Good Friends, Good Times, and Great Elders

We enjoyed many great dinners at the mission home for holidays, general conferences, etc. President and Sister Omer were amazing hosts

This get together was for President and Sister Reber who were leaving as President of the MTC.  We had many wonderful times with them - they were one of the few couples who liked to play games so we enjoyed some game nights. She was a great cook and would often invite us over for lunch on their days off.  We worked right next door so it was a treat.

My great friend.  Sister Reber was a mentor, counselor, great listener, and got me through many  hard times.

They were greatly missed when they left in January, 2014

We watched this van bring many elders to the MTC, take them to the temple, and to the airport.  This time it was taking the Rebers to the airport to return home to Utah.  The white car next to the van was our mission car, a Nissan Tida

I helped Fiona (in the background) in the nursery a couple of times.

You'll never meet any cuter kids!

On transfer day, we were honored to be asked to have our picture taken with many elders.  This is Elder Parks who had water problems in his flat in every area he worked.  It was so sad it was funny.

Elder Puente.  How about that short haircut - didn't have to get my hair cut again for months!

Elder Hansen - he was our neighbor for a while

Elder Nilson - also lived next to us and often brought flowers for me and Sister Leavitt and Sister Hillam 

Elder Poche wearing the famous brown suit.  The elders passed it on to someone every transfer.  He actually looks pretty good in it.

We took turns hosting a senior couple FHE about once a month.  Both years, I hosted a Valentines party. This is our front yard in February.  It's usually still the rainy season but we lucked out and were able to eat outside this night.

We packed about 18 people in our little living room for games.  Elder and Sister Meldrum, Sister and President Collins (new MTC President), Sister and Elder Cloward

Elder Bishop, President and Sister Omer, Elder and Sister Hillam

Sister and Elder Davies, and Sister and Elder Dummer

This game was so fun the first year, we played it again - couple charades.  They were all different couples.  Sister and Elder Davies were acting out Beauty and the Beast

Elder and Sister Knowles were Adam and Eve

President and Sister Omer had Wilma and Fred Flintstone - I didn't get a picture of President driving his flint mobile - hilarious.

Everyone worked hard so these nights we could relax and laugh were greatly appreciated and we got to know each other a little better.

We took a Saturday and went on an excursion to Chameleon Village - the great African Market - with the Hillams and the Meldrums.  We wore causal clothes and didn't put on our badges so the shop owners wouldn't hound us so much.  I found the place very overwhelming but I managed to buy many of our souvenirs.  However, it was very hot and stressful.  You bartered and I'm not very good at bartering and the sellers were relentless.

The Hillams and Bishops

The grounds were very beautiful

Later we went to a very popular restaurant - the Carnivore - a true African experience.  

This is just the entrance

Sister Hillam

Which one's the true African Chief?

Another Chief

And another

The grill where they roasted all of the exotic meats.  I tried them all but didn't eat much but the chicken.  The alligator was good.

Elder Hillam with his cane sword.  How is he going to get that on the airplane?

The assistants - Elder Elliott and Elder Davidson.  We had a going away dinner for each one - this was Elder Davidson's - a super nice guy.

Another great African restaurant.  They greeted us with drums and dancing and painted our faces.  The white paint showed up really good on the African girls - not so much on us Americans:)

Sister and Elder Bishop, Elder and Sister Meldrum, Elder and Sister Hillam, and Sister and Elder Dummer.  Elder Meldrum loved steak and would seek out the best steak houses.  We started going every Saturday night and we had so much fun.

The great waiters

Can you see Sister Hillam's face paint?

This was a beautiful buffet and you could select your own exotic meat and have them grill it - I tried warthog - ugh!

The Roodepoort and Florida Elders.  Roodepoort lived next to us and Florida just a block away.  We spent a lot of time with these cute elders.  I also baked a lot of goodies for them. This was Elder Zebe's - on left - request for an enchilada dinner.  They went shopping at the China Mall:)

Elder Zebe, Elder Dalebout, Elder Wharton, and Elder Loveless

They were never this serious

That's better

Elder Wharton's mom taught him very well

These two not so much:)

In January, I made a list of friends I wanted to have over for dinner on Sundays.  We were fortunate to have access to portable folding tables from the mission so we would put two together in our living room and have a nice dinner table. These are the others we had to our house for dinner:  Fiona and Mbuso, Lucky and Mpo and little Lucky, Sidney and Ratti, Cee, his wife and baby and two other friends. We were able to complete our list.   I didn't always remember to take pictures and unfortunately, our camera was stolen the week before we left the mission with and we lost many valuable pictures. ( The Elders were usually included - Elder Zebe and Hansen

From right, Paul, Rory's brother, Paul's wife, Tuti, Tuti's sister, Rory, and Malvern.  They loved the dinner of turkey, potatoes and gravy, vegetables and rolls then cheesecake for dessert.  Malvern loved the rolls so much that Rory took the recipe and became a great roll maker.  We had a very fun time.  Malvern and Paul are on the high council, Tuti is the Young Women's President, Rory in the Stake Young Women, and Tuti's sister not a member.  Malvern is from Zimbabwe and talks very fast and is hard to understand so I asked him to slow down please - they thought that was funny. They are good strong members of the Stake and great friends.

We did work January-March (dinners were only on Saturday nights orel Sunday afternoons.) Actually January was one of our hardest months but we didn't concentrate on taking pictures - just getting the work done!  This is our cottage we leased from a member.  It was in the members' back yard.  It was a very nice, cute place. I did it all in lime green and orange - it was cheery and nice.  

The last senior flat we did.  We were so tired by now and this place took a lot of work.  It was clean when we arrived but there were a ton of repairs needed.  I didn't like the way the drapes in the back looked without shears and since they were extra long, I couldn't buy any in the town we were in.  But they did have a fabric store and I brought my sewing machine to hem other curtains so after a few hours, voila - beautiful shears.  It took us two full days and we were really rushing the last few hours.  I was so tired I didn't know if I could manage 6 yards of fabric and Ross didn't know if he'd get all of the repairs done but the Lord always helped us get through and we made it.   I had e-mailed the couple and asked them what colors they liked.  She said grays, pinks, and purples.  I had a ball shopping and she loved the rug so much she wanted to take it home after their mission.