What a whirlwind of a month. We had so many things planned for the last 2 weeks of our mission that we were running all the time.
The 31st of Oct. we rode a bus to Dar with the missionaries to attend Zone Conference.
We didn’t really have time to attend the Zone Conf. but being as Elder Hartman (the color code guy) was going to be there we decided to take the time to attend. The bus ride was rather uneventful. Other than the dozens of stops it makes along the way.
We still find it better than driving. We can take in the beautiful scenery and relax and even sleep a little. We had front row seats again, so we really had a great view. Arrived about 5:30 PM and spent the evening visiting with the Nolls.
Next day we spent at the Zone Conference with Elder & Sister Hartman learning about where everyone fits into the color thing.
We pretty much had all the missionaries from Arusha tagged. So not many surprises there. But it was a great conference and as always we got a good spiritual boost. That evening all the couples went out to a Chinese restaurant with Pres. & Sister B.
A really fun evening. Pres. B. and Elder Hartman are both yellow (that means they like to have fun and party) so they really entertained us the whole evening.
Next day we headed back to Arusha on the bus. Not so uneventful this time. The bus was late leaving and after turning onto the highway and before the first stoplight the bus broke down.
We sat there for about an hour as they tried to fix it and finally they had to bring another bus to take us to Arusha. We were thankful the breakdown didn’t happen way out of town. But that put us into Arusha way late. And when we walked into our flat there was water all over on the floor, AGAIN! So we cleaned that up and went to bed.
The next day (Saturday) we had a very full agenda because that was the only day we could pack and move out of our bedroom before leaving for the Johannesburg Temple on Sunday. And as usual everything interfered with our preparations. First we had to take one of the Sister Missionaries to the dentist with a tooth problem. Then because of the rain one of the members needed us to come get their luggage because they were flooded at their home. And in the process of that we got stuck. It took about 2 hours to get unstuck. Then we tried to get some of the genealogy info into the FamilySearch website for that family and the internet would not work. By the time we got all the fires put out it was 4:30 PM and the day was shot. So we ran like crazy to get some last minute things done and hurried to packed for the trip to the Temple and went to bed.
It had been raining all week (that’s what caused the flood in our flat) and Sunday morning was no different. It was raining so hard that the road up to the church was like a river. We wanted to take a picture of one spot where it looked like a water fall but just had too many things to get done so we didn’t get that picture. We worried that the members that were going to the Temple would not be able to make it to the church. But most were there when we arrived and the rest came before meetings started. And they really looked sharp.
We held Sac. Meeting then decided because of all the rain we needed to transport the members to the bus station. So we made several trips to do that. Then the bus left and we followed along in our truck. The members were going to stay at a hotel that night and meet us at the airport the next morning.
The flight to Johannesburg was quite an experience. We only had one member that had ever been on an airplane before. So they were quite excited about the trip.
We arrived in Johannesburg about 10:00 AM, checked in to patron housing and went over to the Temple grounds.
What a beautiful sight and what a spirit. The members could really feel the spirit of the Temple.
The next 2 days we spent in the Temple with our members. That was truly the highlight of our mission. Those members that were able to go will be so much stronger in the Gospel and such a great support to the other members in Arusha. We commented several times that they seemed to have a glow about them after the temple experience.
The Mission Pres. and his wife just happened to be in Johannesburg to meetings while we were there. And they happened to be in the Temple the day we did the sealing ceremonies and were able to attend those with us.
Sister Obuya even took her original wedding dress all the way to the Temple so she could have picture in her dress there at the Temple.
Then the plane ride back to Nairobi.
The new couple replacing us had arrived in the mission while we were at the Temple. We had a get together at the Mission Home to welcome them and the other 2 couples that had arrived in the mission. The new couple are named Gotcher. They are form Arizona.
The next day we went back to Arusha. Elder Gotcher drove most of the way. He handled the driving on the wrong side of the road very well. On the way we got another really good look at Mt. Kilimanjaro.
The next few days we spent showing the Gotchers around town and to some of the member’s homes. And trying to wrap up all the loose ends that seemed to just keep coming at us.
On Nov. 14th Gotchers took us to the Kilimanjaro airport and we flew to Nairobi.
Our last view of Mt. Kilimanjaro.
We spent 2 days there wrapping up more of the loose ends.
Then on the evening of the 15th we met at the Mission Home with all the couples that live in Nairobi and had dinner and a farewell party. We and the Nolls told about some of the experiences we had on our missions.
Then the Mission Pres. took us to the airport and we flew out at 11:40 PM. We flew about 9 hours to London, laid over there for about 4 hours, flew about 10 hours to Dallas, laid over there for 5 hours, flew about 3 hours to Salt Lake City, laid over there for 1 hour, then flew for an hour to Idaho Falls.
Most of our family were there to greet us. And that was a great experience. Several of the grandkids have grown over a foot in height. We hardly recognized them.
So now the challenge has been to try to fit back into life here at home. We are finding that a greater challenge than we thought it would be. We’ll let you know when (and if) we accomplish that.
