Deliveries are delightful

The movers pulled up with three large boxes packed full of our items from home.

We received our delivery within a month of being here and it was a delight to see familiar things from home arriving at 21 Carnation Street, Roodepoort, South Africa!  We are excited to have more pictures for our walls and books we love from home. We even packed some favorite handmade quilts and our bikes, tennis rackets and golf clubs. We don't know how much time we will have to use everything, but it is comforting to have things from home with us. I chose to use my  scrappy star pioneer quilt  for a tablecloth for our 24th of July spontaneous dinner with our office couples, the Hansen's and the Thompson's. Great new friends that are adopted into our family now.

Quilts, pictures, books all make us feel more at home!

We could not have unloaded the truck without the help of the movers and also Irene, our trusty housekeeper. Irene has been with the mission home for the past 5 mission presidents. We couldn't do all of this work without her wonderful spirit and help. She knows how to help us make a house a home! We needed to leave the day our delivery arrived for a weekend visit to out-lying areas of the mission. (Nelsprit and Tzaneen). We couldn't have made it all happen without theirgreat help.

The Elders in Nelsprit got deliveries this week also. The best delivery was of the Swans, the new senior couple we drove up with us when we came. Senior couples are the lifeline for our Elders far from Joburg.  The Swans are from Vancouver, Canada and were so willing to take this assignment to serve in the outlying areas of the mission, supporting missionaries and strengthening the branches.

The Elders in that area also received some long awaited packages. They were so excited, they tore into them immediately. These Elders get mail even less regularly because they live 5 hours away from the mission office.

Welcome to Elder and Sister Swan all the way from Vancouver, Canada.

It is fun to see any Elder's get a package from home.  I knew it meant a lot when I sent them to our boys on missions, but it is really  fun to see the delight on this side when received. However, it can be expensive to get packages through customs.  It costs Elders to retrieve the packages, even though the shipping has been paid by the senders.  Just one of those Africa things!!  We have heard horror stories of how camera packages get opened and replaced with old tennis shoes. In general, it seems that smaller packages with simple items are best and most appreciated by the Elders.
Elder Bodily getting a birthday package!

Below are the zone leaders coming to the mission office on a Thursday morning to pick up mail and any deliveries.  It is a big deal weekly to get mail and supplies and then distribute to each missionary in their zone.