Hal and Janis

 We were stuck in traffic and realized the people here recognized an excellent time to sell their wares. Elder Kundhlande, who was in our truck with us said it was their "Market Moment." The variety of choices was quit amazing actually!! Sorry the pictures aren’t very good!    Toilet plungers, dog collars and sunglasses   Bags of all shapes and sizes and charcoal cook stove. The people use these all the time to cook their nshima. Watermelons, watermelons, watermelons. Definitely the season!!   Grapes and facemasks. One looked pretty much garbage…honestly. So sad!! Today we got stuck in traffic again. This time the marketers were selling stocking caps, chilies, ginger root, bungee cords, lamps, and newspapers.  One of the saddest things we've seen though is children kneeling in the streets begging for handouts. It just breaks your heart!! Then we saw a billboard that read "The money you give encourages children in the streets" We see these kinds of children ...

No photo with this post….just use your imagination!😀🥴😳😂 So last week, a member of the bishopric came into Relief Society while the teacher was giving the lesson and showed me a paper for the plan for the next Sacrament meeting. He pointed to my name, which was listed next to “speaker”and then to the topic. That is how I was assigned to speak in Sacrament meeting. Fine. Not the easiest topic to speak on (signs of the second coming) but I nodded my head “yes.” After church Hal said he had been asked to say the closing prayer in the upcoming Sacrament meeting. Fine. A couple of days later, Bishop Mwanza called Hal and asked if WE would assist Brother Penny in giving the 5th Sunday lesson in Sunday School. Topic was Family History. I’m comfortable with that. So we planned and prepared for our assignments…. In church today the counselor conducting announced who would be speaking and how long they would speak. (This particular ward always specified how long the speaker will speak.) The s...

    I won’t ever complain about laundry again!!   A few days ago Hal asked what he could use to get the ring around the collar out. I suggested that he use some dish soap. Worked well for me back home. Well, bad suggestion or maybe just bad soap!! It turned his collars green!! Obviously not Palmolive!   Today while I was trying to get a little washing done with a washer that holds next to nothing in quantity and it leaks; and the dryer gets so hot I worry about everything shrinking to nothing, I saw this lady out the back window! She was bent over scrubbing for a long time!! She dries her clothes on overhead wires…but not the electric fence, of course! Even though our appliances are in separate rooms, I’m just grateful we have them!! We have life so easy! We are so blessed! Like I said, I’ll never complain again!! 

  This was a fun assignment from President Whiting. His philosophy is that missionaries called to Zambia should never go home with only seeing an occasional dog, cat, or cockroach so he takes them to Chaminuka Refuge where they get to see animals in the wild. This particular time President Whiting asked Hal and I to take the two missionaries that will be going home soon. We took Elder Naegle and Sister Bhembe. The Refuge owns about 10,000 acres and is only about 45 minutes from Lusaka. We rode in an open land rover with a cover (like a tarp) on top. It was open on all sides. What a beautiful day...not to hot with a cloud cover!! We saw three elephants...two large ones and a baby. The big elephant is about 35 years old. The color of elephants depends on the soil in their environment, or so we were told.   There are zebras and kafue lachwe in this photo. Kafue lachwe is native of Zambia. I asked about the co-mingling of herds--different kinds of animals in the same close area. I...

 Wow! How do you even begin to explain what we saw today?!! It was incredible! The church is doing so much to help these people become more self reliant!! They have such great need and the people always show so much gratitude!!  Be prepared for photo overload!  Today we spent a few hours with Elder and Sister Pease. They are the humanitarian couple serving in Zambia and Malawi. Some amazing people!!! They took us to see a couple of projects the church is involved with. One was a school. There were many buildings but very primitive according to what we are used to! After members of the community, including parents, build walls then the church will come in and help with some funding to put a roof on, maybe some desks, if needed, books, etc. These are the outhouses. Squat only. No flushing toilets!    The lady in the back of this photo is one of the teachers. She was more than happy to show us around!! Notice the wheel barrow. EVERYTHING is done by hand...including...

 This is a post that I will come back to often and add to it. Elder Phelps and I probably won't be out amongst the people as much as the other missionaries here. However, I often hear the missionaries tell stories from their mission experiences, so I thought I should share  From Elder Norris: He has been a life saver since we came here. He is currently serving as an Assistant to the President and has helped us tremendously in learning our responsibilities. He reflected on a family here in Lusaka: Amos and Carol. Amos could not speak English but started reading the Book of Mormon and gained a testimony of it's truthfulness. He is vary faithful in coming to church. Elder Norris told me that one Sunday, Carol was not feeling well and even though tradition here holds the women as the care givers for the children, Amos brought their cute little boy to church. They do not have a car and the walk is far. As of the first of June, Carol is still taking the missionary lesson. She has no...