White Sand and Camels

Elder & Sister Jensen live in Mombasa and a short walk from the Indian Ocean and the white sands of its beach.  Gorgeous area.  They arranged for a camel ride for us.  Many years ago I rode on a camel with my sister Arlene at the San Diego Wild Animal Park or was it at the San Diego Zoo?  It was fun but riding on a camel by the Indian Ocean was fantastic!  We took a day to do a little sightseeing -- one of the perks of a senior couple mission!

This white sandy beach is just a five minute walk from where the Jensens live.  So nice to do your daily walk on the beach.  I can see why people love the beach so much.  There were even people playing volleyball and this was in the morning on a working day.  Aren't those clouds gorgeous too?

Palm trees, white sand, lovely clouds.  What could be more beautiful?

This proves we were there!

And now another view with the Indian Ocean.  My brother Bruce and his wife Sara served a mission in Mauritius which is a little island off the bigger island of Madagascar and it is also in the Indian Ocean.  Who would guess that two Conrad siblings would serve their missions in the same area of the world?

I'm pretty proud of this picture.  A fisherman in the ocean.

And a beached boat.

Just as they were bringing up the camel, LeRon saw this crab running to beat the band.  It was running so fast that I just pointed the camera and clicked and was so surprised that I actually got a picture of it.  The camel guys said that the crabs usually aren't out at this time of the day so we were lucky to see it.  They come up from teeny-tiny holes in the sand.  Elder Jensen showed us where to look to see the holes and the sand that they had dug out.  So interesting for us landlubbers.  Jensens are farmers from Utah and we're farmers from Alberta.  Far away from the ocean.

Hard to climb up onto the camel.  Not exactly like getting on to a horse.

My sciatic pains that I have in both sides were killing me and the camel was much wider than I ever expected.  LeRon was trying to push me on but it hurt so much.

So I rode side saddle!

Here we are:  Sister Jensen, LeRon, me, Elder Jensen.

The Torries and the Jensens and the patient camel.

Getting up was kind of tricky!

Up, up and away.

We paid for half an hour but we were actually done in 15 minutes.  That was long enough.  I can't imagine riding for hours and days on a camel across a hot desert.

Glad we did it though!  I hope they washed this blanket but I doubt it.

Sister Jensen is getting creative with my camera.  Good shot of the camel's head.

We were surprised at how big the hoofs were.  And they hardly make any impression in the sand.

Ride's over.  It was great.  So glad the Jensens had such a good idea.

Then LeRon had the idea to buy some coconuts.  Sister Jensen and I didn't think the knife was very clean so we didn't want to try it.  We have to be very careful about cleanliness.

LeRon's first sip of coconut juice.

It said it was "interesting."

Goodbye lovely white beach.  LeRon and I actually stood in the ocean but that picture is on Sister Jensen's camera.  We'll have to get the picture from her.

Mombasa Members Happy at Church

The Bamburi Branch in Mombasa has about 70 people crammed into a small building on a hot day.  But they're happy to be at church and happy to belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  We take so much for granted in the West, such as going to church in beautiful buildings with plumbing that works and air conditioning in the summer and heating in the winter and lots of teaching manuals, and crayons and scissors in the library.  The members here do cheerfully with so little.  A good example to us all.  It is not things that make us happy.

Note to our sister and brother-in-law, Colleen and Craig Smith -- be sure to tell Dave Prete about the Mombasa returned missionary who knew him in Malawi.  See photos below.  Dave Prete talked to us so enthusiastically about missions in Africa a couple of years before we put in our mission papers.  At the time, the thought came to me, yes we'll probably go to Africa, though that was definitely not our first choice!!  Then what a surprise when we were actually called to Africa!   By the way, Kenyans don't really consider this Africa; they consider it simply Kenya.  Africa is a huge continent with 54 countries.

Another thing we take for granted in the west is the relative peace we enjoy.  No barbed wire or guards or fences or walls surrounding our churches and our homes.  Sad that here in Kenya there has to be guards and fences and walls.

Elder Torrie chatting with a member of the branch presidency.

Before church, we met for a short choir practice.  Sister Jensen is helping the new choir and today will be their first performance.  Elder Torrie and I joined in too.  The members here know few hymns since no one plays the piano so they only sing a capella the few that they know.  One of the purposes of having the choir is to learn the hymns.

Colorful dresses and lovely smiles.  These people love to sing.

Basses and tenors needed a bit of help so Elder Torrie stepped in.  One of the young men had a deep bass voice and sang beautifully.

The chapel is long and narrow and breezes blow through the grating at both ends but it doesn't help to make you feel cooler.  Everyone, not just the mzungus (white foreigners) who were there, was sweating to beat the band.

Lovely people!

Interesting that everyone wants their picture taken but no one asks to see it.  Don't these young men look nice in their white shirts?

This lovely woman taught a very good Relief Society lesson from a talk by our prophet and president, President Monson.  Lots of questions and discussions.  Her dress is cute too.  It was sewn by a tailor in Mombasa.

More cute young men.

Fathers love their daughters as much here in Africa as they do in the West.  We have much more in common with Africans than we think.  We are all children of the same God and we are all brothers and sisters.

LeRon got talking with this returned missionary and found out that he went on his mission to Malawi and that he knows Dave Prete from Cardston who is a friend of our brother-in-law, Craig Smith.  So Craig & Colleen, be sure to tell Dave Prete and his wife that we met George Masika and that once-Elder Masika remembers them well.  It's a small world.

George Masika, LeRon, and Mombasa District President Msafiri.  LeRon always calls him "Msafari" which makes everyone laugh since Safaricom is the internet provider.

After church we were back in a hot little classroom for the regular choir practice.  Our choir number went okay for a first time but there's definitely room for improvement.  The problem is that they need a choir director as well as an accompanist.  Oh well.  They need singers too.

So fun to learn the hymns of Zion.

The young women love to get their picture taken but this time she asked to see the picture.  I took three pictures before she was satisfied.  Women!  We are so particular about our looks, aren't we?

Another lovely lady.  I wonder if the towel was used to wipe the sweat off her kids' faces.

This young single mother of 5 children is going to take piano lessons from Sister Jensen.  She's excited to learn even though she knows she has to practice 1/2 hour per day.  That's quite a commitment with five young children to care for.  But it would be great if someone could learn to play to accompany the singing in sacrament meeting.  Music really adds to the spirit of the meeting.

Today, March 31, while I was waiting for LeRon to finish his work in the office, I worked more on this blog.  Many times we are still in the office by 5 or 6 p.m. but usually on Fridays we are headed home by 4 p.m. Today LeRon had tons of work to do so we were still at the office when a man from Mombasa walked in.  His name is Aloo and he had a wonderful spirit about him.  He needed to speak with the Mission President who happens to be out of town.  But we were able to connect him with the president.  He is one of the first members in Mombasa and has been a member for almost 20 years.  He has been to many temples, including 7 in Utah.  He loves to attend the temple and does so wherever he is.  He had such a good spirit about him that I wasn't surprised that he's a temple-going man.  It was a good experience to talk with him.  He has a strong testimony of Jesus Christ and of the blessings of worshiping in the temple.  He belongs to the Bamburi Branch in Mombasa and was the first branch president.

Mombasa Missionaries

I know that all you missionary moms and dads are anxiously awaiting pictures of your missionaries in Mombasa.  Well, here they are.  We had a great time Sunday evening with all the missionaries at Elder & Sister Jensen's flat.  So nice to have senior missionaries to provide a bit of home once in awhile for the junior missionaries.  A home-cooked meal is always appreciated.

Sunday morning we arrived bright and early to the Bamburi Branch meetinghouse.  It's down a little lane that houses small businesses, little homes, and goats tied up across from the gate to the church.

Elder Soita and Elder Fuller are the missionaries assigned to the Bamburi Branch.  Everyone calls Elder Fuller "Elder Foo-lah" because they can't say their "r's", this being a British-English speaking country.

Ha ha.  Elder Fuller is trying to act scary but these kids aren't scared; they just think he's funny.  It's SO hot in these classrooms.  No air conditioning but they badly need it.  The fans just blow the hot air around and make it hard to hear and the fans actually act more like a furnace.

Sunday evening the missionaries gradually congregated at the Jensen's flat (which does have air conditioning).  I haven't seen Elder Estheimer since he entered the mission in June.  Elder Torrie and I were so new then.  We hardly knew what we were doing and we didn't take many pictures during that transfer.  It was President and Sister Hicken's last transfer.  It was the first time Elder Torrie and I processed the incoming missionaries by ourselves and there were 14 of them.  So nice to see Elder Estheimer.  He looked happy and well.

Elder Estheimer and Elder Ochieng eating popcorn and studying their scriptures.

Elder Torrie can never resist playing a piano.  Elder Ochieng and Elder Estheimer joined in the singing.

So fun to sing with Elder Estheimer, Sister Jensen (who has a gorgeous alto voice) and me.  Always nice to sing the hymns of Zion.

Elder Ochieng had many favorites and we sang them all.

Ready for Sister Jensen's good cooking.  There's Elder Mwaja, a missionary from Tanzania.

Elder Fuller, Elder Card (our favorite Elder Card from Cardston, Alberta -- yeah for the Canadians!), and Elder Estheimer.  Of course we love all our missionaries but we have a kinship to the Canadian ones!

Elder Estheimer, Elder Ochieng, Elder Soita helping themselves to home cooking.  I think they're getting tired of ugali!  See a few pictures down for an explanation of ugali.

Bring on the non-ugali food!

Cute smile, Elder Mwaja!

Elder Mwaja and Elder Soita sharing a brotherly hug.

Elder Card and Elder Ochieng sharing a moment.

And another moment!

Kitchen duty calls.  Nice to help clean up after a good meal.

No, Elder Card, Elder Fuller and Elder Estheimer are definitely not pregnant!  They are showing off their "ugali" stomachs.  They generally eat ugali every day.  It's a very cheap, easy to make meal that is very filling.  Basically it's a very thick cream-of-wheat type porridge (only made with maize meal), so thick that you can cut it with a knife.  It's eaten with a meat and/or vegetable sauce that consists of tomatoes, onions, green leafy vegetables such as spinach (which is high in iron and protein), and a bit of boiled beef.  Africans, of course, eat it with their hands. 

Looks like Elder Estheimer's mother has taught him well!

Elder Mwaja has had some serious health challenges and needed an early release.  This was his last evening in the mission and he left for home the next day.  He hopes to come back to finish out his mission.  He and Elder Card were companions.