Hal and Janis

   Missionaries LOVE to EAT!!!! They are always hungry and they don't really care about WHAT they eat, as long as it is eatable!!                    The Lusaka Youth Center has been a place we have had many meals catered for Zone Conferences, new missionary day, Missionary Leadership Counsel, and etc. This is the place that the church did a humanitarian project and built a bakery and furnished equipment for this kitchen. The people there have been very accommodating and easy to work with, even though they are not super punctual! When we went to pick up the food it was at least 110 degrees in there! No air conditioning, no fans, just a couple of windows that opened, but there was not a breeze! It was well into the 90's this day, but they went about their work with smiles, nevertheless!                       They even furnish REAL plates and they wash them when we return...

One day, not too long ago, we saw this "garbage truck." Hal said, "I wonder which side of the street they will dump it on?'  It is a reality that there are many places like this one. One day when we were kind of lost we drove past a huge garbage dump area. It was so sad to see people, including children, rummaging through the garbage. Looking for useful things, I suppose. I was so stunned at what I was seeing I didn't think to take a picture. Many times we will see people at the side of the street burning something. It may or may not be garbage, but mostly likely it is. We saw more of that a couple of months ago when it was cold. There has been a lot of haze in the air. Someone told us the haze is from the farmers burning the grass and fields so they can plant during the rainy season which soo start pretty soon. And when that rainy season begins we wonder what will happen to all the garbage that is in the cement trenches along side every road?!?! I think of takin...

  Our very good friends, the Quero's were planning to go back to their homeland, the Philippines, for an extended visit (1-3 months). They had not been back since before Covid, so they were SO excited! Brother Quero was able to take a leave from his work. It took a few weeks for all the documents they needed to be collected.  They left Lusaka on 5 October 2022 and flew by way of Johannesburg. They had plans of traveling to the Durbin Temple where all of the children could perform ordinance work and their oldest son, Keven was planning to take his Endowments. Brother Quero was also planning to check into a job opportunity there. When they arrived in Johannesburg they were informed that they did not have the correct Immigration documents and were quickly ushered into a "holding area." No one would talk to them other than to tell them they needed to pay money. Immigration people eventually said they couldn't stay in South Africa and allowed them to book tickets to contin...

   We had such a wonderful time being with Ty and Shandra Averett!!! Cannot thank them enough!! The animals did not disappoint! In fact, we saw many more this time than last time!!!        Just as many or more herds of elephants!                                                                                              v A wart hog! And the most feared animal and one of the Big Five...the Cape Buffalo! We saw one herd in the distance of thousands of Cape Buffalo! It was a sight but too far away to capture a good picture! Giraffes are beautiful animals. They seem so graceful, even with their long legs and necks! Many prides of lions! In the picture below you can see a lion in a stalking stance. It apparently had seen a l...