It's a Jungle Out There, Sister!

When we lived in Bintulu, a new Elder was assigned who was from Indonesia: Elder Sugianto.

Yes, that's his companion: John Travolta! (Elder Wheelwright). One night we went literally out into the jungle to the darkest most primitive home I had been in... Inside, it did not get lighter, only darker. The two men in there spoke of their reliance and belief in witch doctors. They, themselves "looked the part"! I gingerly sat on the floor and monitored the walls and ceiling

for strange bugs, spiders, and large geckos. Elder Suga was "all eyes"! We kept looking at each other with expressions of disbelief and shock. As we left, he and I were the first ones out, he turned to me and said seriously, "It's a Jungle out here Sister. It's a Jungle!" Words that have since been engraven into our bones! Yes, lest we should ever forget: It IS a Jungle out here!

A Hot Steamy Jungle: When we get up in the morning; it is already 85 degrees hot. We say,"Wow, its cooled off today," if it should be 82. Yesterday afternoon as I began to cook in the kitchen, it was already 92 degrees inside.

I plan to discard most of our suitcases and bring Dad home in a bottle, as he will have totally melted by then. Hopefully, he will pass the 2 ounce liquid limit, or we will be missing some part of him! How will I know which part to pour out if He's over?

Jungle People: Last night we visited a member family. As we left, their next door neighbor was happily having his daily shower... I snapped a picture. Quickly he poured a bucket of water

over his head to rinse the soap, and smiled for a second shot!

Critters of the Jungle: We have seen and even eaten a little snake, pig's head, fish, fungus, water buffalo and many, many unknown other things. But, we live with ants. We have had to adjust; for there are ants between the glass top and the table... We watch them as we eat... Ants on the cupboard, in the cupboard, on the floor, in the drawers. Leave a scrap or a crumb out: result Ants. Ants in the cereal...and we squish them off our plates, and brush them out of our food as a matter of routine.

At night, we each take a glass of water to our bedroom to brush teeth and and have a drink during the night as the bedroom is very warm. Dad would say, unbearably hot. Recently, the past couple of weeks, I began noting that there were ants all over my wash basin in the mornings...little blond ants. This a.m., I looked at my water a little closer: swimming with cleverly camoflaged, blond ants! It appears that along with my nightly, thirsty drink, I have drank a fair portion of ants!

I dream of cold, clean,clear, refreshing, Teton Valley water!

Lesson learned: I was warned! "Remember, Sister, It's a Jungle out there!"