Christmas is Coming!

As soon as Thanksgiving is over, I am ready to decorate for Christmas. We found a small, artificial tree in our storage closet so got it out and set it up. There was also a small string of white lights and a few silver balls. I made the other decorations from the cute Christmas cards we received last Christmas from the primary kids in our home ward. Instead of poinsettias, we will have red roses this month...

A Week of Eating!

The traditional way of celebating Thanksgiving seems to be by eating....so that's what we spent some time doing this week. On Tuesday, Elder Elam treated the cleaning and maintenance staff at the mission office service center to lunch. He has done this several times since we have been here to show them some appreciation for all that they do. He asked John Dolla to get the food and Judy (on the cleaning crew) did the cooking. They had ugali, sukumawiki and some beef cubes cooked in some kind of a sauce. The guards and some of the secretaries showed up too. They were all so appeciative...and we really appreciate them for all the hard work they do to make our workplace a clean and well-kept facility.



On Thanksgiving day, all the senior couples went to President and Sister Taylor's home for Thanksgiving dinner. We all took food and had a wonderful feast, followed by a training meeting. We have several couples who have only been here a short time and they are still getting adjusted, but are doing great. We have a great group of couples, all who are working hard to fulfill their missionary callings. We all have such different callings and each couple seems so suited to their particular assignment. It has been a pleasure to get to know them and have the association with them.

Relief Society Activity

Sister Esplin and I attended the Stake Relief Society activity today. It was their "end of the year" activity and was held at the Buru Buru building. Each ward and branch set up a display of some of the things they have been doing this year in Relief Society activities. Many of them have been learning vegetable gardening and brought some of their harvests. I have never seen such huge radishes! One ward displayed a complete 72-hour kit (that we had helped them get started on). There were also displays of clothing they made, needlework and crocheting, crafts such as beading and jewelry making, and cooking and baked items.

They had a nice program...The Stake Relief Society president spoke and then each ward and branch gave a report on their activities, compassionate service, weddings, baptisms and visiting teaching report for the year. A member of the Stake Presidency also said a few words of encouragement. Elder Esplin and Elder Elam waited patiently for us outside....visiting with the young elders who showed up and checking out the food that was being cooked outside. We didn't stay to eat but they were going to have chicken, rice, sakumawiki and other vegetables.

As we were driving away, I remembered that I hadn't taken any pictures! I can't believe I was so busy looking at everything and visiting with the sisters that I completely forgot to get my camera out. There were over 100 sisters there. All the women that work at the service center were there, as well as Caroline, our cleaning lady and lots of other sisters that I know. They are truly the backbone of the stake here in Nairobi. Great women with great testimonies....and very talented as well. I have learned so much from them and will truly miss them.

Wood Carvers and more...

Last Saturday, we went with the Blake's and the Flinders' to visit Steven Kyalo's woodcarving shop. There are several small work areas and many artisans working there making all kinds of wooden items. We also saw cow hides drying in the sun (they are used to make drums). It was fun to see where Steven works when he's not driving vehicles for the mission service center.

Steven's shop - showing the Blake's some of his carvings...

Some of the other shops...

Some of the carvings Steven and his men make...

Elder Elam enjoying visiting with one of the craftsmen...

Elder Elam trying his hand at making litle elephant tusks from bone...It's harder than it looks!

Fund-raising Lions

We have been seeing these decorated concrete lions all around Nairobi. They were decorated by various individuals and organizations and will be auctioned off sometime in November to raise money for the preservation of lion prides in certain areas. There are 50 of these lions.....but we only have pictures of a few of them.

At the Nairobi Museum...

Near the Westgate mall...

At the Westgate mall...

October Transfer Week...

Another transfer week is almost over! This was our biggest transfer yet - We had 7 missionaries going home and 10 new ones arriving. And that is a small number compared to many missions but sure kept us busy. It is so nice to see the growth that comes to the missionaries during their 2 years of service. They change in so many ways and go home better prepared to take on the rest of their lives. We hope many of them will keep in touch with us and let us know what they are doing.
I didn't get pictures of three of them. Sister Nanyonjo returned to Uganda, and Elder Bangani and Elder Khuzwayo returned to South Africa on Wednesday morning.

Elder Renouard returning to Utah, Elder Brewer returning to California, Elder Cluff returning to Illinois and Elder Whiting returning to Utah on Wednesday evening.


Here are the ten new elders shortly after arriving from the MTC in Johannesburg, South Africa:

Elder Ravelojaona from Madagascar, Elder Atkins from South Africa, Elder Rosemann from North Salt Lake, Utah and Elder Rapiya from South Africa

Elder Olsen from Young Ward, Utah, Elder Sibiya from South Africa, Elder Clark from Naperville, Illinois and Elder Machanzi from Zimbabwe

Elder Trickett from Roy, Utah and Elder Mkhabela from South Africa

Another Trip to Arusha

We traveled to Arusha again last weekend. The road construction has not gotten any better...it is still a very rough trip, but we saw several giraffes and the usual goats, cows, donkeys and Maasai.

It is so dry...this area used to have lots of green grass. Many areas of Kenya have gotten some rain but not this part of Tanzania where many Maasai live...

Arusha has had some rain, so the yard at the church building look beautiful! A couple of the members tend the yard as their calling in the branch...

Sunday was the Arusha Branch's first Primary Presentation. There were 48 kids participating! They had been having about 30 kids come on a regular basis, so i'm not sure how they ended up with so many more. Only about 10 of the kids have parents who are members. The rest are kids from the neighborhood. They sang the songs, had a couple of talks and several kids recited parts....all in English. I was so proud of them. The teachers did a great job getting them prepared. We gathered them together for a group picture after the meetings.