Fun visitors

We enjoyed zone conferences with our final three zones,  Jinja, Iganga, and Kampala North Zone. We spent two nights in Jinja for the first two zone conferences. It was so great. All of the zones came so prepared to be fed by the spirit. The one that stood out most to me was the Iganga zone. When we arrived (20 minutes early) the whole zone was already seated in the chapel studying their scriptures. The program was written on the board, and they even brought a table cloth, flowers, and a picture of the Savior. Coming so prepared really enabled us to have a powerful spiritual experience. It was amazing.

Sadly, I didn't think of taking group pictures of the three zones. I feel bad, but sometimes it slips my mind until they are all gone. Needless to say, zone conferences have been amazing.  This transfer we tried to motivate the missionaries to catch up on our goal for the year. We should have had 550 baptisms by July 1 to be half way to our goal. It was so fun. The missionaries kept having such amazing experiences. They could see the hand of the Lord in the work as they tried to reach their goals. By the end of this transfer we had a total of 546 baptisms. We are all thrilled.  They have all worked so hard, and are really on track with our goal for the year. What's even better is to see that many people changing their lives and coming unto Christ. What a blessing.

This weekend was Stake Conference for the Kampala North Stake. It was so fun to see all of our missionaries in the North stake attend. We were so happy to see them all bringing their investigators. President Collings was asked to speak in all 3 sessions. I always love hearing him speak, he loves the people here so much. I was asked to speak in the adult and general sessions, one of the perks of serving with my husband, haha. It was so nice to hear the counsel of President Okot, the Stake President. He is a very wise man, and really knows how to motivate his stake. His focus in the general session was on the conference talk by President Monson on the Book of Mormon. Helping the  members to understand the importance of reading the Book of Mormon in their families. He asked one woman to speak on member missionary work, another man to speak on prayer, and I was asked to speak on diligent scripture study. President Collings focused on receiving personal revelation. It was a wonderful meeting.

Before the general session on Sunday morning, they invited everyone who had been baptized in the last 6 months to come to a special meeting. We were happy to see a pretty large group. We were able to ask them questions, and verify that they truly had been taught the doctrine of Christ, that the ward had welcomed them, and then answer any questions that they may have. It was a great meeting.

Kampala North Stake Presidency

President Collings and the AP's

We had another WONDERFUL experience. Probably the highlight of our mission to date. Our daughter came to visit us with her husband and their baby! Our grandson who we have not met in person before. I was so excited when I heard they were coming! We tried to plan things for them to see and do, but right from the start, my plan was to hold our grandson, and hold him, and hold him... and hold him.  It was so fun to meet him. He has such a fun personality. Our daughter and son in law were so sweet to come. It was exactly on our one year anniversary of starting our mission, and a fun way to celebrate it.

On their first day, we took them to the office to meet the Wittwers, our office couple. They also met our office staff. My sister in law sent a suitcase full of humanitarian supplies and $200 to give to Suzan to help with the jiggers projects that she does. She was so happy to receive everything. A true blessing for the children they serve! Thanks for your generosity Molly!!

When our grandson saw the office staff, it was so cute. They each held him, and he just stared at them and studied their faces. He would reach out and touch their faces and was so curious. He didn't cry at all, just made faces. Suzan said this was the first time she ever held a muzungu baby. Our daughter said it was the first time this baby had been held by an African. It was pretty funny.

That evening we took them to Ndere cultural center, where they watched the dancing from all the different tribes. It was a really fun evening, and our grandson loved it! He was laughing, and doing his own dances while he watched them dance. There was a point where they invited members of the audience to come take a picture with the dancers. My daughter took him up, and this picture was the result. It's priceless! We were fed local food, which I think we all loved.

The next day we traveled to Queen Elizabeth National Park. My parents drove from Rwanda and met us there. We stayed in bandas, which are a combination of a cabin and a tent. It was right on the water front, and you could see and hear the hippos. There were giant forest swine wandering around the bandas. They are like huge wild boars with long black hair. We were told they are endangered, but stay at Queen Elizabeth. Very cool to see.

We went on a game drive, and we were able to see cape buffalo, kob, water buck, wart hogs, and a pride of lions.

Harvey watching the Lions

We could see 4 or 5 lions really well, but there were more hiding in a bush.

There was a small house with a mother and small children right across the dirt road from the pride of lions. We spoke with the woman for a little while and asked her if she was afraid to have lions so close. She just said they never turn their back on them, or run away from them. They look them right in the eyes.

Later that same day, we took a boat ride, and we were able to see a lot of the animals at the water, along with a crocodile, and an elephant.

It was such a fun, and relaxing day. At night we had dinner served around a campfire. All the tables were brought around and had little lanterns hanging beside them. It was a fun atmosphere. The  food was delicious!

After our final night, it was time to leave. We traveled with my parents for a while, and when we stopped, we realized that we hadn't taken a 4 generations photo together yet. Terrible timing to take it after two days in the bush... but we took it. Then they headed back to Rwanda.

President Collings went with our daughter and son in law to do some chimpanzee tracking. I got to stay back with my grandson and hold him, and play with him. It was so fun. There was a woman with her children who live where we were parked waiting for them to return. One of her children, a little girl named Promise, is two years old. She came up to me, and pointed to the baby and said, "Baby Jesus?" Her mom and I laughed, she thought it was so funny. Promise and Elijah, a 17 month old boy, played with our grandson for a long time. He really had fun with them, and I think they enjoyed playing with him.

President and the kids hiked for an hour or so, kind of running after the chimpanzees. It sounds like it was a pretty intense hike. Once the chimps stopped, they were able to watch them for about an hour, and take pictures and videos.  They really had an incredible time.

We went to Masaka that night, and President Collings went on visits with the branch president of Masaka. He was able to conduct a few interviews, and strengthen some of the members there.

We spent Sunday at the Masaka Branch, and enjoyed fast and testimony meeting with them. Our kids really enjoyed the meeting, and I think the branch members all enjoyed them. Many of them wanted to hold our grandson throughout the meeting. It was fun to see them all getting to know each other.

Before sacrament meeting started

During Sacrament meeting a family blessed their baby. During the blessing the priesthood holder states what the name of the baby will be, and it sounded like they called him Collings. Sure enough, when the prayer was over, they looked over at us and smiled. President Collings has a cute little baby boy in Masaka named Collings after him. So sweet.

President Collings and Baby Collings

162 people attended Masaka Branch on the day we were there.

We made our way back to Kampala, and of course, had to make a quick stop at the Equator. Just long enough to snap a few pictures of the family.

When we arrived back in  Kampala, Jackie, our sweet housekeeper and her friend Esther had made us Sunday dinner. It was all local food, matooke, greens, rice, beans, chicken, pumpkin. The food was amazing, and we had such a nice evening with them. They even made matching dresses that they wore. It was so sweet. I think their favorite guest was our grandson. They took turns holding him and taking pictures with him. It was so fun.

On Monday we had to say goodbye. It was tough, but we are so grateful for the time we were able to spend with them. I'm sure it will be two years before we see them again, but what an amazing week it's been.

After saying goodbye, we went right into transfers. We had a group of 7 new missionaries come on Tuesday. Wow! What a great group! We are being so blessed in the Uganda Kampala Mission. We brought them back from the airport and they went out tracting with some of the mission leadership. Then half of them came back to the mission home for the  night, while the others went with the mission leadership.

President Collings goes running every morning, and invited any of the missionaries who wanted to, to come with him on Wednesday morning. All of them ran with him, and said they really got a good work out.

They got cleaned up and we had a breakfast for all the new missionaries, and then an orientation. We got to listen to each of them bear their testimonies, and then President Collings interviewed each of them. After orientation, they were off to meet their new companions, and let the missionary work begin. I love the excitement the new missionaries bring with them. It's so fun to see their love for the Gospel, and their willingness to go to work.

Thursday was the farewell dinner and testimony meeting for the departing missionaries. We decided that we would cook an authentic Ugandan meal for them one last time before they leave. I'm still learning how to do this, so I had the experts, Sussie and Jackie come do the work. I worked with them, and was very willing to learn the techniques of Ugandan cooking. It was really fun, and so yummy!

Preparing the charcoal stoves for cooking (Matooke in the background)

pounding the spices

Preparing the greens. Fried chicken in the back.

Boiling the  Matooke (this is the short cut, we were short on time)

Master Chef! Sussie! 

Mashing the Matooke

Cooking the Mukene, missionaries eat this all the time. This was my first time trying it! Google it! It was really good! (Thanks to the wonderful cooking skills of Sussie.)

Wrapping the Matooke in banana leaves to cook once again.

This was a fun day of cooking, which helped take my mind off of the departing missionaries...

Farewell dinner and testimony meeting is always so difficult for me. This group was no different. We had 14 wonderful missionaries return to their homes. It was so neat to see them all come in suits. They really look like representatives of Jesus Christ when they dress so nice.  Many of these missionaries have been in leadership positions over the last year, and we have come to love each of them so much. Saying goodbye is too hard! I do see so much potential in these missionaries. They will be great husbands, fathers,  and even leaders in this church! We are so blessed to know them, and to watch their growth while they are serving here.

Just praying they will keep in touch with us. Till we meet again... Safe Journey elders!

Blessings in Uganda and Rwanda

When we were at Jinja Stake Conference, we spoke with a group of saints and promised them that we would come to their ward very soon. We ended up going 3 weeks later to the Njeru ward, and spending some time with the members, and our missionaries there. They are working hard, and it was such a nice meeting. That Sunday ended up being very busy. It is a two hour drive to Njeru. We enjoyed sacrament meeting, then stopped at the Mukono chapel for some business with the missionaries there.  We drove back to Kampala where President Collings and the AP's and Zone Leaders met with the Stake President of the North Stake, and then the South Stake. He came back to the mission home where he had Skype interviews with 5 people in the outer branches, for recommends, priesthood advancements, and new callings in the branch. Following the interviews, he had a conference call with all the branch presidents in the outer branches, and finished the night with a conference call with all the mission leadership. I was amazed that he was able to fit it all into one day, but the Lord consecrates our efforts as we do his will.

In the mean time, a new Branch Presidency was called in the Meganagna Branch in Ethiopia. President Collings had done interviews last week while we were there, but the actual changes were made on this Sunday. We are so excited for the new branch presidency, and really believe they will do a wonderful job.

On Tuesday it was time to bring in our newest missionaries and their trainers for some follow up training. It was a great meeting, with a wonderful spirit. We are amazed at the missionaries being sent to the Uganda Kampala Mission. These young men have such a fire. They are strong, and are dedicated to missionary work. We are so grateful for the feeling that is here among our missionaries.

Now we begin a couple of weeks of zone conferences. On Wednesday we had the Kampala Central Zone and the Kampala South Zone come to the mission home for a combined zone conference. As we continue on in this transfer of miracles, the missionaries are truly seeing the blessings of "offering their whole souls" to the Lord. As they are putting forth their best efforts, the Lord is helping them to reach their goals, and it's really building their testimonies that they are not in this work alone.

Kampala Central

Kampala South

You can't have 32 missionaries in front of a camera without a few "fun" shots.

Thursday it was zone conference for Masaka Zone. There was a wonderful spirit, and the trainings were great. Masaka drove two hours to get to the mission home. We appreciate them sacrificing their time to be here. We decided after zone conference to take them all out to KFC. I didn't hear any complaints from the group!

President Collings is the priesthood leader of all the mission branches, and we had a young man who has been called on a mission to Ghana. He came to Kampala from Busia which is 4 hours away. President Collings set him apart as a missionary, and then he spent the night at the mission home. He left very early the next morning for the airport. He will be trained at the Ghana MTC. He will be such a great missionary!! We love this new elder!

On Friday, we were off to the airport ourselves. We have been trying to get this missionary to Ethiopia for about a month now. He was supposed to be there when this transfer started. We had a little trouble with the paperwork, and finally this week everything fell into place. He was able to travel with us to the airport, and take his flight to Ethiopia. We are so excited for him. He will do great things in Ethiopia.

Speaking of Ethiopia, I have another wonderful story shared by one of our missionaries. There was a man who was at some sort of business meeting which took place right across the street from one of our church buildings. The man looked over at the church and saw a light coming from it. He pointed to the building and asked one of the men near him, "What church is that?" The man didn't know, but said he thought it was a Protestant church. Then he asked the man if he saw the light coming from it. The man didn't see any light, but this man was insistent that there was definitely a light coming from the church. He decided to go find out for himself, and as he walked over, he met the missionaries. He is now being taught the Gospel.  So fun!

After making sure our missionary  was in the right place, and able to catch his plane, we took off to Rwanda. My parents, Elder and Sister Wright,  arrived in the mission field on April 11th. A few days later we traveled with them to Rwanda where they replaced the senior couple. When we left them there, they were brand new, and were being trained by the Gilletts, our previous senior couple. Well, this is our first time back to Rwanda since then. We have communicated over the phone, FaceTime, conference calls, and even WebEx, but had not been back to see them in over two months. All I can say is, Africa is looking very good on them!

They invited us out to dinner the first night, and we invited them out to dinner the second night. It was fun celebrating Father's Day with my father, and my wonderful husband, the father of my children. I don't remember the last time I was with my own dad for Father's Day.

On Saturday we had a sister's conference with the Rwanda sister missionaries. It has been such a great way to lift them and build their faith in this work. One of the biggest struggles here in Rwanda is the language. Most people don't speak English, although it is the official language of Rwanda, it has only been that way for 5 years so most people don't speak it. As they are being faithful and obedient, they are still finding success. They are finding that the people who are being baptized are truly prepared, and will be able to help others later on.

Wow, Rwanda is amazing! There are two of the three branches that are bursting at the seams. President Collings is looking into dividing the two branches and leasing buildings that are even closer to the members. I can't imagine more branches in Kigali, but it is a real possibility in the very near future.

We spent Sunday in the Kigali 3rd branch. Every chair in the chapel was filled.  President and Sister Opar, (he is the district president) spoke, and then myself and President Collings spoke.  I spent the rest of the time in the primary. I have been in primary for at least 20 years, and really love to see how the primaries are doing in our branches. Mostly, I'm not disappointed. Sunday was no exception. The children do not know a lot of English, but they are being taught in English, and then it is translated for them. They sing the songs so well! I love it!!

Kigali 3rd Branch

After church, there were 5 baptisms. There were two in another branch, for a total of 7 baptisms in the 3 branches.

There was also  a fireside for the members age 18-30. Elder Makasi, an  Area Authority was there with Freddie Babeeyo, they are both over institute for this area. President Collings was interviewing missionaries, and getting other work done, but we were told there were 80-90 in attendance. How amazing is that!! It's so exciting to see the members come together in love and unity.

We met with the District Presidency and branch presidents at the end of the day to discuss what is happening in this corner of the Lord's vineyard. There is such a good feeling in the meetings. The people are so prepared, and we are truly seeing a firm foundation being built in Kigali.

Monday we enjoyed preparation day with the missionaries. We played soccer, which was interesting. The elders were so nice to the sisters, and helped us feel good about our awesome soccer skills, which are nonexistent. Well, except for one sister who scored a goal. We really had a great time. We enjoyed caramel popcorn and soda for snacks after the sports. It was very nice.

Our final day was Zone Conference. It was a wonderful way to end our time with the missionaries and saints in Rwanda. There is always a nice feeling in zone conferences, and this was no different.