First Part of November

Wow, what a great month so far.

Elder & Sister Beecher came to visit. They are serving in Kitale the northern most area of the mission. They wanted to see our area and to go to Ngorongoro Park. They arrived about 3:00. We spent the afternoon getting better acquainted with them. Then we had our regular FHE with the Elders. Sister Beecher gave us a report of the Women’s Conference she had attended in Nairobi this last weekend. It was really great.

Then the next morning we were up and off to Ngorongoro at 5:00 AM. We had contracted with a guide that Pres. Spear had arranged for us. And Pres. Spear went along with us. The vehicles they use here to take people on safari are a 4 wheel drive jeep type vehicle. Not very smooth riding but they work pretty well.

We had been told we could not take our own vehicle into this park. And we figured we would see a lot more with a guide and his vehicle.

Ngorongoro Park is an extinct volcano so you climb up to the rim then drop down into the crater. 

http://www.game-reserve.com/tanzania_ngorongoro.html

Along the way we saw baboons.

We arrived at the park gate about 8:00 AM. 

Then we started our treck to the rim. What a ride and what a view.

Then we dropped into the crater. Right off we started seeing animals. 

Ostriches were one of the first we saw.

Then a lion finishing off a kill of a water buffalo.

Then later the buzzards and jackals finishing off the rest.

A lot of wildebeest or gnu.

Some hedge hogs. Note how they kneel down to eat.

Lots of zebra.

Lots of water buffalo.

A few elephants.

Hippos, some eating & some submerged.

Lots of pretty birds.

About mid day Elder R. realized that we had forgotten to bring sun tan lotion. Boy did he get burnt.

Then the climb back out. We took a different road and it was like real mountain back roads.

Then on the way home we just had to take a photo of this little shop on the side of the road.

Spent the next day hanging out with Elder & Sister Beecher and having a really great time.

Then back to our regular routine. One day at the West Elder's flat we saw this banana tree. It shows how they grow here.

On Saturday we had a slow starting but good lesson with the Young Single Adults. But our activity was interrupted by the bee man telling us we had to leave so he could finish getting the bees out of the attic of the church.

Nov. 6, 2011, Sunday - We had a really active day. Picked up some investigators for the West Elders. Good lessons at church and a great testimony meeting. Then they held Branch Council Meeting. Pretty heavy discussion on several subjects. Then dropped off the investigators. Then we went with the Elders to visit a member and give her a blessing and a lesson.

Next day we took the Elders up to the Themi Falls hike location. We didn’t feel like going on the hike again as we already did that before.

Got some beautiful photos of the town from up there.

We went back to town thinking they would be several hours on the hike like when we went. We got a call about 2 hours later that they were back at the trail head and ready to be picked up. So we headed back up the jeep trail road to pick them up. Then our regular FHE that evening with the Elders.

The rest of the week was our normal swahili lessons, DDM with the Elders 

and some visiting of members.
We received the curriculum for the next year this week so we went to the church and did an inventory of the library. We are trying to train the new librarian on how to keep track of everything.

On the way up to YSA on Sat. we saw the Elders and they were walking with the member we had met in Mwanza. The one that was moving from Dar to Mwanza. Her company had decided to send her to Arusha instead of Mwanza. We were excited about that. She will be a great strength to the YSA here. We had a great lesson and a really fun activity. We taught them several new dances.

Then another good Sunday. Our temple class is coming along. We hope we can get them ready to attend the temple early next year.

Here’s the group at church that day:

Monday, Nov. 14th. We have 2 Elders from here going home this week and the 2 American Elders had requested a meal of mashed potatoes, gravy & roast beef. We spent most of the day running around trying to get the ingredients for that meal. It’s pretty hard to find good meat here. Sister R. spent most of the day fixing the meal. Then we had the Elders over and had a good farewell FHE with them.

Then after swahili lesson on Tuesday the Elders wanted to have an “Ugliest Tie” contest. Sister R. decided Elder Coles (far right) won that.

After class we headed down the hill from the church but we ran into a fallen tree across the road. So we decided to see if we could find a way up the hill and around to another road. The roads in this area are pretty much like jeep roads in the mountains and there are all kinds of roads (they look more like trails) running off in all directions. We spent about an hour wandering around on badly rutted roads from the rain we have had recently. Finally we came to a road that looked like it would go back down the mountain to the paved road. It did and we made it back to our apartment.

Nov. 16, 2011

We loaded up the Elders and headed for the airport. Dropped off the 2 Elders headed to Nairobi and eventually home. One to California and the other to Zimbabwe.

We will really miss these 2 as they have really mastered the swahili language. And they have been really good missionaries as well. Elder Ngapasare has been here in Arusha for longer than we have and he has really taught a lot of people.

Wow, we just realized we have been on our mission for 6 months already. That means 1/3 of our mission is gone. Time really flies when you are having fun. Before we know it we will be the ones flying home. We have so much we want to do here that sometimes we just get overwhelmed. But with the Lord’s help and hard work we feel we can make a difference here in Arusha.