The African Bush

One day the Bodilys were going to go out to the bush and check the wells they have been working on.  We decided to go with them for a little break from the office.  The Ericksons were in town and so it worked out that we could be gone for the day.  We were thinking it would only be for the morning, but it took the better part of the day.  And it was so worth it!  We don't get to see this part of the country often and it was so refreshing to get out of the city and into the beauty of the African bush.  And this is really the bush!

We passed multiple small villages like this, just a few cement huts together.  The raised structure on the right is a chicken coop where the chickens roost at night. 

It was a great time to visit the bush.  The maize was starting to grow, it had rained and everything was green and lush. 

It was surprising to see small gardens planted in the middle of nowhere.  It seemed they would clear a small patch of ground and then plant it.

And things seem to grow well out there!

These guys were so happy to have their picture taken.  They sort of did a little song and dance skit for us.  They don't see white people very often.  The picture on the right is Sister Bodily and I by a traditional African bush home. 

This was where the village was getting its water before the borehole was placed

The borehole is not complete, but when it is, it will have a handle on it and will pump water for the village.  So much better than getting water from the stream!  The building in the background is the school where one teacher teaches children up to 2nd grade. 

This is the school.  There was nothing on the walls and students were seated 2 or 3 to a rickety desk.  And this blackboard is what the teacher teaches from.  They were all very excited to see us!

We took their picture with the ipad and they were amazed to see themselves in the pictures. 

They didn't have much in the way of school supplies, but there were certainly happy to be in school and learning something new!

African children are beautiful!

This was the morning class.  There are two classrooms in the building, but they only have one teacher so the other one goes empty. 

When school is over, they pack up and walk home.  Some walk quite a distance, but they don't seem to mind.  Having the opportunity to learn is worth the walk. 

This is pretty much the extent of the village.  The building in the middle is the store.

Elder Bodily was there to conduct a meeting with the group for whom the well was dug. 

The men would sit on one side and the women on the other side.  I love the way the women dress. 

We thought this women was exceptionally beautiful and had such a nice smile!

Some of the men in the community.

This man is the oldest member of the village and was 82.  We selling this tool, which is a large whip to make shima.  Not that we really needed one, but we supported his business and bought one for 6 kwacha, or about 60 cents. He was such a cool guy and was just very happy.

More pictures of the village and surrounding gardens. 

This is a close up of the store and it's contents.  It's a good thing they grow most of what they eat because they would not be able to purchase much from this store.  The storekeeper is the daughter of the owner and runs the store only during hours when school is out because she is also the school teacher!  We bought some biscuits (cookies) from her and they were pretty stale!

A young girl fixing a meal.  They have no stoves in                       The chicken coop.
their homes and cook almost solely over a charcoal
stove like this one--especially in the bush.

This is the village gathering place where members meet and play games like the one below.

If a person owns a bicycle they are very fortunate.  They also had a soccer field that even had goals!

Another sign of wealth is owning a cow.  This                 These are children walking home from
young boy is probably herding for several families.                   school. 
He was maybe 6 years old. 

We stopped at a church building.  It was open with no real door, so we went in.  I'm surprised the things inside had not been stolen, but they had nice benches and the musical instruments below.

LaNice thought she would give it a try, but was          Bicycles are used to transport their garden
not all that successful in playing this instrument.        produce many kilometers to the nearest market.
                 
  Below is a place cleared to make and sell             We love how most people carry things on their
charcoal.  These places are everywhere since         heads.  Many don't want their picture taken, but
that is the main source of cooking heat.                  this young man was very willing.

We saw these women walking through a boggy
area, probably returning to their homes after
working in their garden.

We also saw several ox teams that are used to work the soil.  This woman was riding on the plow where the plow itself had been removed.  She was enjoying the ride.

This man was following behind making sure the oxen behaved!

Overall, it was a really great day.  The meeting got started only about on hour late, which is pretty good for Africa.  They had to wait until the people got there and there had to be so many women.  They probably couldn't have made it any earlier as they have work at home to do before they can leave.  It was beautiful to see how beautiful and green the bush is.  We really enjoyed the change of scenery from the dusty, dirty city of cement and garbage.  It was so refreshing to get outside the city

 

Matero Primary Baptisms, the Magunji's and the White's

We are studying the Book of Mormon in Primary.  Since most of them don't speak English, we decided to use the Book of Mormon Stories Reader.  It is read in English and then Baptista explains in Nanja.  This will hopefully help the children learn English as well as learn more about the Book of Mormon!

We have anywhere from 14 to 25 kids each week.  It's quite challenging with them all in one class. But we don't have a room or a teacher to split them out into age groups, so we do then all at one time!

They love it when we have power and can have the piano in the room.

This is Noria Mkombe.  Her grandparents were the first members in Lusaka, having joined the church in England.  They started with a small group in their home and now there is a stake and seven wards here.  They have really had a great impact on the church here.  Noria is proud of her coloring. 

Pohamba Phiri and his mother and Alan.  Pohamba is one of our Primary boys who got baptized. He wanted Alan to baptize him since his dad (we don't even know who he is) could not do it.  It was pretty special to Alan to be able to baptize this little guy.  He has a growth problem and is very small and will likely not grow very big.  He was quite the bully when we first got here, but he is maturing alot and is pretty easy to get along with now.   

                                         

   

Chileshi is another of our Primary boys who got baptized.  This is his family.  His dad is really active and the sister, Hope, comes to church often as well.  We don't see the mom much. 

This is the amazing White family--Blessing, Jimmy, Steven, Kelvin, Bridget, Helen and Nathan. Helen is one of our Primary children. Brother White is from Liberia and was visiting there when Ebola broke out.  He was unable to return to Zambia and so went to Ghana where he joined the church.  Four years later he was able to return to Zambia and be reunited with his family.  For four years, Bridget worked and held the family together.  She's an amazing woman.  And the kids are great.   Jimmy and Steven are actual one of their sibling's children, but they stay with the Whites.  The whole family was baptized.  We were able to teach some of the lessons to them with Elder Ssengooba and Elder Sagers.  It was a choice experience to watch them grow in the faith, especially Bridget, as she as so skeptical at first.  But she prayed and read the Book of Mormon and got an answer to her prayer that the church is true and the Book of Mormon is the word of God.

.The whole family as baptized!

They are a crazy, happy family!  With the Elders!

Here they are:  The Whites in white!  It was a great day!

Here are all the baptisms that day! (Well, not the elders or Sister Bodily) It was an amazing day!

David and Agnes Magunji and Gracious Mutale were also baptized that day.  Gracious is the sister of Kennedy Musanga whose family was also baptized after our arrival.  They are being wonderful missionaries and sharing the gospel with their beloved family!

January was  BIG baptism month for the Matero Ward!

A Visit to Sister Dorothy's

Dorothy Sashani was baptized not long after we got here.  And she is such a sweet sister.  She was very generous with us at Christmas and probably spent more money on us than she should have.  Anyway, this night was only one of many visits to her flat.  This is the building she lives in.  She has a little flat behind this one.  This is where Sister Shumba, the RS President, stays,  She is the one who introduced Dorothy to the gospel. To get to her house, we drive through these trees and it is a one-way road.  We waited for the mini bus (main source of transportation here) to come through the trees.

Shortly after she as baptized, her nephew, Jacob (she calls him her brother.  Everybody here is a brother or sister regardless of the family relationship) moved in with here to teach school.  He started taking the lessons too.  He is such a happy and special person.  We're glad we got to know him too!

We took them the conference Liahona and were just looking at the picture of the general authorities in the center fold.   She is really a beautiful woman!

The picture below is after a FHE. She had invited her neighbor and is already being a great missionary.  With Elders Abasai and  Shabalala. 

   

We feel like our faces are just too plain white when we are with these beautiful and wonderful black people!  They really are beautiful!

        

\\

These children stay in her complex.  They are playing a game similar to jacks, but they play with rocks instead of a rubber ball and metal jacks.  They are quite creative in their toys and games. 

We love Sister Dorothy and are so happy she has accepted the gospel of Jesus Christ.  She is looking for a job and won't consider any waitress job that has a bar!  She is so faithful!!

Eureka Camping Place

One P-day afternoon we decided to find this campground that was supposed to have lots of zebra and giraffe.  Elder and Sister Salmon said they wanted to go too, and Bodilys were out of town, so off we went.  It is a small park about 30 minutes outside of town and it was really quite fun.  We were able to drive through the park and get out and do whatever we wanted.  We had never been this close to zebra as they tend to be a bit timid.  The stripes on their head and face are very beautiful

They are quite amazing and beautiful animals.  And all individually striped!

There are no two zebra stripped alike!

We were able to get pretty close to them too!

There were multiple giraffe browsing on the trees.  And they were not very afraid of people.  We watched them from the car and then got out and walked toward them. 

They definitely have their comfort space and 

when we got too close, they took off.  

We saw several types of antelope and really like Kudu that has the curly horns.  They are pretty magnificent animals.

 

The park has a swimming pool (not shown) and these cute chalets that can be rented out for a night.  They were locked so we couldn't see inside, but we think it would be fun to be able to spend a night there knowing there were zebra and giraffe grazing right outside our door!

Stake Primary Activity

   
The Stake had a big once-in-a-long-time activity and there were so many children there.  It took awhile to get things organized, and the children were so quiet while they waited about 30-45 minutes.  I was quite surprised at how well they waited. They had a bounce house that the kids absolutely loved.  One of the sisters from another ward taught the girls basketball
\

The biggest hits for the boys was football or soccer in America.  There were multiple teams and they had a great time.  It was so hot, I just couldn't believe they could keep running up and down the field (small as it was), but they didn't want to quit.

 . 

One of the adults (?) was Baptista from the Matero Ward.  He's our Primary teacher and is an awesome young man.  He has been so helpful and I don't know what we would have done without him.  The boys playing soccer felt the same way I think.

 

The activity was held in a children's park and had some pretty cool amenities--like this playground. There were also several other smaller buildings.  The Nursery was held in one where the kids had a ball playing with BALLS!

    

They had one building where the kids could play board games!

There was a very nice pavilion where some of the smaller children did color pages. 

And, of course, they had face painting.

It was an amazing activity with over 100 children there.  LaNice had to leave a little early as we had to pick up Bodilys at the airport.  On the return trip to town, it poured rain.  However, thanks to tender mercies, it didn't rain on the activity.