Monday, December 30, 2013

Sunday, December 29, 2013

Food Baskets


This is delivering food basket and box  of vegatable to Sabinchias  family in Lkoni
 With kids 


Mom made up a treat bag for each child this little boy was so excited he jumped up and down with delight.

Elder Tauzie and sister Eva with food basket and box of vegetables

Baptism


The church is really growing here.  This is President Agonza who use to be Branch President in Changamwe.  He baptized his niece and nephew.


 Also this is Elder Gwebo on the right who baptized a lady in Bamburi.  The church moves forward in each branch


Mombasa Branch Christmas Party


This is Branch Christmas party in Changmawe first the serving line. They served the traditonal African dish called Pilau [rice meat??? spice,onions,garlic, topped with a tomatoe salad and a Chapata looks like a tortia]




 Next us stuffing our faces . Mom eating African way with her fingers.




More pictures from Changmawe Christmas party. Kids eating and the handsome couple.

Mombasa Branch Christmas Party


he Mombasa Branch Christmas party was a hugs success.  They held it out in a park and had in attendance around 180-200.  Members and non members were invited.


This is a picture of Hunter and Yolanda who we spent Christmas Eve with.




The game with Elder Palmer blindfolded was really the funny one. They had a lot of us women stand in a line and he was to touch and see if he could find me.  He made a great choice.



We had a tug of war which ended the women down on the ground because the rope broke in half.  They had the women against the priesthood which wasn't that fair. 




The children dressed up in a lot diff costumes than we are use to, to tell the story of the birth of baby Jesus.


The children had a wonderful time as well as the adults and ended the afternoon with many wonderful Christmas songs and even had a dance or two.  It was great fun.  Mombasa Branch really knows how to party. 
Had wonderful food, pilau (rice dish) and fruits.  I took our own utensils as they serve it without any.  Although we have learned to eat with our hands like the rest of them.  It's just this cleanliness thing Sister Palmer has.  Go Figure! 



Serena Hotel






At our last Zone Conference we were asked by President and Sister Hicken to join them at the hotel.  We had a wonderful time.  They are truly a great couple.  We stayed at the Serena Hotel in Bamburi and it was beautiful 




Beautiful place to visit but I saw the largest lizard there but never got a picture. Darn!

Old, yet weird


This sign was along side the road and I thought how funny one man could be of help in so many different aspects of one's life.   Also kids line up for the bike of the century for this is what most bikes look like along the streets.

Hot Summer



Thought you all could use some cheering up with the beauty of Kenya.  With it being the hot season we are finding more beautiful flowers are blooming.  We know you are in the cold winter and not much blooming there so here's a little bit of sunshine for you. 




As we are driving along the roadside we see the many beautiful flowers that are growing.  So many different shades of colors.



I wish we could bottle up these beauties and bring them home.  Of course our weather would not let them live.  They thrive on hot and humid air.  Just wanted to share these with you


Monkey Feeding


New Elders





                     These are the three new elders in Changamwe.

Christmas in Kenya

Christmas Morning


Elder Tauzie and Elder Thipe



These are the zone leaders Christmas morning. Elder Ladwaba with the hat on with Elder Tauzie.



Us with zone leader Elder Ladwaba



goofing off these 5



Elder Kakarie and Elder Gwebo. They were late comers.



Elder Labwada, what a card!



Elder Kakarie. He loves to site and play the piano. He taught himself.


Talked Dad into wearing my apron since he cooks with grease.




Friday, November 29, 2013

Thanksgiving

Dear Family and friends,
     It has been a pretty busy week with feeding the Elder's Thanksgiving Dinner, having Zone Conference for two days and to top it off a great Thanksgiving with all the trimmings including turkey.  Our Thanksgiving with the Elder's will always be remembered and this time next yr we will be home so we wanted it to be special.  They do not celebrate Thanksgiving here but we wanted them to experience the joy of giving thanks for all the many blessings that we all enjoy.  We told them we don't need a day of Thanksgiving, to give thanks but we need to give thanks to a loving Heavenly Father everyday.  That we all have so many things to be grateful for.   We all bore our testimony and it was so spiritual and wonderful.  We felt the spirit so strong and we believe that they truly got the meaning of it all.  We hadn't been able to get a turkey but we fed them 3 roasted chickens and dressing, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans and fruit salad.  The pies weren't the best.  But I did learn that pie crust is not flakey with how humid it is here.  They kind of reminded me of hockey pucks.  Anyway all went well. 
     Our Zone conference started with Elder Palmer picking up the President and his wife.  President and Sister Hicken and the AP;s at the airport.  I had to stay behind because of not enough room in the truck.  He delivered them to the Mombasa Branch and came back to pick me up.  We had a great day.  All the Chyulu Elder's arrived (8) and with our 6 we had quite a bunch.  The Elder's always bring in a special spirit to these meeting.  We ended the day taking them to the Serena Hotel in Bamburi and found they had reservations for us also.  Great to get away and the Hotel was beautiful.  Waking up this morning to the beautiful beach and beautiful flowers was really a treat for us.  We attended the Mombasa Branch again for 4 more missionary interviews and then off to the airport with them.  We hurried home to remember we had an Thanksgiving Dinner invitation from some Utah'ns.  Wow they actually had a turkey brought in which cost them an arm and a leg but we sure had a feast.  We came home with full bellies and so grateful for the wonderful wk.  Of course we missed our family and talked a lot about you all.  People are amazed of what a beautiful family we have and every chance I get I do a little bragging.  (a lot)
     We just want you all to know how much we truly love you and how grateful we are for all the lords blessings.  We send love to you all.  Love Mom & Dad, friend and grandpa & grandma