Lusaka National Park

The missionaries wanted to to a game park so we  went to check out Lusaka National Park because is was very close to Lusaka.  We went with our friend Br Quero from the Philippines. The two Rhinos came into a feeding pen. They got so close I was able reach out for the observation stand and touch one. We saw a number of animals but they were to far for my camera. Br Quero shared these photos.

Matero Ward and Thanksgiving

The stake sponsored a football (soccer) tournament one Saturday.  This is the Majestic Matero Team!  They played well and won the only game they played.  They should have played for the semi-finals, but there wasn't enough time and the field had to be vacated, so they only got to play one game.  They did really well and had a blast playing the other ward.

The members have some pretty awesome moves.  On the right is Batiste, our primary teacher, and behind him is Brother Jared Ngandabank, who is a counselor in our Bishopric.  Davis Chifunda is in the orange.  Andrew Kampelya is in front holding the ball.
 
It was a hot day and we all (the white people) got sunburned.  I just don't see how they can play so hard in the heat and not get sick.  I guess they are more used to the heat than we are!

I know I put many photos in of our Primary, but we spend a lot of time in there and we love these kids.  African children are really beautiful!


Two best buddies in Alan's Junior Primary Class.  They love to swing and enjoy this time in Primary!
 
Faith Sikaonga and the Junior Primary.                  Two of our Primary girls, Noria and Serina                                                                                                Mkombe and their friends in their "playhouse"                                                                                        made of an old pickup shell.

 
Home teaching the Sikaonga Family who stays out at "10 mile" a place 10 miles from the center of town.  They don't often make it to church, but are always happy to see us as their Home Teachers.

They run a school and have 12 children living with them.  They have 6 children of their own--all girls--and then 6 children of their siblings. It's quite a family, and they are all so happy.  We took them out the ball for the school, along with a frizbee for Christmas and they were so excited.

One of the things we did while there was make a CTR shield as shown in The Friend.  They thought that was pretty cool!

Helen White's 9th birthday.  She had all her friends over when we stopped by to drop off the birthday cake and the present.  She wanted a baby doll so she could also have a baby when her baby brother is born.  So that's what we got her.  Helen is in the center of the top row.

Blessing (right and in the black) and her friends who did the cooking.  LaNice also helped with the cooking.  She has been taught several times how to cook over a charcoal stove.  Maybe good emergency preparedness skills!

   
Brother Zimba's birthday.  This man is amazing.  The gospel has brought so much joy into his life.  He and three of his children were baptized about a year ago.  His oldest daughter, Fides, teaches our nursery class and is preparing for a mission.  They are an amazing family.  Sadly, the other two, Precious and Dixon, have gone somewhat less active.

The Senior Couples were invited to Thanksgiving Dinner at Brother and Sister Seibert's home.  They are here serving in the American Embassy.  We felt lucky to have turkey and all the fixings.  They were very gracious hosts and we had a wonderful meal. We have much to be thankful for and, while we are grateful everyday. it's nice to have a special day to count our blessings.



Kai Seibert and Junior Kupu showing off the pig the Kupus provided for the meal. It looked really nice, but we got only a rib that had almost no meat on it, so I'm not sure how it tasted!  The animals in the picture are a sable, a kudu and a heartbeast.  They were mounted on the wall at the Seibert home.
 

Various Meetings and Activities

In November we had MLC with all the leaders from both Zambia and Malawi.  We don't have many vehicles in the mission, but when they are all together, it looks like an ISUZU white truck used car lot!

The wonderful Sister Training Leaders.  Sister Kinikini, Sister Groesbeck (not an STL),

 Sister Owusu-Afriyie, Sister Arok, Sister Bingham, Sister Reid, Sister Thueson, 

Sister Mukweya and Sister Newey. 

For the last meal, the entire group came to our house and ate in our backyard.  We really do have a pretty nice place there and we haven't used it much.  Everyone seemed to enjoy the atmosphere there.

The Lusaka Zone had a zone activity at the mission office.  We have a great zone.  Top Row:  Elder Harmon, Elder Zhuwankinyu, Elder Essilfie, Sister Groesbeck 2nd Row:  Elder Groesbeck,Elder Olsen, Elder Salyards, Elder Kennedy Elder Ssengooba, Elder Lesu, Sister Marriott, Sister Newey
Bottom Row:  Elder Kigonya, Elder Maele, Elder Komakech, Elder Mani, Sister Kinikini, Sister Motseko, Sister Rice and Sister Ntwe.

A great meal was made by the Zone Leaders:  Elder Ssengooba and Elder Salyards

We were the kitchen help and clean up crew!

One of the activities was a water balloon toss.  The missionaries seemed to have a great time doing this and wished there had been more balloons!

Another activity involved eating FAST!

Elder Groesbeck using his creativity to take a good picture of an x-ray to scan and send to South Africa.  It worked pretty well, but took about an hour to do!

Christmas Party at Cheshire Children's Home

We were lucky to be invited again by Anna Van Heerden, to help out at the annual Christmas Party for this home for disabled children.  The party was held 1 December and the weather didn't feel much like the Christmas parties we are used to.  It was hot and sort of muggy, but, I'll admit, it was cooler weather than the party last year!

The kids are pretty special and they all seemed genuinely happy, even with their disabilites.
Members of the church were also asked to help and Bishop Shambana, Lusaka Ward, was there to help play with the children and move them about.

 
Anna had several people from her work who also volunteered.  She's a pretty amazing young lady.  We had a great time playing with the kids and they absolutely loved playing in the bounce house.  Some had a hard time because they couldn't move their legs and some not even their arms.  And the other kids would bounce them around and sometimes they got in positions they couldn't get out of.  That's when the volunteers came in!



 
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After the bounce house, a band played and the kids loved to dance, usually supported by a volunteer.  They got tired rather quickly and enjoyed their snacks and listened to the music.

The people of Zambia

THE PEOPLE OF ZAMBIA

 
This is the Lusaka District at an activity in our back yard.  We went to Kalimba Farms (the croc farm) with them and we were not able to have croc burgers while there.  So we bought some ready-to-cook ones and brought them home. We then invited the district over for a BBQ or braii, as they call it.
Sister and Elder Groesbeck, Elder Knobloch, Elder Gova, Elder Salmon, Sister Kinikini, Sister Marriott, Sister Donkoh, Sister Salmon, and Sister Owusu-Afriyie. We have a pretty large, nice yard so it was fun to have them over.  And the timing was perfect, it started to rain just as we were finishing up!


Sister Fides Zimba and her father, sister and brother were baptized in November of last year.  Fides is one of our wonderful nursery teachers.  The kids love her.  She wants to serve a mission and so we are filling out her mission papers.  She isn't 19 yet, but is starting to save money for passport and other things she will need to go.

Fides and her mom, who is not a member yet, wanted to teach me how to cook Zambian style.  So they fired up the charcoal and I fried the chicken (fortunately they killed it and got it ready to cook) and then they coached me on making Nshima.  I'm not really good at it.  I would think after mixing bread by hand all these years my arms would be strong.  But they are not strong enough for a full pot of nshima.  Those women really know the technique and the nshima was great.

  
This is Joseph Zimba.  We had a little lego kit for a motorcycle and he put it together and was pretty excited bout it.  On the right is Philip Mwanamoyo who is cleaning fish for dinner.

Brother Moses has been the mechanic and body man for repairs on mission vehicles.  Below is his shop. I told him he needs a roof over it so it's not so hot working on the cars.  He said he was fine.  Africans don't seem to be bothered by the heat as much as us muzungus.  On the right is the back door of his house where he wants to build a deck.  You can see where he has started the foundation for it.  He is quite a character.  He is very fast at fixing the vehicles and is very reasonably priced.   Unfortunately, because of numerous accidents, we have had to use his service very frequently.
 
The White's started a little business of selling rice and potatoes at a small shop in Emmsdale.  It is very close to Batiste's house so we walked over to her shop to see how things were going.  Sister White is the Primary President and is pregnant with their 4th child due in December.  She said the business is doing well and they are making money.
 
LaNice's birthday cakes--one made by Sister Kupu and the other bought by Alan.  They were both good.  The Assistants, Elder Ssengooba and Elder Salyards, bought her a watermelon.  It was very interesting that, in the market (not in the stores), the vendor will cut a piece of the watermelon so the buyer can see how red it is.  Wish they would do that in the stores because we have bought some pretty bad watermelon.  This one was very good.