First Part of August

We said we would give more information of the 2 new Elders coming to Arusha. Well, the first one to arrive was a new experience for us. He was coming from Dar Es Salaam and we were told he should arrive about 4:30 or 5:00 in the evening. The day was really full for us so we ended up heading for the bus station a little late. We asked when the bus would arrive and they told us about 4:45 or 5:00. The bus came about 5:45 but no Elder. So then we were getting very nervous. We call the Nolls in Dar and asked if they got him on the bus on time. They said yes, so we asked, “What bus?” The Elders usually come on the Dar Express and that was where we were. They said they couldn’t remember the name of the bus line so they would need to look it up. I think they might have been out running transferring Elders around as well. When they finally found the name, it was a bus line we had never heard of. Then we were in real panic. We didn’t have any idea where the station was. We remembered that down in the middle of town there is a whole square where buses come in but we had only been there once before when the Elder coming from Nairobi ended up having to hire a taxi from the border because his bus broke down. So we headed for that area hoping he would be at the end of the square waiting for us. We went past but no Elder. So we wondered if it was someplace else. Then as we were coming around toward the square again we spotted a young man from the Branch. We rolled down the window and asked if he knew where the Sai-Baba bus station was. He told us it was, “Hapa” (that is here in swahili) and pointed to the square where we were headed. You know, the Lord really watches out for these missionaries. What are the odds of running into a member of the Branch that late in the evening in a town of 2 million people and 85 members of the church. Well, we found a place to park and walked back to the square. We asked where the bus would come in and people directed us to the ticket office. We asked if they had more than one bus and they said they did not and the bus should be arriving soon. We have learned that the terms “I am coming” and “soon” don’t mean much here. By now it was about 7:15 and getting dark. We do not like to be out after dark and especially in a strange place with all kinds of scary looking people like there are at a bus station. After about 20 minutes and still no bus we walked back to the truck and moved closer to the station so we could sit in the truck and wait. Finally about 8:20 the bus went past us on it’s way around to the other side of the square. It had no tail lights and very dim head lights. We think the only reason it made it at all is because there was a Missionary on board. But the Elder was on it and seemed in good spirits. We loaded up his suitcases and headed up to the Elder’s flat. We hate that road even in the daylight. But we survived and were happy to have the Elder here safe and sound. He is from Uganda.

The next day the highlight was that the Sister Missionaries taught Sister R. how to make Ugali.

Ugali is a big thing here in Africa. When we get home we want to cook it up for everyone to taste. We won’t ruin the anticipation by telling you what it tastes like, we will wait and watch your expression when you sample it.

The second Elder came in 2 days later. He was coming by shuttle from Nairobi and we knew for sure where he was coming in at. We met him at the Impala Hotel and took him up to get settled in. He is from Canada.

We finished the last passport application early in the month and got them sent off to Dar. So now we are just waiting for the actual passports to process and get back here to Arusha. Now that we are not going to the immigration office every day we almost feel lost with nothing to do.

We had a Branch baptism this month. Two young girls in the branch turned 8 some time ago and we have been trying to get the branch to plan a baptism for several months. It finally came together on Aug. 4th.

We had encouraged the fathers to do the baptizing but one father was out of town so the father of the older girl did both. They day of the baptism we arrived at the church early to check out all the details. When we checked the baptismal font (which is a big rubber water tank with the top cut off) we realized they had filled it all the way up. It would have been over the head of the younger girl.

This is Jeannine the younger of the 2 with her little sister.

This is Jenipha the older of the 2.

We think this might have been the first time this father had done a baptism. He had a hard time with the wording. Elder R. was asked to be one of the witnesses and he was no help to tell if the wording was correct. So poor Jeannine got dunked before the mistake was caught. By the time the father got it correct she was shivering like crazy. But she was a good sport and we know she felt the spirit of the baptism because the next day at Fast & Testimony meeting her father bore testimony and read something she had written about the event.

The next day during Fast & Testimony meeting Moses showed up.

He is the one we were involved with a lot in teaching. He works in Moshi (a town about an hour away) and has not been able to come to church since early January. We have really worried about him. Being a member only since late Aug. last year, we thought maybe he would loose his testimony with no contact with the church for that long. But he bore his testimony and later in the day he stopped by our apt. with a friend to visit. He is still strong in the Gospel and we are sure he will remain that way. It is so good to see what the Gospel can do for these people. And the Missionaries will be teaching his friend soon.

On Monday we celebrated Sister R’s birthday. 

The Missionaries had gone to the Snake Park that day, and had invited us to go, but we decided we had too much to do so we didn’t go with them. They came that evening and we had a great party.

The next highlight of the month was a visit from Elder & Sister Babcock. 

They serve up in Eldoret, North of Nairobi. One of their daughters came to Tanzania to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro and they wanted to come here to pick her up and tour a few game parks. We took them to see the Snake Park and Maasai Museum. 

After we came out of the Maasai Museum Elder R. struck up a conversation with some tour guide school students about the Gospel. He and Elder Babcock spent about an hour talking to them.

On they way back to town we stopped at the Cultural Center and had lunch.

Babcocks stayed several days and picked up their daughter on Sunday. She also stayed with us on Sunday night. We had a great time visiting with them.

On Saturday we had planned a Pioneer Day Celebration with the Branch. Babcocks were a great help with that. We really had a good activity. Sister R. volunteered to chair the event and had planned all kinds of games, activities and food centered around the Pioneers.

We had games and singing for the Primary Children.

Sister R. taught the Young Women how to sew.

The men did the stick pull.

We did some dancing.

Ate some Pioneer food (African style).

Then we showed the video of “The Legacy”.
It turnout to be a really great day!

After that we went out to eat with Elder & Sister Babcock.

Closed out this half month sending one of our fine Elders home to the US. 

Elder Herr has been here only a month and a half but he has really learned the language well and has a great testimony. He is from Arizona and plans to attend BYU this fall. We will miss him but wish him the best.