Getting settled

Just got this update from Jon:

"Now that the convoy with all our gear has arrived, I've got started on the NLT Chronological One Year Bible--I plain didn't have room in my "overnight" (which really had to cover six nights) bag for it.

Progress here continues at an almost astronomical rate, a couple of days ago there were ZERO incidents in the whole province over a 24 hour period. Yes, this is probably an anomaly, but the truth is that the people of the United States can be proud of the job our Service men and women are doing here.

I received my first snail mail exactly seven days after I left the States, a post card mailed by Sheryl and Joshua the day I left California! By mid February I should be assigned permanent billeting [housing], after which it will be a little easier to establish a routine (I will no longer be "living out of a suitcase")--which I find is the most contributing factor to my ability to practice discipline.

The weather here is about ten degrees colder than I remember it being during the same season in 2006, but given the indoors nature of my job and the reality that thin-blooded Californians have no credibility when it comes to their perception of what is cold, I will not complain about it...

Thanks for your prayers and support, I have as yet escaped the CRUD that typically accompanies arrival in country AND the bug that is going the rounds even among those that have been here for several months."

That's all for now.

Sheryl