Last Part of July

Seems like lately we live at the immigration office. This process of getting a group ready to attend the Temple has turned out to be a real challenge. But with the Lord’s help and pushing the people at the immigration office we think we will make it. As of the 2nd of August we have all the applications turned in and we are just waiting for the passports to come back.

Our precious Sister preparing for a mission 

has had so many obstacles placed in her way that we have worried that she might give up on the process. The story could make a very interesting novel if we just had time to write it all down. She came to us right after her birthday (which made her old enough to serve) and was ready to go. That was in February. We finally got all her paperwork sent off to the Mission President on July 16. They have found that a lot of the Sisters that are called from Africa have had problems with hemoglobin count being too low. We had received notice of this and were advised to have any Sisters preparing to serve a mission start taking iron pills. But we asked her and she said her doctor had okayed her. We got notice back that the hemoglobin count was missing on the missionary recommendation. We had overlooked that box. So we asked Tausi and she said she didn’t think it was that important. (Again the language/comprehension thing). So we took her into a clinic and had her tested. And sure enough, the count was low. Another hurdle to get over. We went straight to the pharmacy and got her some iron pills. And Sister R. told her to eat lots of vegetables. She said she doesn’t like vegetables. She said her mother gets after her for not eating enough vegetables. Another lesson on the value of a good mother. But now the iron pills are making her sick. So we are hoping she can get over this hurdle and on toward her mission. She is such a sweet girl, she will make a great missionary.

We had another wedding this month. 

Again just to satisfy the legal things for the passport application. The father of the family lives and works in Dar Es Salaam and his family lives here in Arusha. He tries to get home at least once a month but it’s very hard for him to plan ahead because of the company he works for. We got notice on Sat. morning that he was here so we had to squeeze the wedding in on Sunday. And as it turned out it was a very busy Sunday. When we arrived at the church we noticed the baptism font was being filled. We had not heard anything about a baptism so we wondered what was up. We have 2 children in the Branch that are 8 years old and not baptized yet. So we have been talking to the Branch Presidency about the need to have children baptized soon after they turn 8. As it turned out the father of one of the children had decided this was they day. So he had come to the church early to fill the font. It takes about 5 hours to fill the font due to the low water pressure here. The problem was that he didn’t tell anyone else about the baptism. So we had to explain to him that there was another child that needed to be baptized and we needed to set a date for both and plan a program. 

The highlight for us this half month was our trip to Mwanza. We look forward to our visits there with great anticipation. The Branch President and his family are very strong in the Gospel. We really enjoy our visits there. Elder Rydalch has been asked to do the financial audits for Arusha and Mwanza so we needed to get that done before the end of August and this was the only time we could squeeze a trip in. The Branch there now has a computer with the MLS System on it but the power was off the day the Brother from Nairobi was there to train. So Elder Rydalch volunteered to do that while we were there. We usually stay there for 3 days but with all the things we needed to get done we decided to go a day early. We fly there which Sister R. really enjoys. And the weather there is much warmer than in Arusha. So she also enjoys that.

The view from our hotel room is always interesting.

We have watched a new addition to the hotel being built for the past year as we have visited.

The first day there Sister R. spent time making visual aids for the Primary while Elder R. did the audit.

Then that evening we walked down along the bay to another hotel to have dinner.

Then on Sat. after the training on the MLS System we were invited to the Branch President’s home. He has spent several years building it so that he has no debt on it.

He has a large garden all around the home. He told us that since he started growing a garden most of the neighbors had also started growing gardens.

We learned something we didn’t know before. Banana trees only bear fruit once and then they die. Before they die they start a new tree from the roots along side the old tree.

While we were there in Mwanza Sister R. wanted to take photos of a boat being built to use in the Primary movie we are making. We had Abel, our taxi driver take us to see if we could find one. We did find one 

and along with it an interesting tour of the family’s fishing business.

They put lanterns out on the water on these buoys at night and that attracts the fish. 

That's Abel our taxi driver on the right.

Then they drag a net around the fish and pull them into their boats.

We also learned that they grind up the fish bones after the fish have been filleted and use it for chicken feed.

Here is the fountain at one of the roundabouts.

As we were driving around, Abel said. "The people here in Mwanza are lock people". We could not figure out what he meant until it dawned on us that he could not say the letter "r". So he was saying they are rock people. That's because the hills around Mwanza are covered with rocks and the people build their houses right in among the rocks.

On Sunday we attended their meetings. The instructors were well prepared. We just wished we could understand more of what they teach. But the spirit in all their meetings was great. After the meeting we reviewed the missionary recommendations of the 2 missionaries preparing to serve missions. The Branch President has 4 children and 3 of them will be serving at the same time. This is the family that has been raised without any church there in Mwanza for their whole life. They will all be great missionaries. They are very well prepared.

Monday we flew back to Arusha.

We received word while we were in Mwanza that 2 of our Elders would be transferring out. 

We hate to see them go but realize their talents are needed somewhere else in the Mission. They are both going to Dar Es Salaam so they will be able to continue to use the swahili they have learned. We are looking forward to getting to know the 2 new Elders that will be transferring in. More on them next month.

As we draw closer to the end of our mission we are really getting panicky. We have so many things we want to get done before we leave and we seem to be getting less done in a day than we used to. It is so hard to plan our days. We seem to get interrupted with unplanned things every day. Helping the group to get ready to go to the Temple has been one of our goals and that is taking much more time and effort than we ever dreamed it would. The bureaucracy here in Tanzania, especially here in Arusha, is something we have never before experienced. The stories we are recording in our journals will be something that most people will never believe. But with the help of the Lord and the hard work of these members we will overcome. Every day we see how Satan is trying to stop the Gospel here in Arusha. But the members are strong and they will win in the end.

First Part of July

Zone Conference in Dar again. We brought a bunch of stuff from Nairobi on our last trip there so we decided to drive to Dar rather than take the bus. And being as we were driving we offered to take the Sister Missionaries with us. We had a good visit with them on the way.

We have decided we must have a police magnet somewhere in our truck. Every time we travel to Dar we get stopped. This time it was about the dent in our front fender that we do not have fixed yet. They said we had to have a plice report on it. And they charged us for the report. Then they came up with a requirement that we needed to have our address printed on the front door. We questioned that and so the officer ushered us into the chief to explain it to us. So we were a bit delayed because of that. But we had left very early and still got to Dar by about 3:30 PM.

The Zone Conf. was great as usual. 

Elder Pocock who is now one of the A.P.s was kind of in charge of the program. And the theme of the conference was the Atonement of Jesus Christ. There were a lot of great presentations and talks and Elder Pocock gave one of the best. We were really impressed and proud of him.

The Conference this time was on a Thursday. That evening we had dinner with the other couples and Pres. & Sister B.

They are usually have Zone Conf. on Friday. We thought about going back to Arusha on Friday but when Pres. Broadbent invited all the couples to dinner at their hotel on Friday we decided to stay over.

We have been talking for some time about a sound system for the church here. So we decided with the extra day we would try to check that out. With the help of the Physical Facilities guy there in Dar we were able to get one that fit the specification requirements for our church. That evening we met with the Mission Pres., his wife and the other couples at the Sea Cliff Hotel where the Pres. stays when he comes to Dar. The restaurant is right out on the ocean’s edge and this time we had a table with a view of the incoming waves crashing against the rocky shore line. It was really something to watch. And wouldn’t you know it, Elder Rydalch didn’t take his camera. So we had to get photos from the other couples.

The evening was absolutely GREAT. It is so good to meet with the Mission Pres. and the other couples. You probably get tired of us talking about our spiritual boosts, but we have them all the time and we love them and I guess we expect you to love them also.

The next morning we left early to go back to Arusha. We were stopped 4 times by police. Like we said, we have a police magnet somewhere in the truck. We have decided we will ride the bus from now on.

Elder Herr had a birthday this month so we had his birthday party at one of our FHEs. 

We had a good time playing games.

We decided to clean the floors of the church for our Branch Conference coming up on July 14-15. When we got into that project we realized they would require hand scrubbing to get them clean.

But after cleaning and waxing they really looked good.

The next big event of the month was a wedding here in our Branch. Weddings are quite different here than what we are used to. Many couples are married in a tribal ceremony, many in a traditional ceremony and most do not have a marriage certificate. So proof of marriage is a real problem. As we were processing the passport applications for the members going to the Temple we hit a brick wall on this one. The immigration office decided one of our couples (who have several children and a grandson) needed a certificate before they would process the application. So we decided to have a wedding, marry them and create a certificate. The couple has been wanting to do this for some time. They wanted to combine their wedding with the Christmas Party but we didn’t think that was a good idea. So on Wed. July 11th we met with them, the Branch Pres., Second Counselor and his wife to perform the wedding. 

We had told them that it would not be a big party or celebration like they are used to here. But we would just perform the ceremony and be done. As it turned out that day was scheduled to the max. We had Swahili at 10:00, D.D.M. at 11:30, a Branch Presidency meeting at 1:00, a meeting with the Physical Facilities man from Nairobi at 2:00 and our missionary class at 2:45. At 11:00 the couple showed up ready to have the wedding. So we met in the Branch President’s office and he performed the ceremony. Really different than what we expected. It was all in Swahili so we are not sure what really went on. But we filled out the certificate and had the couple, the witnesses and the Branch Pres. sign all the forms.

Then they informed us that they had prepared a meal for everyone at their home. We told them that would not work as we all had meetings all day long. Then during the Branch Presidency meeting we started smelling food. They had gone home and loaded up all the food and brought it to the church. That doesn’t sound like much until you realize that these people here do not have vehicles. And this family lives on a little walkway that you couldn’t drive a car to if you wanted to. So they had carried all that food all the way to the church. We didn’t have the heart to tell them we didn’t have time for a party. So we invited the Physical Facilities man to join us and we had a bit of a party.

The highlight of the this half month was our Branch Conference. The Mission Pres. had decided we needed a change in the Branch Presidency so Elder R. had been praying and conversing with him on that for quite some time. The President, his wife and the A.P.s came late on Friday the 13th. Then on Sat. we met at the church about 9:00 to plan out the day. We had training for the first half of the day. Then the rest of the day was spent interviewing and issuing calls. Here are Elder Rydalch’s thoughts on that. “It was very interesting how the Lord guided us through that process. I was able to set in on several of the interviews and I can testify that the Lord is indeed in charge. I had some preconceived notions of how I thought it would all fit together and those were dashed in a very short time. I was asked to meet with the Elder’s Quorum Pres. to get his suggestion on a replacement for one of his counselors. We talked a bit about the change that needed to be made and I asked if he had any strong impression as to who the new counselor should be. I expected him to ponder and maybe even ask for some time to think about it. He came back to me with a name in the first sentence out of his mouth. I am sure the Lord had told him the change was coming and he had already made the decision. That evening I received very definite confirmation that what was done that day was the will of the Lord.”

Then we went out to eat with the Pres. and Sister B. We went to the Maasai Cafe for pizza. They had not been there before and they really enjoyed it. Sorry, no photo. We get so involved in the spirit of events that we don't think about photos any more.

But here is a good one of our Primary here in Arusha. That has turned out to be one of the best successes we have had.

On Sunday we had our regular meetings and during Sac. Meeting the changes were made. Sister R. had arranged for the Primary children and the Young Women to sing for the prelude. That brought such a strong spirit into the meeting. Usually the members are rather noisy before meeting starts. (Just like home.) But this day there was not a sound from anyone. The outgoing Branch Pres. spoke, then the new Branch Pres. (Bro. Kibanda) bore his testimony. He told a little of his life over the past 30 years. Quite a story. He had decided early on that he was not going to join any church. His wife is quite active in the Catholic church but he didn’t want anything to do with church. Then he told how when he was introduced to the LDS church that all changed. He decided to join and just enjoy the spirit he felt as the missionaries taught him. Then he was called to be a counselor in the Branch Presidency (after 6 months as a member) and his life changed again. He kept saying how he had a plan but the Lord had a different plan for him. He mentioned how his time in service to the Lord and the church just keeps growing. He also mentioned that after traveling a lot to other countries with his employment, he had decided to never leave Tanzania again. And now the Lord is calling him to go to the Temple in South Africa. He will be a great Branch President. We have watched him grow in the Gospel over the past year and how he really has a great love for the members here. The culture here is not one of showing compassion for others. And as these members grow in the Gospel we see that come into their lives. It is a real testimony to us to see how the Gospel can change lives for the better. We had a very beautiful musical number by 3 of the NGO volunteers that are here for the summer. Then Sister B. spoke and she had taught the children in Primary to say the CTR Makes Me Happy thing, so she had them all stand and recite that to the audience. That was great!! Then Pres. B. spoke and gave a very spiritual talk. It was really nice to have good ol’ American English spoken. Even though they had to have Bro. K. translate every line, the spirit still came through loud and clear.

Then after meeting we met with the new Branch Presidency and their wives for the setting apart. 

A special treat today was that Bro. Elias’ wife was here from their village and was able to attend with us.

Then we had Pres. & Sister B. over for dinner. Again that great spiritual lift. The A.P.s dropped in about 5:00 and it was great to talk to Elder Pocock again.