Finally another post!

access to the internet has been real spotty!  Today I am in the Branch presidents office on his computer.  He is a kind man to allow me into the intersanctum for a while so I can let everyone know how we are and what we arre doing. 

We have moved into the new house here in Lobotse.  It is an unusal house in that we have 13 closets in our bedroom.  With locks on everyone!  There is a large yard surrounded by dirt with the maid quarters in the very back of the yard.  I told them I didn't need the maid quarters since I am the maid!  There are large trees all around us  which is great for two bird watchers.  So far we have had some unusual guests.  the first was a hornbill that flew into the kitchen checked out Elder Moss and flew out again.  The next visitor was a bat flipping around the room.  We shut the door and didn't open it again until the next day.  He had vanished!
Then there has been 3 fat frogs which we picked up and threw outside!! 

A couple of days before Christmas we went caroling with the Kanye Branch and the missionaries.  It was probably about the nicest thing we did during the holidays.  We walked through neighborhoods and sang to every house that had an open gate.  I really felt as I walked to each humble house and sang the songs telling about Christ's birth that I was really at the ends of the earth publishing the news that Christ was born!  We sang to many different people but our favorites were the older people whose faces told of the hard lives they had lived and to see them wrinkle into a smile with an added light to their eyes.

Christmas day Elder Moss and I spoke in the Kanye Branch then drove home to Lobotse (45 K).  I fixed dinner for six missionaries from Kanye and Lobotse our Zone.  They were all so excited to get their calls from home.  Each had emailed what time to call.  As it got close to their call they would pace around the room checking every minute that went by.  Some parents didn't call right on schedule which was a let down.
I had no idea how important those calls were to our missionaries.

I also got a ticket on the way back to Lobotse...I was going 92 K in a 80 K spot.  The reason I am mentioning this is because I really liked the cop.  I told him I was going to Lobotse to fix dinner for the missionaries..his response, "I wish I could come and have some american food."  I invited him but he was on duty at the time!  Then he told me his dream was to come to america and be a farmer.  And then he sang me his favortie christmas song!!  I hope I see him again when he isn't on duty.

I need to tell you about the Relief Society President in kanye.  She is probably about 30 years old.  Anyway in RS the lesson was on the atonement..She told us that after she joined the church 6 months ago she was trying to understand how Christ had taken on all our sins, she finally decided it was like a dry sponge put into a bowl of dirty water the sponge soaks up all the water and the bowl is clean.  Then she went on to say "Then I was wondering why Christ had to be sinless to take upon him our sins I again thought of the sponge if you put a partically wet sponge into that same bowl of water it will not soak up all of the water."   Christ had to be sinless.

Last Sunday we were in Lobotse for church.  there was a little lady setting there who doesn't speak much english.  She had a baby boy on her lap.  I gave her a that picutre by Lis Swindle Lemon of Christ with the African baby in his arms.  I wish you could have seen the look on her face it was priceless.  the baby took the picture and stared at it and got a small smile on his face.

Elder Moss and I are doing okay.  We are getting many things handed to us to do and we aren't sure we can do everything.  We want to train them how to do it!  We have hopes of an internet connection in the coming weeks at which time this blog will be every week.  We have lost our camera so there are no pictures this time.  It is very very hot here at times..42c  I think that is over a hundred.  But we do get some wonderful thunder storms with buckets of rain coming down.

We are just like those missionaries waiting for their phone calls at christmas ..only we are waiting for emails...
Love Elder and Sister Moss

Flash! News from Botswana

It sure feels good to be setting at a computer again able to communicate with everyone.  Its amazing to me that 11 years ago I was sure if I touched a button on the computer I'd break it for sure.  I am still new at the Blogs but am learning.  I will try to get some pictures inserted this time.   The picture above is in Kagiso South Africa  I'm amazed the picture showed up where Ii wanted it to.

This is some of our friends in Kagiso

This is Tulane  He is one of the young men

in Kagiso that helped us learn where everyone stayed in Kagiso 10 years ago.  He went on a mission

and is serving in the Stake Presidency of the Soweto Stake. 

Now back to Botwana!  We have been driving out to our area's everyday which is about 50 miles one way over a 2 lane road full of erractic drivers, donkeys, goats and Baboon's.  We have decided if we want to make it home alive in 18 months we'd better move closer to our area.  We have found a house in Lobatse  that we can live in, we are just waiting for the lease approval from  Johannesburg to finalize everything.  We are planning on moving next Tuesday if everything goes right.  Which it never does.

We have been to two Christmas parties in the two branches one picture will be of Larry posing as Santa. 

We have met some very interesting people, one is Elder Colonji he is our Zone leader he is from the DAR (Congo)  He is an outstanding leader  He told us that when he came on Mission he couldn't speak any English.  In the MTC in Johannesburg they just handed him a dictionary and he set in the corner with the dictionary.  I asked "How long did it take you to speak English/"  The answer "About 3 weeks"   He speaks excellent English.

Another Zone leader from Zambia bore his testimony and told of the accident he had as a 12 year old  He was digging a hole by the river with 3 of his friends when the sides collasped on him and his friends.  They weren't found for three days.  Two of his friends had already died before they were found .  He was taken from the hole and spent the next 7 months in the hospital.   His feet are very misshapen.  He walks carefully on the side of his ankles.  At the conclusion of his testimony he said "I am thankful for my accident if it wouldn't have happened I'd have never found the gospel."

We are so thankful for the gospel and our family and friends, because we know you are there it makes us possible to serve so far from you all.  We appreciate every email that we get.  It is like Manna from heaven .  thank you.

Love Elder and Sister Moss

We are Here!

Wow!  After much work etc.  we are here.  I will tell you where here is a little later.
I still don't have internet service so I am on somone elses computer and can't post pictures,  hopefully next week there will be some pictures .  We spent two week ends in Salt Lake ,with Larry's sister and her husband Jack they were bookends to our week in the MTC.  I mean the bookends were the week ends not Golda and Jack.  On those 2 weekends we were able to watch the live broadcast of the "Mormon Tabernacle Choir"  It was wonderful.

Jack and Golda dropped us off at the MTC on Monday morning,Oct.31st.  We met alot of couples going to many different places in the world from Mongolia to Chuk an island in the South Pacific.   They put us through our paces for 5 days.  What a sight to eat three meals a day with 3000 missionaries. 

November 7 we boarded a plane in Salt Lake bound for Johannesburg, South Africa!
It is a long long plane ride!  It was so exciting to be Johannesburg again.  Everything was beautiful.   The Jacaranda trees are all blooming  so the city is colored purple.  
We even remembered our way around the city, on the left hand side of the road.   We were in Johannesburg a week and we were able to visit church in Kagiso on Sunday.
This is the ward we served in ten years ago.  We arrived early so we could greet everyone as they came in.  There were many hugs, kisses and tears. I just sat through Sacrament meeting and cried it was so wonderful to be with those people again.   many of the people we taught were there.   It was so good to see that they had made it through the early stages after baptism to  activity, temple endowments, and callings.
I felt like I was having a wonderful dream only it wasn't a dream!  One family we worked with before is not active, that is the Cummin family.   But there son who was 13 when we were there before has a job that takes him away on Sunday.  The Bishop told us he puts on his white shirt and tie once a month and walks to the church to give the Bishop his tithing.

We have been assigned to Gaborone, Botswana, they flew us here and we are still living with another couple until this coming week when we can move into our own flat..  Our assigment is to work with two branchs.   The Labotse Branch and the kanya Branch.  Today we were able to be be in the Labotse Branch.  It is a small Branch, there were probably about 50 people.   We were able to attend the baptism of two men after church.   Their  baptismal fount is about a 6 foot circle 4 ftt deep tub placed under the trees in the church yard..

Our blog was haply named "Moss Tales From the Bush"  who knew that we would truly be in the bush in Botswana.  so far our only animals have been Baboons which are along the roads and byway's.   In Botswana we will be working with Elder and Sister Kimball and Elder and Sister Rand.  Some of you who read this will know who they are.

We are very grateful to be here.  what a wonderful opportunity to serve the Lord as missionaries.  What a blessing to have the time to focus completely on the work of the Lord for a season.  
Elder and Sister Moss
Plot 22700 phase 4
Postnet Kgale AD172ADD
Gaborone, Botswana

we're going on a mission