Week 11

Elder and Sister Blattman’s Missionary Weekly Journal
March 13-19, 2011

Sunday, we spoke in sacrament meeting in the inner-city ward, named the ‘Independence Ward.’ The name probably derives from the historic area, Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell and Independence Mall, but it might also reflect the independent nature of the people. There are certainly a lot of distinct individuals. I guess you’ve got to be tough to be a church member in a war-torn area. The crazy guy who calls himself the ‘ward president’ wasn’t there to tell everyone to sit down and be quiet, but all were fairly reverent even without his coercion.
Tuesday we went to Valley Forge with our director for CES as part of our ‘cultural excursions’. He is very thoughtful and kind to us. (no photos yet) We went to the home that George Washington rented for his headquarters and saw the area of encampment. It is a beautiful park with open areas, deer, walking paths, monuments, etc. We plan to go back and get more detail now that we’ve figured out how to get there. We are close to many of important historic sites but it isn’t like Nevada where you can see it for 40 miles away or you are on the only road in the valley and know it will get you there.
Salt Lake City has LDS chapels almost on every block. Jenkintown, PA, has Jewish synagogues at about the same frequency. There are two stores in town that exclusively sell Jewish items. The grocery store has displays of foods for Passover. Libraries and bookstores have tables with books about Jewish traditions. It is all very interesting but also very complicated. The synagogue across the street from our apartment has a museum associated with it. We’ll have to check it out.
Good news this week: Our apartment building will have air conditioning. We are told that they shut off the boilers for hot water to the radiators and switch over to cold water pumped through the system. I’ve never heard of such a thing. It is especially nice in that we won’t have to pay extra utilities for the AC.

Checkers = chicken, Liberty Man = taxi advertisement