Mission Memories - African Safari

                                                                 

May this post be our late Merry Christmas wish to each of you. It's been a wonderful year serving this mission together.  We are grateful for family, friends and our Savior for his mercy, love and atoning sacrifice for us. We pray you will all have a blessed, safe and healthy New Year!

                                            Kenya Safari

The day after our mission ended we flew off to Kenya to begin our long anticipated safari. Planning our safari seemed to consume an awful lot of time. We did use a tour agency in South Africa that had been recommended. The paperwork to go was all consuming. We had to purchase mandatory trip insurance, get our own e-visas, connect to all kinds of airline sites and country sites showing our negative Covid tests and all other kinds of requirements. We had to show our return flight, our itinerary, and lodges we would stay in. They wanted to know every minute of our trip. There was no way they would let us stay in country after the safari. Not that we would even want to. So different from our own southern border situation. We had a 6 hour flight from Accra to Nairobi. Accra is in it's Harmattan season which is the Sahara dust storms blowing 24/7 for 4 months. You live in a constant dust storm, also heat and humidity. You cannot clearly see the sun, moon or stars the whole time. The Kenya sky was bright blue with beautiful white, billowy clouds, such a wonderful difference. The weather was just perfect, 70-ish.

We are in our pop-up land rover. 

The Great Rift Valley extends from Lebanon in the Middle East down to Mozambique. The  African rift valleys are considered the "cradle of mankind". Our guide, Frank, shared the belief that this is where mankind began. We followed the trans-African  highway that goes from the Kenya coast on the Indian Ocean through central Africa. Someday it will connect through West Africa on the Atlantic Ocean. Eventually it will be a 35 thousand mile highway. Sadly it was only a 2-way highway that will take untold years to complete. There were thousands of huge trucks that you pass one at a time at a snails pace. All goods are transported through this highway.

This is our driver, Frank with our pop-up top private land rover. It gave a 360 degree view of the animals and the reserves. Our trip was a 'private' tour, which meant that we were the only clients. At first I thought it would be weird but actually it's the only way to go. They keep family or friends together but don't mix you with unknown folks. Frank stayed in the lodges with the many other drivers and we ate together in the lovely buffet dining rooms. He was most interesting and we never tired of asking him questions. He has several college degrees and 3 of his 4 children have graduated from college. His family has a car but they don't have a refrigerator. "There's no need for one because you shop and cook daily for whatever you want to eat." There were dozens of different tour companies on the roads.

Our first stop was the Masai Mara National Reserve. It is an area of preserved savannah wilderness in southwestern Kenya, along the Tanzanian border. Within the first twenty-four hours we saw the Big 5, ie: cheetahs, elephants, lions, rhinos, and water buffalo. We also saw leopards, zebras, giraffes, wildebeest, crocodiles, flamingoes, ostrich, wart hogs, hyena, vultures, eagles, all kinds of birds, etc. 

Keekorok Lodge in the Masai Mara Reserve

We went to three different reserves and lodges. There were all beautiful with lovely  'rustic' rooms that had mosquito nets around the bed. That didn't worry us because we've been taking doxycycline daily against malaria. We still take it for a month after getting home. This lodge didn't have an electric fence around it because the local hippos come up to feed on the grass late in the night. When it was time for dinner we called the front desk to request a security guard to walk you to and from the dining room.

Breakfast is served from 6:30am -9:30am. Lunch is 12:30pm-2:30pm and dinner is 7:30pm -9:30pm. You always have a morning safari drive before or after breakfast. We usually ate first and then took a 3-4 hour drive, came back for lunch, siesta and then go for an afternoon drive about 4. You must be back by dark between 6:00 and 6:30 or a search party will come looking for you. Then you enjoy a leisurely dinner. The meals were buffet and often African type foods. But there were also plenty of American/European foods, fruit, and dessert.

Our rooms all had floor to ceiling windows overlooking the reserves. This reserve did have an electric fence to keep out the animals. The baboons had free reign going everywhere.

We saw hundreds of elephants and two sets of twin babies. After reading the book 'Elephant Whisperer', this animal became my favorite.

It was exciting to see this male lion. We saw lots of female lions. He's on honeymoon with the female next to him.

This was the Nakuru Reserve where we saw the above lions. They had this pool, then the watering pond and further out was Nakuru Lake. 

Hippos in the Mara River. They can weigh a ton each.

We were lucky to see a rhino. They're very shy and often get missed by the tourist.

We followed alongside this lioness quite a ways. She wasn't more than 10 feet away. The animals are not afraid of the trucks at all. They're very used to the tourist. You NEVER, EVER get out of the trucks. Frank said she was expecting cubs. Her belly was waddling.

This poor mother zebra had just given birth to the dead baby near her feet. It still had the birth sac around it's head so it had suffocated. The legs were so tiny and perfect. There must have been at least 50 vultures hanging around waiting to eat. If they got too close, the mother would chase them away. She will guard her dead baby until a lion chases her away. Only the cats are carnivores. All the other animals graze on the grasses.

These giraffes are quite majestic.

These leopards were so full from a recent meal they couldn't even  move. Kind of like we might feel after a Thanksgiving meal. They are so used to tourists and trucks that they don't move and aren't scared at all. There were probably 6 trucks gathered around just watching them.

This leopard was hidden under the bushes, again surrounded by us tourists in our land rovers. We're all getting a great view in the pop-up trucks. Leopards climb trees and even drag their kill up into the trees, rather than eat on the ground where another animal may try to chase them off of their catch.

The water buffalos are huge but seem content to just graze all day long.

This was an early morning kill. There were about 7 lions taking turns eating on this zebra. The Male lions eat first and then the cubs and then the females.

These crocs were also huge and often hide under a mud pond.

The Mara Reserve is where the great wildebeest migration takes place in July to October. There were thousands of wildebeest and zebra always grazing together. One eats the high grass and the other eats the low grasses. Nature planned that well. They all get along great together until some cat decides they're hungry and the chase begins. The cats are only successful about 1/3 of the time and only eat every few days. 

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The Masai tribe of people live near the many game parks of northern, central and southern Kenya and northern Tanzania. I'd say they're like an Indian tribe that live on their reservations. They used to have a fearsome reputation as warriors, now they are pastoralists and have herds of sheep, goats and cows. We were able to visit a Masai village and were invited into one of the huts. They build their huts in a circle surrounded by a fence of thorny bushes. Their herds come within the fence at night to protect them from the game animals. Each hut is built with mud and cow dung and sticks. It was pitch black inside and we had to use our phone flashlights to see our way. We followed a maze inside that led to small rooms for sleeping and ended in a 'kitchen' composed of a fire with a pot on top with dinner I suppose. There were no other lights. A mother was holding her baby near the fire.  

These women chanted to us, you can see the huts in the background. The Masai are known for the red or blue cloth they wear as robes or blankets. They eat meat from their herds and drink animal blood with their milk and they seldom eat vegetables, they're not farmers.

This woman was inside her hut with her baby.

 

These young men circled us while chanting and dancing. They have jumping contests to see who can go the highest. The young women choose a husband by his jumping skills. It is supposed to prove that he will be hard worker and a good provider. Simon, below, said he was going to a contest soon to find a bride.

The fence of thickets surrounding the small village.

This is David and Simon, sons of the chief who has 8 wives, some of the women above. David has a lion head upon his own head. Simon spoke very good English. There was a nearby school where the village children attend. Simon went to the same school, he is 27. They are all Christians.

The men and women all wear the cloth that is traditional and also worn for warmth. The people in town wear them also in all their activities even while riding their motorcycles. We were in short sleeves and they wore coats with their cloth. I can just see these tribal people being featured in a National Geographic magazine.

The Masai men always carry a walking stick. If they have herds they use it to guide their animals along. If they don't have a herd they still carry their stick, it's traditional.

This Masai woman was the hostess at our dining room. The lodge employees come from the local villages and work for 3 weeks living in staff quarters. Then they return to their villages to live with their families for a week. The big cultural differences between their villages and their employment must blow them away.

These Masai women converged on our truck trying to sell their beautiful home-made jewelry while we were stopped at the gate to the Mara Reserve. An entrance fee must be paid to enter the reserves like going into Yellowstone National Park. We even paid a fee to visit the Masai village. These fees were all inclusive in the price of our safari.

On our travels between lodges, we stopped for a boat ride on Lake Naivasha. This is the 2nd largest lake in Kenya next to Lake Victoria which is located in parts or Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya. Our boat man would throw fish high into the air and the local eagles would dive for them. In the middle of this lake there is an island where the movies Born Free and Out of Africa were filmed.

This was a beautiful lodge on the Amboseli Reserve. This Reserve is where Mt. Kilimanjaro is located. All the lodges had beautiful swimming pools. Kili, (as they refer to their mountain) is on the border of Kenya and Tanzania but you climb it from the Tanzania side. The Kenya side is too steep to climb. It is the tallest mountain in Africa and the highest single free-standing mountain in the world. It's not in a mountain range, it just stands by itself and is a dormant volcano. We were there during the low rain season so it was mostly covered by clouds. 

The lovely, majestic lodges. 

We had to get up at 6am to catch this little bit of mountain view. This view was just outside our cottage. This lodge had an electric fence around it for our protection. The baboons are free range so you had to watch out for them. We were even told to lock our doors since the baboons were known to push your door open.

The full moon was coming up on one side the the horizon and the sun was setting on the other side. I simply turned around and took both these pictures.

 

The drive up to the lodge. On our last day of the safari, Frank, our driver took us back to Nairobi where we checked into a lovely Sheraton Hotel next to the airport for a relaxing evening before catching our flight back to Ghana the next morning. He walked us over to the Covid testing site where he helped us through that crowded, hectic process. We were always on pins and needles awaiting the results of our tests.

When we arrived back in Ghana on Monday, Dec. 20th, we took a taxi to a different terminal to take one more Covid test before flying home the next day. Then we took a taxi back to our apartment where we did laundry, packed again, straightened up our apartment, and ate one more time at our favorite fast food joint 'Chicken Inn'. Virtually every restaurant meal serves French fries or chips along with your order.  Let me tell you, they are absolutely the best French fries, much better than anything at home. Our kitchen was empty of all food and we love Chicken Inn.

On Tuesday, Dec. 21st, we were dropped off at the Accra International Airport for our 11 hour flight to JFK by our wonderful missionary friends, Ross and Elaine Youngberg. He was the Area auditor and they are from Bountiful, Utah. The missionaries always catch the daily Delta direct flight at 10:45 pm from Accra to JFK. The Church and Delta have a contract to fly missionaries all over the world. With more than 53,000+ missionaries in 160 countries and territories speaking more than 178 languages, there's a lot of flying going on. We weren't aware the Church would not book flights during the Christmas black out period starting Dec. 19, so we had to book our own flight and we will be reimbursed for it. The flight was $997 each. We had a quick dinner at 11:30pm on the plane and then luckily I stretched out on an extra seat next to us. We slept a few hours and then spent time watching movies. We were only given two hours to get through customs in JFK to catch our flight to Phoenix. That wasn't near enough time to get through the long lines of showing Covid results, passports, retrieving our four 50-lb. bags, re-booking the bags, and going through at least two more security check lines, etc. We had to re-book through Minneapolis and then on to Phoenix. Our luggage didn't even catch up with us, which was really nice since we didn't have to deal with those heavy bags. They delivered them to our home about 9pm the night of our arrival.

The kids finally left the airport when we never arrived that morning (they didn't get my text of the flight change). Son-in-law Sean kindly waited at the airport until we finally arrived and he brought us home.

It was wonderful to see everyone again. The biggest surprise was from my daughter Elizabeth. She hadn't told us she was expecting #5 baby in February. I was blown away and had no idea, what an exciting shock! Steve's son Stephen and his wife Heidi are also expecting their #5 baby in April. They shared their happy news through a Zoom call to us several months ago. This will bring us up to 28 grandchildren. The same two moms had their #4 babies while we were on our previous mission to BYU-Hawaii.

Elizabeth expecting baby #5. The gender will be a surprise to everyone.

Certificates we received at the end of our mission.

I became so intrigued with the Masai people and their blankets that I wanted one also. 

These shoes were made for walking... I wore these shoes every day on my morning walk with the girls and my evening walk with Steve and all our travels and hikes. They were new when we arrived in Ghana. I got my money's worth and gave them away before coming home. My goal was 10,000 steps every week day which I usually achieved. Steve left 6 of his short sleeve white shirts, ties, several pairs of slacks,  and three pairs of shoes. I left several shoes, skirts, all our leftover fridge and pantry items to our house cleaner, Bobby. Cleaning is how he supports his family. He is Elder's Quorum President in his ward and will find a good home for everything.

The Africa West Area offices give one of these Kente hand woven banners as a thank-you for our service.

TIDBITS:

There are 47 different tribes in Kenya. Everyone speaks their tribal dialect, plus the national language of Swahili, and English. The school children all learn English. Kenya was a British colony just like Ghana, thus they speak English. In Kenya the steering wheel and driving is on the opposite side. 

No more lodges or hotels are allowed to be built in the Mara Valley. Our lodge, 'Keekorok' was built in 1962.

We drove on dirt roads and occasionally off-road on our game drives. Frank called the bouncy roads our 'African massage'. We were bouncing up and down and side to side. Comically, these bouncy drives gave me steps on my fit bit. One day I had 25,000 steps.

Africa only opened to tourists last July. So we were very lucky to go on this safari. We are so glad we sprung for this adventure. We knew we'd never get back to Africa again. 

Tipping is a big deal on a safari. Of course they have some wages but they depend on their tips. There is a tipping guideline to follow and they like to be paid in US dollars. Transferring of luggage is $1/bag. Meals are always $1 each. Drivers are $8-$10/day from each tourist. We gave Frank $200 as our gift. We became best friends and we were still missionaries wearing our missionary badges. We had some good conversations about religion.

The Masai tribe carry their goods on their backs not like the Ghanaians who carry their goods on their head.

I found the Kenyan food rather boring, while the Ghanaian food is deliciously spicy and flavorful.

The Masai men and women eat separately from each other. It's taboo for women to see men eat. 

Many of the tribal people travel from the cities to their homeland for the weekends. The weekend travel is very busy. This was the same in Ghana.

I saw an Ashley Furniture in Nairobi as we left the airport, lol. 

The base of Mt. Kilimanjaro is farmland and the produce is sold in the cities.

In Kenya they grow wheat for beer, potatoes and maze.

Our safari cost $2,600 each which I felt was reasonable. This was 6 nights, 7 days, full board (all meals), all inclusive for everything else. It would have been $500 less each if we had more in our group. Our flights were $800 each, visa was $50 each, our Covid tests were $250 each. I only share this as a tidbit for us to remember. 

As we left our mission we looked forward to brushing our teeth in the bathroom sink water (not filtered water), American eggs, chocolate milk, cooking with lots of ingredients, grocery stores with lots of items, better roads, less traffic. One day it took us 2 hours to drive the 3 1/2 miles from the Area office back to our apartment, we could have walked it faster. Steve looked forward to racquetball, 

In the evenings while Steve called missionaries, I read a lot on my church provided phone or laptop, cross-stitched a Christmas stocking, embroidered a lot, listened to podcasts, ironed lots of white shirts, did laundry, etc. 

One of our greatest mission blessings was the safety, protection and good health we enjoyed. This included all the crazy driving and covid. We took our first covid vaccine in March 2021 followed by one in May. Going on our safari included four different covid tests in and our of Ghana and Kenya. We prayed every time that we would have a negative test. The possibility of a positive test was so scary because we'd have to quarantine at our own expense for 10 days and delay our return home. We traveled half way around the world and were completely safe. Then three days after returning home we both experienced colds and tested positive for covid! We could safely recover at home from this omicron covid. We also heard that four of our missionary friends suffered a heavy duty case of covid/omicron back in Accra. Who gave to whom, is the big question. We are grateful we have all recovered. 

We love all our great missionary friends! So we don't forget your names (because we are getting older) we lived near Ross & Elaine Youngberg (area auditors), Jon & Shauna Duke (Area Pathway facilitators), Nick & Irene Eastman (Africa Human Dignity missionaries), Greg & Debbie Lewis (Area Family History), Randal & Diane Gibb (Area Medical Advisor), Max and Vickie Crouch (previous Area Medical Advisor),  (Marlin & Lisa Porter (Area legal), Rayan & Danene Jones (mission nurse and handyman) Mike & Zoe Weston (Young Single Adults), Becky & Darrell Fackrell (mission nurse and handyman).  We all became best friends and family. Sr. couples help make a mission fun and memorable. We love you all!!!

We encourage any of you African Sr. Missionary friends who want to go on a safari, it's totally awesome and worth it. Please contact:

 Verity Bester | Owner   verity@uyaphi.com

Tel: +27 (0) 87 898 8043

Skype: uyaphiverity   

Mobile: +27 (0) 72 203 2088

Signal: +27 72 203 2088

What's App: +27 72 203 2088

If you don't have a full week to travel, at least spend 3-4 days in the Masai Mara Reserve.

We want to thank all of you for your love, interest and support for us during our mission. We hope you have enjoyed sharing this experience with us through our blog. 

Africa West Area Mission

One last picture before we leave. Before the senior missionaries head home they speak at an area wide devotional held in person but zoomed throughout the Africa West area. We spoke this morning.

We had a second primary children's program this week. This little 8 year old girl led all the acapella singing by the children.

We followed this lady on part of our morning walk. It still amazes me how they carry everything on their heads and their babies on their backs.

One of the friendly fellows we pass every morning on our walk. His head dress is indicates he is a member of the Rastafari religion. You can look it up on Google. Everyone is extremely friendly. We cross paths with many of the same people every morning and evening. One fellow we gave a 'good evening' to every night even stopped us to say he was moving back home to India and wouldn't see us again. How kind is that? On our evening walk we've become acquainted with Julian, from France and his wife Secina from Lebanon. They are expecting their first baby and are here working.

This is on the vet's gate. So many are looking for jobs, I hope someone sees this.

This fellow sat in stocking feet while the cobbler shined his shoes. I  told Steve he needs to take his shoes to be shined. Of course he does it all the time himself, but I love supporting the locals.

This is a corner breakfast joint across the rutty road from the cobbler. I buy my long loaves of French bread here for 3 cedis, about 50 cents. I just give her a 5 cedi, less than $1. This young gal usually has a baby on her back and asked if she could work for me.

I love the bricked sidewalks that can be removed for repair. Sadly, some remove them and then never do the repairs. This is a very nicely covered gutter. Most of them are  not covered, about 2-3 feet wide and that deep also. They are smelly, full of garbage or water and weeds.

Our second bedroom - my office. I have the matching living room love seat with kick-out leg rests. The ironing board doubles as my desk. I spend my time here while Steve talks to the missionaries at his desk in the living room where he gets the best internet and phone reception.

Not an uncommon sight on the roads. Most huge trucks carry their laborers on top of their load. We've seen as many as 10 men riding on top of overloaded trucks with lumber, bricks, bags of coal, and vegetables. When a truck reaches it's destination, the men jump off and start unloading the truck by hand. I've never seen a forklift to unload a truck. 

The young and senior missionaries joined in a service project one Saturday. Brigitta, our German neighbor was happy to join along. We were invited to help by a very industrious group of local young men who care about their neighborhood. We spread out over a large neighborhood that stretched through alleys, walkways, and streets. The gutters are the biggest problem that fill with debris and then overflow when it rains. The rake and broom are homemade with rebar and wicker. The locals just sat and stared at us as we cleaned. There is no garbage pick-up unless you pay for it. There are no garbage cans for anyone to use so it all goes directly into the gutters or on the ground.

The early morning coconut brigade. The coconut gets dumped and everyone carries them away to their own kiosk to sell as coconut water, etc. Oft times you see taxis being loaded to haul them away.

We often see this fellow in the morning. He wears a large black plastic bag, I guess as rain gear. Though it so seldom rains.

Soap making demonstration at our NGO library. 

This little girl has her eyes made up. We just met on the street so I don't know why. Mama was happy to pose for a picture.

Every 6 weeks when a group of missionaries head home we get to feed them breakfast at the Ghana Accra mission office. It's very close to the area offices. They love the egg and French toast breakfast casseroles we bring ready to serve. They all seem to love these American dishes, especially the African missionaries.

We work on our letters and coloring at the library. The children can sing the A-B-C song but they don't know them individually or out of order. Of course they don't even speak English. They love to show you their masterpieces. And they love to draw with pencils also. I'm sure these things are not provided in their orphanage. We provide all the supplies and the soccer balls.

These kids are in Steve's Sunday music conducting class. They like to sit in our car with AC and try the windows. Of course we can't take them anywhere. They have to behave in class for this privilege. It's only about 20-30 minutes each Sunday at the same time I teach the keyboard class.

Cute matching clothes walking to church on Sunday morning. 

I hate driving near these crazy overloaded trucks. He's carrying bags of coal which the locals use in their open fires to cook. He's going to tip over any minute. There are no weight limits or rules for the trucks.

We stayed one night in this ocean-side 'resort' where they have a turtle preserve. When the turtles swim onto the beach in the dark to lay their eggs in the sand, the employee slips a bag under her to collect the eggs as she lays them. Unbeknownst to her she throws sand over the empty hole and then swims away. The man brings the bag to this cage, counts the eggs, buries them in a basket of sand, and waits for them to hatch. He counts the eggs, dates them and figures the gestation period. When they hatch he releases them back into the ocean. Otherwise the crabs and the tide would wipe out the eggs.

He called our room at 3:30am for us to come watch. He uses a red light to work in the dark, they are distracted by white light and need to scoot toward the white ocean foam. There were 110 baby turtles in this batch. They get caught up by the waves and swim into the ocean and soon disappear. He hoped that at least one baby turtle would survive and grow to maturity. They are very vulnerable and seem to be at the bottom of the food chain. It was an interesting event.

I couldn't fall back asleep so I stayed out on the beach to read and watch the sunrise. It was peaceful and beautiful. I haven't seen a beach sunrise since our mission to Hawaii. Sadly the beach and water are not clean and you don't want to be there barefoot.

We celebrated Steve's birthday by going to dinner with our apartment sr. missionary friends. Two couples could not join. On the L is Steve, me, Jon & Shauna Duke with Pathway, Elaine & Ross Youngberg area auditor, Nick & Irene Eastman with the Church's Human Dignity department, Cindy & Mike Neider (taking the picture) also with Human Dignity. We will miss our  wonderful mission friends.

This is Samuel, our friend from Jamestown, we met months ago when we visited the area. We were told that the church had obtained land to build a small chapel. It is the area surrounded by the green fence behind the motor cycle shack. It is directly across from the very old touristy lighthouse on the main street. 

Samuel opened the gate and let us in. I doubt if we were supposed to go in but he assured us he watches over the construction site. He was very excited that 'your people are building a chapel in our community'.

The circled black sign says 'The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This is the rented room where the Jamestown Ward is now meeting. They had enough members to become a 'ward' from a 'branch' (a small group of members). Thus, the new chapel is being built. We're excited to attend their meeting on Sunday.

This is our Thanksgiving get together with the local senior missionaries. A butcher shop cooked turkey and made the gravy. We provided all the yummy side dishes and abundant desserts.  Of course Ghana doesn't have a 'Thanksgiving day'. We took time for lunch and then everyone headed back to work. We probably had close to 50 people. We have one family with 5 children. Their dad has been employed by the Church in the finance department in the Area offices. They were going to leave in 2 weeks back to Salt Lake City, but excitedly received a change in assignment to Kenya.

Leaving the Temple at 6pm on Thanksgiving evening.

This lady was stirring banku over the open fire. It is a cooked slightly-fermented dough made into a dumpling they dip into a gravy and eat with their hands. All the Africans love it, I never tasted it.

Pathway Graduation. These young people are on their way to getting their Bachelors degree. Graduation was held at the old 3-story Mission Training Center in Tema almost an hour away.

The 6am walkers, me, Brigitta, Elaine Youngberg. Brigitte is from Germany and works for some German company nearby. We walk every morning, and she attends most of our missionary dinners and activities and often goes to church with one of the couples.

We helped the children make accordion angels at the library. They were happy with their treasures.

Why did the chicken cross the road?

Christmas potluck dinner with senior missionaries and a Young Single Adult choir for entertainment. Also the iconic white elephant gift exchange.

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Did you know that my daughter, Laura, Craig and 7 children lived in Paris for two years? They were there with the Department of Defense living in embassy housing. Our longed for visit to them a year ago was cancelled with Covid and France quickly locked down. Finally just six weeks before they moved back to their home in Beavercreek, Ohio, France opened up on June 9. We quickly got permission to make a week-long trip to visit them. It was such a fun whirlwind trip even with Steve's false positive Covid test that resolved the next day with a 2nd test. Dallin, Elizabeth, Laura, Benjamin (born in Paris) Craig, me, Steve, William, Emma and Jane, looks like Christian is missing. It was a wonderful half-way point of our mission. 

We rented golf carts to drive around Versailles. Laura and Craig had a family van but traffic and parking is a nightmare in Paris. We took the Metro everywhere we went, except when we drove out into the countryside for adventures. Craig rode his bike to work, Laura walked and shopped in the local markets, kids rode the bus to the American international school, they often rode bikes or metro to church. Every few weeks they took the van to Costco to stock up. A family of 9 takes a lot of groceries. 

A visit to an old village out in the countryside.
                                                 
Gathered with the family around the Christus in the gardens of the Paris Temple.

Many things we are grateful for:

1.  We are grateful that we could come to Africa. It has been such a blessing to be in the middle of the ongoing restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. During the first six months of our mission, we served from home. It was wonderful that Steve could talk to the missionaries and meet in monthly zoom meetings with the mission presidents and their wives. But being in Africa, absorbing the sights and sounds of the city and the beauty of the country, those are blessings we could not have had from home.

2.    It has been a blessing to be among the people.

    * We are grateful for our fellowship with everyone at the Area office.

    *  We are grateful for being with all the faithful senior missionaries and the friends we have made.

    *  We are grateful for the people we have met in the community, in the stores, our gate guards, our landscapers, our car                     washers, our cleaner, people we have met on walks.

    *  We are grateful for the fellowship in our ward and the opportunity to teach the conducting and keyboard classes.

    * We are grateful that when we have traveled we were invited to bear our testimonies in the wards and branches we visited.

3.     It has been a blessing to serve the missionaries at the MTC.

    *  Several times a month Steve was invited to do a presentation on 'Adjusting to Missionary Life.' This focused on handling             the demands of missionary service and how to use the many resources to meet those demands

    *   We have been blessed to feel the spirit of those missionaries as they prepare to go into their new assignments.

    *   It has been a blessing to serve in the Mission Training Center with President and Sister Craig.

    *   It has been a blessing to attend the temple with the MTC missionaries as they go through for the first time and receive their          endowments. It is a wonderful experience to see the celestial room full of missionaries from Africa. 

4.  We are grateful to serve with the mission presidents and their wives and to help lighten their load.

    *   We are grateful for all those who support the missionaries in so many ways.

    *   The love and support of the parents and families.

    *    In addition to the mission president and his wife, there is the support of mission nurses, mission doctors, our Area Medical           Advisor, the In-field Field representative who is a former mission president and just finished serving for 10 years as a                 direct link between the mission presidents and the Missionary Department in Salt Lake City.

 5.   We are grateful for the opportunity to serve the missionaries. They have blessed our lives.

    *    We are grateful for the missionaries who faithfully saved to come on missions; those who came as orphans, those whose               families disowned them, those who have lost family members while serving a mission.

6.    Above all, we are grateful to the Lord.

    *    For the health, strength, time and resources to be able to serve.

    *    For helping Steve remember the French language he learned on his mission 45 years ago as a young missionary in                        France. He counseled many French speaking missionaries in our 4 French speaking missions in West Africa and served several from the European area because their therapist does not speak French.

    *    For His tender mercies.

    *    For the Lord's mercy, kindness, patience and for the power of His atonement. We have seen that power in our lives and in           the lives of the missionaries every day.

Tidbits

Ghana now has 89,000member, 25 stakes, 328 congregations, 4 mission, 53 family history centers and 1 temple. Another temple announced. Nigeria has 192,000 members, 59 stakes, 822 congregations, 6 missions, 70 family history centers and 1 temple, another announced. The Democratic Republic of the Congo has 69,000 members in 23 stakes, 211 congregations, 4 missions 24 family history center and 1 temple, another announced. The list goes on and one--and this is just the growth since the Church officially came into West Africa in late 1978.

In one of our monthly Mission Health Councils it was reported that one of the missionaries was bitten by the deadly Black Mamba snake. "A bite will generally cause a human to collapse within 45 minutes and die just hours later" (per Google). It took two different hospitals to find the anti-venom. 'Hospitals' is a very loosely used word in Africa. The missionary was certainly blessed and has no ill-effects.

Lots to do to get ready to come home. Because Medicare doesn't cover us out of the U.S. we have to purchase the Church's Aetna International Medical Insurance. We could 'pause' our Medicare Part B and not pay for it while we're gone. Now we have reinstated our Medicare. There's a lot of paperwork but it does save us paying that monthly premium. 

All the African people seem to have small ears and very curly eyelashes. Just a interesting tidbit.

Steve and I just read the book 'Brother to Brother'. It is a wonderful story of the first two senior missionary couples that entered West Africa to teach and baptize the people of Nigeria and Ghana. After much gospel teaching, over 1700 people were baptized. This was in 1978 after the Priesthood was given to the African people. The people had been waiting since 1964 when they first heard of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Another great book we read was 'Into the Abyss'. Story of the survivors of a bush plane that goes down in bad weather in Northern Canada. Great book, especially if you like details of small airplanes. I don't know much about them but loved the book.

It is not uncommon for the power to go out at Church, no fans, no microphone, no keyboard. We sing acapella. We lose power at our apartment occasionally but the generators kick in...usually. We have awakened to no water on a few mornings. I was ready to take a bath in the pool when the water kicked back on.

The local fishing boats you can see off the coastline look like the fishing boats in the time of Christ. Many things don't change around here.

The neighborhood is bustling when we women go walking in the morning. One day a young man said to me 'I want to marry you'! That's not uncommon. Everyone is looking for the golden ticket to America. 

We've been enjoying watching the Downton Abbey series again. We veg with it when we eat. It's much easier to watch them each day rather than a few a year. We had forgotten so much, it's all new to us again. We've also enjoyed watching The Chosen. What a wonderful show that is for the world to watch.

The senior missionaries range in age from 50 to 78. Lisa Porter, the 50 year old, said they decided to serve a mission while their youngest son is serving his mission.

We gave to our housekeeper, Bobby, all of Steve's short sleeve shirts, 3 slacks, several skirts and food items. He supports his family through his excellent cleaning. Most of the missionaries use him. He works in the temple and is an elder's quorum president so he finds a use for anything left to him. 

We'll spend the next several months traveling around the country to see our children and grandchildren. In January we will visit Kathy's daughter Laura and Craig Przybyla in Beavercreek, Ohio. Emma will turn 8 and we will attend her baptism. That will be a shock of cold weather.

Young missionaries in Ethiopia have been transferred to Kenya because of civil unrest in Ethiopia.

I won't miss brushing my teeth with filtered water from the kitchen, won't miss the bleach wash on vegetables and eggs you must do before consuming. We won't miss the traffic and the beggars. We have erred on the side of compassion by giving to them but I'm sure it just perpetuates the problem. I don't like the kids clamoring all over our car and windows begging. We've been warned not to give to them in Kenya. 

The day after our mission ends we fly to Nairobi, Kenya for a week long safari. Every day we ask Alexa what the weather is in Nairobi, 57-78 degrees, should be lovely. We used a travel agent that friends here suggested. It's been a lot of work to plan this trip and get our own visa. We will have to take 4 Covid tests to and from Kenya and before heading back to the US. We pray for negative tests. We have had to jump through hoops to get our visa and various documents showing hotels we will stay in and flight home, Covid tests, etc. We have to link into all these country health sites showing proof of info. They want to make sure we are healthy and will leave their country. This is all very different from our southern open border with no Covid tests or visa control. Our 4 Covid tests come to $350 each.

We won't be released from our mission by our stake president until we get home. That means we get to wear our missionary badges on our safari. That's always fun to be recognized by other members of the church. It happened to us in the Paris airport also. It gives me a sense of protection also.

I'm glad I kept this blog so we can print it as a journal and book. We're glad we could share a bit of our mission with you and hope you enjoyed it. We thank the Lord for the blessings of serving with these wonderful people in this beautiful country.