Best week YET!

This week was Mission Leadership Council. We had all of the Zone Leaders, Sister Trainer Leaders, and Assistants come to the mission home from all over Uganda. We had the Leadership in Rwanda and Ethiopia join us via web-ex.  It was an amazing meeting. One point that really stood out to me in the meeting was when the Zone Leaders came to the realization that the missionaries look to them. One missionary said that he is half way through his mission now. He looks at those who trained him, and who taught him what it is to be a good missionary. He said that he will always appreciate them for helping him become the missionary he is. Then he said he didn't realize that there are missionaries who will be looking to them in the same way. He wants to be that example to those who follow him on mission. There were several others who indicated that they felt the same way. They have had experience, and should share that with those missionaries who are newer on mission. It was very exciting to see them catch that vision.

After the meeting, we went together, along with our senior couples to dinner. It was a very nice evening.

After the dinner, the missionaries and President Collings spoke with a couple of people who were interested in who we are, and what we do. This lady was from South Africa. She said that she would like to help the missionaries in any way she could, and offered to buy a plane ticket for any one of our missionaries. There were two other people that President Collings spoke with about the church. One said he would like to go to our church on the next Sunday that he isn't working. The church is very close to where he works. It was a nice evening.

We flew to Rwanda later in the week, and had a very nice time there. We have asked the zone leaders to be responsible for some of the training in Zone Conference now. Previously, it was the Assistants who did all of the training. Rwanda was the first zone that we were able to see the zone leaders teach, and they did not disappoint. I love being able to see the high quality of teaching they do. I was so impressed with their level of preparation, and their confidence.  I talked about having a positive attitude. President Collings taught them how important it is to use the Spirit to help them set goals, and took it one step further, that they need the Savior to help them as they set goals for the day, week, and even month. The Zone leaders taught on setting goals and planning as well. They also had an activity with the zone out of Preach My Gospel, which I think the zone enjoyed. At the end of the meeting, we took time for the missionaries to have a discussion and questions and answers. All in all, a very good meeting. The senior couple who are in Rwanda took care of lunch after the meeting, which was wonderful. We appreciate them so much!!

We also had the privilege of meeting with many of the members of the church in Rwanda. We met one man who has been a member of the church for 20 years. He went with Elder Holland when he dedicated the country of Rwanda for missionary work, and said it was an amazing experience. His wife is a return missionary, and together, they are raising their family as strong members of the church in Rwanda.  We have just sent sister missionaries to Rwanda, and they have been so well received. All of the branches are so excited to have sister missionaries. This family has a teenage daughter named Mercy, who went tracting with the sister missionaries, and she says she wants to go on a mission someday. There is a language barrier here. The official language in Rwanda is English, but just a few years ago it was French, however, most of the people speak Kenyarwandan (spelling?) The amazing attribute of the African missionaries, is that most of them speak several languages, and can pick up new languages very easily. I have heard that some speak as many as 9 or 10 languages. So these sister missionaries are able to speak to the ladies in their native language, but are also teaching them to speak English, so they can read all of the church materials. It's a huge blessing. The elders have been doing the same thing, but I think the women relate better to the sister missionaries.

We also met with one of the branch relief society presidents. She was so sweet. She and her children are members of the church. Her husband is not, but he is always reminding her to go to church, and not be late. He came to all of their baptisms. She is a very kind and positive woman. It was a blessing to meet with her. When she found out we were coming her husband bought new curtains for the home. It was very sweet.

After our zone conference, President Collings was scheduled to have interviews with many of the church members. Some for temple recommends, some for priesthood advancement, and others for callings. He was busy for most of the evening. While we were waiting at the church for him to do the interviews, the missionaries had arranged for a fireside. They had asked Elder and Sister Ford, and myself to speak to the people that came to this fireside. When we arrived at the church, the power was out, and stayed out for a very long time. We moved chairs into the parking lot, and relied on the lights from a nearby building to be able to see. Instead of a fireside, we decided it was a "dark side", but a good one. While we were speaking, I saw a huge dark shadow run under the chairs. I thought it was going to run under mine, so I grabbed my purse off the ground and put it on my lap.. It was very dark, but a couple of seconds later there was loud rustling in the vines that went up the side of the wall behind the church. So.... I saw my first rat! I didn't scream during the fireside, but I did almost jump up and run. Haha. We were also eaten alive by mosquitos! It was an experience we will not forget. The spirit of the meeting was very strong. We spoke, along with Elder Gillett, and then several of the members of the church in Rwanda bore their testimonies. There are very good people in this area of the world.

I have had two people approach me this week stating that Americans think that Africa is a bad place, and they don't understand that there are cities and roadways and developments  just like the rest of the world. They have asked that I set the record straight. So, I'm setting the record straight, Uganda and Rwanda are safe places to visit. They have cities with restaurants and hotels, and other entertainment just like other places in the world. The people are very friendly, and welcoming. If I had known what I know now about Africa, I would have traveled here sooner. So don't be afraid to come to visit. 😀

On Sunday, we were back in Uganda. President Collings confirmed Kassan, and then that afternoon we had Alex and Kassan's sisters and another friend over at the house for dinner and a lesson. They all agreed to be baptized on October 16th. We are so excited for them to learn more about the gospel. We have found people who are very prepared to receive the gospel, it's been such a blessing. The relief society president in the Ward, along with another sister had a birthday. They brought a huge cake and drinks, and ended Relief Society a few minutes early on Sunday so we could all sing  happy birthday and eat cake before going home. It was quite the birthday celebration.

We also had the privilege of meeting with the Minister of State for Relief, Disaster Preparedness  and Refugees here in Uganda. He is a true friend to the church, and we had a wonderful time visiting with him. The country of Uganda is surrounded by countries where there is so much unrest. He was very proud to tell us that all refugees are welcome in Uganda. There are refugees from South Sudan, DRC, Eritrea, and Burundi, among others. They have taken in over 700,000 refugees. It was a very neat experience, and we are blessed to know him.

One more bit of news to add, and I think BEST  of all... We have a new GRANDSON!! He was born September 22nd in the middle of a terrible storm in Utah. As he was born the power was flickering off and on. He made quite an entrance. 8 pounds, 10 ounces, 22 inches long. Beautiful and perfect!! His name is Harvey Ryan Harris. We are thrilled!

Welcoming our new missionaries

We had three new missionaries come to the Uganda Kampala Mission this week. One sister from Johannesburg, one elder from Ghana, and one elder from the United States. They all came in from different MTC's, which made for an interesting day of training.

Our first missionary arrived at the airport at 2:30 in the afternoon. We drove to the airport with Godfrey, the Assistants, and the Goodwins. It worked out nice because we were able to have lunch with everyone, and then the Goodwins took her back to Kampala to the sister's apartment.

Our next flight wasn't scheduled to come in until 10:30 PM, so we had a few hours to work. President and the Assistants went to the elders apartment in Entebbe, they split up, taught a couple of lessons, visited members and talked with them about helping with missionary work, and then they did street contacting. In the time they were together, they had 7 people who committed to come to church, and start lessons with the missionaries. One of them had a family of 5. So they were pretty excited.

We snapped this picture of them a day later after they came in for the night.

I got to spend that time with the sister missionaries in Entebbe. I had a neat opportunity to talk with a family who are refugees from the DRC. They live in a very humble situation. We talked about the importance of families, and helped them work towards a baptismal date. The sisters bore testimony that the family is central to God's plan. They have 3 beautiful daughters. They want to get married, but they can't afford the bride price to her family, or the licensing fees. We tried to help them work out a time that they can call her parents and see if they will just wave the bride price, because they have been together for 12 years. We are praying that their hearts will be softened.

As we were preparing to leave, the mom asked us to wait because she had something for us. She brought us a bag of fresh fish. There were about 6 baby catfish, and one other one that I would call a trout if I was in Utah, Haha...  It was very humbling, they have so little, but are so generous.

The sisters were so excited. They took them back to their apartment and put them in the freezer. One of the sisters told me she loves fish so much, but when she eats it she breaks out in a rash on her arms, and even on her neck and face. But she said, "I will just eat it anyway and suffer the consequences." I told her she isn't allowed to eat ANY fish while she is on her mission.  YIKES!!

After spending some time with these missionaries in Entebbe, we went back to the airport to pick up our next elder who came from the United States. He is SO HAPPY to be in Uganda. We are very happy to have him here. It's hard to see what it's like here at almost midnight, riding home from the airport, but he was taking in all of the sights, and kept saying he couldn't believe he was finally here.

We arrived at the mission home around 12:30, and received a message that my parents had received their mission call, and that they are coming to the Uganda Kampala Mission!! We have been hoping they would be able to come, but didn't know for sure. We had to call them and talk with them about their mission call, it is such exciting news. They will come in April.


We finally got to bed at about 2:00 AM, and then got up at 5:00 AM to take the trip back to the airport to pick up the last of our new missionaries. He flew in from Ghana, along with a missionary who was returning home to Uganda from his mission. He came back to the mission home to be released and then we had training for all 3 of our new missionaries. They were trained by the office staff, and myself and President Collings, followed by lunch. By about 2:00 PM they were all on their way to their new area to meet their new companions.  We have some great missionaries coming to this mission!! We are so happy about each one of them!!

On Saturday we got to travel to the airport again and pick up our new office couple, the Bratsmans. They will be here training with the Goodwins for a couple of weeks before the Goodwins get to go home. We are so thankful that there is an overlap, and they will be able to spend time together, there's a lot to learn.

They came back to the mission home for the night, and then went with us to church. President was able to confirm Alex, which was very special for us. Kassan will have to wait until next week because he had to work, but he is very excited to be confirmed as well.

We have been praying that we can find people to teach, and on Sunday after sacrament meeting, President Collings had Frank approach him.  Frank lives in Kampala now, but had quite a story. He was in Dubai, and his passport was stolen. Somehow he ended up being put in jail because of it, and was there for 4 months. While in jail, there was a man who is a member of the church who was also in jail. He ended up teaching Frank about the gospel, and when he was released to come back to Kampala, this man told Frank to find the church. Well, he looked it up online, and found the address and time that the meeting started. He sat through sacrament meeting, and then afterwards walked right up to President Collings and asked him what he needed to do to learn more about the church. He said he felt something there that he wants in his life. President scheduled to meet with him on Monday with the Kololo Elders. We really feel like Heavenly Father is blessing us to find these people, even though we are so busy. It's such a blessing.   I think the Bratsmans really enjoyed their first week at church in Uganda. Sister Bratsman said it was nicer than she thought it would be. We love it here.

Elder Darko, Frank, President Collings, Elder Musona

We had dinner with all of the senior couples that evening, and had a wonderful conversation. It was fun for everyone to get to know each other. That night they took them to their own apartment to get settled in.

Immediately after the senior couples left our home, the phone started to ring. I want to preface this story by saying that we have really seen the people of Masaka embrace the gospel, and have seen excitement from all of the members with sharing the gospel and really feel that Heavenly Father is pouring out his blessings on this area. But we also know that Satan does not want to see this work progress, and likes to try and throw a wrench in things every now and then. Sunday night President Collings got a phone call that two of our Elders had been arrested for trespassing, and were being taken to jail for the night. We absolutely will do whatever we can to keep our elders safe, and were immediately on the phone trying to work out this situation. We were able to talk with the elders, and they said that they were okay. They were very humble, and tried to explain to the police what missionaries do. They pulled out their ministerial certificates and showed it to them. They were released on bond, with a promise that they would return the next morning to speak with the officers and work out the situation. The person who called in the complaint found out that they were being released and called a high ranking officer in Kampala, and complained that the police were accepting bribes, and that was why they let out the missionaries. The police said they had to bring them back, and that they had to spend the night in jail. I know many prayers were said by myself and others as the missionaries were then placed behind bars, for the night. President Collings was getting ready to jump in the car and drive to Masaka to spend the night at the jail himself. We are so thankful for the people we have here that help watch over our missionaries.  They  were able to contact some friends of the church, who are HIGHER ranking officers, and by about 9:45 PM, the missionaries were home in their apartments.  They went back to the police station at 8:00 this morning, and again showed a lot of humility.  When the complainant saw how they acted, he dropped all charges, and said he didn't have any problems with them or the church.  When our missionaries are exactly obedient, they see miracles. We felt like this was a miracle!

Today President went to the church to teach Frank, and then we had planned to spend the morning with our missionaries for some fun p-day activities. Well, the Heaven's opened!! The lesson went very well, but then it rained and rained. I think this is the rainiest day since we arrived in Kampala. Those that had planned to play basketball did not let it dampen their spirits, they played anyway. I brought some games to play with the sisters, and after an hour or so, we had a pretty large group of elders and sisters playing games. It is still raining, but has been a very fun day.

Our first Baptism

We had some missionaries returning home to Ethiopia from their missions, that President Collings needed to release. There were also some documents that needed to be started for us, which meant we needed to travel to Ethiopia again. This time we would be staying for a week. We have one district in Addis Ababa, consisting of 3 branches; Meganagna, Bekulobet, and Debre Zeit. We also have one mission branch, which is about a 4-5 hour drive outside of Addis Ababa, which is called Hawassa. This is our 3rd trip to Ethiopia, but our first time traveling outside of the city. We decided to take a drive to the Hawassa branch, and meet some of the members living there.

Our first day was spent at the mission office. President Collings had some interviews to do with some of the members and missionaries. During a break between interviews, we looked outside of the mission office, and right next to it on the church grounds, there is a basketball court. There were a group of at least 20 Sudanese young men, along with a few Ethiopians, playing basketball. Those of you that know Steve, know that he won't pass up a good game of basketball. So he went out in his missionary attire, along with one of our missionaries, and played a game of basketball. These young men are VERY TALL. But he played a good game, and really enjoyed it. Afterwards he told his missionaries, he doesn't mind them playing if they will actively teach the gospel to them as well. The missionaries said that one of the young men, who is 7 feet tall, is being baptized this weekend. My son would like this, sharing the gospel through sports.

The next day we drove to Hawassa. The landscape of Ethiopia is breathtaking! It's absolutely beautiful. This is what I have always pictured Africa to look like in my mind.

There's such a stark contrast between the growth of the city, and the simplicity of life on the outskirts of the city. There are apartment buildings going up everywhere, and a freeway system that is very efficient. Then right off the median of the freeway is someone tending their herd of cows or goats, and a few miles down the road someone plowing a field with a plow pulled by two oxen.

There are small horses pulling carts, donkeys pulling carts or carrying loads on their back, and herds of goats and cows being led across the highway.

On the drive, we stopped in Debre Zeit and saw the Church building located there. I believe it is about 4 years old. I love passing by that sign... The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Makes me so happy. It is such a nice little town.

The hotel where we stayed was right on Hawassa Lake, and was very nice. We were able to meet with some of the branch members of the Hawassa Branch. We had a good meeting with them, and are trying to build their foundation of strength in this area. We spoke with members of the branch council, along with several return missionaries. There are very good people here.

Habtu is a member of the church here in Ethiopia, and works for the church. He has been the one to help with our tickets, visas, driving, and just about everything we could ask for. He has been amazing! While driving back from Hawassa, he told us that he wanted to buy a goat. Ethiopian New Year is September 11th, I assume that's what it was for. Sounds like a feast! He said he would just tie it to the top of the van we were driving to get it home. There were people on the side of the highway selling live goats and chickens, and you see them tied to the top of vehicles or in the back of trucks, or on carts all the time. We stopped several times, and he haggled with them, but ultimately did not buy one. I was waiting to snap THAT picture! Haha.

My favorite picture of the whole trip. This woman saw me taking pictures, and motioned that she'd like her picture taken. Beautiful!

After arriving back to Addis, I actually came down with a migraine... Boo! But President Collings had work to do. He released a sister missionary who had served a mission in England, and then went on some visits. The first time we came to Ethiopia, we met with Zergy. She wasn't able to communicate with us, and made us promise that we would come back when someone could translate for her, because she wanted to tell us her conversion story. When President Collings showed up, she said she was glad to see he keeps his commitments. She told him that she was walking down the road one day and saw a pamphlet that had been discarded. She picked it up and it told about Joseph Smith. She took it home with her and read it over and over that night. She believed what was written in that pamphlet, and decided to call the number on the back. She attended church the next Sunday. She said that she had a dream that she should be baptized. It was such an amazing story. She has a son serving a mission now in Ghana. Her younger son, Melaku is trying to figure out his feelings about the church. President Collings challenged him to work on gaining a testimony, and said he would contact him in a few weeks to see how he was doing.

It made him very happy to receive this picture from Habtu of Melaku and his mom and sister at church on Sunday. 

That evening, I had gotten over my headache, and was really hungry. Habtu had arranged for us to have an authentic Ethiopian dinner. We invited the District President, President Eyob, and his wife Mesi, and also our friends from Russia, Andre and his wife. We were hoping Habtu's wife would come too, but they were unable to find anyone to watch the kids. (I told him they should bring the kids!)  Steve has had this before, but I tried enjeru for the first time. I really liked it, and Steve LOVED it!! The food is placed on top of enjeru, which is a spongy type of flat bread, and you tear off pieces of it and use them to pick up the rest of the food. No forks or spoons.

A lot of it was very spicy. I stuck with the more mild, while Steve tried the hottest. I think they were waiting for his reaction to what they said was VERY spicy food, but he just said it tasted like ice cream. They don't know he's spent the last few years eating with his employees from Mexico. The enjeru is topped with cabbage, beans, chicken, beef, cheese, etc. The true Ethiopians ate raw meat, ground beef, but I didn't think it would be a good idea to try it, since I'm always scolding the missionaries for their choices in food that seem to make them sick. President Eyob compared it to the scripture in the Book of Mormon, where the Lord made the raw meat sweet to them. Haha. Habtu promised me that the next time we come, he'll take us to dinner and a show, where we will see authentic dancing. I can't wait!

We had one more missionary to release on Friday morning, who had returned from Indonesia. He's an American and his family is living in Ethiopia. Funny story, he was living with his family in Indonesia when he received his call there. They were surprised, but happy. After the meeting with this missionary  it was off to the airport.

We arrived home late Friday night, and then got up and were on the road to Masaka at 6:00am Saturday morning. There are times in life when everything goes wrong... I mean everything!! I love that scripture in Helaman 5 that says, "When the devil shall send forth his mighty wind, yea his shafts in the whirlwind, yea when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you..." We had a "mighty  storm"  type of a day on Saturday. We have come to see that when we have "mighty storm" days, it's because there is something amazing that is going to happen, and Satan wants to get us to stay away, or become discouraged. The rest of that scripture says "it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is  a sure foundation,  a foundation whereon if men build, they cannot not fall." Our "mighty storm" morning, turned into an amazing day.

We left at 6:00am to drive to Masaka. We should have reached there by 8:00am. We had the Masaka chapel in our GPS, and this is the first time going back there since our first Sunday in Uganda, when we rode with the senior couple. As we were driving along, we were about an hour into our drive when Steve was stopped by a police officer. He started to tell us that he had passed a car illegally. Then he saw his badge, and said, "Are you a preacher?" Steve replied that he was, and was on his way to meet with people of our church in Masaka. The man acted quite shocked, and said, "You're going to Masaka?"  "Yes..." Then he said, "You are on the wrong road!! You are at least 40KM off course." The good news was, we didn't get a ticket for an illegal pass, that he doesn't remember doing. The bad news is, he said we would have to turn around, go all the way back to Kampala, and take the correct exit at the round about.  Needless to say we were quite frustrated. We put the city of Masaka in our GPS, instead of coordinates to the chapel, and it showed a road between the two highways that we could take instead of going back to Kampala. We were worried about trusting the GPS again, but it was really our only option. This road we took to get to the correct highway was a dirt road, over the mountains. As we turned on the dirt road, we stopped and asked a man if this dirt road would take us to Masaka. We got the look again... "You're going to MASAKA?"  "Yes..." He said it would, but we would need to stop along the way and ask for directions. This road was dirt, it passed by little huts, and all along the road, people would stop and watch us. It got pretty narrow and rutted from where the rain had washed out parts of the road. The GPS led us pretty well, but at one point as we followed the road, the GPS showed us floating off the path. Usually it re-calculates, but it didn't this time. There was a lady just outside of her hut who was watching us. We asked her if this was the right road to Masaka. We again got the shocked look, and the usual question. Then the  lady shook her head. She told us where to turn, and that would get us back to the correct dirt trail to Masaka. I think it was so funny because many of them seemed so shocked to see a vehicle on their road, but then to look inside the vehicle and see a muzungu (white person) was REALLY shocking! As we got to where it looked like we would soon merge with the highway, we came into a village that was a little more modern. We could see that in the path ahead of us was a huge group of people with a police vehicle parked in the middle. There was no way around this crowd. We rolled the window down, and asked what was going on. A man said that there was a boy in a crevasse. Not sure exactly what they meant by that, but we could see that we would be waiting a while. Pretty soon there was movement ahead of us, and the police were helping a 10-12 year old boy into the back of the police vehicle. Again, we asked another person what was happening. This man said, there was a boy in a crevasse, they thought he might be dead, but I guess he was sleeping.  Everything was okay, and  we were able to pass the crowd and get to the ACTUAL road to Masaka. This road is a very busy highway. We thought it would finally be smooth sailing to get there, but this was not the case. We were stopped in traffic on this road as well. When we finally started to move, we saw the reason for the back up. A diesel had rolled and was on the side of the road in a ditch.  At this point it was almost comical. Do you think we'll EVER get there???

We know why there were so many obstacles on the way to Masaka. This is a mission branch about two hours outside of Kampala. They don't have a senior missionary couple, and are under the leadership of a very good Branch President. We have 4 missionaries serving in that branch, and they are staying SO busy!! They bring  people to church, and the people are welcomed in, and are taught the gospel. They are a VERY strong branch. Last Sunday there were 16 investigators visiting this branch. The congregation had 169 people in it. The church is really growing there, and  it's truly an amazing place. President Collings did 5 interviews for priesthood advancements. And then we had a training of the branch council.  Our training went very well, the Spirit was so strong! You can tell that these people are doing what they should, and are being blessed for it.

After the training, we were invited to another room for refreshments. We had soda pop, samosas, and chapatas. YUM!! Now that  the situation was a little bit more informal, we had so many people who wanted to have their picture taken with us. It was so fun. We really love these people.

Afterwards, we drove over to  the missionaries home and visited with them for just a bit. These missionaries have worked very hard, and are really reaping the blessings for their efforts. We are so pleased with them.

Driving home was a little less stressful, however, once we got into Kampala, our GPS led us on ONLY dirt roads! Almost all the way home! I think the GPS hates us. When we actually got to Masaka, I looked at where it said the Masaka Church was, and it was marked at 75KM away from Masaka. We are sure grateful we were pulled over by a police officer that day.

Sunday was another very special day. Several weeks ago, we decided that we need to set an example for the missionaries. If they have baptismal goals for themselves, we should have them for us as well. We are trying to practice what we preach. We set a goal to have 12 baptisms by the end of the year. All of our missionaries laughed at us. When we go to their zones, different missionaries kind of mock us and ask how our 12 baptisms are going. We take every opportunity we can to share the gospel with everyone. We spoke with Kassan, who is our security guard. We could tell from the first time we met him that he was special. We gave him a pamphlet that talks about the Plan of Salvation. He read it, and started asking questions about it. We asked if he would like to learn more about the gospel from our missionaries. He said yes. Our NEW missionaries taught him the first discussion here at the mission home on their first night in Uganda. It was a very spiritual meeting, and he said he wanted to be baptized after the first lesson. The second lesson was taught here at the mission home too, and this time he brought his cousin Alex. Both of them had read all of the scriptures they were asked to read. Kassan had been teaching the things he had learned to Alex. After the second lesson, Alex's first lesson, Alex said he'd like to be baptized too. On the third lesson, Kassan and Alex brought their cousin Silas. Again, the lesson went very well, and they had really been studying, and teaching Silas the things they had learned. Silas is very interested in the gospel too. They set a date to be baptized on September 11th. Kassan asked if the Mission President was allowed to baptize people. Of course he is, and was thrilled that they asked him to perform the ordinance. Alex and Kassan had been attending church every week. In the mean time, Silas became ill and has had to go back and stay with other family members until he gets better.

Today was their baptism day! They called President Collings, and said that they are so happy to be baptized. They were also happy to tell us that each of them have a sister, and their sisters were going to come and watch the baptism. They came to all of the church meetings, and then came to the baptismal service. They were able to sit on the front row where they could watch their brothers being baptized. There was a talk given on baptism, and another one given on the Holy Ghost. There was a large number of Ward members who attended the baptism, and really gathered around them to support them. The Stake president was in attendance, and spoke at the baptism as well. He is such an amazing man. He really gave them great advice, and the whole meeting was absolutely incredible.  Alex and Kassan said they had been teaching their sisters about the gospel, and as they spent time in church today, they both said they are interested in finding out more, and would like to be baptized like their brothers. Our missionaries had joked about us sharing the gospel with one security guard, but the fruits of teaching that one young man have been wonderful. We were promised by Elder Holland that leaving Uganda at the end of this mission would be ten times harder than leaving our family at the beginning of our mission. I didn't see how that could be possible, but in just 2 short months, the love we feel for these Saints in the Uganda Kampala Mission is astonishing. We are so blessed!!!