Our first day off.  We were to have had a Welfare Services meeting today but as they are expecting the first influx of 18 year old missionaries next week, they are now longer able to accommodate the senior missionaries at the MTC.  We will have to relocate to one of the stake centres.  And weep for us.  They didn't even have space for us to stay at the MTC.  We had to suffer with accommodation at the Marriott.  The things we suffer for the kingdom!  We have been in a "District", a group of eight where we have done all sorts of role play in learning to teach.  It is beginning to be cold here and may even snow today.  We are glad that we are not leaving today.  Several in our district are going to places that I was frankly afraid to go:  Uganda and Albania, and (not so much) Hong Kong.  They have long plane rides to look forward to and, some of them, malaria pills to take.  The ones in Uganda will look forward to boiling their water and washing their food in bleach for 18 months.  They all say they envy us our assignment.

Next week we are going to Welfare Square and will probably be following the "Humanitarian" training as we have already toured a couple of Bishop's Storehouses.  They don't quite know what to do with us as we are neither fish nor fowl.  Normally managers of Bishop's Storehouses are called from within the adjacent district so we are peculiar (as if you didn't already know that).