Just when you think you have it figured out....

 

"Let us all press on in the work of the Lord..."

Our powerful missionary preparation class at Bardege building. 
They have become our family members and we rejoice when they get their calls to serve the Lord

Missionary Preparation at Gulu. Elders Robinson and Hope.
These two Elders at Gulu Ward could not attend class on Saturday because they work, but they wanted a solution because they want to learn and prepare so we met them on Sundays.

Missionary preparation at Lacor
These sisters wanted to attend class but could not afford to pay the transport

money to get to Bardege, so we held a missionary prep class at Lacor

We are not allowed to attend funerals due to the church's policy for protection with  ebola concerns, so we could not attend the services for President Latigo.  We went to their compound and visited with his wife and children to express our sympathy and sorrow.  We asked Barbara, Jame Latigo's wife if she had received a priesthood blessing, to which she said no.  Her son, who has the Melchizedek Priesthood helped me bless his mother.  We then asked if anyone else would like a blessing and the 13 year old son said he would.  This was one of the most difficult blessings Elder Kaiser has have had to give.  The spirit was strong but he had deep sorrow for a boy who had lost his father and will now grow up without his guidance.  I reflected on our grandson Rhett who is this age and could not imagine the pain and sorrow that this boy was going through.  He was promised that his father would continue to watch over him and guide him throughout his life.

"... and every fruit in the season thereof; all of these to be used with prudence and thanksgiving." D&C 89:11

Mango, avocado, rice and beans.

It is mango season:  We like it, we can now buy four nice large mangoes for 2,000 shillings.  That is about 54 cents.  We pretty much eat a mango every day.  Our new "Ugandan"  lunch is rice, beans, and mangoes (Sister Kaiser adds avocado); then top it off with sweet chili sauce.  The locals laugh at us for putting mangoes on rice and beans.  They are very set in their ways with food and really want us to try their Ugandan food, but when we suggest they try putting mangoes on their rice and beans they say "no." They do not know what they are missing.  

On 5/31 a new ward was created in the Gulu stake.  The Kanyagoga Ward.   We have concerns that it is too soon as the stake and wards are not strong enough in leadership.  The first week of the new ward had a small number of members attend and the only priesthood member of the ward was the Bishop.   This is a large problem here, the lack of worthy, active priesthood bearers.  Adding more wards just compounds this problem.  Not only is the new ward unable to be staffed properly the other wards suffer as their members are taken from them.  In time it will work out, it is the Lord's church.  

Sister Kaiser teaching Irene 

We were told of Irene, a sister who has received her mission call, but lives 3 1/2 hours from Gulu. We taught  her one lesson online and then found out she was coming to Gulu for a few weeks.  SO we began teaching her "on steroids."  We see her several times a week and teach her temple prep, missionary prep, and literacy classes.  We take her to other classes that we have scheduled and fill in with personal lessons.  We have also had the full time sister missionaries take her out with them.  Irene is very sweet and is excited to be learning and preparing.  When we first reached out to her she was very nervous but her confidence is growing.  It has been our delight to have her with us.  She is very polite and always thanks us.  She told us that before she got baptized she was always causing trouble, fighting, and such.  As soon as she was baptized she changed, instantly.  She no longer had a desire to be angry and fight or cause problems.  She has a growing testimony and we can't wait to see her growth as a missionary!

Sister Kaiser, Elder Kaiser, Tony Blair (brother) Step mother, Father, Innocent. 

Sister Kaiser, Step father, Tony Blair, Mother, Innocent, Elder Kaiser

We asked Innocent, one of of missionary preparation students, if we could meet her parents before she left on her mission.  Her parents are separated, so this meant two visits.  We taught her dad, a nonmember, who bore a sweet testimony about having his daughter watched over on her mission.  He was proud to show us his garden and gave us maize and matoke to take home.  Maize here is not like corn from home.  We boiled it for about 30 minutes and it was still tough. Later a member told us you have to boil it for a one to two hours. Who knew?  Later Innocent said she was surprised at how her father reacted to the lesson, she did not expect his kind responses.  Thanks to the power of the Book of Mormon the Spirit was there.

We also met Innocent's mom, who was also happy to meet us and wanted to give us a gift to show her appreciation for our visit. Sister Kaiser was happy but also overwhelmed as she gave us over 20 avocados!  Sister Kaiser shared with other missionaries and also enjoyed eating them, even for breakfast. Once again we are humbled by a people who struggle so much and yet are so generous when we come to visit them.  

Sister Innocent and Sister Kaiser two wonderful missionaries

Sending one of the Army of Helaman off to "war"

We said to goodbye to Charles, Elder Rubangakene. as he leaves for the MTC and to serve in Ghana.  We have come to love him and are so proud of him.  We had to make a quick trip to Kampala to train the missionary couple in some of the prospective missionary work that we have been doing.  While in Kampala we went to the distribution center and suddenly Elder Rubangakene pulls up in his transport vehicle.  We were able to have a bonus visit and a second goodbye with him.

A fun surprise at the distribution center in Kampala

We continue to teach many temple classes.  We enjoy them all but especially enjoy lesson 3 which focuses on the on blessings of going to the temple.  Many of the blessing we discuss are found in D&C 109. which is the dedicatory prayer for the Kirtland temple.  We read many versus and discuss the blessing they can receive as they go to the temple. The last one we look at is in verse 75.  It says that we can be caught up to meet Christ and return with Him at the second coming.    Elder Kaiser tells those he is teaching  that he coached a lot before my mission and that he is very competitive and do not like to lose.   Sister Kaiser readily agrees with this. Everyone laughs when he tells them that he wants to be on the Lord's team because He will win.  The mood quickly changes as Elder Kaiser tells the students that he want to be caught up to meet and return with Him. They realize they want this blessing too.  This is the church of joy, we can enjoy our teaching and experiences but the real joy will be as we are prepared to be with the Savior whenever that opportunity comes.

Martin and his family

We  are currently teaching two families to prepare them to go to the temple.  One family has a 15 year old boy who attends clss with his parents, the younger siblings do not come. The other  family has 1 boy,15 years and four daughters, three of whom are old enough to receive their own endowment in the temple. It has been wonderful getting them prepared to go receive their own endowments and to be sealed as a family.  The gospel of Jesus Christ is about each individual and their salvation and it is also about families being sealed for eternity.  At one lesson with the smaller family our interpreter is not show up, so Elder Kaiser went asking around the church for someone who could help us out.  Sister Kaiser decided to get started with the lesson and have Brian, the 14 year old, interpret for his parents.  As fate would have it we were teaching about the requirements to enter the temple and the first principal is the law of chastity.  We look back and laugh that Brian had to teach this law to his parents.  His mom would just cover her face with her hands and giggle.  Poor Brian!  To be fair, his mom is often giggling. 

Friends and family gather to hear the word of the Lord

We taught Moses, who lives 22 kilometers from Lacor, temple prep classes and were looking into the possibility of teaching more members from his family.  So we went to visit them and took the bishop, one of his counselors,  Charles, his executive secretary, and the relief society president with us. On our google map it said the trip would take us 45 minutes.  Google lied, it doesn't take into account the rough dirt roads and that the plot we were seeking was well outside of town.  We arrived in 1.5 hours and realized coming here to teach would not be an option.  We spoke to the bishop about other ways to teach and support them through the ward.

When Gulu Stake had their stake conference Elder and Sister Kaiser were asked to speak in the Sunday meeting.  The venue booked was Acholi Inn.  The grounds were so nice that we had someone take our picture.  

Then the rug got pulled out from under us!  President Bell called and told us we will be leaving Gulu.  When the mission splits at the beginning of July, we will be moving to the new Uganda Kampala East Mission  Since the new mission President is not here yet we are in limbo.  We do not know when, where or in what capacity we will be serving.  We are saddened by the news but "we will go, we will do the things the Lord commands".  There must be a reason and we will follow the Spirit and be the Lord's hands wherever He needs us for the time we have left.

Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not into thy own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.  Proverbs 3:5-6

Goodbye's are hard:  When we told Geoffrey that we had been assigned to a different area,  he put his head into his hands and cried. Us being here has changed his life, as well as ours.  With the help of many people Geoffrey was able to receive the Book of Mormon on CDs.  We constantly tells us how this has helped him to expand (grow) in the gospel.  How he has developed a love for the Book of Mormon and cherishes the time listening to it.  This has caused me to reflect and wonder if we appreciate the things we have or if we just take what we have for granted.  The gift of sight, but also the joy from reading and feeling the power of the Book of Mormon daily. Geoffrey's simple testimony has strengthened ours. 

Geoffrey has truly become our brother

The Ladies Literacy class at Lacor was very sad when we said our last goodbyes.  They were our first group to start teaching when we came to Gulu and have been seeing them each week since we arrived.  They wonder who will guide them now.  We have felt bad about some because their progress has been very slow, but they rejoice in being able to write their names and have a small understanding of English.  The Lord does not expect us all to grow in the same ways and at the same place.  He and we should rejoice in our efforts and the growth we make.  

One last story from Beatrice as Elder Kaiser's group was working on telling a story and then writing it out to help strengthen them in this area.  Beatrice said that when she was 5 years old, she wanted to plant a garden so she got the land ready and then saw her mom cutting up fish.  She took the fish eyes and "planted" them hoping to grow more fish. Needless to say this did not work.  Her mom suggested she try potatoes and Beatrice was very happy as they grew and she was able to eat her potatoes.  Elder Kaiser still enjoys planting and seeing the growth that occurs.  Right now we are planting the seeds of the gospel and watching lives change and testimonies grow.

Lacor Ladies Literacy

The Kaiser's, Alice, Sophie, and Genesis

We taught Genesis and Alice the story of the Army of Helaman.  Genesis was enthralled, and loved listening and reading along as the story progressed.  Elder Kaiser is great at apping the lessons learned from the scriptures into our lives today. Genesis got it!  It was fun to see him so excited about the Book of Mormon.  

On our next visit we arrived and Genesis was just returning home and told us that he had been hunting mangoes.  We told him he should be glad mangoes do not fight back.  He laughed and flashed his smile that he always wears.  We always sit under a large mango tree as we teach. During our lesson of 3 Nephi 17 with Christ blessing the sick and lame Nephits,  as well as their children, suddenly ripe mangoes began to fall from the tree around us.  We all laughed as we told Genesis that the mangoes "were fighting back".

Goodbye to Calvin, Eunice and their school kids

We truly have come to love all of our new firends in Gulu and the surrounding area.

The final story time with our neighbors, our substitute grandkids

Elephant crossing guard!

Since we will be going to the east side of Uganda, we decided to go back to Murchison Falls National Park on our P-day to see the animals one last time.  Once again no lions but we were blessed with another elephant experience.  There was a herd of them right by the road and we were able to stop and be right in the middle of them.  We were close enough to hear them chewing their food and to hear the breeze they made as they flapped their large  Africa shaped ears.  We saw the large ones tearing small branches off of trees to eat and the little one playing and pushing each other. It was really a  unique experience to be that close.  

African Buffalo, Kob and Egret

Rothchild's Giraffe

Auntie and baby elephant

Gray Crowned Crane, the Ugandan National Bird

African Bush Elephant Family

It's all about family, we hate to leave Gulu because the Saints here have become our family, but we rejoice in the gospel plan which teaches us that we will meet again and that families and friendships are eternal.