Happy Anniversary to Us!

On March 6, we celebrated 42 years of marriage!  So glad we were married in the Cardston Alberta Temple 42 years ago.  "Forty-two years of laughter and tears!"  We plan to be married for 42 million more years!  I'm so grateful for temple covenants and ordinances which bind us together for eternity if we always choose the right and treat each other like eternal companions should.  We celebrated by working in the mission office all day and then going out for supper.  Nice to talk with each one of our kids over Voxer or Hangouts.  So glad we have such great communication clear across the world.

Today we stopped at The Hub to pick up some groceries for Sister Msane.  Where else but in Kenya would the security guards--who were searching my bag and scanning our bodies--ask for a pamphlet and information about the Church when they saw our name tags?  So nice to be able to talk to people here about the Church and find interest.

Some have asked about the drought conditions here.  It is very dry.  The leaves on many trees are starting to yellow and shrivel.  We hear that it's very serious in many parts of Kenya. There's water rationing in some housing compounds here in Nairobi.  So far our compound is okay -- probably because an important government official lives here!!  We have a bit of water storage in our flat and at the Mission Home and Office.  To see the drought conditions on Lake Victoria, see one of my previous posts about going to Kisumu.  We were shocked at how low the lake was and how hard it is on the fishermen who get their living from the lake.

When I'm not quite so tired, I'll pour through my photos and do a post on the new missionary arrivals and the recent MLC (Missionary Leader Council) so you moms and dads can see how great your sons are doing!  We are so privileged to work with these young missionaries.

Here we are on our anniversary morning, ready to head to the mission office.  We're getting good at doing selfies, something we don't usually do.

In the last two weeks I've seen more herds of cattle on the streets here in Nairobi.  More than usual.  I think they are coming here because of the drought and lack of food outside the city.  Tonight on the way home from the office, we saw a dead cow on the road that had been run over by a truck.  That also is unusual.  The cattle walk right next to moving vehicles all the time and they never have a problem.  I've seen cattle within inches of our vehicle and they never shy or get scared.  They just keep on going until they get to green grass beside the road or sometimes they stick their noses through a fence and eat palm trees.  They are so skinny that you can count their ribs.

This picture was taken out of the window at the Rongai church.  Notice the yellow jugs on the left.  People here often don't have access to clean water or even to any water so they have to carry their water in those yellow jugs.  You see them everywhere.  I feel so blessed to have water coming out of my taps even though only the kitchen sink has potable water.  And I feel so blessed to have potable water coming out of every tap in our house back at home in Canada.  We take so much for granted.  I was telling someone here that we have drinkable water in every tap in the house and they were incredulous.  Even in the bathroom, they asked?

This plant is growing outside next to our flat.  Some kind of palm-type tree but notice how very dry it is.  And James, the compound handy-man actually waters all the plants here.  But it is still very dry.  Does anyone know what kind of a plant this is?  I'm too tired tonight to look it up.