Press Forward Saints!

We have had more fun experiences in the past couple of weeks. President Collings and I went to Rwanda for interviews and zone conference. This is our first time back to Rwanda since Elder and Sister Wright, my parents, went home due to medical issues. It was strange not having them there, but good to see the missionaries keeping their missionary purpose and working hard. We arrived Saturday night and just went right to the hotel. Sunday morning we were picked up by the missionaries and went to church. The situation with the church buildings has really dragged on for such a long time. We see an end in sight, but it has been a burden for the saints in Rwanda.

Several months ago the Government changed the expectations for what a church building should be like. Even though our buildings had been in compliance, and we even had all the proper permits, they did not meet the new standard, and were shut down. The first week that these new standards had been set, inspectors went out and put signs on all of the churches that were not in compliance, and immediately shut them down. If anyone tired to worship in the buildings that had been shut down, they would be arrested. The first week over 700 churches were closed. There was one building of ours in Kigali that was not shut down the first or second week, so all the members were traveling to that branch to worship. By the third week, that building was closed too, but we had found a temporary place to rent until we could get a permanent building for each of the three branches. The branches have all met together in this building for several months while the church has tried to find buildings to rent or buy. The problem we have had is that there are so many churches looking for buildings that are the right size, with all the qualifications, that the people who own those buildings are asking a very high price to sell or rent them, and there is a lot of competition between all the churches to get them. Once a building is found, a request is sent to the government to come and inspect it to be sure it will be approved as a church building.

What was very exciting for us, was that the Area President, Director of Temporal Affairs, Real Estate manager, and our regional facilities manager all were in Kigali at the same time as President Collings and myself. We were able to talk face to face with them and get an idea of what needs to happen, and what they are doing to make it happen. We were so happy to be able to spend time with all of them, and are anxious to see these buildings open for the Rwandan Saints very soon.

We attended church and were so impressed with the faithfulness of the members. They struggle to travel so far to church, but many of them are making the sacrifice to come. Those who can’t make it are receiving phone calls and visits from their branch members, so they don’t lose their enthusiasm or excitement for the Gospel. They are patiently waiting for a building to be a little bit closer to them. The miracle is that we are still seeing so many people getting baptized, even with the difficulties getting to the church building. The church is true! They can still feel the spirit when they come.

On Monday we had an activity with the zone. We asked them to plan it, and we just went to a park and enjoyed the activity with them. The elders started out playing frisbee football, while the sisters played DONKEY. After about an hour, we all came together as a zone. Each of the three districts had planned a game for everyone to play. One played a type of dodgeball/ tag. It was really fun, and we kind of made up the rules while we went, but everyone liked it. The second district played a type of African jump rope. A lot of the African missionaries knew exactly what to do, while the rest of us tried to figure it out. It was fun. Then the last district brought raw eggs for an egg toss. Of course we’re not competitive at all, but President Collings and I had the last uncracked egg... just saying...

On Tuesday we had zone conference. We held it at the couple’s apartment. It is very empty now without our senior couple there, but because we don’t have any church buildings to meet in, it is a great place for us all to meet. A young woman who just received her mission call, made us lunch, and we had a very good meeting. Things are a little bit different in Rwanda, but we are still doing okay. We have missionaries who can handle it, and they are pressing forward with faith. We know this is the Lord’s work and he is helping us and them!

We returned back to Uganda that afternoon, and went straight to Jinja the next morning. We had a combined zone conference with Jinja and East Zones. It was really great to see the amazing elders we have serving in Jinja Stake, and Mbale and Busia branches. They are diligent, faithful, and dedicated missionaries and we are so blessed to have them in Uganda!

The Jinja Stake President's wife owns a catering business, and recently I have asked her to provide food for the missionaries during zone conference when we are in Jinja. She does a really good job, and the missionaries always have plenty of food to eat. They love it!

President Collings and I both went out and worked with the missionaries after zone conference. He stayed in the Jinja area and proselyted with one companionship, studied with another companionship, attended lessons with a companionship, and even did the morning schedule and exercised with a companionship. There are a lot more Elders in our mission than Sisters, so he needs  to spread his time over several companionships.

I worked with just one companionship. We did some street contacting, taught a lesson, studied together, and did our morning schedule which included exercising as well. Nothing better than sleeping on a mattress on the floor like our missionaries do when they are on exchanges. It was great.

It's really good for us to see how well our missionaries work and teach, and then see what advice we can give them to do to be a little better. We have really enjoyed our time spent working with them.

Sunday was a very special day for us. We attended church in one of the Wards in Kampala North Stake, and President Collings received an answer to a question he has been pondering for many months. He has been without a counselor in the mission presidency for a long time, and has struggled to find someone to fill that position. While we were attending church on Sunday, he received an answer who should be his new counselor. He received approval very quickly, and this week on July 12, he set apart Jimmy Ondoga as the second counselor in the Mission Presidency, with President Richard Okello as the first counselor. It's so exciting to have two Ugandans serving in the mission presidency. They are both very knowledgeable, and will be such a great support and blessing to the Mission!

The reason we went to that particular ward on Sunday was because President Collings had shared about the Gospel with a young woman online. She was very interested to hear more. He gave her contact information to the missionaries, and we found out which ward she was closest to. It was such a great experience to go to church and see her there. The members of the ward just welcomed her and she really seemed to enjoy it. President Collings is always telling members to share online. He has had so many wonderful experiences, and seen lives changed as he has done this. Sunday evening we invited the missionaries serving in that ward, over for dinner. It was so fun! The Americans loved the pot roast with potatoes and carrots, they said it reminded them of home. The Africans enjoyed it, and one even took a picture to show his mom that he actually ate "American" food. It was fun to have them in the home to end our Sabbath Day.

The Sister Training Leaders contacted us a couple of weeks ago and asked if all the sisters in Uganda could get together for an activity. They are spread out in two main areas of Uganda, Kampala and Masaka. Masaka is 3 hours to the South, but right in the middle of the two cities is the Equator, and just near the Equator is the Uganda Croc Farm. They wanted permission to meet at the crock farm for preparation day. President Collings and I thought it was a fun idea and decided to go with them. We met the other sisters at the Equator and of course had to take a few pictures!

We drove with the Kampala Sisters in a van while the Masaka Sisters rode in a taxi to the Equator.

Then we all got together in the van to go to the Croc Farm.

The sign out front was a little ominous. But we thought it was fun. The price to get in was GREAT!

We had to pay the Foreigner price, which came up to about $2.70, but all of the sisters had to pay the local price, about $1.35 because they look local. They were all laughing about it, because we told them the sisters are all from other countries, Ghana, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Zambia... the only country that counted as "foreigner" was us Americans. Haha. It happens a lot here, we are used to it, and can't complain about an entrance fee of less than $3. Just glad we didn't get "eaten!"

There are brick pens which hold the crocodiles. There are probably 10-12 pens, and each of them have LOTS of crocs, all of the same age in them. Different ages in each pen.

I made the sisters promise me that they wouldn't scream while they were there. That lasted about two seconds. One crocodile would move and then they would all move a bit, and the sisters would run away from the pen screaming. It was pretty funny.

 After looking at the crocodiles in the pens, we watched a feeding... which I didn't watch... haha. But the sisters and President Collings enjoyed it. Then they let us take turns holding one. Thankfully there was not a lot of screaming involved in this. I was nervous they would scream and throw the poor thing. It did wriggle around and try to bite us, but it wasn't too strong. This crocodile was 2 years old.

President Collings wasn't scared at all!

The sisters wanted to be sure we all know that they are STRONG, POWERFUL, and FEARLESS! They are that way with crocodiles, and also in serving the MASTER. We love our sisters!

One more group picture as we were leaving. It was a fun trip, well worth the drive. The Uganda Croc Farm is not very well marked, and most tourists would miss it unless they know what they are looking for, but as you are driving South on the road to Masaka, about 6 KM before the Equator there is a sign that is very faded (I passed it 3 times before I actually saw that it was for the Croc farm. It's on the left side of the road, right before a swamp. You pull off on a dirt road, and then follow it for another 6 KM. The road comes to a T, and you take a left again. It's just a few Meters down the road on the right. (Past the Mango tree... Haha! Not on any GPS!) As I said, well worth the $2.70 entrance fee that we paid.

As we were traveling back, we passed a small village and decided to get out and sing for the people in the area. We sang "I am a Child of God", and "Called to Serve". Not 100% sure what the people thought, but we were happy to sing, and hopefully help them feel the Spirit.

To finish up, we stopped again at the Equator. There is a restaurant that is located right on the Equator. You can choose if you want to sit on the Northern Hemisphere, or the Southern Hemisphere. We didn't actually get a choice, we were seated on the Northern side. I pre-ordered about 7 pizzas. I think they brought out closer to 9 or 10, but the sisters were able to eat all of them. It was a very fun day. The sisters enjoyed time with each other, and we enjoyed our time with them.

Every year we bring in all of the Branch Presidents from the mission branches. These are the branches that are away from the Stakes. President Collings acts as their priesthood leader, like their stake president. We invite them and their wives, if they can come, for two days of training. This is our third training since we started our mission. The numbers have grown since we got here! The first year there were 7 branch presidents, and two of them brought their wives. This year there were 9 branch presidents, a group leader, a district president,  the two mission president counselors, and 8 of them brought their wives. The training is always great. President Collings and his counselors take time, and they also bring in others to train. This year they brought people to train on audits, mission histories, and family history.

There is always focus on leading the way the Savior leads. Building others up, showing an outpouring of love, and ministering to the one. They also trained about the importance of councils, and building unity in the branches. They talked about the new ministering program in the church, and what that should look like. They talked about pointing their members and especially new members to the temple, and what they can do to better prepare them for that sacred occasion. They talked about tithing, and not only HOW to do it properly as leaders, but WHY it's so important. There were many other subjects that were trained on, but what stands out the most was how they interacted together, and they were all edified. They all received revelation on what their specific branch needs moving forward.

I always try to have a fun activity with the ladies. We participate in most of the training, but then we take a break and go do something as sisters. The last two years I took them to the mall, had ice cream, rode on the escalator and elevator which some of them didn't like at all, haha. The group of women was much larger this year, and I wanted it to be more meaningful for them. We ended up doing a service project, where we assembled some humanitarian kits that I will be taking to a school in Uganda in just a few weeks. It was a wonderful experience because the women all got to talk with each other. They are all having some of the same experiences as their husbands serve and they were able to give each other advice, and empathize with each other. It was fun getting to know them all a little bit better. Several of them don't speak English, but there were women there who could speak both English and the tribal languages of these other women. Because of this, everyone felt included, everyone contributed to the conversation, and we really felt a sense of unity with each other. After finishing the humanitarian kits, we watched a couple of DVD's. The Mountain of the Lord, which focuses on the building of the Salt Lake Temple, and The Windows of Heaven, which tells the story of Lorenzo Snow and the importance of tithing. A couple of the women brought their babies, and it was nice to be where they could play and it didn't distract from the training that the  men were doing. I really love these women!

As the men met together, they felt the same way. It was fun to see the friendships build, the contact information exchanged, the photos shared, as well as best practices shared. There was a very strong spirit in the room as they were being trained, and they were able to receive revelation for their individual branches. Those who are single, or who were not able to bring their wives, stayed in a bunk room at the mission home. It was fun to hear them talking until late into the night. Some of the older men said that they felt young like a missionary again.

I have said before how nice it is to live right across the street from a catering center. I was able to call and have dinner prepared for this large group very easily, which left me time to enjoy our guests, and attend to their needs.  Dinner that night was really good, and everyone ate until they were filled. President Collings said, "We fed you spiritually today, now it's time to feed you physically."

There was a lot more spiritual feeding than physical feeding, but it's not easy to take pictures of the meetings. Needless to say, everyone absolutely enjoyed the training. I think the leaders will return to their individual branches with a renewed excitement to press forward in the work and do a little better each day. I think they know that the mission presidency loves them and is there to support them in any way they can, and that they have other branch presidents who they can mentor and be mentored by. The sisters too talked about their willingness to support their spouses, and even go with them to visit the members of the branches. This was an absolutely amazing experience, and we look forward with faith and confidence that this, the work of the Lord. will continue to progress until it reaches every corner of his vineyard.

Our last evening we went to Ndere Cultural Center where we were served a buffet, and watched traditional dances from all over the region. I love going there with Ugandans! The performers tell about some of the traditions of the tribes throughout Uganda, Rwanda, and  Burundi, then they will do a dance from that particular region. As I sit by these people who are native to the area, they will say, "that's right!" "that's exactly what they do!" or even "that's where I'm from!" Some of them will go up and dance with the group because it's a dance they know. None of our branch presidents did that, but I was thoroughly entertained by THEIR excitement for the show.

What can I say more? We are so blessed to be serving in this mission with these amazing leaders! We have grown to love them so much, and appreciate the sacrifice they make for the Lord, and for the members of their branches.

Front row: President SSekitto, Masaka Branch; President Etiang, Mbale Branch; President Opar, Gulu Branch; President Okello, 1st Counselor Mission Presidency; President Collings, Mission President; President Ondoga, 2nd Counselro Mission Presidency; President Imende, Busia 1 Branch; President Ojiambo, Busia 2 Branch

Back row: President Opar, Kigali District; President Atiyang, Lira Branch, President Okenny, Bardege Branch; Brother Mpande, Kabwangassi Group; President Kirabo, Kijjabwemi Branch; President Wafula, Busia 3 Branch, President Oyet, Adyel Branch

Two years down!

As I begin this post, I have been reflecting a lot on our mission over the past two years. June 29th we hit our two year mark on mission. We have officially been in Uganda longer than any of our missionaries! We welcomed all of our current missionaries into the field, and have been able to see their growth. We have so enjoyed Uganda, Rwanda, and Ethiopia. We have enjoyed the friendships we have made and the many things we have been able to accomplish, and we have so much more we want to accomplish!! The time really flies! I don't know how we will be able to do all we want to, but if it's the Lord's will, I know we will be able to accomplish it in the coming year.

President Kamya is the Stake President of the Kampala Uganda South Stake. He is also the president of the Rotary Club here in Kampala. He has talked with President Collings several times about coming and speaking at one of their meetings, but things always came up and we weren't able to arrange it until recently. 

We had an incredible experience as we were invited to the meeting at the Sheraton Hotel in downtown Kampala. There were members from all over Uganda, and it was really a fun meeting to be a part of. President Collings was the guest speaker, and they also invited myself, and our AP's to say few words. The AP's talked about the Book of Mormon and the Restoration, and they brought a handful of pamphlets and pass along cards to share with those who were interested. I talked about following the example of the Savior in serving others, which is what the Rotary Club does. 

President Collings talked about giving your life to God. Instead of working for material possessions, work so that you and have the means to serve others, and trust that God will guide you throughout your life. He has had so much experience in the business world, but when he is lifting and helping others to succeed, that is when he has found the most joy. He shared with them why he walked away from his career to serve a mission, and how it has blessed his life. When he opened it up for questions, one man asked him to tell them how God has blessed his life, he wanted to know more about the material things he has been blessed with. President Collings said that he didn't want to talk about all the material things he had, or could have, but instead said, "See that pretty lady over there?" pointing to me, "Who could ask for more than that? God has blessed me with a wonderful wife, and an amazing family. That is my true joy." Everyone laughed, and many hearts were touched. 

At the end of the meeting President Collings was presented with a certificate in appreciation for spending time with them. There were several people who approached us and the missionaries wanting to find out more about the church. Some said that they knew President Kamya was a great man, and respected him very much. Now they understood some of the things he believes in, and many wanted to know more. It was such a wonderful experience for all of us, and we are so grateful for the invitation.

A perk of living in the new mission home is that we live right across the street from a restaurant/ catering company. We had MLC at the mission home as usual, but this time afterwards we walked across the street for lunch. It's always so great having the mission leadership come to the mission home. We have several new leaders, and are really excited to see how they progress in their assignments. Unfortunately, we did not get a group picture at the mission home this time, just at lunch. We are so grateful for the amazing leadership we have in this mission. I'm looking forward to this coming round of zone conferences, they should be really good.

Our new group at Mile 5 is coming right along. They have been meeting together for a couple of months now, and they consistently have about 100 people come to sacrament meeting. Recently, we had Branch Conference in Mbale Branch, and while that was taking place, Elder and Sister Wittwer attended church in the Mile 5 group.  

Sunday School

Primary, all kids 3-11 are taught together under the mango tree

Mile 5 Group: June 17th

If you read my previous two posts, I had two trips back to Utah. The first one was planned. I went back to see my son Conner get married to his sweet wife Taylor. But the second trip was not expected, as I had to take my parents back home. My dad was struggling with a problem with his heart. They are working to correct it, but it will take time and he won't be able to come back to our mission. While I was in Utah, I had a couple of unexpected surprises.

First, I had one of our mission moms come and bring me something to take back to her son, along with a bag full of amazing Bath and Bodyworks lotions! I was so surprised, and so thankful! She is a sweet person, and we are so grateful to have her son serving in our mission.

I also had my aunt approach me with two suitcases full of shoes and pants for the missionaries and members here in Uganda. It was such a fun experience to bring them back and let the members and missionaries choose a pair of shoes or pants. They all belonged to the same man, so they were all the same size. It was like a re-creation of Cinderella watching the missionaries all try to make them fit their feet. I took a few pictures of the members and missionaries with the shoes and pants they were able to choose. The man who these belonged to passed away a while ago, and his family sent a huge box of ties to our mission. When they realized I was in town, they sent the rest. Shipping to Uganda is SO expensive. The items sent were received very gratefully and with so much excitement! Thank you!!!

For the first two weeks of the transfer (which is a 6 week cycle), President Collings interviews every missionary in the mission. There are about 140 missionaries, so it's quite a job, but he loves the one on one time with them, and loves helping them with any questions or concerns that they may have. In Kampala these interviews are done at the mission office or at the mission home. The smaller, outlying zones, and other countries are usually done at the same time as zone conferences. But when we travel to Jinja, we usually spend the night and meet with the missionaries at the church. This past round of interviews on day two in the Jinja area, we decided to treat all the missionaries who were interviewed that day to lunch. This is pretty rare, because we always feed them for zone conference, which is in the same transfer cycle, but we couldn't help it. They just gave us those puppy dog eyes that said, "Please feed us!" Anyway, here is a picture of our time at the restaurant with this group. The restaurant is owned by Sister Sarah. She is a member of Wanyange Branch. The food is very good, and very affordable. We fed this entire group for about $27 US.

I post a lot of pictures of President Collings working out (running) with the  missionaries. He is very consistent with his running, and this mission has been amazing for his health. He has probably lost 30 pounds, and has actually been able to run, which he hadn't been able to do for over 15 years before we came here. I actually like to work out with the sister missionaries too. I just have less opportunities to do it, and when I do, I don't particularly like to take pictures of myself. But I did take pictures last transfer, when I had four sisters staying at the mission home. Three going home, and one going to Rwanda. I like to do interval training. It's really fun to see how hard we can push each other.

This is before...

...and after. I think we worked hard!

This is before a run with president Collings, but three of the sisters stayed back and worked out with me. We like to practice what we preach. We ask our missionaries to wake up at 6:30 and exercise for 1/2 hour, and we do it with them. President Collings loves to take the missionaries running up a steep hill. He is usually the last man running. It's so great to see him doing what he loves. 

We spent 4 days in Ethiopia. It's always fun to go spend time with our missionaries in Addis Ababa. Our first night we were invited to have dinner with Taiye and his family. He had invited us the last time we were in Addis, but President Collings was on such a tight timeline,  and the traffic was absolutely terrible. We felt so bad that we had to cancel. It was very nice this time because we were really able to spend time with him and his wife. They were planning to go to the temple that very week, and it was nice being able to talk a little bit about the temple with them. 

Their son is Moroni. Isn't he adorable?

This time while in Ethiopia, we spent a couple of days in Debre Zeit. We have gone to Debre Zeit many times, but we have never spent the night. The VanDerzee's set us up at a very nice hotel that is on a lake. It was a beautiful setting, and we had a wonderful time. 

President Collings had a District Presidency meeting with the zone leaders and Elder VanDerzee. It was neat to watch those who hold priesthood keys working together for a common goal. We have such great missionaries and priesthood leaders in Ethiopia!

Elder VanDerzee, President Eyob, President Collings, Elder Schuler, 

Elder Trippe, and President Berhane

We were invited to have dinner with President Kiros and his family, along with Elders Cooper and Chandler, and Elder and Sister VanDerzee. President Kiros is the branch president of Debre Zeit Branch.  The food was amazing, and we really enjoyed spending the evening with him and his sweet family. We were touched when he said that President Collings is the first mission president who has ever come to his home. He is a kind and humble man, and we love him and his family. Did I say the food was amazing??? It was!

On Monday, we joined the missionaries in a game of basketball. Actually, President Collings, Elder VanDerzee, and Sister VanDerzee joined them for a game of basketball. They basically played until they were completely exhausted, which was so fun! I did the cheer leading from the sidelines, and took the picture! Yay me!

Then we treated them to lunch. We had pizza! Actually we had two pizzas this size, and the missionaries ate all of it! 

Our last day in Ethiopia was zone conference. We thoroughly enjoyed our time with these amazing missionaries! They are strong, and doing amazing work for the Lord. Hoping and praying that we can add about 10 new missionaries to this zone soon. 

While we were in Ethiopia, a group of members were able to travel to the Ghana temple! They have worked so hard to prepare for this special moment in their lives! We are excited for them, and proud of the choices they have made in their lives to prepare to go to the temple. 

Back in Uganda, we had a combined zone conference. We had 4 zones come in; North, South, Gulu, and Masaka Zones. We have training by President Collings and myself, and then we take a lunch break. When lunch is over the missionaries divide into zones and have their own separate meetings where they are trained by their zone leaders. The missionaries say they really like it because they are able to see other missionaries who aren't in their zones, and share ideas with each other. We like it because President Collings and I are able to spend more time working one on one with the missionaries during the times we would have been having zone conference. We had Gulu and Masaka Zones stay at the mission home. This is always a treat for me. I love being able to talk to them and make them meals. When they tell me that they haven't had something like bacon or cheese in a year, it makes me happy that I can serve it to them. Life is good as Mission President and Mission Mom. Looking forward to one more year!! 

Transfers and another trip home

I came back from the wedding just in time for transfers. We received four new missionaries, and two "visa waiters" which is missionaries that can't go to the MTC yet because their visas have not come through, but they become one of our missionaries and do everything our missionaries do. So, technically we received 6 new missionaries this transfer. Unfortunately, my picture is missing Elder Moller. He arrived later than the others, and received his own personal orientation. I accidentally forgot to take a picture... :(

We are very excited for our new missionaries. They always come with such excitement and zeal. A little bit groggy from the plane ride, but ready to go to work.

It was also time to say goodbye to another group of missionaries. Each of these seven missionaries has made such an impact on the mission. It will be very different without them here. They have served well, and will be missed in the UKM.

Farewell dinner

Unfortunately, two hours before the lunch and testimony meeting with our departing missionaries, I was called away on an emergency. I was so sorry to miss the final meeting with them.

I received a message from Elder and Sister Wright that something was wrong with Elder Wright. He was having episodes of bradycardia, or a slow heart rate. These episodes were causing him to feel light headed, and very tired. At first they were very sporadic, but then they started to happen more and more often. I was in communication with the Area Doctor, and we made the decision to get him home to Utah for care. We had a group of missionaries leaving on Thursday at 11:00am to transfer to Rwanda, so it was decided that I would travel with them and escort Elder and Sister Wright back to Utah. The decision was made at 10:30, so I had 30 minutes to say my goodbyes, pack, and leave.

When I got to Rwanda, the plan was to sleep that night, then pack up all their belongings, train office missionaries in all the things that Elder and Sister Wright had been doing, take care of all legalities with the new office missionaries, and say our goodbyes all in one day. They would be leaving at 6:00pm that night. It felt like a massive, and almost impossible task, but we just got to work. It was amazing to see the Lord's hand in everything we did.

There were a lot of people who wanted to come say goodbye to my parents, including all the missionaries. We actually had time to accomplish everything, and eat lunch with the zone who sang them several hymns (our favorite was Come, come ye saints. We kind of laughed when they sang, "...and should we die before our journey's through..."). We also had several of the members come by and say goodbye, and help them to accomplish all they needed to do.

We made it to the airport with about an hour to spare. We had two 50 lb. suitcases each (6 total) along with carry on bags. It's quite a chore getting through security. You have to put all of your suitcases through an x-ray machine. Dad was in a wheelchair, and mom was helping me get all the bags through the security check. It went relatively smooth. Then we went to the ticket counter and started weighing all the bags to check them onto the plane. The woman at the ticket counter said that a man in an office wanted to speak with me. To our shock, we were told that the flight had been over-booked, and there were not enough seats for us to get on the flight. We had been bumped! I was so surprised! I told them that this was a medical emergency, and they said they were sorry. I tried to buy business class, or first class tickets, and they said they were sorry. I couldn't believe that as blessed as we had been to accomplish EVERYTHING that day, this is what happened just as we were getting ready to get on the plane. I decided that it must be the Lord's will, because he had helped us so much throughout the day, but I still was completely shocked. As we tried to leave the airport, everyone we passed acted shocked. I guess people don't get bumped off flights in Rwanda. Each security guard we passed asked why we were leaving, and what was the "program". One stopped us, and when I told him that I spoke with a man in the office, he said to wait, and walked over to that office to verify that we were really leaving. They didn't even have a way for us to exit, it was quite a chore to get out of the airport. We called the zone leaders and asked that they come back to the airport to pick us up. That night we slept soundly, we had worked so hard! The next morning, my dad confided that he was glad to get a day of rest in before taking the long flight back to Utah. He really would not have been able to handle such a flight after such a hard day of packing and training. The Lord knew he couldn't handle it, and allowed him to have another day to rest, and we are grateful.

Taken after we were told we wouldn't be getting on our flight home. 

One final day in Rwanda was just what was needed. We were able to wrap up a few loose ends and say a few more goodbyes. The new office elders took us to the airport, and finally we were on our way. Dad got special treatment with a wheelchair in each airport. It was really great to have that, he has been so tired.

Our amazing new office elders in Rwanda

FINALLY boarding the flight

Their view of Amsterdam... these were comfortable chairs!!

Our seats on the flights were all together. 

They were so surprised to have so many waiting at the airport to welcome them home! It even brought tears to their eyes. 

My sister had made a big dinner for my parents to welcome them home, but I changed the plan and told them that dad needed to go right to the emergency room. I was so relieved to have him where he could get really good care.

After a couple of hours in the ER, the doctors decided that he was stable enough to go home and meet with a cardiologist in the next day or two. We were able to get him home with family that evening, and work on getting him feeling better in the coming days.

It was so hard for Elder and Sister Wright to leave the people they have grown to love in Rwanda, but it's what needed to happen. They say it has changed them forever. Elder Wright will be having several procedures to get his heart rate under control, but he is in good hands, and should be fine for a few more years.