Last week they were granted 7 days so that they could just deal with the problem next week (today). I have heard rumor (over hearing president Morgan), that they might allow them to go and serve in the temple in South Africa, or work in the office or something until the problem gets fixed, so they should be OK even if/when they get kicked out of the country.

5. Mom, it's funny you just mentioned your desire for a nativity set again. I was actually just asking around for that this week. (I was also learning about that long list of things that are illegal to bring back to the states, but that is so cheep and easy to buy here, so it was good to find that all out BEFORE I tried to bring stuff back to the states.) But yes, apparently you can get whatever you want here in Africa and there is a place back in south Africa next to the office where you can get almost anything you want, so I am working on it!

6. This week we had an exciting activity. Elder Hughes and I organized a movie night at the church on Friday evening. We organized a projector and the Joseph Smith prophet of the restoration DVD (the really nice one that they show in visitors centers). We did not have the attendance that we hoped for, but for those that were able to make it, it was a very nice experience and it helped them see the struggles and sacrifices of the early saints.

One family in particular was able to attend. Leslie and Tabello, the one that just showed up to church one day. Tabello (the wife) is the most golden investigator in the world and can not wait to be baptized with her daughter. She has seen the blessings of the gospel in her life and loves the church. However, Leslie is not so excited about acting at the moment. We had a nice discussion with him yesterday and he said that he wants to get baptized, but he just doesn't feel ready (because he is not). However, I have been able to grow a good friendship with Leslie, so we had a good man to man discussion about actions he needs to take before baptism. It started off well, and ended even better. We started by talking about the baptism, finished that topic, and then talked about how he is arranging to take us missionaries on a tour of a local game park, and as well to take a tour of BMC (the largest meat processing place here in Botswana, he is pretty high up in that company). So I am excited for both of those experiences.

7. Last thing in my 1.5 min, dad you asked about how often we see the mission president. We have mission president interviews every 4 months, but because I am in a new country it might be longer than that.
The church is true!
Time is out!!

Love you all

Elder Williams