Mulanje Mountain with the Missionaries

We had a zone activity yesterday and drove about 1 1/4 hr. to Mulanje Mountain.  It is almost 10,000 ft. high - the tallest mountain in Malawi.  It was beautiful and President Bullock and the missionaries hiked about 40 minutes up to the falls and some pools where people like to swim (but not the missionaries, of course.)   Due to my sore foot and Sister Njoroge not feeling well we stayed to guard the trucks. 

 

After they returned we drove to another spot by the river and had lunch there.  It was a nice spot.  We had sandwiches, chips and cookies.   It was a good day and all had a great time. 

1.  Elder Ariho and Elder Masika

2.  The Blantyre Missionaries

3.  President Bullock and the missionaries hiked up to the falls with a guide.

Tea Plantations south of Blantyre

There are kilometers of Tea plantations south of here.  We drove through the area to get to Mulanje Mountain.  It is very beautiful and really the only area where we have seen any big established agricultural projects.   It gives jobs to a lot of people.

Everyday life in Malawi

Why do you need a truck when you have a bike?

More Sunrise Pictures by the Shire River

You liked my last pictures so I thought I would send a few more from that morning.  Some did really turn out nice!

 

1.  Baobab Tree near the River.  I really like Baobab trees.  They are soooo big!

2.  Calm morning River water.

3.  Boys pulling in their fishnet with their early catch of the day.

4.  Sunrise

5.  Photo from the walkway at Hippo Lodge in Liwonde. 

Shire River

The Shire River runs through Liwonde and Sitima Village  is also near the banks of the river.  It is the third largest river in Africa, after the Nile and the Zambezi.   There are a lot of hippos and crocodiles in the river.    When we stayed in Liwonde on Sunday night we stay at the Hippo Lodge.  We can always hear the hippos during the night as they often come up onto the grounds of the Lodge.  I got up early and went out near the River and read my scriptures and watched the sunrise.   There was no breeze blowing and the river was so calm.  There were a couple of boats out and they were throwing their fish nets in the river and then hauling them back into he boat. 

 

This is the seaon when everyone wants to burn the dry grass etc.   It was so smokey that morning that I could hardly see the mountains/hills off in the distance.  The fires here do not seem to burn the trees though, just the grass.  No one worries too much about the fires and they are burning here and there.   One reason they start fires is to enable them to catch the mice easier.  They eat them.  

 

 

Sunday at Sitima Village

Sunday we went to Liwonde with President and Sister Padovich and also Elder & Sister Bowers (a new humanitarian couple for our mission).    We attended sacrament meeting with the Liwonde Group and then we took the Group Leader and drove to Sitima Village, where there used to be a Branch of the Church.  

There are still about 150 members in Sitima that have not come to join the Group in Liwonde.  They continue to meet with the x-branch president each Sunday but they do not meet as LDS.   We wanted to talk with them and let them know that they are welcome to come to the Group and we were also somewhat curious.   When we arrived their Church bldg. was full and we estimated about 120 people.  Apparently about 3/4 of them are LDS. 

President Padovich ask Elder Bullock to say a few words and then President Padovich talked for a bit and ask if there were any questions.  It went well.   There are some with hurt feelings about how things were handled back a few years ago and some who are happy the way things are now and want to continue meeting in Sitima with Bro. Phiri.   They don't understand how leadership changes from time to time and are very loyal to Bo. Phiri.  We were told after that Bro. Phiri had coached them on what they should say and what questions they should ask.

There was one man who came in late and he stood up and said that everyone should be allowed to do as they pleased.  If they want to come to Liwonde and meet with us then that should be their own decision.  People clapped and cheered after he said that.       

After the meeting most of the people came and shook our hands and some said that they would be joining us in Liwonde next week.   It will be very interesting to see if they do come and how many will come.  

The majority of the people in the Village do not speak English so this was done with Bro. Chisambo (Group leader) translating.   

 

After we got back to Liwonde we talked and Bro. Chisambo filled Pres. Padovich in on a lot of details that have taken place in Sitima since the Church was started there and also events that led to it being closed and later events that led to Bro. Phiri being disfellowshipped.   It really is all very interesting and sad, at the same time.    We are happy though that there is now the Group and members who want to attend can.  Bro. Chisambo moved to Liwonde from Blantyre and he was one of the first members here and the first Branch President.   He's a good man even though things get difficult at times.    It will be a Branch again one day  but it will be in Liwonde where it can get the support that it needs.    Perhaps in the near future there will be a missionary couple there and then they could put young missionaries there as well.  Even without that though, the Group is growing.  We love working with the Group and helping out however we can.    We are excited to have Aaron Benjamin, a young man  from Sitima Village leaving to serve a mission on October 4th (going to Uganda).  It is a start.  We have another young man in Liwonde (Bro. Chisambo's son) who also wants to get his papers ready to send in.   We love this Group and the members there. 

 

 

 

 

Finally legal!

We applied for  TEPs (Temporary Employment Permits) for 5 Elders last year (May 25th, 2011) and finally they were approved and signed.  We have met with a couple of different people at the Ministers office in Lilongwe and they kept promising that we would have them soon.   It only took 14 months and now the only Elder left that needs to have it is Elder Dowse.  They won't make us pay for the other four so that is one good thing.

 

We surprised Elder Dowse with his TEP and even went and got a cake to celebrate!!!   He is the only missionary that hasn't been legal until now.  He can at least leave the country now and we won't have to worry that they might want to arrest him at the border.  He finishes his mission at the end of September - same time as we do.