We Have Arrived!

All of our flights were on time and uneventful......our 15 1/2 hour flight from Atlanta to Johannesburg was not as bad as we had anticipated.

We were fed 3 or 4 times which helped the time go by (plus watching 3 movies, a few TV shows and reading).  Neither one of us slept a great deal on the flight but felt pretty good when we arrived.  We had met another couple in Atlanta who flew over on the same flight.  They are on a Public Relations mission.  We were all met by two senior couples who drove us to our flats and helped us settle in.  A hot dinner was provided for the four Lees by another couple and then we were off to our separate flats to unpack.

We drove to the Area offices the next day and met many, many people (most of whom already knew Brent and Charlene from their last mission here).  We met with the Family History Center director, Wayne Van As, and had a look around.  There are 14 computers and 7 microfilm readers.  The center is very open and bright with a middle space for children to play who come with their parents to attend the temple.  Most of our patrons will be coming to receive their own endowments and to be sealed as families and then will stay two or three days to do the work for their ancestors.  Most will only be here once in their life so they try to make the most of the opportunity.  We have also had our interview with one of the counselors in the Area Presidency.  The presidency is concerned about the key indicators showing that members submitting names to the temple is still very low.  They are hoping we can shed some insight into what may help to raise the numbers.  It is difficult when most people do not have computers or internet access.  This will be our challenge.

After getting our tour of the Area offices and Family History Center we were given our cars - 2015 Toyota Corolla Quests.  We have to keep thinking "stay left", "stay left" as we drive.  Driving on the left side of the road isn't too bad.  The problem here is that the roads are fairly narrow and not well marked and there is lots of traffic.  First stop was to buy groceries and check out a couple of grocery stores.  Only odd thing we saw was ostrich meat for sell.  Other than that, everything looked pretty normal :)

Our flat is very nice!  We were extremely pleased with it and sooooo glad to finally get to bed.  More about the flat later when we have some pictures to post.

Today, 19 Feb - Friday, we went on our first excursion.  All three couples went to the Lion Park which is about 45 minutes from downtown Johannesburg.  We did a drive-through tour plus inside the park we had an "animal interaction".  As you can see from the pictures, these 5 month old lion cubs were anything but interactive.   It was so hot they just wanted to sleep.

I am giving Paiola a nice rub - more like a massage.  She liked when I rubbed her tummy :)

I forget the name of this cutie!  The lion's name I forgot :) - the other cutie is my Elder Lee!!

This is George!  His paw was huge!!  First we were told to rub on their torsos only - no head or tail rubs.  But once we were there, they let us pick up their paws.  Their claws are VERY grown-up looking.

More animals.....

Zebras

Meercats

Giraffes

Cheetahs

More lion cubs - still sleeping!

This picture is of a female white lion - this picture doesn't do her justice - she was HUGE!

I love this little guy - a white lion cub

White lion male - he was magnificent (again, the pic doesn't do him justice)

And, last but not least, wild dogs.  

You are not allowed to roll your windows down while on this drive through the park.  A woman did just that a few months back and a lion attacked her and she was killed and her driver had a heart attack from witnessing her death.  We passed the enclosure we think may have been the area where the attack happened - it was closed and the sign read "animal behaviorist at work"!  

We are able to do these fun things and get our feet under us because the temple is closed for two weeks and, when the temple is closed - the family history center is closed.  We have three more meetings next week but hope to get another excursion in before we actually start to work.