The End of September

We took the Elders to the Snake Park. They got to ride the camels. 

I think they had a really good P-Day.

Sept. 20, 2011

What a packed day!! The keys to the church got lost somehow. So we spent a lot of time running around getting new locks and keys. 

Then we had an appointment with Elder & Sister Dow (Marcia and John) for lunch. They are special missionaries for the wheelchair project sponsored by the church. We went to lunch at the Maasai Cafe. 

Then we went to Moshi (about 2 hours a way) with Moses (the one Elder R. baptized a few weeks ago) 

to see is father and family there in Moshi.

(That's over by Mt. Kilimanjaro) 

They were very nice. Served us some bean soup which we drank from the bowl. Then we had a tour of their farm. They grow all kinds of things. Then down to the river. 

Then we had to run for home. Which ended up being in the dark. Not a fun experience.

Spent most every day doing our normal stuff. Swahili lessons, teaching with the missionaries, grocery shopping and running the branch pres. around.

On Saturday we had the first lesson with the YSA in the branch. We had members of about a year, members of a month or so, investigators of a month or so, an investigator that was to be baptized today and his family. The lesson was the introduction of the D&C. I think most of them had no idea what we were talking about. Our Swahili is still not very good. Then we had the baptism. 

Then we went with Pres. S. to meet a member from Belgium. He was born in the D. R. Congo and has family there. We brought him back to the church and he had a good talk with Brother K. because Bro. K. speaks French. 

Sept. 25, 2011

Today we had our first temple prep class. We taught about the “Plan of Salvation”. I think the members (and some investigators) learned a lot. We used a clear figure cut from plastic and white one cut from paper on a long string to show the progression through the plan. I think they liked that. Bro. Kibanda translated for us. Then we went to the Nicanor family with Elder Rapiya & Kalyango to talk and answer a lot of questions that the new investigator Johney had.

Sept. 26, 2011

Normal busy P-Day. The Elders came at 5:30 today and we had barbecued beef sandwiches and macaroni salad. The Elders had a video of 2010 mission. We talked about some of their investigators and they left.

Sept. 27, 2011

Went to Swahili lesson. Then met with Bro. Kibanda & Bro. Elia for training and answers to our many questions. Pres. S. joined us for the last part. Then went with Elder Ngapa & Harper to teach mama Winnie, Rose & wife of Francis.

Sept. 29, 2011

Swahili class. Then out to Obuya’s to teach an investigator. Had a pretty good lesson on repentance. Had a good talk with Bro. Obuya about everything from the church to the problem of water in Africa.

Wow, time flies. We have been here in Arusha for a full 4 months now. We are getting used to the traffic, roads and the weather has warmed up a bit. We’ve had several rainy nights and a couple of rainy days. They call this the short rains. But it sure makes the roads a mess. And we found the rain comes right through our bedroom windows. The frames are built in a way that just scoops it right in. Not sure what we will do about that.

But we feel we are making a difference here. Bro. O. who works in Mwanza and is in the branch presidency there and comes here about every 3 weeks to be with his family says he can see a big difference in the branch since we came. We love the people here and hope the growth will continue. And as hard as the missionaries are working we are sure it will. They had 17 investigators at church one Sunday. We see the branch leadership getting stronger every week. The 2nd counselor (the one who has only been a member for about 10 months) is really strong now. He’s the one who teaches us Swahili and translates a lot of our classes for us. We hope the Lord will continue to bless the branch here with unity and growth. The work is great and our testimonies have grown. When we see the strong, humble members here come to church under such hard conditions and we feel blessed to be able to work with them.