The condition of the church building doesn't seem to matter

This is the podium just as sacrament meeting is getting ready to start in the Dolo branch. The picture gives a good idea of the general condition of the building. There is no electricity or running water. The speakers just stand at the end of the raised area and deliver their talks. This is a rented building. Fortunately the church just decided to build them a new building.

In spite of the poor facilities the meetings here are inspiring. All of the talks are so faith promoting. Everyone just has a good attitude. They will be in for quite a treat when their new building will have electricity, fans and bathrooms with running water.

After Sacrament and Sunday School meetings today Cheryl and I taught a teacher development class to all of the teachers in the branch. I think it went well. Although it's always hard to tell on things like this.

All of the senior missionaries gathered this week for some training. The couple closest to the camera are the Blanchards.  They are the couple that runs the mission office. They started their mission last year for a few months and then had to return home for 7 months sadly as their daughter passed away from cancer. The couple sitting next to Elder Blanchard are the Hanks. They have been on their mission for about a year. He is a recently retired Professor from the University of utah. They are member and Leadership support missionaries, MLS, in one of the rural towns about an hour and a half from here.

The couple sitting next to them on the left of the table is the McLaughlin's. He is recently retired as a software engineer and she was a tour operator. They are also MLS. They live about 4 hours from here also in a small town. The remaining couple on the other side of the table are the Ericksons. They have 10 children. The youngest one is serving a mission in South africa. Elder Erickson just recently finished work as a lumber broker. They are also MLS and located in a small town about 2 and 1/2 hours from here.

Because they live in small towns things are a lot rougher for them than for us. Not much shopping is available where they're at. When they come into town they buy a lot of groceries. All of them get their electricity from generators. Generators are noisy. They never go out to to eat except here because there's no where that serves western food in their towns and there's no restaurant where you would trust the food cleanliness.

We are all out to dinner at the Ocean 11 restaurant. Great atmosphere. Luckily it's the cooler time of the year so sitting outside is not too bad.

 

This is inside one of the classrooms in the Pipeline public school. We are getting ready to remodel it. This is one of the lower grade classrooms. Each of these desks sits three children. The students squeeze through the openings to get out. The desks are kind of like barbecue tables that are cut in half the long way.

We visited the Gloria's Children's Home Orphanage again this week. The contractor is just about done. This will be the new kitchen area. We are going to put a food storage locker area in this corner we're looking at. 

All of the kids here seem happy. They are always smiling when we're there. The lady in the picture is the director of the home. She seems more like a mother to them.

This is one of the three toilets we are installing. It will be a great improvement. It is a Flushing toilet. The pipe sticking up will be a floor drain they can use to keep the area clean. The sink to wash your hands will be outside of the toilet area. Almost just like America except you have to flush the toilet with a bucket of water that you carry from the water pump.