Zone conferece week

Zone conference was held on Wednesday of this last week and we drove up on Tuesday afternoon to inspect the missionary flats. We have found mold in all the flats, including our own. I was surprised to find it in Blenheim and Nelson, because they are the sunniest parts of the country. The worst was in Blenheim where they had cinder block outside walls in the bathroom.

Zone conference was shorter this time. We had three workshops on how to teach more effectively. Both President and Sister Jolliffe are excellent teachers, and gave us wonderful advice in teaching to the needs of those we teach and how to use the scriptures more effectively.
We once again stayed with the Venables. Sister Hoagland took this from the Venables patio Wednesday morning. We were home alone with Sister Venables most of the evening as the father and son had cub scouts and their daughter is in a community play, "Annie." Ashley is very small for her age (11 this month) but reads above their testing chart.

Visiting alone with Sister Venables, we were able to learn more about her family. She was raised in her early years in South Africa. They moved to England where her father was a very successful business man. She had her own horses, etc. She spoke of her mother's death after she was married and a very interesting story about her father's remarriage to her mothers good friend. This women had been in an abusive marriage and they had assisted her in leaving her husband and helping her move to England, where they had provided her with a home to live in. The arrangements had been made prior to Sister Venables mothers passing, and her father had carried out the plan following hear death. Eventually they returned to South Africa, where they are trying to establish a new business.
Friday was my birthday and our seminary students came over for cake and ice cream. Because their parents were busy, Moni brought little LouAnn with them. She is a delight, but for some reason was not interested in ice cream and cake this evening.
We were pleased that the Elders were able to stop by for their share of the cake & ice cream. That is Toupo hiding behind the comforter in the left back. Sione is also camera shy as seen here and in the following picture.
On the left you can see our family pictures and also our heat source. It costs about 90.00 to 100.00 a month to heat our kitchen and living area. We do not heat the bedrooms or bathroom. Energy is very expensive here. The LPG fuel heats us up faster in the morning and is less expensive.
With me here is Tim (Peki) who was being the typical teen listening to his ipod and texting most of the time. That is our entertainment center behind us. A very small tv and the scriptures. We use the cd player for our seminary video lessons.