Hello to Everyone,
The last couple of weeks has been full of challenges getting vendors set up for projects, getting payments made on time (not), and generally being hard pressed to have anything work according to schedule.  But in spite of it all, we are getting it done.  We have had great support from our help in Johannesburg, Elder and Sister Blake.  They are truly wonderful.  We have 2 water projects in Swaziland and are working on a Helping Babies Breath program we hope to have ready in a couple of months.
Here in Mozambique we have 2 projects with schools in progress and another we hope to get put together if the community will step up to the challenge of doing their part.  We also have a vision project near completion in Beira.  It was started a couple of years ago and hit a snag.  We were successful at getting it moving again.
We have a plan we want to present to a school district director where each school accounts for the school property:  grounds, building, furniture, books, materials, etc.  This reporting and accountability would help maintain continuity as school directors change.  The school council, made up of community members and a couple of school staff would take responsibility for this accounting.  A fund could be set up and they manage it and report to the community and the district.  There are some schools that do some of this, but there is no standard that we can tell.  We are hoping to influence a district director to take on this challenge with our help.  We visit with him this week.
We have been here one year.  Our DIRIs are expired (basically our "green card") so we had to go down to immigration to have them renewed.  It will be a month before we actually get the cards, so in the meantime we carry a notarized copy of the receipt.  I did not drive for a couple of days until we received these receipts because if I were stopped I could get into a lot of trouble.  But we have them now and will be taking a trip to Swaziland again on Wednesday.
The weather has been cooler; about 65 to 70 degrees in the day and around 60 in the evening.  Pretty nice.  This is our winter.
I have been looking for a car jack and accompanying tools for our truck.  Apparently, they were stolen sometime before we arrived here a year ago.  I have procrastinated getting them replaced.  I can find jacks easily on the streets for sale, but the extension tool to lower and raise the spare tire underneath the bed is impossible to find.  I may have to go to the dealer; trying not to.
We invited our interpreters and their dates to our home for an evening of dinner and games.  It was a fun evening.  They are great kids and we hope and pray they will get married soon.  The worldly ways of postponing marriage for any number of reasons is just as much a problem here as any where.
We are loving our mission.  It definitely has its challenges.  But we are so grateful for this opportunity and we encourage everyone to seriously and sincerely consider your situation and ask the Lord how and when you can serve a full time mission.  Then express you desires to your bishop and stake president.  They will counsel you and help to find a way.  The need is so great.  I know God lives and that we are His children.  He loves us; He cares; He is interested and involved in our lives.  Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer and has restored His church through the Prophet Joseph Smith and subsequent prophets.  Families are eternal if we live the gospel and take advantage of the sealing power in the temple.
Love to all,
Elder Petersen, Stan, DAD, Grandpa