GOODBYE 2016 HELLO 2017

These first two pictures are just some things I thought were funny.  It might be that you have to be here to appreciate so I'll include them just for me so I don't forget the craziness.  Everything is in a pretty random order mainly because I'm terrible on the computer and I get frustrated with the whole process.

DING DONGS GREEN SCHOOL.  I sure would like to know who Ding Dong is.   I'm not sure I would want my child at a school for Ding Dongs.

This is a pretty typical hair salon, in fact I would say that it is one of the better ones.  It's the pictures of the hair styles painted on the building that crack me up.  Once again, this might be just for my own benefit.

This little primary did a fantastic job on presenting the primary program.  Everyone of them had their parts memorized and they did several parts each.  They were very proud of themselves.  Those missionaries in the back.....photo bomb.

If you want to buy a coffin, this is the place to come.  It's just across the street from the hospital.  Does that tell you anything about what happens if you go to the hospital?

We went to the market to buy dried beans to give away as Christmas gifts.  Beans are a lot more nutritious than the maize they eat here but it also costs more.  Everyone grows maize.  Right now it is growing everywhere as far as the eye can see.  This year rain has been plentiful so everyone is optimistic that the harvest this year will be plentiful also.

Those bags are full of dried caterpillars.  I heard that 80% of the world eats bugs of some kind.  Mmmmmm!  Do we eat bugs in America?  I've tasted frog legs and snails (escargot) but never bugs until I came to Africa.

The local shoe repairman.

Some wonderful members in Kitwe (the Phiri's) invited us in to breakfast one morning. Bread and tea was served which we were told is a remnant of the British influence here for many years. 

Just delivering some Christmas beans to our good friend, Noel.

Thanksgiving pig with the face still attached,

and................

Christmas pig!

You might think our mission president is from Tonga.

Pig with all the fixings for the 2 zones in Malawi and another party for the Lusaka zone a week later.  Good food and some crazy games makes for a great party.  It sure makes Christmas special for the missionaries.

Each team had to create something with wrapping paper and a limited amount of time.  Some were more creative than others. This one is obviously Santa.

Maybe not so obvious is the Christmas tree with the angel on top.

Angel Moroni, of course.

The watermelon eating contest was so funny....

super messy and a little disgusting.

We try to visit the family of this little angel in a refugee camp in Malawi whenever we can.  Her name is Light and they have been at the camp for 7 years now.

In our home ward in Lusaka the primary acted out the Nativity from the book of Luke for our ward party.  I couldn't help but look at the differences in the pictures I saw of our ward Christmas party back home in good old Centerville, Utah.  

I planted these sunflowers a few months ago.  My good friend, Sue, sent them to me and they just kept growing and growing.  We were dressed in our dresses for the missionary choir that sang at the special baptismal service we had on Christmas eve.

We had great participation from the Stake members.  Normally baptisms are done on a ward basis so we were so happy to see such a good turn out.

 

I think there were 22 people baptized.  Now if we can only keep them active.

Finally that swimming pool at the mission office is put to good use.

Craig and I got spend a couple of days at Lake Malawi after Christmas with Elder and Sister Hull.  They go home in February and we are going miss them terribly.  The lake is so big you can almost tell yourself you're at the ocean.

To explain this picture is a long story so stay with me.  I will try to keep it simple.  While here on the mission I read a book called THE BOY WHO HARNESSED THE WIND by William Kamkwamba.  I have been telling everyone what a great book it is about a boy growing up in a small village in Malawi.  I even got Craig to read it and he loved it also.  We found out that William Kamkwamba was staying at the same hotel we were so we had to meet him. Such an inspiring story about his life that I will never forget.  He overcame incredible odds to become educated and then be able to return and help the people of the village where he was raised.  It was an honor to meet him.

Dinner- which was actually very good.  I'm getting used to eating food with the face still attached.  No big deal.

Craig is forever just pulling over to the side of the road because he wants to talk to someone or take a picture of something outrageous as you may have seen on his Instagram.  This is a group of young boys who were herding goats.  It's always young boys you see herding goats or cattle and always women and girls who carry water.  I'm not sure where the men are.  I'm sure they're busy somewhere.

Once they saw us stop, they abandoned their goats to be in the picture and to ask for food.  They cleaned me out of everything we had in the car.

Just a small tea plantation in Malawi that went on and on for miles.  It is one of the poorest countries in the world but it has also got to be one of the most beautiful. I'm grateful I get to see it.


" As part of our mortal probation, we pass through affliction, pain, and disappointment.  Only in Jesus Christ can we find peace.  He can help us to be of good cheer and to overcome all the challenges of this life.

"What does it mean to be of good cheer?  It means having hope, not getting discouraged, not losing faith, and living life joyfully. 'Men are, that they might have joy' [2 Nephi2:25].  It means facing life with confidence.

"The gospel of Jesus Christ gives us the strength and the eternal perspective to face what is coming with good cheer".

(Elder Adhemar Damiani, "Be of Good Cheer and Faithful in Adversity", Ensign May2005).

Read Doctrine and Covenants 31:3
For us to be of good cheer is a commandment and not merely a suggestion.
Who knew?

ONE YEAR DOWN

We went and visited a member who was living at this construction site in the dirt (so basically homeless). While we were there they were fixing some dinner- nshima, and cabbage, then they just eat with their hands.

This is how they pour cement, just a pile of rocks, and then mix cement with it and then move it around.  Notice some of the guys in their bare feet.  Not a great finish!

 Steven got baptized a month ago- we were able to teach him with the sisters. Sister Salmon and I bought him a quad.  He was so excited to have his own scriptures.

 I had to show these young bucks how to lift a couch by yourself into the back of a truck.  You can see how impressed they were.

   

We are helping these two sisters to get PEF.  We visited the school that they wanted to attend, and we also visited a Zambia Nurses Association to verify that the course they want to take will lead to a job.  The man on our left is our self-reliance manager from Zimbabwe, Kasnos Paradzai.   He is great guy and really gives us hope that the Zambian and Malawian people can be self reliant someday. 

  

We spend a lot of time with these two great guys.  They are the Self-Reliance Specialists here in Lusaka.  On the left, Jackson Phiri, he has a wife, Catherine,and little boy, Zikholo.  The one on the right is Davis Munkondia- he's not married, but wants to be!  They both just found new flats to move into so Sister Salmon bought them pillows and made them pillow cases.  They loved them.

 This is what we found in the refrigerator of a pair of Elders during our flat inspection this month- chicken feet and whatever.  As you can see sister Salmon was not having it.   We  told them to clean the fridge and stove, and we would be back the next day to check again!!!!     We returned the next day and it looked pretty good. I'm pretty sure they hurried and ate the chicken feet.

 This was a Mission Leadership Council.  We had a BBQ  afterward and Sister Salmon and Groesbeck did a great job.  They made a lot of food.

 This was a Self Reliance meeting we held in the Copperbelt.  This picture doesn't do it justice, but it was dark....   The power went out and we used our phones for the meeting.   The flash on the camera worked too good.

Okay, this is a radio station that one of the members arranged to be a guest on and talk about the Self Reliance program and Especially For Youth principles. They do it twice a week and people call in and ask questions.  Pretty Cool. 

 Just a fun picture of a guy hauling a bunch of pigs and another guy sitting in the back keeping control.

 Sister Salmon and I took some missionaries out for dinner.  They loved it and so did we. Wallet, not so much!

 This is a great story.  In the small village of Luwande, Malawi this small group of members meets together.  They are not a ward or a branch because they don't meet all the requirements yet.  About 50 or so wanted to be baptized but only about 25 could answer all the questions correctly.  Our dear friends, the Hull's, on the far left are like family to us here.  Elder Hull is the1st councilor in the Mission Presidency and he had the challenge of interviewing all of them for baptism.  The  Hull's do a great job here.  They are amazing people!!!

 Part of our assignment is vehicle coordinator.   I swear we are solving issues every week.  This is the Assistant's truck.  A drunk driver was coming at them head on and they had to go off the road to avoid a serious accident and turned the truck over.  They were okay- no injuries.   

 This is car that some sisters side-swiped in the parking lot.  We had to settle it with the owner.  He took 500 kwacha, which is about 50 US dollars.   I gave him the money and ran....

More Mission leadership meetings and food.   Sister Salmon and Sister Groesbeck never stop cooking.

Our lesson in Relief Society today started with this quote from President Howard W Hunter.
"The supreme achievement of life is to find God and to know that He lives."

Sounds pretty simple, doesn't it?  But when we know that, it changes everything.  He goes on to say,

"There comes a time when we understand the principles of our creation and who we are.  Suddenly these things are illuminated to us and the cords of our hearts do vibrate.  This is the time when testimony enters into our very souls and we know beyond a question of a doubt that God is our father--- that he lives, that he is a reality, that we are literally his children."

I love this!

YOU CAN'T MAKE UP THIS KIND OF STUFF

We'll start with another birthday- why not? It looks like the whole cake is on fire but it's not.  Sister Ntwe (seated in front of the cake) is from South Africa.  She hasn't been out very long, in fact she just finished her training and then became a trainer.

 We came across this little guy out in the middle of nowhere because we were also out in the middle of nowhere. A member wanted to show us a piece of property he had acquired which turned out to be, as I said, out in the middle of nowhere.  The son of the headman in the village gave him the piece and was perfectly willing to give us one also.  I kept telling Craig he needed to make it perfectly clear that we were not interested.  I'm not sure the message got through.

The man standing slightly behind me is the son of headman.  It was about 95 degrees and we were tromping around in the weeds and burned grass, the bugs were biting, and I wasn't sure when it was going to be over, thus the gun to the head.  Good news though.  I'm pretty sure we are now the proud owners of land in the middle of nowhere in Zambia.

We were invited to a wedding and someone (who shall remain nameless) decided that we should show up in real Zambian style.  Craig is getting measured for his new outfit.  Stay tuned for pictures of the new outfits and pictures of the wedding.

Hanging a couple of new light fixtures in one of the missionary flats.  The repairs are never ending.

We visited a farm that one of the members in Lusaka works at.  He was a white farmer in Zimbabwe and was forced off his farm and it was given to black Africans who have done nothing with it.  Many other white farmers in Zimbabwe were also forced out.  They have great hopes that someday they will be able to return to their farms and take control again.

They were harvesting potatoes.  Wow- those potatoes were giant sized!

These women would fill the bags and then throw them up on the truck.  Hard work.

Craig already put Steven's picture on Instagram but these are some of the sisters that taught him.  He really make them work for this baptism.  He had so many doubts and questions but in the end he knew baptism was the right thing to do.

We worked with this young man to help him get his missionary papers ready to send in.  Evans has only been a member for just over a year.  His parents are both deceased and no one else in his family is a member of the church, so he only has the support of the other members.  It has been very difficult for him.  He finally got his call and he is going to Ghana on December 29th.  He is excited.

The mission was able to acquire a new van for the mission.  Elder Salmon was the one who made it happen.  He drives a hard bargain and it was quite the process.  I'd say he was the right man for the job.

Just a typical market place.  They are everywhere. Pictures just don't do it justice.  I wish you could see it and hear it and smell it.  Garbage and flies and people are thick.

This is a common occurrence -getting pulled over by the police.  Probably about once a week the negotiations begin.  Notice the stool to sit on- front and back seat.  Anything you pay pretty much goes right into the pocket of the policeman or woman so if you say the right thing you can pay very little or even get away without paying anything-  Especially if you are a missionary and you say you will pray for them. Yup, we have actually used those words and didn't have to pay anything.  If you get angry or argue the price usually goes up.  It gets really frustrating sometimes.

I have never seen a bottle fed baby here.  If they are not breast fed they drink from a cup.

 Craig just loves this little guy.  He always has this suit on at church.  His name is Nephi.

Okay, here are the wedding photos I promised you.  Everyone in Zambia must be married civilly first before they can be sealed in the temple which is in Johannesburg- a 24 hour bus ride from Lusaka.  It was a real cultural experience.  The ceremony took place in the branch and was more like a sacrament meeting with a choir and congregational singing and speakers who basically gave talks.  Closing song and prayer included.

Out attire for the wedding reception.  Family and friends of the bride.  The groom was the branch president in the Kitwe Branch.

Just waiting with great anticipation for the wedding party to arrive.  Aren't those the greatest decorations you've ever seen?  Like I said, pictures don't to it justice.

Finally they arrive.  There was a Master of Ceremonies, a D.J. and dancing that made me blush.  Those Africans can really shake it!  I'm not kidding- it was a sight to behold.

We watched conference at the Kitwe Branch which is held under this tent.  You might not be able to see but we are watching it on Craig's laptop propped up on the chair because they couldn't get the projector to work.  It was about 100 degrees under the big top.  By the end of the four or five hours there weren't many people left.  I can't wait for the Conference Issue of the Ensign to come so I can read the talks.  I think my eyes rolled back in my head a couple of times.

This time we did the birthday party up big and had a BBQ.  Birthdays are not really a big deal here and some people don't even know when their birthday is (mostly just older people) so it's fun to celebrate and make it a special day.

It was Davis Munkondia's birthday- front and center, age 27.  Just as it was getting dark the power went out, of course.  No big deal.  We can handle it.

I read this quote in the October Ensign:
Every couple with the ability to serve a mission has been prepared to serve in ways special to them.  They just need to exercise faith enough to go where the Lord has need of them, and He will use them to make a difference in the lives of others.
"Couples can  make a difference," said Elder Robert D. Hales.  "Couples can accomplish remarkable things no one else can do. . . .
". . . . The ways in which couples can serve are virtually limitless.  From mission office support and leadership training to family history, temple work, and humanitarian service- there is an opportunity to use almost any skill or talent with which the Lord has blessed you. . . .
". . . You have received much in your life; go forth and freely give in the service of our Lord and Savior.  Have faith; the Lord knows where you are needed.  The need is so great, brothers and sisters, and the laborers are so few."