Missionary Monday

We got to talk to our missionary on Christmas Day for about 45 minutes. It was soo great! It was 8am for us and 5pm for him. We had a little trouble getting through at first. I'VE never made an international phone call before. I finally got desperate and got help from the operator. He loved his digital picture frame. He told us that monkeys there are kinda like pigeons here - plentiful and annoying. Wouldn't THAT be wierd to have monkeys instead of pigeons? He said that some of the missionaries apartments have been broken into and things stolen - by the monkeys. He told us that the church house is a beautiful brick building with fancy bars on the windows. I wonder if that's to keep the monkeys out? The Branch has plenty of members, so he doesn't get to teach priesthood anymore. He misses that. He's staying in a house with 3 other missionaries, one from Kenya, one from Uganda and his companion from Virginia. They have a car instead of bicycles. Heather asked him what kinds of things they do on their p-days. He said they mostly play sports. He said his soccer skills have improved. He's realized that if he doesn't touch the ball his team does better. They went to another Nature Preserve. At one point during the jeep tour he needed to get out (to you know) and went behind a bush and found himself within about 20 yards of a rhino. It's a good thing they are mostly blind. I would have had an accident. Nathan asked him if he'd eaten slugs or anything wierd like that. He said he hasn't gotten that brave yet, but the people don't really eat like that anyway. They eat mostly rice and chicken and beans. I asked him about the night sky. He said he's figured out how to locate the Southern Cross. It's summer there now and Sis. Mann has some really pretty pictures on her website. Check it out.