Back to the Land of the Living--George's Post

It has been close to three months since I last left a post on the blog.  Carole has kindly carried the family load in the interim, keeping in touch with family and friends.  There have been two primary reasons for the silence.  In late March, we moved from our apartment in Sunny Side into the 1 Kufa Road residence in Mandala, where Elder and Sister Reynolds had been living.  When the Reynolds returned to the United States, we inherited the office functions they had been doing--paying bills, reporting to South Africa, dealing with landlords,  handling the local distribution center, coordinating with the Zone Leaders.  It took me the better part of a month to get familiar with the office and to do most of the routine tasks at least once.  First time around everything was slow and inefficient, and occasionally frustrating, even though the Reynolds had taken considerable time orienting us before leaving.  But equally significant was that about the time of the Reynolds' departure, I started trying to write about our experience here in Malawi.  It is not a diary.  It is certainly not a book.  Instead, it is a compilation of my thoughts about what we are seeing and doing.  While we love being here, the experience can be puzzling and I am trying, at least for myself, to make some sense of it.  Now I have over 100 pages of text, with less than half of the outlined topics covered.  I thought some of you might have interest in reading selected portions, so within the next week or so I will start to release them, fortunately for you--in manageably small junks.  It will not be riveting reading, but it may give you a bit more of a feel for our experience.  Many of you may wish to pass over these entries, something I understand perfectly.  These entries won't be annotated with pictures.   And, from reading others' blogs, I can remember what I have always liked best were the stories and pictures.  But perhaps a few of you will find of some interest the descriptions of local life, the challenges the Malawians face, the growth of the Church and my thoughts about them.