Ethiopia PA Council

We just returned from Ethiopia. We trained the PA council there, two of them have been members of the Church for less than a year. We also met  the couple missionaries (the Wilkes and  the Himles) serving there. We visited the Alert Leper’s Hospital Craft store. The people who have recovered from Leprosy make things to sell there. They sit on the ground and spin yarn, weave cloth, crochet, embroidery, make mats and other craft items. It’s amazing to see them working, many without fingers. This time I asked about taking pictures and they said it was fine because I bought some of their crafts. I was able to get a few pictures before my camera’s battery died. I usually check it so carefully before we travel to make sure it is fully charged. I forgot this time.

The focus of our mission is not on baptizing but we had the opportunity to teach Robert Osiemo Mose and Elder Luke was privileged to baptize him on February 14 and then confirm him a member of the Church on Sunday. It was a wonderful experience and sure to be a highlight of our mission.

Robert works on the janitorial staff at the Church offices at Upperhill. He is married but his wife and children have been staying “up country” helping his mother with her small farm. He is planning to go get them in March and then they will start learning the gospel too. He is looking forward to be able baptize them.  

Kenya National Public Affairs Council

We were able to complete two trainings, the first one for the Kenya National Council in Nairobi. We had a great workshop with them. They are all in the picture above.
The next one was in the Chyulu District. We trained three men there to serve on the Chyulu District Council. We spent two days with them. We are all in this picture.

We have had a  busy week and a half. On Wednesday we went to Dar es  Salaam and trained the new Tanzania Public Affairs Council. On the way there we flew over Mt. Kilimanjaro. We were able to also spend some time with the Elder and Sister Kenyon and Elder and Sister Jensen. We all drove out to the beach on the Indian Ocean, which required riding on the “scary” ferry. They squeeze on about 15 cars and 500 people. The scary part is trying to drive off the ferry without running over any of the people.  At the beach we watched a bus load of little children come, all wearing their school uniforms. Then they changed into swimsuits, and their teachers took them out to the water. It was fun watching them run and scream as the waves splashed them. We got home on Saturday, attended Church on Sunday and got in a day at the office on Monday and then headed to Johannesburg, South Africa to meet with our new International Directors of Public Affairs for Southeast Africa, Elder and Sister Jackson. We exchanged ideas with them and learned a lot. We also made lots of plans for next year. We spent one afternoon touring around Johannesburg and even got to briefly visit some parks and see the rare white lions, but best of all we finally got to see a meerkat  (Timon from the movie Lion King). He looked and acted just like Timon did. We even got to do a session at the Johannesburg temple Friday morning before we flew home, which really was the highlight of the trip.  

From Sandy and MA dancing with Masaai

From Elder Luke dancing

I have tried for several weeks, when I had time, to figure out how to put a video on the blog. I think I may have succeeded. Here is some of the best Masaai Dancers you will ever see, and some are just beginners. Bet you can’t tell who they are! We needed to be very careful where we stepped because at night the Masaai people bring all their cattle into the middle of their homes to keep them safe from preditors. Sandy and Sister Luke were not so careful and so they had to put their shoes in plastic bags so they wouldn’t  smell up the little tiny plane we flew in to get home. We had lots of fun site seeing with Lynn and Sandy. Sandy gets the Super Tourist Award for being such a good sport about flying in little single engine planes over Africa.

      We have seen ladders being used like this around Kenya several times, but this was the first time I could get a good picture. They were painting. The Church, the chapel and classrooms are on the upper level and the mission offices on the lower level. In order to get up high enough they had to tie three ladders together. Remember these are professionals and…….

Caution: Do not try this at home! 

This last week was great. Jeremy and Hunter came to visit us. We had a great time showing them around Kenya. Since coming back from the airport had such bad traffic we took a detour through Nairobi National Park and spent the day there looking for African Animals. We saw lots of rhinos, but no lions. The next day we went the elephant orphanage. (Jeremy and Hunter had seen a discovery channel special about the orphanage and they got to see Shimba, one of the elephants they had learned about.)  Next we went to the Giraffe center.  I didn’t kiss the giraffe this time but Jeremy did. We also went to the Kazuri bead factory, then across town to the Friday Maasai Market. We ate dinner at the Village market and that night I got sick. I think I must be allergic to giraffes because last time I went there I got sick, too. The next day we decided to take a day trip to Nakuru National Park. They are famous for all the rhinos, I wasn’t feeling to well but went anyway. I didn’t want to miss any time with the Jeremy and Hunter. We saw lots of animals including rhinos and a leopard, but still no lions.  We stayed a little too long and had to drive part way home in the dark. That was a terrifying experience for Jeremy as some  people don’t drive with lights on and they pass at crazy times and it is just scary. On Sunday we went to church in the Ruruta Ward. Dad and I have been teaching a temple preparation class there. I went to primary with Hunter. We found out that kids are about the same everywhere. There is always at least one that misbehaves. Hunter handed out sweets and made all kinds of friends. On Monday we traveled north to a game preserve called Sweet Water. We stayed at the Serena tented camp there and saw elephants and a Greevys zebra. Still no lions. On our way home we went into Mt Kenya national park. It started to rain and we didn’t want to be on the slick muddy mountain roads in the rain so we left. We never did see Mt Kenya except for a faint outline of it from a distance. It was always covered with clouds.

On Wednesday we visited an orphanage for children. Hillary had collected shoes and books and made cloth balls to give to the children. The orphanage was for abandoned babies and they are put up for adoption. The balls were just right for the toddlers, they were playing with balloons. (Not the safest toy) Hunter got into the pen with the babies and handed out the balls. I got in and played with them for a few minutes.  They also had babies that were just a few months old and some children that were preschool age. We also took them out some supplies that we purchased here such as soap, bleach, maize flour, baby cereal, cooking oil, etc.  Next we visited the animal orphanage at Nairobi National park. There we got to see many animals and even pet full grown cheetahs. On Thursday we flew to the Maasai Mara. We stayed in a tented camp called Intrepids. We went on Safari with our guide Rueben. This time we saw lions every time went out, along with Cheetahs, leopards and all the other animals in the Mara. We even had a monitor lizard right by our tent. It was about 5 feet long. On Sunday we went to Church and Hunter got to see all the friends he had made the previous Sunday. That night Jeremy and Hunter flew home. It was great to see them. Hunter offered to stay with us but when we took him up on the offer he backed out. I think he was trying to make us not feel so bad about them leaving. We were sure glad they came to see us.