Last Blog Post in Africa

 "A cake presented to us by Elder Gilbert and Elder Hamilton on the day of MLC, they were so thoughtful, now pay attention to the cars.  Since Elder Hawkins is in charge of the vehicles for the mission they made sure that one vehicle represented the "rollovers" and the other vehicle was all smashed.  The little army guy represents Elder Hawkins' "wacker" a mission joke after a talk he gave."

 "Below is a picture of a Tsebee, I haven't been able to get a picture of this animal, also the last picture at the bottom of the blog is also some Tsebees.  I was finally able to make it to the Pilanesberg National Park before I left the mission, and this is where we saw these Tsebees."

 "Here we have a cool picture of the Wildebeest and a Rhino starring each other down.  We had the chance to go with the Owens (the couple taking our place when we leave) to go to the Mafikeng Game Reserve while in Mafikeng.  The next day was a P-Day and we headed to the Pilanesberg National Park after spending the night in Rustenburg at a fun Lodge, an hour from the park."

"I thought this was a pretty awesome picture of a Kudu below and Hippos, if you look closely you can see three baby hippos in between the two BIG ones, these were also seen at the Pilanesberg National Park"

"What a fun and delightful experience being in Africa has been, two weeks left and we will definitely miss the people here."

Couples Retreat

 "Finally made it on a couples retreat, it was only for a day, but we went on a short game drive and saw the Hyaena above and the Tsessebe below that I hadn't seen before".

 "Drove right up to these lions, as you can see the one is a white lion.  They actually use these lions in movies and also they said that they use them for weddings to bring the ring down the aisle to the bride".

 "We moved on to the Cheetahs, which were in large cages, but they were like a big cat that purred just like a kitten."

" Here we have the five couples, and below was our transportation around the game drive"

 "After the game drive we went "Walking with the Lions", these two activities were done at the Ranch Resort just outside of Polokwane."

 "This one is licking his chops - better move away!!!"

"We have just two months left, so may only get one more blog in before our trip home.  What a delight this has been to be here and see and experience Africa."

Kasane, Botswana

"A Picture of Elder Hawkins standing outside the Chapel in Kasane, Botswana with the Elders Quorum President"

"All those in attendance at our meetings in Kasane, The American looking ladies are visitors from Utah, Mom and daughters (5), the one in Peach is an investigator, Elder Hawkins and President and Sister Chadambuka, the remaining hand full are branch members."

 "A look from our Hotel in Kasane the Cresta on the banks of the Chobe River above and below"

 "The sunset driving into Kasane"

" Below are those wonderful Mopani worms mixed in a sauce, doesn't it look delicious.  At the Cresta each night they had a buffet which included traditional African food, Mopani worms included, I went for the non-traditional food".

 "Our P-Day on the Chobe River with President and Sister Chadambuka, this boat would hold many people but the four of us and the owner and about 5 family members were the only ones.  They invited us for a dinner cruise and braai (it did not include the Mopani worms) we were able to spend extra time on the boat after normal hours.  Keep in mind this only cost us R250 which is about $19.00 US Dollars each.  They did not charge us for the snacks and dinner they provided us with.  We had a wonderful relaxing day, we haven't had many of those."

" Sunset on the Chobe River next two pictures"

 "Dad getting his third speeding ticket in Botswana.  What makes it bad was we were just arguing about the speed, I said the GPS shows it is 120k and he thought he saw a sign that said 80 - He was right.  They set speed traps just after the speed changes and on the down hill slop most of the time.  Who would have guessed his only three speeding tickets in his life and they are while we are on our mission.  President and Sister Chadambuka couldn't believe I was taking a picture, they said if they saw they would probably come and take my ipad camera away".

Hope you enjoy

" It is so hard to get a picture of the way the women and sometimes you will see men carry everything on top of their head.  You don't see them unless you are driving, and you go by too quickly to get any picture even if you had your camera and it was ready.  But just happened to get lucky on this one.  This is small compared to some items they carry.  You will see another one below that is carrying sugar canes and this was in Phalaborwa, the top one was taken in Botswana".

 "I was trying to find all three pictures of the Church we meet at in Phalaborwa, but I lost it somewhere.  The above picture was taken March 26, 2017 you can see that they actually have it enclosed with tin, and they hang fabric on the inside to make it look nicer.  When we went the first part of February, where the tin is they had a tarp that covered the top that was shaped like a circus tent which was an upgrade from the first time we went".

" The little fellow was so cute, he did a dance for me that I took a video of, I wish I could include it in my blog". 

 "Now this is a picture of the church the first time we saw it the first part of November 2016.  All it had was a flat tarp.  So you can see they are doing their best to make it nicer".

 "These are some of the members from the congregations sitting in Sammy's Jeep"

 "Sammy and Elder Hawkins"

Days in Namibia

 "Here is a view of the coast in Swakopmund and the Atlantic Ocean, we finally made it there."

 "They have camel rides along the beach, and in the back ground you can see the sand dunes.  As you travel from Swakopmund to Walvis Bay, you have the sand dunes on one side of the road, and the Atlantic Ocean on the other side of the road."

 "Right out the back door of two of our missionaries (Elder Darley left and Elder Hamilton middle)"

" To get to Swakopmund, you travel thru a desert so the above picture and below is the view as we traveled"

"I don't know how to make these go in order, but the above and 2 below are pictures taken in Windhoek.  To explain, the second one below, he is a member in the branch presidency by the name of Clever.  The room he is sitting in is approximately 15'X15' (maybe) and these are his total living quarters.  As you can see he is sitting at his sewing machine, and makes the scripture covers and I also took a picture of some sandals he makes.  The fur is from a Springbok, and he makes them all different colors, I was quite impressed.  The above picture shows that they do not waste anything.  He takes old tires to make the bottom of these sandals.  You can see them sitting on top and under the table.  This is outside in the yard."

 "The above picture is of a big freighter out in the ocean, and the bottom picture is the four missionaries serving in Swakopmund in front of the chapel, which is rented in an office complex.

(Hamilton, Mosweswe, Mohatli, and Darley)"