Interesting Humanitarian Project. . . .

As we visit with the Humanitarian couples we find they are supplying wheel chairs, putting in water systems, portable baptismal fonts, etc., but the other day we chatted with a couple who were doing what I thought was quite a unique project. They had learned that in Swaziland and other remote areas the young girls were missing a week of school each month due to their periods. They had no money to buy menstrual pads, and often their villages have no stores to even supply them with pads, so they would just stay home for that week. They decided to have them make their own washable pads so that they could continue to go to school and not miss a week every month. They have bought them 70 hand crank sewing machines, dark cloth, thread, scissors, elastic, pins, etc. They asked for hand crank machines because they have to buy their electricity on a card just as many buy air time on their cell phones. They didn't want to use up their electricity in this way so preferred to hand turn the machines.

I wonder if we have any clue just how very blessed we are. I have certainly come to appreciate so many things more than I ever did before. We are very blessed to have heating and cooling here in our apartment. None of the other couples have that blessing. They have to buy little space heaters for the winter and fans for the summer. They wear warm hats, socks, and thermals to bed in the winter.

The Church is helping so many, many people here in South Africa. It's heartwarming to hear all the wonderful stories.

The Callahans recently had an interesting experience. The Odhiambo family came with a Temple trip group from Kenya to receive their endowments and be sealed to their families. Elvince, their son, became critically ill with TB Meningitis so they were not able to be sealed at that time. It was a blessing that he was here in Johannesburg for he most likely would have died in Kenya. Tom put him in the hospital and later took care of him at home for almost two months. Through many miracles, he made a complete recovery and was able to be sealed to his family.

This family lives in a mud hut with no electricity, no indoor plumbing, or no running clean water. They often eat only one meal a day of some sort of mush. They have to walk 1 1/2 hours one way, every day, to get water and then they have to fill their containers, which they carry on their heads, from a crocodile and hippo infested lake. In spite of all this, they are very happy and a very grateful people. Their testimonies of the gospel are amazing. They are so thankful for the miracle of their son's life and they know it is all because of coming to the Temple.

Tom and Janifer treated them so great while they were here. They were able to put them in an apartment next to them. They took them out to dinner, to lunch, to the movies, etc. Things they had never had the opportunity to experience. Tom and Janifer, along with the Odhiambo family, will never be quite the same again.