Guests in Kampala

Sunday Pictures

Mercy wanted to get some pictures of us after church so we took a few of them on the veranda.  Faith, Mercy's mother took the photos.  It's funny because when we ask someone to take our picture they don't take one, they take SEVERAL!  Lots of times we'll get our phone back with no less than eight of the same picture.  It's quite funny actually:)  We just have to go in and erase ALL the ones we don't need.

When Mirembe saw that we were taking pictures she had to get in on it.  She had her hair plaited recently and it looks really good!  President Etiang has asked Teddy, one of our converts, to help Mirembe with her English.   She is really coming along.  She is learning sentences and is understanding quite a bit.  She'll be out on her mission before we know it!:)

So this picture tells a story.  About 6 weeks ago, Joel, one of our investigators asked if he could carve something for us.  We have had a few people make some of their artwork for us.....carvings, a painting, etc.....to take home with us.  Elder Phelps thought maybe Joel could make us a small chimpanzee.  Joel asked for a picture to go off of and we found one on the internet.  Well, long story short....after church Joel walked up to us after church with this monster!  I caught Rick's eye and he winked and I smiled.  Oh boy!  I thought, "There is NO WAY are we getting that thing home!"    I think we'll find a nice place for it right here in Mbale:)

After church we got Mercy and Francis and started our long drive to Kampala.  This week was their turn to come to the big city to get their doctor's visits in.  We thought they might need to stay overnight so they came prepared for that.  The big surprise was that they weren't going to be able to get finished until Thursday!  I was totally fine with that.  I love having our friends around! 

On Monday night Rick made up some popcorn and we all sat around my laptop watching "The Other Side of Heaven".  They loved it.  I loved watching Frances' silly little grin as he watched the show.  He said afterwards.  "That show was powerful! I'm going to think about it

 when I am on my mission and it will bring me strength." 

On the trip to Kampala Mercy mentioned, " It is difficult when the missionaries that the Branch comes to know and love leave us."  She continued.... "Especially when we sing God Be with You 'Til We Meet Again" at church.  Everyone cries."  

In the movie when Elder Groberg leaves the island the people sing that song to him.  I thought about what Mercy had said the day before and I cried like a baby through that whole part.  That's going to be us in a few weeks.  We will be leaving and very likely not see many of our Mbale friends again.  

That's not easy to think about,

In the afternoon on Tuesday and Wednesday Mercy and Francis were able to spend time with the missionaries.  Mercy went with Sisters Kunene and Maqnele.  Francis went with the AP's, Elders Malaza and Grant.

They each were able to do some visiting and teaching.

Wednesday we wanted to celebrate Mercy's birthday which actually is on March 17th.  St. Patrick's Day!  We celebrated two days early.

We invited the Elders and Sisters to join us for the buffet at Protea hotel. We had a nice time eating and visiting and getting to know one another better.  Poor Mercy had two fillings done on her molars earlier in the day and so she was in a bit of pain.  She sure did enjoy the chocolate brownies though:)

It's interesting the things we first worlders take for granted.... simple things like knowing how to flush a toilet or to take a shower with running water.   Simple things that we don't think anything of is new to people who live in third world countries.  When we were at dinner Mercy needed some sugar for her juice because it was not sweetened.  After the waitress brought her a small package of sugar Mercy pointed to her glass and said to Elder Phelps "How do I get this in there?"  Elder Phelps had to explain that the sugar was inside the packet and she just needed to open it up and poor it into her drink:)  

Mercy is a smart person and is even college educated.  She just had never seen a small packet of sugar before.  For the Ugandans, sugar is a luxury indeed and if it is purchased it is done at the market where it comes in bulk and you buy it by the kilogram.  Different cultures.  Different worlds.  

                                              We had a nice evening!

Mercy and Francis got finished up with their appointments this morning so this afternoon they are on their way back to Mbale.  We sure enjoyed our time with them!

Traveling up North

Wednesday morning we started our drive up towards Gulu and Lira, the two cities where Rick had audits to finish up.  He was able to meet with both of the Gulu Branch Presidents yesterday and today he is meeting with the Lira Presidents.  

On our drive up North we saw signs for a Rhino sanctuary and thought we would see what that was about.  Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary is about 7 KM off of the main road.  It was started with the intent of bringing the rhinoceros back into Uganda.  The last one seen in Uganda was in 1983.  In the early 2000's they brought in two male from South Africa and two female from Disney Animal Park in Florida with the intent of having them repopulate here in Uganda.  They are up to 19 of them at this point in time.  When they get around forty rhinos they will transport 1/2 of them to Murchison Falls National Park and let them reside there while the other half will keep reproducing to be able to fill other National Parks as well.  The Park is 70 square kilometers and there are six different families.

As we got into the sanctuary we were able to secure a guide.  He looked at me in my skirt and flats and said, "Do you have better shoes for hiking?"  (......Oh, we are going hiking?  I thought we were just gonna see these things from the confines of our vehicle? )   It's a good thing I threw in a pair of jeans and my much used tennies.  I quickly changed into my pants and away we went.  We only drove about three Km and then parked the truck.  We headed off toward a small herd of Ugandan Kob (a type of antelope) and after about 10 minutes we saw our first rhinos.  We slowly got closer and closer until we were about 50 ft from them.  These animals are wild so I was nervous about getting too close but we didn't seem to bother them at all.  They are habituated to humans, so we were able to watch them and take all of the pictures we wanted for about an hour.  They were constantly grazing, so we followed them as they moved.  

Rhinos are interesting creatures.  They have HUGE heads and two horns on their snout.  The white rhino has a flat mouth whereas the black rhino has a pointed mouth.  That's how you tell the difference between the two.  No black ones here though..... they are all white.  

With us being able to see these Rhino we are now able to say that we have seen "The Big Five" here in Africa.  The Big Five are referred to as the five most difficult animals in Africa to hunt on foot.  They include:

1. African Lion

2.  African Elephant

3. Cape Buffalo

4. African Leopard

and 

5. The Rhinoceros

We feel very privileged to have been able to see them all!

Here are a few pictures of the rhinos (and us:)  Very cool!

At the sanctuary we saw a baby warthog that was rescued from a fire.  

We made it to Chobe that evening.  We stayed in Chobe back in December for our Couples Retreat.  It is about an hour and a half drive to Gulu and Lira but we decided to stay there because if there's any chance to see wildlife my husband is all over it!  Plus, it is beautifully situated on the Nile River.  

This is the view from our room:)

There were monkeys and warthogs running all around the grounds and of course, hippos in the water.

While Rick was off Thursday doing the audits I was able to spot this elephant from where I was having my lunch.  He walked right past the restaurant and I didn't even see him.  When I noticed he was walking by I watched him as he got to the pool area.  See those people standing on the pool deck?  The elephant was curious and walked right over to them and had his face just 6 feet from where they were standing.  I thought, "I better get down there and get some pictures!  It was a ways away and Mr. Elephant was on the move so by the time I got down all those stairs to the pool area he had already passed.  He was just standing there eating from a tree and all I could see was his behind so I didn't take any more pictures.  It was pretty cool though that he just mozied around the complex like it was his personal restaurant.  Haha.  I guess it is:)

Rick was able to get back early from his audits and he wanted to go on a game drive.  We got a guide to come with us and we went into the bush.  We again were able to park the car and go on foot to find the giraffes.  We found them, and they are such beautiful animals.  They were a little skiddish of us so we didn't get super close but I loved just watching them.  They move so gracefully.  I love to watch them run.  It's like they do it in slow motion.  Just really cool!  We saw about twenty of them.

This one was right close by the road.   We had gotten back in the car to go find some elephants....no luck there.  We stopped and watched her just eat the leaves off of the trees.  Giraffes have beautiful long eyelashes.  They are vey majestic!

After about an hour and a half Rick wanted to get back to the lodge to go for a swim.  He took this great panorama of the pool area and the Nile River as the sun was going down.  

We sure enjoyed our time there:)

Elder Phelps is finishing up the audits today in Lira and then hopefully we can get home to Mbale tonight!  

Life in Kampala

So this is our new normal.  We wake up, drive to the office and do office stuff!  It hasn't actually been as bad as we were anticipating.  We are both VERY green at what we are doing but there are others in the office who are giving us a hand at knowing how to accomplish our responsibilities.  

We started last Thursday with the outgoing couple Elder and Sister Bratsman teaching us of our responsibilities.  It was definitely a crash course!  They flew out that night and we showed up Monday morning full of faith that we could do what needed to be done.

Suzy, Sarah, Richard, Godfrey, and John are paid African employees that really know what they are doing.  I'm glad that they are there to help me:)  I'm slowly learning how to do things as I tinker on the computer and fiddle around on IMOS.  It also helps that there is a ten page instruction manual that I think I've read up to five times in completion.  I keep going back to reread the different responsibilities that I'm supposed to be working on for the next couple of weeks.

Yesterday I was able to mail 10 letters with pictures attached to either parents or Priesthood Leaders letting them know that their Elders/Sisters made it safely to the mission.  I felt pretty darn proud of myself for getting that done!  After our day ended Rick said,  "This isn't too bad......I kind of thought it was fun!!"  He's cute!  Everything is wonderful to him!

me at my desk

                               Rick being his goofy self trying to look busy:)

So one of the best things about living in Kampala is the wonderful restaurants.  I mean, just look at this food!!!!

I've decided that I'm not going to cook much while we are here.  I think it's fine to have a snack for lunch and then eat out for dinner:)

The BAD thing about living in Kampala is,.....hands down.......THE TRAFFIC!  

It takes us 45 minutes to get to the office just a few short Kilometers away.  Our GPS says it should take us five minutes to get there.  I am completely blown away by the driving in this place.  There is no way to properly explain it so I won't even try.  Have you ever driven in Rome???.......  Worse!  I never thought I would say that after driving in Rome.  (well, riding actually.  Rick was driving......)  But it is WORSE than Rome.  It is crazy the amount of people in this city.  

The office must be bringing us good luck!!.  Just today our Christmas package from Skylar and Sarah showed up!  Good thing it got here before we left for home.   How about those adorable grandchildren!  So beautiful!!  S & S also sent us some candied almonds, breath savers, hot cocoa mix, and a recording of their Christmas well wishes!!   It was a nice surprise for us!!  

Tomorrow morning we are driving up to the North and will be staying at Chobe Lodge.  It is located in Murchison Falls National Park. (where we went on our couples retreat back in December)  The accommodations are very nice and it is about an hour and a half drive to Gulu where Rick is going to do the two branch audits on Thursday.  Friday we drive to Lira for two more audits and then either overnight there or drive the three hours over to Mbale where we will be working for the weekend.

                           Off to bed!  Goodnight!!

Three Baptisms

It was a great weekend!  After Tricia's baptism on Saturday she was confirmed by Benard on Sunday during Sacrament Meeting.  She looks so happy!  She just had her hair plaited (she waited until after the baptism) and was just beautiful!  Radiant!  That's what the Gospel of Jesus Christ does to people.  It teaches us how to live and be happy!

After our block we got ready for three more baptisms!  There were MANY people who attend after the block to attend.  There was much joyous singing and testimonies shared:)  During the service we could here thunder and knew a storm was coming.  Well, it hit just as we went outside to witness the baptisms.  Luckily, the font is under the eaves of the church.  I snuck in right next to the font but everyone else either watched from the window inside or peeked around the corner to the font:)

Richard was the first to be baptized.  He had asked Francis to be the baptizer and the big joke between Richard and Sharifah was that because Francis is such a small person that he would have a hard time getting Richard out of the water.   Well, it just so happened that Francis DID have a hard time bringing him back out.  Richard grabbed the side of the font and helped to pull himself up:)

Sharifah was next and Rick was able to baptized her.  She was scared of going under the water and not being able to come back out but Elder Phelps reassured her and everything went well.

I just love this couple!  We met them through our gate guard Geoffrey (who was baptized in November).  Richard comes to collect our trash on Fridays and Geoffrey one day started talking to Richard about the church.  He let us know that Richard was interested in learning more and the rest is history!  

We began teaching the first few lessons on the porch of our home.  Mostly Francis and Geoffrey did the teaching because Sharifah speaks very little English and what she does understand is made even more difficult by our Mzungu accents.  So like I said Francis and Geoffrey did most to the teaching and we just bore our testimony toward the end of the lessons.

For the last three or four lessons we were invited into their humble little home.  It is located in Mooni, just up the road from our place at the base of Wanale Hill.  Their home is a concrete building that houses three different families.  Richard and Sharifah's place is about 9 feet by 13 feet.  There is a sheet hanging in the middle to section off their sleeping place from those who might be coming to visit.   Shari'ah does her cooking outside on a small charcoal burner.  Whenever we visited their place they always borrowed chairs from heir neighbors to accommodate us.  I will be honest and tell you that it was very difficult to sit through the lessons in their home.  Only because the heat was TERRIBLE!  It seems the lessons would drag on in a language that I couldn't understand and even some of the time I could feel myself nodding off.  Don't judge!  This is reality folks!  Put me in an environment like that in the late afternoon and it is 'supa' hard to stay awake!  Anyhow, their home is humble but they have a lot of love with each other and their two children, Tony and Ketra.  

The third baptism was of Michael.  Remember Faith's friend?  Well, Rick interviewed him on Saturday and was so pleased with Michaels readiness.  He loves the Book of Mormon and reads it a lot.  He says when he feels a temptation coming on he will read the B of M and gain strength.  Michael has had troubles with alcohol in the past and Faith has been such a wonderful influence on him.  According to Faith he has changed so much since she first met him.  The Gospel of Jesus Christ  does that.  It changes us for the better!  So happy that Michael was baptized.  He is a good man and will be a good member of the church!

                                     Our group with President Etiang on the left.

After the baptism and running home to pick up a few things we started off on the road to Kampala.  It was late in the day to be starting but that's what we had to work with.  We had Andrew Ochom join us.  Andrew is one of our prospective missionaries.  He needed to come back to Kampala to finish up his dental work.  I felt so bad for him on our trip.  I had packed a couple of pb&j sandwiches along with some carrots and cucumbers to eat on the road.  After about the first hour Andrew got car sick.  Poor thing!  With all of the speed bumps and potholes and stopping and going his stomach couldn't handle it.  He threw up about four times in the five hours on the road.  He would just roll his window down and vomit out the window.  Rick tried to pull over but that didn't work so well.  Anyway, needless to say we were all happy to roll into our new apartment where we could unwind after a long day.

Andrew ended up staying with us for two nights and left just this afternoon back to Kampala.  He is very close to having all of his papers ready to submit.  Isn't that great!!  Next week Mercy and Francis will be traveling back with us from Mbale to Kampala to get some of their needed immunizations and dr visits taken care of.  It feels good to be helping some of our prospective missionaries to be getting ready to turn their papers in.  We are most excited for Francis, of course.  I know that sounds biased but he is an awesome missionary and is VERY ready to serve a full time mission!

                                   Here is Andrew enjoying Rick's homemade popcorn!

So.... our apartment is doable.  I'm not in love with it because well, frankly nothing can compare to my "home" in Mbale!  It's on the third floor of a complex.  We have the Ntinda Elders and Sisters living on the first and second levels as well as The Towers, a missionary couple.  Elder Tower is a retired judge from CA and his helping mentor some here in the Judiciary Courts.  They have been here for 6?? months and are headed home in just a couple of weeks.

One thing I do love in our new place is THE BED!  It is very comfy.  There is even a small AC unit in the bedroom which we have been enjoying the last couple of nights.

When we first walked into the apartment there was brown standing water on the kitchen floor.  After cleaning up the mess (Rick is so good:)  he discovered that it was coming from the water heater and seeping underneath the cupboards.  Luckily, we were able to have someone come and take care of the problem today.  Life in Africa is always an adventure!!