Sometimes You Just Have to Laugh

Recently we have added to our list of responsibilities the job of apartment inspections. We are always amazed at the crazy things we find. Missionaries, and especially the Elders, have very creative ideas for how to fix things.
One companionship turned their apartment into what looked like a spiders web. They had clothes lines strung from door hinges crisscrossing down their hall and into their front room. Why? They needed somewhere to dry their clothes as they don't sell dryers here. But I guess they never noticed the clothes racks you can buy in about every store on the island.
Another apartment thought this lovely fan was in no way an electrical or fire hazard. There was no casing on the back where the wiring was and no cage around the blade and the cord was frayed. All we could do is roll our eyes when they said, but it still works, Brother Mathews. Sigh.

This was choice. The shower head in this shower shot water out sideways getting it all over the bathroom. To remedy the problem the Elders took an old water bottle and attached it around the shower head. The water didn't go everywhere but it just trickled down in one spot. It had been like this for over a YEAR! They were amazed it took roughly $6 to replace the shower head and for them to have a normal shower again. Sigh.

And notice the shower curtain. They had it hanging on about 7 shower curtain rings at the top. Why? To make it longer. It took me two minutes to buy a shower curtain in the appropriate length. Again they were amazed. They had no idea shower curtains come in different sizes.

And not to pick on the Elders exclusively. There were two sisters who very timidly come in to say, "We don't want to complain or be a burden, but our toilet seat is cracked. And well ... it ... pinches us when we seat down. Can we get is fixed?" That was an $8 fix and a really good laugh.
But the one that took the prize was from an Elder who called, from a very remote island, to tell us they bought a full gas tank for their stove two days again and its empty now. He asked two questions. "Do you think we have a leak?" AND "Do you think we should be worried about it?" REALLY?! It is a good thing they sleep with all the windows open here. And to ease your worries, we have finally received CO Alarms for every apartment!