Meetings and Moving

 Meeting the Mission President and our first opportunity to go church.

    We met our mission president and his wife, President and Sister Bell, at a meeting on the evening of September 6.  They were traveling in the mission when we arrived in Kampala.  We were able to get a better understanding of our area and needs and get to know them.  We will all travel together with them to Gulu, Uganda on Tuesday, September 9, along with the 2 assistants to the president, young missionaries.  While there we will attend some meetings with local church leaders and missionaries. Once we get settled and understand our assignment we will be off and running! We will try our best to fulfill directives, meet the needs of the local congregations and follow the Spirit.  

Driving the 4 minute drive to the Mission Home.  Steering is on the right and Ugandans drive opposite of Americans on the left side of the road.  It was a good practice for us.  We have been told to have 4 eyes on the road at all times with pedestrians and boda bodas on the move and no rules!

    In the October, 2024 General Conference it was announced that Kampala Uganda will have a temple in the future.  This is very exciting for the members here as they currently have to travel to Nairobi, Kenya.  We are looking forward to teaching temple preparation classes as they guide others towards making covenants with the Lord in His Holy House. 

Our walk to church took less than 5 minutes from the apartment we were staying in.  We met these missionaries headed the same way.  We were very happy to find out that they had a gate key so we didn't have to walk all the way around the block.  

        On Sunday, September 7, we were able to attend church with the Saints in the Ntinda Kampala Ward. We met and walked to church with four Elders.  Before church a counselor in the bishopric came and asked us our names and spoke to us for a minute.  Later we were welcomed from the pulpit and when the testimony part of the meeting began we were asked to share our testimonies.  This was not the last time this happened. The saints here are a bit like those in Hawaii.  Before their testimony they say "Good morning brothers and sisters" and everyone replies "Good morning." 

    The testimonies  of the Saints were focused on basic principles of the gospel, no story telling or travel logs etc.  They simply testified of the truthfulness of the gospel.  The children and youth followed suit and boar heart felt testimonies of principles without help from their parents.  It was refreshing.  

    After sacrament meeting and Sunday school lessons we were welcomed by so many members of the ward who took time and had genuine interest in us.  They are loving, caring, and accepting people. They took time for us and then took time for one another.  Many lingered to enjoy one another's company and not rush off to home or other things.  They have concerns for and real relationships with one another.  From what we can tell ministering to each other is a lifestyle not an assignment.

   There was a mission devotional on Sunday, which will happen every Sunday.  Statistics were shared and we learned that there were 99 baptisms in the mission the previous week.  That is amazing to me.  In my first mission (Kirk) that would have happened in maybe a year.  These people love the Lord, and desire to know more of Him.  

    Only 1% of eligible senior couples actually serve missions.  Tonight we heard that of those only 8% are physically able to go to some countries, Africa being one of those.  Not sure about the total accuracy of the numbers but I guess that makes us unique.  Sister Kaiser has always said I was different, now I know that was a compliment.  :) 

 

We were introduced to Sarah (middle person) by the missionaries.  She makes bags.  I asked her to make me a crossbody bag that I could keep a few essentials in.  She did a beautiful job! 

On Tuesday, September, 9 we caravanned for 6 1/2 hours to Gulu, which meant getting out of Kampala first.  The Elders led, we were in the middle and the President and Sister Bell followed.  It was kind of a stressful trip.  Pedestrians and boda bodas were common along the side of the road for the whole trip. There were also slow moving vehicles that were a bit scary to get around. We saw goats and cows that were tethered along side the highway for grazing who sometimes managed to get partially onto the highway.  As for the definition of the highway it is a two lane paved road.  There are random rumble strips or bumps mostly when going through small villages, rarely is there much of a shoulder for people to walk on.  There are no speed limits.  When passing through the village we may have to go around signs that say "Stop for Police" but there was often no police there and we were never stopped. We did see some police, they rarely took notice of us.

Getting out of the massive Kampala sprawl took a while especially when we had to deal with cramped streets. 

Photos of the countryside on our way to Gulu  

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Sometimes the country looked somewhat similar to Florida.  

The woman is talking on a cell phone walking down a dirt path wearing nice clothes. 

In the background there are traditional huts and more modern buildings.  

Traditional huts, next to more modern structures.

Looks like the longhorn steer from Texas!

Part of the way we stopped to get gas and stretch our legs, and then continued on to Gulu, our home for the next year.   

While driving we suddenly saw baboons walking across the highway and sitting on the side of the road near a market with people selling food.  One baboon was eating something they most likely pillaged from a seller.  No one will tell a baboon no to their face!  A short distance away was a bridge crossing the Nile River!  Before driving to Gulu it was brought up multiple times to NOT TAKE A PICTURE on the bridge of the Nile River.  As we approached the river Sister Kaiser started to raise her phone to take a picture but she was quickly reminded of the warning.  There were 2 guards there with guns on the side of the road.  They didn't stop us.

Baboon

The Nile River stretches over 4,000 miles.  It's the longest river in Africa and one of the longest rivers in the world.  

Once we arrived in Gulu we found the apartment, after some complications we were finally able to get into the apartment the next morning. First we needed to clean and straighten up the apartment and then we undertook getting all of our things put away in a home that has little storage or things we are use to.  Most of our things are stored on shelves.  We have left things in our travel packing cubes to help keep them organized.

Water:  We can only drink bottled water or water that comes through a filter attached to the sink to clean out the impurities.  The kitchen and one bathroom sink have a filter. We have a switch to turn on the hot water before we shower in the main bedroom.

On Wednesday, September 9, we met with the local District President of the church in Gulu, Orombi, Patrick (Surname then first name) and with President Bell.

Our directives have been: 

• Assist leadership in training at the District level to understand how to train and assist leaders in the Branches so that they understand their responsibilities and to support them.  
• We have been charged to go out and find the lost sheep.  To find those who are no longer attending church and to invite them to return to be able to receive the blessings God has waiting for them, to help them understand and honor their priesthood. 
• We will also have the opportunity to support the young adults and help them with their programs, and of course we will get to work with the younger missionaries.

Friday, September 12 we went to the Gulu Zone meeting and met all of the missionaries in this area.  We will work with and support them as needed.  Three Elders are from the United States, there is 1 sister from Samoa and the rest are from African countries.  The Elders from Zambia can speak French so I might see how much I can remember and practice with him.  

Gulu Zone Conference Sept 12, 2025

  

Giving a ride to the sisters to the Zone Conference Meal

The elders really enjoyed the food!

Later that same night we went with the Bells to do apartment inspections.  This will be one of our regular responsibilities while we are here. Bless our hearts.

Saturday, September 13,  we went to Lira, another area assigned to us, for a church meeting like a stake conference adult session.  It is about 2 hours away so it will be more difficult to find time and ways to support the missionaries and members there.   We were able to go visit two lovely families in the area.  One is involved with the church humanitarian project.  After going through training one family was given 100 chicks to raise and start a chicken business. 

This sweet family has 7 children.  One son was away working.  The oldest daughter has a child. They were gracious, welcoming and grateful for all of their many blessings.  We were honored to spend some time with them. 

They were given 100 baby chicks to raise some for breeding and some for selling.  They are off to a good start with their business!

Then we visited with the president of the woman's organization, the Relief Society President of the branch. She has been a member of the church for 1 year.  At both visits we met very humble people, struggling to make it.  The first family had 7 children and lived in a small home that lacked all modern conveniences.  The other family lived in a similar situation and yet they were all so happy and gracious and said prayers of gratitude for all of their blessings.  A reminder to us of what is important and that material things do not really create happiness.

Kendra loved being with her Relief Society Sisters!  

The children do not belong to the woman but are curious neighbor children.

Right now it is the rainy season in the area. We have had thunder and lightening storms some of which were loud but don't last all night.  When driving back to Gulu from Lira with the Bells on Saturday we encountered a terrible storm with hail, strong winds and lots and lots of rain.  There were still people walking and riding boda bodas in the rain along the highway but the villages were mostly empty. The hail sounded very bad from inside the car and we thought that President and Sister Bells car would be badly damaged but we found no damage when we arrived at their hotel.

Our view from the back seat during the downpour and hail storm.

Fun Stuff

Words and things we've said recently that we've never said before:

• "I asked the office Elders to order more yaka for our apartment." (electricity)
• "Your toothbrush is in the fridge."
• "Look! Baboons on the road!"
• "Wow the Nile river is powerful!"
• "Ahhhh! A Gecko is on the windshield!" "Hang on little guy!"
• "Did you take your Doxycycline yet?" (malaria pill, taken daily)
• "We have 2 banana trees!"
• Asking the gardener, "What is the fruit growing on this tree?"  "Gava, you can eat it today."
• "There's a gecko in the house."