Week 10 - Aug 3rd - 9th, 2014 - Start of Month 3

August 3rd - August 9th

We received two new Elders from the Sierra Leone Mission which was being closed due to the outbreak of the Ebola virus which has been deadly.  We will get two more tomorrow as well.  The church wanted to make certain that travel restrictions out of the country would not interfere with the safety concerns.

Did a little better with phones and contracts for phones this week.  We have over 150 contracts for cellphones and have to manage them and keep the Elders supplied with phones that work.  Unfortunately for them they use the old button style Nokia's that are ok to talk with and hard to text with.  Quite a few of them get lost, stolen, or damaged, some maybe even get worn out.

We had a 5.4 earthquake centered about 50 miles to the south of here.  A miner was killed and some trapped.  It rattled and shook a bit here, we went outside for a while then back to work.

Melanie and I went together on a delivery with the truck and trailer this week out of town a ways.  We took a box spring and a couple of mattresses.  It was Melanie's first delivery ride.  She was a good sport even helped me load up and tie down the load.

Our mission office got some new cement for the steps this week.  It's an amazing process to watch how the construction workers do things.  Most of the work is labor without equipment.  They sure could have used a cement truck, but instead they mixed their cement from raw materials piled on the ground with a mixer.  Then the workers used wheelbarrows and shovels to throw the cement up into the forms from the bottom of the steps.

It was what is now becoming a typical week, busy, interesting and quick in passing by.  We are getting a lot done and enjoying doing it.  We especially enjoy working with all of the Elders we get to meet and enjoy their spirit and enthusiasm.

Mix, wheelbarrow, and throw with a shovel into the forms.

This will now be tiled over maybe next week.  Only one step short of a 'twelve step' flight.