Letter from Josh 3 July 2010

Hey family!

This week was an interesting one. The Broadbents got here Tuesday night and then the Taylors left thursday night. a bit weird to have a new mission president, but i like the broadbents a lot. Wednesday and Thursday were weird cause we had both mission presidents, and because the pressure wasn't totally on pres broadbent yet he was just making everything a joke and playing around and stuff. it was quite hilarious and i think the missionaries will be able to relate to him better then they did to pres Taylor. Pres Taylor is a work horse, he is always going and doing and while he does make jokes, his humor is a lot harder to pick up on, especially for the Africans that don't understand farming and western terms. Pres Broadbents humor is pretty blunt and in the open.
Elder Thornton and i thought that Pres Taylor was going to fill Pres Broadbent in on most things since they had 2 days instead of just one, but we still had a 6 hour meeting with pres broadbent yesterday talking about all sorts of stuff and later today we will probably be driving them around Nairobi showing them the missionaries flats while we talk more. i didnt realize how much you learn along the way and just pick up as you go in the field, when you train a new missionary you just kind of let them mission structure and orginization on their own as time goes by, but here Pres Broadbent needs to know all of that as soon as possible. I am very impressed with pres broadbent though. both he and his wife. they have a wonderful attitude toward everything. and president braodbent keeps saying "we WILL get that done" or "we WILL fix that." and the thing about it is, i believe him. many people i would probably just say in my head "that's what you think but you don't now the obstacles in the way yet." but not with him. i believe it and i am excited to see it happen. I am very excited to be around him and to learn from him these next few months.
one thing that i am excited for though is that the broadbents want elder Thornton and i to go with them to Tanzania for the zone conferences there. it will be great to see arusha again and the people there. we will probably do exchanges with those zone leaders while we are there, but that also depends on whether we just make it a day trip or if we stay two or three days, we will have to see.
The day the Taylors left we were busy orienting a new missionary that came in about a week early and then driving him out to his new area. which went well, but we didnt see the taylors all day because of it and i wasn't able to get a picture with them because of it. i have one from earlier in my mission so its not super horrible, but i wanted one with the taylors on one side and the broadbents on the other side of me, and that didnt work out.
this next week will be crazy. its transfer week so we will have to get everybody to and from where they need to go. but on top of that, we will now be going to Dar es Salaam for the zone conference there. which means we have to get transfers done by thursday morning instead of saturday like normal. it will be pretty hectic, but somehow it will work out. mstly because it has to.
anyways, i love you guys!!!!! i hope you have a great week and enjoy the pool for me!!
Love,
Elder Harris
hey, i forgot to tell you. but i spoke with the broadbents about you guys coming to pick me up and they said it was fine. and as i have thought about t the last while, i would like for you to come get me as well. just understand that we wont be visiting very many of the people that i have taught. while it would be great for you, it would be a very big burden to them, because they would spend a lot of time and money that they dont have cooking for you, and there is no use in telling them just not to cook, i know what there answer will be and it would be something like this "it is our culture to feed our guests and we will be very offended if you dont eat anything." and the truth is that they would be offended. there are a few that we might be able to see, but not many. but mostly i want you to come because i dont know what to tell you guys about my mission, and i dont think a lot of what i would say would make sense without seeing it. so i figure if you come then you can ask whatever questions you like and i will be able to not only explain but show you the answers. i love you guys! have a great week!
Elder Harris