Mwanza Part I: Rock City

LeRon and I flew to Mwanza, Tanzania a few weekends ago to do training with the branch president and clerk.  We are so lucky to be able to see all the major centers of the church in Tanzania and Kenya.  It has been interesting to see the many branches and to meet the lovely people there.

Mwanza is known as Rock City.  Huge rocks everywhere.  The hills are covered with them and they even extend out into Lake Victoria as Mwanza is on the southern shore of the lake.  It was an absolutely lovely place.

I love clouds so I always get the window seat (thank you, LeRon).  I never "make" things out of clouds but I just enjoy their beauty.

We flew from Nairobi to the Mt. Kilimanjaro Airport, passing Mt. Kilimanjaro.  It is usually shrouded in clouds.

Still, it was nice to get a good view of it even with the clouds.  Better than we could get from the ground.  We had a 20-minute stop at the airport before flying on to Mwanza.

This is Lake Victoria from the air.  It is the 2nd largest fresh water lake in the world (after Lake Superior).  It is absolutely huge.  It looks like an ocean.

Elder & Sister Colemere met us at the teeny tiny Mwanza Airport.  I haven't been in such a small airport for years.  They took us first to a fancy hotel for a delicious lunch.  Presentation is everything but it tasted delicious too.

LeRon thinks it looks too good to eat.

We enjoyed getting to know Elder & Sister Colemere.  They are lovely people and showed us the sights in Mwanza.

Here we are at the Malaika Beach Resort.  This is a very lovely resort hotel with reasonable rates.  We thought it would be fun to stay here but we have booked a hotel closer to the Colemeres and the chapel.

The hotel is right on the lake.  And I mean right on the lake.  It's been built into the rocks that go down to the lake.  After all, this is Rock City.

This hotel reminds me of the hotel we stayed at in Petra Jordan which also was built right into the rock.  Only the Petra rock was red.

Elder & Sister Colemere only have about two weeks to go on their mission.  They have loved Mwanza and the people.

A gorgeous bird was in the bushes.  I'm pretty sure it was a sunbird.with its florescent colors.  LeRon took this picture, not knowing how to zoom in and by the time I had the camera set, the bird flew away.  Sad.  It was flashy beautiful.

Some day we will have to spend a night at this hotel.  It's not more than the cost of a hotel in the west but the views and grounds are amazing.

Here's the entrance to the resort.  It's a highly recommended place.  Sister Colemere says this is the most beautiful place in Mwanza but I saw lots of other beauty too.

Love those palm trees. 

Rocks everywhere and up the hillsides too.  Houses are all the way up the hills.  Reminded us of Italy.

This is the famous rock of Mwanza.  Apparently everyone takes a picture of it.  The view was lovely.

Rocks and houses everywhere

And cute little children calling "mzungus!" 

All schooling here in Mwanza is in Swahili.  English is simply a class.  So they don't speak much English and are much more comfortable in Swahili.

Great to see our wonderful missionaries Elder Munyariri and Elder Mahanzu.  They both are not from Kenya or Tanzania (at the moment, I can't remember where they're from) and they've both had to learn Swahili on the fly.  It's amazing how the "gift of tongues" is very much real here in the Kenya Nairobi Mission.  Most missionaries become fluent (or fluent enough) in Swahili very quickly even without a lot of study.  This can only happen with the Lord's help.

May New Missionary Arrivals

It's always exciting to get new missionaries and to see their enthusiasm and love of Jesus Christ.  This time, we welcomed only two missionaries -- one from South Africa and one from Zimbabwe.  I've been down with a bad cold this past week so I didn't take as many pictures as usual.  Usually, LeRon and I are there for the welcome dinner and then for training the next day.  But this time, I was only there for one evening but I really enjoyed visiting with the new missionaries and their trainers.  (I also just did two other posts so you might want to check them out.  I'm trying to get caught up).

Elder Mayekiso (from South Africa) was new last transfer and he has a new trainer, Elder Fraga (from the US), so they were both at the mission home for training.  Elder Fraga's aunt was recently called as the 2nd Counselor in the Primary General Presidency.  She is from Argentina as is Elder Fraga's father.  As soon as I saw the Fraga name, I knew she must be related to Elder Fraga.  By the way, it is pronounced "frog-a" not "frag-a".

Elder Tucker (left) entertained us with stories of him and his twin brother fooling everyone.  His brother is also serving a mission in Africa and they both were at the Johannesburg MTC at the same time and fooled the teachers there.  Elder Hales (on right) is one of the Assistants to the President with the huge responsibility of helping transport and train new missionaries and their trainers.

Sister Mathole (on right) is a new missionary from South Africa and Sister Kiio (on left) will be her trainer.  They are both lovely young women and I enjoyed getting to know them.  They like to smile and laugh a lot.

Whoops . . . I caught Elder Torrie in the middle of a word as he plays for all the missionaries to sing.  Elder Torrie and Elder Hales love to sing and they do it at every opportunity.

Sister Mathole (pronounced "ma-toe-lay") and Sister Kiio (pronounced "key-oh").

Elder Tucker singing with his new companion, Elder Zingoni (from Zimbabwe).

Another funny picture of Elder Torrie.  I'm not good at taking candids.

Elder Hales, Elder Fraga, Elder Ellis and Elder Tucker's head.

New missionaries and President Msane were making funny faces.  You need to click to enlarge.  I don't think President Msane wants me to keep this picture of him.  It made all of us laugh and laugh.

Now for a better picture . . . Elder Zingoni, President Msane, Sister Mathole.

Since Sister Msane was away, President Msane took us all out for dinner.  Usually Sister Msane cooks.  Here we are at Ocean Basket at The Hub.  Delicious food and a nice fire to warm us up.  I was glad for my jacket.  The evenings in Nairobi are very cool.  L-R: Elder Torrie, Sister Torrie, Elder Fraga, Elder Mayekiso.

Hard to get us all in with the tiny flash of my point and shoot camera.  But we are all there.  Thank you President Msane for a lovely meal.

This Hadada Ibis was walking around right in front of the door to our flat.  It is huge.

I tried to take pictures of it but it kept running away from me.  I don't know why.

Hodgepodge of Missionaries and Neighbors

Hodgepodge is "a confused mixture."  Well, I wouldn't say I'm confused.  But this post has lots of different pictures.  Returning senior missionaries.  Infield junior missionaries.  Wonderful neighbors.  A new vehicle.  Art work.  A new security door.  Yes, I guess it is a hodgepodge.  A hodgepodge of photos from a very interesting mission here in the Kenya Nairobi Mission.  We love serving in the office.  We get to see and work with lots of junior and senior missionaries.  And we love where we live.  We have great neighbors.

Elder and Sister Colemere are finished their 18-month mission and are ready to depart for home.  Just one last stop to look at paintings at the Karen Blixen Coffee Shop (Tamambo's) and at Kazuri Beads.  All the women love the Kazuri Beads!  Here are Elder & Sister Colemere with Eric Mathenge, an artist who shows his work at Tamambo's.  We've given him a lot of business in the year that we've been here!  Check out his work at junglewaysoriginals.com and tell him I sent you!

Here's Elder & Sister Colemere with paintings they like.

They couldn't resist!

Rolling up the paintings to carry on the plane.

Elder Torrie looks taller than Elder Colemere but not so.

Sister Colemere and I both have a love of good art.

Torries and Colemeres

Our landlord has painted his car in vibrant colors, wouldn't you say?  He's getting ready for upcoming elections.

Elder Wood in the office for a chat with the President.

Companions Elder Akpu from Nigeria and Elder Wood from the US.

That's brotherly love . . . holding the phone to your companion's ear because his hands are full!

Here are my adopted children . . . Andrej and Anna Karin from Sweden.  We will miss them when they move back to Sweden next week.  But we're excited to move into their flat which actually has a water heater under the kitchen sink!  Yeah!!  Right now I heat up water in a "kettle" and pour it into two tubs of water, one for washing and one for rinsing.

And we were excited to get a new steel security door for our office.  But really, mice could run right in!

And we were also excited to get a new Ford truck complete with roll bars.  Elder Torrie is standing next to the passenger side, ready to open the door so I can climb in.  We're happy with the get-up-and-go this truck has.  And we've NEVER driven a Ford before!  (Grandpa Torrie would roll over in his grave).  And the nice thing too is that it is automatic.  LeRon was getting tired of riding the clutch in Nairobi traffic.

Here we are with our adopted children:  Jaku and Mariska (on left) from South Africa and Andrej and Anna Karin from Sweden.  We have enjoyed getting to know them and they don't seem to mind hanging out with us old people.  Mariska had us over for a stew cooked in a Dutch oven-type pot over coals, cooked the South African way.  It was delicious!  I made brownies for dessert and they were a hit as usual.  Both families will have moved away by the end of June and we will miss them.  They are good, Christian people.