Five countries in five days!

Some of you may or may not know that I am now in Lesotho in Southern Africa. I have been here since May 11th.

I spent some time considering whether to start a new blog to write about my experiences while I am here. After some intense deliberation within myself, I have decided against it. I am quite busy (and have limited internet access) so I will not have time for my regular blog posts until I return. Also I didn't want to go through the process of creating a new blog and inviting people to follow it once more. So I plan to post weekly for the next three months or so on my experiences in Africa. After that it will be back to my normal blog posts.

If you want to receive these weekly updates by email, please email me at jeremy.andrew.moore@gmail.com.

This has been a very eventful week and a half. I will tell you all about it.

On Monday May 7th, I left Phoenix at 7 or so in the evening. I arrived in London sometime in the late morning. It was an uneventful flight, other than the lady next to me spilling wine on my only white t-shirt. Once I arrived in London I acted fast, leaving the airport and taking the express train to Paddington station. For the next four and a half hours, I walked from Paddington station towards Buckingham Palace and Big Ben. It was a marvelous experience. I walked through some residential areas (as residential as London can be, I suppose) and trekked through a lot of downtown London. There were SO many people. It was worse than Johannesburg in some areas. The variety of people was also quite impressive. Areas of note were Hyde Park (where I watched some horseback riders), St. James Park (where I observed the great variety of waterfowl), and the Guard's training area (where I saw the Queen's guards train and listened to the band). All of those I saw on my way wandering around as I worked my way towards Buckingham Palace. It is a very cool building, as are the surrounding monuments and the gold adorned gate surrounding it. Next I went to Big Ben and Westminster Abbey, where I had someone take my picture with the big clock. My time was short and I walked so far and so quickly that I feared I would have blisters. I nearly ran to the subway station. As I waited in line to buy a ticket, I listened to the white couple behind me speaking to each other. Their accent seemed out of place, yet familiar, so I asked them where they were from. Turns out they were South African! (Okay, she was Kenyan, and he was South African, but they raised their family in South Africa.) Now they live in the British Virgin Islands, and they were on vacation in London. I told them I was on my way to Johannesburg, and we talked about the RSA for a while. It was nice to meet them. I took the subway and then the express train back to the airport, got through security very easily, and then literally had to run to get on my plane (I was one of the last two to board).

The flight to Johannesburg was again uneventful (Except for when I spilled my full cup of water in my lap. Yeah, that was fun). I arrived at 6 a.m. and snatched a taxi to the taxi rink downtown. I had plans to see my friend in Swaziland and watch the BYU Young Ambassadors that night (they just happened to be performing in Mbabane that same day). It was interesting taking the first two taxis. The first one from the airport was a small taxi cab (the kind we are used to in America). I had to pay by the kilometer, and there was a meter keeping track. It cost R12.50 per kilo, and ended up costing me R311 (somewhere over $40). The drive was about 30 minutes long. In contrast, the taxi I took from Joburg to Mbabane, (a sprinter van!) took me four and a half hours to Swaziland and cost me R190. It was a very full taxi, with a total of 23 persons.

Swaziland was great. It is a beautiful country. Very green and wet, with rolling hills. The taxi dropped me off in the middle of town with my luggage and absolutely no idea of how to find either my friend or the performance venue that I needed to be at. I asked around until I found an internet cafe and sent a Facebook message to Manqoba Shongwe, (one of the Elder's I served with in Joburg) which he responded to about an hour later. He came and met me, and then we took a taxi to the King's Spa and Convention Center. There we met Jordan Roper, another Elder I served with on my mission. He is playing piano with the Young Ambassador's band. MANY church members from Swaziland came for the production. The performance was awesome, and the highlight was when they did a local song in the native language. Their pronunciation was great, and the style was just like they do here in Africa. Everyone in the audience was going nuts! Afterwards they greeted the audience, which was really great. I stayed that night with the Shongwe family, where I met Manqoba's sisters, brothers, and parents. He has a very large family. They were VERY accommodating and enjoyable to be around. Their property was neat. They have a rather large home, though it is in various states of completion. They also have a few fish ponds, cows, and chickens. Quite a neat place, really. The next morning I caught a taxi back to Joburg, and then another taxi to Lesotho. That was a taxi total of almost 10 hours. I arrived in Lesotho Friday morning (midnight). In the course of five days, I had visited five countries (USA, UK, RSA, Swaziland, Lesotho) and spent a total of over 35 hours in a taxi or plane (not to count the numerous hours spent waiting at the taxi rink or airports).

Now for my experiences so far in Lesotho. When I arrived, Ntate Moorosi (the father of the family I am staying with) picked me up at the border and drove me to the village Ha Matala where I will be staying until mid-August. After sleeping for a few hours, I woke to find that my young friend Katleho (six years old) had already gone to school. Mme Moorosi was at work, but Ntate Moorosi was still there as was their young one Gayla and their worker. As is common in Lesotho and South Africa, the Moorosi's hire someone that helps with the cooking, cleaning, and childcare. She also eats and sleeps at the home. The Moorosi's worker is called Selingi.

Staying at the Moorosi's is such a blessing to me. They have a car, which is very uncommon here. They always want me to use the car if I need to go anywhere, and they give me rides to work and to church (where we all go together). Also I pack a lunch to take to work, and I come home to find dinner prepared for me by Selingi. Also Mme and Selingi do all of the laundry, so I haven't even washed anything yet. To all of their kindness I owe them so much. It is a great blessing to me, and is allowing me to focus on my studies and my internship.

My first day back at church was amazing. It was so good to be in the Masianokeng Branch again. I served there as President and then second counselor of the congregation in 2008-2009. It was the longest I lived in an individual area on my mission; I stayed nearly 8 months. I don't know if someone didn't show up to speak, or if Ntate Moorosi just planned on having me speak and didn't tell me... but I spoke for about 10 minutes in the meeting. It was a great opportunity, and the members were so happy to see me. I was likewise so overjoyed to be reunited with them. There are a lot of people in these surrounding villages that are so special to me. It was great to see people that I met with that are still coming to church. I also was pleased to hear that a man we taught in 2008 has recently been baptized. His name is Khobatha. I told the Moorosi's that I used to meet with him and they were surprised because he hadn't come to church until last year. It was just so nice to be there, and I know I will enjoy the company of these saints for the next three months.

Another note about church--the Masianokeng Branch used to rent a small space from Itjareng Vocational Training Centre (the place I am now doing my internship). In May the branch finally started meeting in their new location, a set of six trailers that are set on the property that I helped select for purchase in 2008. The trailers are semi-permanent; they will stay at least until the congregation exceeds 100 on average, at which point they will build a permanent structure. They do, however, have plumbing, electricity, a kitchen, bathroom, and a baptismal font (all of those things are a big deal here).

Now on to my internship-- I started work on Monday. I am mostly working with Mme Pascalina Letsau, the extension officer for Itjareng. Itjareng (or IVTC) is basically a training ground for physically and mentally handicapped people of all ages to learn vocational skills and become self reliant. There are seven main courses: computer literacy, sign language, metalwork, leatherwork, carpentry, sewing, and agriculture. Each trainee takes computer literacy, sign language, and agriculture, and then opts for one of the remaining courses as an emphasis. On Monday I was introduced to each of the teachers, went to a training meeting on the upcoming elections, and met with the director of IVTC.

At the meeting for the elections, some people came to teach the students how to vote (elections are on the 26th of this month). I was nodding off the whole time as I was so tired and the whole meting was in Sesotho. After the meeting, Mme Pascalina introduced me to all of the trainees and told them my name. Then she asked them what my Sesotho name should be. They suggested two, Thuso and Lebohang, and then voted. I am now called Thuso (pronounced Two-so) which means help. They selected it because of its meaning and the purpose for my coming--to help Itjareng.

In my meeting with the director we discussed what I can do to be helpful to the centre. I will be doing many things including traveling to follow up on past trainees, working in the classrooms, records keeping, technology upgrades, finances, and budgeting. My work will largely be with Mme Pascalina, who is in charge of doing the records and follow up visits. She also does trainings in far flung villages on HIV/AIDS which I will likely participate in.

Well that is all the time I have for now. I am doing very well, I am happy, and I feel very blessed. Thank you for your love, support, and prayers.


Until next week,

Sala Le Molimo (stay with God)

offensive

what do you find offensive?

i am learning that people take offense at many different things. i don't get offended by hardly anything. if i can think of a plausible reason why someone is doing something, and i don't think that they are trying to offend me, i don't get offended. i can still be unhappy or something, but offense is different.

i suppose that offenses are as diverse as people are.

to some, burning the flag is a demonstration of freedom of speech. to others it is highly offensive.
to some, pornography is a form of entertainment. to others it is highly offensive.
to some, foul language is not foul, but the norm. to others it is highly offensive.
to some, violence is enjoyable, even 'awesome.' to others it is highly offensive.

it is easy to judge others when they do something or enjoy something that we find offensive. and in our opinion, they deserve that judgment. but do we (and should we) consider the motivations behind a person's actions?

i am a sensitive person. in some ways. like everyone else, i have my own set of things that do not bother me and things that offend me. i remember talking one day to a couple of sergeants in the army. as they talked, they incorporated several colorful words into their discussion. this made me a little uncomfortable, and they noticed. one of the sergeants said, 'moore, do you not like it when we cuss?' i told them that i didn't prefer it. one of them apologized immediately. the other said, 'why does it bother you? i understand how it can bother you if i'm yelling at you and cussing, but i was just talking to my friend here.' it was an interesting experience. i think they both did well. the first, with no desire to offend, promptly apologized for doing something i didn't like. the second was less understanding, but he also recognized that there were circumstances whereby his language could be offensive. he was also willing to ask me for clarification to see why it bothered me.

in a similar circumstance while at basic training, the whole company was standing in a formation as a sergeant briefed us with our nightly briefing. at one point he said, 'you are all men, so i want to talk to you like men. is there anyone here that is upset with my language?' i raised my hand, and several soldiers in my platoon called out, 'moore doesn't like it.' they knew me well. the sergeant was surprised. he hadn't expected any response. he asked me if i was religious, and i told him i was. he asked me whether Jesus would be offended with his language, and told me that from his understanding of the Bible, Jesus was always with sinners and with rough crowds. he asked if i thought i was any better than Jesus. interesting question... i don't see how that applied, since i was always with sinners and rough crowds. i told him that Jesus was with those people but he didn't condone their behavior. he was always encouraging people to be better. he asked me why i was offended by language, and i explained to him (in front of the entire formation) that i tried to keep myself a clean vessel where the Holy Spirit could reside. language is just one of many things that can offend the Spirit, and i wanted to keep myself as close to God as I could. he was baffled, but he had run out of arguments, and proceeded with the briefing.

being in the Army has taught me a lot about myself. in basic training i didn't want to be a prude, always being haughty and judgmental. but i also didn't want to participate in the same kind of conversation and behavior as the typical army guy. i wanted to be separate and apart from those things, being in the world but not of the world. i found that exposure to the evil in the world softened me to the Spirit. rather than becoming more hardened and accustomed to crudeness and vulgarity, i came to see these things as a way that i could be different. i have resolved not to use such language, not because it is the worst thing in the world, but because doing so keeps me strong and close to God. it is another way i set myself apart from the world. as Christians we are to be a "chosen generation, . . a peculiar people."

i think that it is important to consider the feelings of others in our everyday interactions. things that are no big deal to us may offend others. things that offend us may be very unimportant to others. the key is to respect others. as you do, others will want to respect you.

dating difficulties

as a semi-unsuccessful dater, i have discovered some problems with dating that i have been unable to find solutions for. these problems may be specific to lds people living in utah valley, though they could probably be applied in some limited or altered way to other situations.

what i am looking for: a lds girl who is (a) serious about her religion, (b) has goals and dreams, (c) thinks highly of herself and others, (d) takes care of herself spiritually and physically, and (e) has a good mix of intelligence, humor, and sobriety.

my situation: i am from a small town in arizona where there is one singles ward for two stakes. to people from the east, that sounds like a big mormon area, but to me it was normal; not big or small, just the way life was.

in my small town with its small ward, there are lots of opportunities to get to know each other. i love my little singles ward, and it is easy to know everyone. if i never left my hometown, i could have dated a girl in that ward and married. there were several attractive girls, and knowing all of them, it would have been fairly simple to narrow down my interests and choose between three or four girls (assuming they would choose me in return :)

since january 2010 i have lived in provo, where there are hundreds of singles wards and thousands of single women. it is hard to quantify exactly, but if you exclude all of uvu, and ignore all of the other singles outside of provo/orem area, i’m still looking at a lot of options. According to their website, byu has 32,947 full time students (2010). with 48% female, this gives me 15,815 female students. if we assume that an equal number of married students are female as are male (which is inaccurate, but close enough), we have 26% married, leaving me with 11,703. since i want a lds girl, i will further exclude the 1.5% nonmembers (again assuming that we have an equal number of male nonmembers as female nonmembers), leaving us with 11,527 single lds girls. now this is the extent of my statistics, because this is the info that byu actually records. that is a lot more than the three or four i was thinking of from my home ward in arizona.

if i wanted to get more specific i could make further assumptions, that are not at all grounded in statistics but are pure guesswork. out of the 11,527 single lds girls at byu, i could assume that 40% are engaged or dating someone exclusively (i’m trying to estimate high rather than low, but i really have no idea). now i guess i could go around trying to break people up, but that isn’t my thing, so i’m left with 6,916 girls. then if i wanted to be really extensive i could try to split this group down into subcategories; e.g., girls that go to the gym, girls that go to institute, girls that want to have a family, girls that have nunchuck skills, etc.

now lets make some assumptions about these 6,916 girls that are lds and actually single. we’re going to assume that they are serious about their religion. they should be, right? they are at a lds owned and operated school, and they have to regularly get endorsement from their ecclesiastical leader. we will also assume that they are at least moderately intelligent, because they should be--they are university students, and with a God-given mandate to seek knowledge (D&C 131:6, D&C 88:118). we should also be able to assume that girls at byu will be taking care of themselves. we have all been commanded to care for our bodies and our spirits. (For some great talks and info, see this talk by Boyd K Packer about the importance of the body, or this lesson on the Lord's commandments regarding health, or this info on personal testimony from Spencer W Kimball)

am i assuming too much? probably. but these are sound assumptions to make about byu students, because this is what is expected of us, male and female.

now all of this puts me in a quandry. and now i get to my point--as you increase the number of choices, the choice becomes increasingly hard to make. i find nearly all of these 6,916 girls attractive, and they all are (or should be) intelligent, goal-oriented, spiritual, incredible girls. so what do you do? i see only two options:

1. hang out with a whole lot of people until you find someone you like, then ask them out.
2. ask someone out without knowing whether you like them, and then evaluate your time with them.

let me discuss these options briefly:

1. if you hang out with a lot of people while trying to get to know them, you will find yourself having lots of acquaintances and few friends. you will also find so many impressive people that you will be unable to date them all. this leads to a constant state of wondering whether you have met the right (or best) person yet. if each girl is incredible, but each has her own faults (as we all do), it is hard to decide to pursue any specific individual. result: you keep looking forever, thus developing few lasting relationships, and never marrying.
2. if you ask someone out just because they are attractive, you will go on a lot of first dates that do not lead to second dates. this isn’t surprising, but it is a problem--if you don’t know someone well, you can only base your decision to ask them out on general, shallow appearance. is it bad to ask someone out because she is cute? no. but someone’s appearance has very little bearing on who they are, what their potential is, and what a relationship with them could be like. result: you waste time and money on lots of people that are not actually compatible with you. and since you are dating people you don’t know well, it never works out.

sorry for the bleak picture. i am not really that pessimistic, i promise. but this is how i feel. also i feel like you ought to be friends with someone before you date, and i think it is hard to move from friendship to relationship successfully.

now the positive note: the wonderful news is that it only has to work once. that should give us all hope. if every relationship you have ever had has failed, that is okay. dating teaches us who we are and what kind of person we want to be with. some of these dating failures we have experienced were necessary for us, and we should be grateful for them.

nevertheless, my questions remain: what do we do? how do you narrow it down? how do you know when you’ve found someone that is worth all of the time and attention i want to give to an eternal companion?

if you have ideas and opinions, comment below!

perspective

ever heard of perspective? it is that little thing that makes you see things differently than others. some decisions that seem easy to us can be incredibly difficult for someone else. we may see the world as something ugly, while another finds it beautiful. we may respond to situations in a completely different way than another person would. (see Alma 62:41)

i guess perspective is what gives people hope. although our circumstances may not always be under our control, each of us has control of the way we respond to difficulties around us. We can allow our difficulties to make us cranky, or we can respond with patience and humility.

the optimist and the pessimist are both self-made. the difference between the grouchy old man and the friendly grandpa is simply attitude.

at this point, i would like to insert a side note about how much i love africa. not the country, but the person. she makes my head go round and round. she is the peanut butter to my jelly and the flip to my flops. she had my heart at 'hello.' i knew it from the moment that we met. she's everything; she's a falling star, the get-away car, and the line in the sand when i go too far. so africa, tell me that we belong together. dress it up with the trappings of love. i'll be captivated. i'll hang from your lips. instead of the gallows of heartache that hang from above.

back to perspective.

the other day i was climbing the stairs at the Provo temple, trying to get up to the chapel in time for the session. i was kind of in a hurry, as i was running a bit late. an old man was struggling to get up the stairs and blocked most of the staircase. i was pretty impatient, and slipped past him quickly. he said 'hello' and gave me a smile as i ran by, and i muttered a lame 'hi' back at him. when we got to an endowment room, the old man was the last one inside (right behind me). he shuffled in, and i noticed that he was in pain--moving slowly and limping. before he sat, he gave me a big smile and extended his hand. we shook hands, and he thanked me for being at the temple. my opinion of him skyrocketed; his sense of perspective really uplifted me. that man could have been anywhere, sitting around and wasting away the last years of his life. he could have hated his body for the pain it caused him. he could have been cold and dour in his interactions with others. instead, he was at the temple, serving his fellow men and serving the Lord. He lifted my spirits with a smile, kind words, and a firm handshake. what a good man! in his pain and old age he did not shy away from living an active, happy lifestyle. he didn't even take the elevator.

i love the temple. it has such a powerful influence on my mood. as i go there every week my worries and difficulties melt away, and i find myself entirely at peace. just going to the temple grounds or looking at pictures of the temple helps me to feel the Spirit and want to be a little bit better. To check out some of the temples, click here.