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)"

Phalaborwa for our second experience

 " This village has several hundred thousand people in it, mostly refugees from Mosambique in the 1990's they left and came thru Kruger National Park to come to South Africa.  Many lost their lives because of the wildlife as they came through the park.  The South African Government gives them a plot of land, and then they have to build a home.  Most of the homes are made from blocks and a tin roof, and consist of only one room that is about 12'x12'.  They add on as they can, but most stay that size.  As you can see by the sign they call their church "The Bright Star Gospel Church of Jesus Christ". 

" Since our first visit, they have improved from a tarp to a large canopy over much of the area, and even had a fan set up right by us in front."

 

"These three women had practiced a song to sing for us while we were there.  The video below is two singing a song the one in the green dress is a Pastor from another church close by, that wanted to come while we were there, and the girl in the white dress was the one that did the translation for us as we spoke.  We actually had two women Pastors come this time, along with the Pastor of this church.  The one as she spoke came because she wanted to hear more about the Book of Mormon"

"Afterwards, as they did the first time, want to have their pictures taken with us, so we spent probably another half hour doing that".

 "The picture below is Sammy and his wife and son whose name is "Best".  For those that don't know, Sammy was our Game Driver thru Kruger National Park twice, and the one we have given about 6 cases of Book of Mormons to - he is the one that originally set us up to meet with this group.  He keeps asking for more books and we keep supplying them.  Some day those seeds will sprout".

"As you can see, they had 2 large tables set up so we could join them to eat after the meeting.  Fortunately we were fasting as it was the first Sunday of the month, and we had to decline their offering of Mopani worms, Creamed Spinach, and we didn't see what was in the third bowl.  We had to do some explaining as to what the fast was so they wouldn't get their feelings hurt".

Hoedespruit South Africa Pictures

 "This was a sunset at our flat in Pretoria a week or so ago"

 "While in Phalaborwa we had some X-tra time so we went to Hoedespruit to an Endandered Species Park.  The pictures above and below show an area with a pile of bones for the animals and birds to clean off the meat.  The guide we had sat there explaining while the 10 of us in the vehicle were dying of the smell."

 "Most of the animals they have there are cheetahs - they have very distinctive tear marks under their eyes.  Some were in cages and others in large enclosures that reflect their natural habitat so they can run and roam.  They bring them into the smaller cages to feed them, and watch to make sure they are doing well."

Thanksgiving, Christmas and "odds n ends"

 "Our Thanksgiving Feast with all the trimmings and even a turkey cheese ball with crackers".

 "We had Thanksgiving at President Chadambukas house"

 "The Halls"

 "The Wrightson's"

 "How cute are these?  Elder and Sister Hall made one for each of us".

 "Elder Hawkins and Kamogelo just before she is baptized."

 "William, Kamogelo's Father and Itu her sister, and Selina her Mom".

 "This is in Polokwane with Elder and Sister Ellis of the Area Presidency, President and Sister Chadambuka and ourselves.  We had a good visit for Mission Tour".

 "This picture is for the Wilson's - look at the moss growing under the thatched roof in our complex looking out our patio.  Remember how dry it was last year, we have had at least 2/3's of the month of Demember with large amounts of rain.  Close up above, and a look from our patio beneath."

 "Christmas Day and this is Kamogelo jumping with her cousin.  I wish my grandkids could appreciate what they have.  Maabane's had a small Christmas Tree, a little bigger than the one Steve and Amber used, but NO presents under the tree.  They celebrate Christmas, but not with presents, and they are still happy."

"Itu and Selina in the kitchen getting ready for Christmas Dinner."

" As you can see from the plates already dished up for the kids, they eat a lot of rice".

 "This last picture is one we took in Phalaborwa - it is a picture of Sammy's house (our game driver), just a little box shaped home.  They keep the weeds out of their yards, and this is a typical fence in the villages."

Sunday in Phalaborwa

 "It is spring and the Jacaranda Trees are in full bloom.  These trees line road ways and are absolutely beautiful"

" Before church started the children wanted to see themselves on the camera, they came running from everywhere to be in the picture.  They have a wheelbarrow with a container to haul water."

 "This is part of the church we were invited to by Sammy our Game Driver through Kruger National Park we attended in Lulekani (outside of Phalaborwa), the tarp extension, held up by poles".

" Only two cars found at the church ours, and our game driver Sammy, who picks up a group to come to church"

 "Music started before we got there at 10:00, by 11:00 it was standing room only."

 "You can see the whole inside of the church in this picture (three cement walls with a tin roof), keep in mind it is over 100 degrees"

"While we were traveling to the church came upon this "tuck shop" I had to stop on my way back and take a picture."

Life in Africa 2

" Here is proof Natalie and Spencer made it"

 "How do you like my crock picture?"

 "Never seen a cheetah, finally found one by the fence, we drove pretty close to it."

"This was Natalie's to do on her check list - pet the baby lions - 2 1/2 months old".

Life in Africa

 "On the way back to our flat from Kruger National Park we went on the scenic route and stopped at a place called Bourke Potluck Holes, it was magnificent."

 "When we entered Botswana we stayed the second night at a place called Senyati, right outside our lodge was a watering hole where the animals came into drink, it was fun to sit on the porch and just watch as they would come and go."

" We went on a jetty boat ride in the Chobe National Park and our driver took us up and very close to all the animals, this was one of the many crocodiles, I have another that didn't upload so I will try again, and do a second half."

 "On that boat ride we were there on the river as the sunset, as you can see the elephants in the foreground.  It was probably one of the best activities we did."

 "This is a pride of lions that Natalie backed up in the safari truck as we got close.  She thought it was a little tooooo close and personal.  This was the next morning after the boat ride again in Chobe National Park, just on land instead of water."

 "This picture is a little out of order we went to the Rhino-Lion Reserve on Saturday after returning from Botswana.  Finally we were able to see a lot of Rhino.  It was surprising to me to see how long those horns were.  This was Spencers item to check off his list."

 "Back to Chobe we saw a leopard that had his kill waiting under the tree, this was the first leopard we have seen, and our driver says they only see them about once a month, so we lucked out.  They are a beautiful animal."

 "Natalie liked this picture of the giraffe in Chobe."

" Finally saw a lion with a full mane, it is so fun to see these animals so close, what an experience."

 "After we went to the Rhino-Lion reserve, we went to the Wonder Caves found on the same property, similar to the Stalagtites and the Stalagmites found at Timpanogos.  Now on to the second half, sorry I have to do this in two parts."