Easter: A special time to share a message about Christ
March 16-April 1
No foolin
Great news!! We went to see Geoffrey and all of the boys are in school. We are so happy. They will finally be able to learn and progress. Prayers are answered, God is mindful of all of His children. This presented an opportunity for us to take time reading the Book of Mormon with Geoffrey and his oldest nephew Steven. We are finding that the members here do not read and study the Book of Mormon very much. As we read and study with Geoffrey and Steven their eyes are opened and they feel the Spirit. Steven told us that we can come back any time to read more with them. On a side note, Elder Kaiser reached out to a missionary coming to Uganda from America. At Elder Kaiser's request he brought a CD player for Geoffrey so he can listen to the Book of Mormon on CDs. The problem is that he took it with him to his assigned area which is as far south and we are as far North in the mission. Hopefully Zone Conferences will present an opportunity get it passed along to us.
Missionary Preparation Class
Missionary preparation class has begun, we taught the first class and created a WhatsApp group for the class members. There are 23 prospective missionaries in the Gulu Stake that have been added to the group. We post a scripture to read and ponder each day. It has been heartwarming to see their encouraging and friendly posts to one another and they have added their own scripture posts. There were 12 prospective missionaries who attended the first class. It went very well. The lesson was about loving others as Jesus loves each of us, then we allowed them time to meet one another one by one and talked about coming to know the Savior then gave a brief introduction to Preach My Gospel. When class ended we invited them to linger and read the Book of Mormon together, we had to leave but they stayed and organized a reading group. We will have class every other Saturday as travel is difficult and expensive for them. We look forward to give them confidence to "open their mouths" and prepare to share the gospel. Our goal is to send this group of young people, whom we have grown to love, to be prepared servants of the Lord. We see their potential and are excited to watch them learn and grow.
A New Baby
Drive, drive, drive.... To help three new missionaries get to their assigned areas in the Gulu Zone we agreed to meet the Assistants to the President half way between Gulu and Kampala. That makes for about a six and a half hours of driving. Added to this was that one of the Elders needed to go to Lira which adds another 2 1/2 hours to the trip. If we had done it all on on the day it would have taken us until about 11 PM to reach back home, which is too late and too dark to be safe. It was decided to bring all 3 elders to Gulu and take the elder assigned to teach in Lira to stay the night with the zone leaders. The next day we taught a class in the morning, then picked up the new missionary to go to Lira. First we stopped to get gas before leaving Gulu. While there we received a call from our friend Amos, he was kindly requesting that we pick up his wife, Gladys, from the hospital. She had had a baby that morning and was prepared to come home from the hospital. We did a quick detour to pick her and her mom up. We were surprised to see that they packed a cook stove, pans, utensils etc along with a mat for the mother to rest on. The hospital does not provide food unless you pay extra and stay in the nice rooms. Her mom was a vital helper since she went outside and cooked for the both of them. Life is different here.
Finally we were on our way to Lira with, a very patient new missionary, the drive was 2 hours away. Once in Lira and attempting to find the missionary apartment we were grateful that we had waited to travel during the daytime. The GPS directed us to go on dirt "roads" that were more of a foot path and through someones compound full of clothes on clotheslines. We ended up meeting the 3 Lira Elders on the main road and having all four squish in the truck to guide us to their apartment or we would have never found it. At night it would have been even worse. GPS is great but here there are no addresses, the little dirt roads are not marked and are very poor, with no maintenance and lots of questionable routes. We were using a dropped pin but GPS tried to take us on a route that was not possible. We have been grateful for our 4 wheel drive pickup, it has been ultra helpful and gives us confidence to navigate the rough roads that are not paved, which are most of them.
Missionary Meeting With Elder Bednar
We were blessed to be able to participate in a three hour zoom meeting with Elder Bednar. He was in Kenya, Africa and held this meeting with all English speaking missions in the Central Africa area. It helped reinforce what a great teacher he is. Two weeks before the meeting he requested that each of the missionaries study six talks before the meeting. After the opening song and prayer took place Elder Bednar took the first two hours asking and guiding their understanding on what missionaries said they had learned from their reading. He always challenged each individual to a specific plan of study and learning to gain greater insight. The last hour he answered questions but again trying to get the missionary to work to get their own answer. He wants us all to have deeper understanding and conviction to occur to strengthen our testimonies. Conversion to the principal, not just knowledge of it. It was a blessing to be able to participate. One elder later told Sister Kaiser that he was not looking forward to a 3 hour zoom meeting but once it began he was drawn in and felt the Spirit and power of an apostle of the Lord helping him to gain his own understanding of important gospel principles.
Cooking Greens with Trinity
A member family lives close to us, Christopher and his wife Trinity, have a wonderful family. We are very impressed with their children. As we visited with them we found out the mother is not a member due to family pressure and not wanting to offend. She knows that she will become baptized but now it is just not her time. She told us that she wants to go on a senior couple mission with her husband. We reminded her that she needs to be a baptized member, which made us all laugh. She wanted to teach Sister Kaiser how to make "greens." Everyone here eats greens, they love them! Greens are literally leafy green plants, in America we might call them spinach or chard, but these greens are neither of those.
We set a day and time with Trinity who gave us a shopping list of the items needed: Two types of greens: otigo, and bow, a ground nut paste, basically unsalted and un-sugared runny peanut butter, sometimes made with ground sim sim (sesame seeds). The ground nut is exactly like American peanuts, here they call them g-nuts for short.
After pulling the leaves off of the two types of greens and keeping them separate, the first one was cut small and cooked in boiling water. As boiling mixture was finishing cooking, Trinity added vinegar to keep the greens green. The second type of green was chopped and added to the pot as well as tomatoes and the g-nut paste. While this cooled a little, she made posho, which is maze flour and water stirred until it is thick into a stiff dough like consistency. This is then cut up into small portions and served with soup, beans or greens. We ate it with fingers and used the posho to sop up the greens. Using fingers to eat is typical, they have silverware but most of them are very adept at eating food with their fingers. They are also extremely careful to wash their hands thoroughly before preparing food and again before eating. They have a pitcher for water and a basin to catch the water for that very purpose. They pour water for each other and wash and rinse under the stream.
We enjoyed spending time with Trinity and learning the local method to make greens. These are humble people so seasoning is not used much. We could teach them how to "spice up their lives."
Thoughts
Easter
Easter is coming and Sister Kaiser had been contemplating how to be intentional and make Easter more meaningful. After counseling with Elder Kaiser they decided that sharing the Book of Mormon Easter story on our visits would be ideal. Members and nonmembers all have enjoyed the Spirit that 3 Nephi chapter 11 brings. Included in our visits were appointments with each of the six Bishops and their families in the Gulu Stake. As we shared this beautiful experience and message we felt the Spirit in a powerful way each time. We would encourage you all to read, ponder and discuss it over the next week and feel the Saviors love. After our lessons Sister Kaiser teaches those present how to participate in a Kaiser Family hug. (Some of you know what this is)
"Behold I am Jesus Christ, whom the prophets testified shall come unto the world.'
3 Nephi 11:9
We cherish the fact that when the Savior came to visit the people in Ancient America, He invited all of the people to come to Him individually, one by one and touch the wounds in His hands and feet and side so that they could have a personal witness that He is the Savior of all mankind. We imagine Him calling each one of them by name and lovingly touching and embracing them. The beauty of the story is that He loves us just the same as these people. He desires each of us to have a personal witness and testimony of Him. He knows us by name and willingly reaches out to us, to embrace us and welcome us into His fold. We can think of no place that we would rather be, or no one we would prefer to be with. Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior. He is our elder brother, he knows and loves us each, personally. And we love Him too.
Fun Stuff:
After visiting with Bishop Robbinson's family we were invited to go next door and meet his parents. Sister Kaiser was explaining why we have the same last name. In Uganda a family can have different "last names," we are confused and wonder how genealogy can be done, they understand how it works. Sister Kaiser explained that before we got married her maiden name was, "Chandler". He replied, "Cinderella," that brought a lot of laughter. She tried to explain again but he wanted to start with a "sh" not a "ch". She tried to teach him the "ch' sound and thinking he had it, he tried again to say Chandler and out came "chimney." We lost it. Finally, his wife said "Chandler."
A few lessons: 1. "Laughter is the best medicine" 2. It is a good thing we have wives because men need help.
We love the people here but our hearts really go out to the little ones. Maybe because we miss our grand kids, or perhaps because they are just so darn cute. Probably because they are pure and innocent and the closest to the Savior. Just look at our little friend Adam and see how your heart melts. Remember we are all children of God and he looks at each of us this way.
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