April 4, 2011

dear family and all others who are concerned,
i am glad you were all able to listen to conference, unfortunately we will not be listening for a loooonnnnnggggg time. not even sure we will be able at all this year. one thing is for sure, the ensign will come and i can not wait to read it! mom, i am so thankful that you sent me that spiral bound ensign, all the missionaries that see it are super envious and want to know how they can get one too. i just tell them they need to have a mother that cares about them and their spiritual progression! again, thank you for the ensign. 

it is sooooo hot here. yesterday i thought i was going to melt. sometimes people tell us what the temperature is and it was 36 degrees celsius. i am aclimatized however, last week it was raining really hard and the temperature was 29 degrees, i had to wear a jacket. people keep saying winter is coming and i am excited to see what that will be like. my guess is it will be the same as now.

unfortunately the sister randri and blum show is ending very quickly. i got transferred to gaborone. the transfer news is in and i should have gone today but will be staying here in beloved francistown until saturday. the other sister missionary who is going to gabs with me has a driving test on friday. it sounds funny that we would be staying here until then but you must understand something about botswana culture. there are a million lines and lists that you need wait in until something happens. especially with driving, she has been waiting to take her test for three months now. 

driving school is funny here, all you do is go to the range early in the morning, wait in a line, get into a car and drive for 15 minutes and then you go home. you do that for 10 times, they give you a pamphlet of traffic signs and rules to read at home, give you an even smaller test on the pamphlet and you go for the real test. the test itself consists of a parrellel park, a hill start (it is a manual transmission), and a loop around town. if you don't hit anything you pass!!!! she will do well i am sure.

i don't know who my new companion will be yet but i do know one thing, she will be one of the sisters i was with in the mtc. most likely sister nalusiba (we were companions in the mtc!) that will be a crazy show to watch :) and an adventure that i am looking forward to. 

service makes you love people, i love these people way too much, it is hard to go from here but i know i will serve wherever and whenever the Lord wants me. i have faith that the hearts of those people in gaborone botswana are being prepared at this very moment. 

we have been working so hard this last transfer and am happy to say we have 8 father led families in our teaching pool. good things are happening in francistown. i will let you know next week how the new area is. for now, know i love you all.

hakuna matata still,
sister blum

keep praying for miracles