African News

I've been trying to take a closer look at life around me. After being here 3 1/2 years it is easy to take all the sights, smells, people and things for granted. I love these countries. I love the street vendors who are literally trying to put food on the table as they sell their product. They smile and try to cajole me into buying their product. I don't need spark plugs, newspapers, garbage bags, or maps, etc. I only need two pair of sunglasses. I have enough trouble finding one pair. Yet, I love the vendors. They are energetic, always polite and will grin from ear to ear if I simply smile at them. There is one man named Moki who just tickles me. He is always on the same corner doing his thing. I NEVER buy a magazine from him but from time to time I give him something.....apples, cookies, or even half of a soft drink. Each time he acts as if I have given him $100. He is just as gracious when I give him nothing. I've given him a Book of Mormon, but I suspect he can't read. He is a refugee from Zimbabwe which is very common.
I love the trees and flowers. I love the birds and the magnificent animals we are privileged to see. I love the bold, loud lightening storms.
I love the gardeners who work on the grounds of the area office. There are 3 of them and every day I see them and hear them whistling and doing their thing. They carry groceries for me and clip things from the gardens for my creations. Yesterday my doorbell rang and these 3 handsome young men were at my door grinning from ear to ear. They were carrying seven 8-10 foot papyrus stems from the pond. They thought it was time I had new ones. I love it.
I love our nine guards who take care of us. There are 3 on duty around the clock. Each day as I come and go they greet me. There are 9 and now 6 have joined the church. The other day very shy Malvin stopped me to actually bear his testimony in a sweet quiet way. He told me he and his wife and children love the church. It has changed his life and he is soon going to start school to help him get a better job. They make about $12 a day.
Of course, the most wonderful of all are the people. There is a group here from Chulyu, Kenya right now who have come to the temple. That is a huge sacrifice. They have nothing and have traveled 5 1/2 hours by air to get here and had to travel by combi (van with 24 people) about 5 hours to Nairobi to catch the plane. Yesterday I recognized the counselor in the District Primary who is here. She jumped in my car and I drove her 1/2 block to the temple and we hugged and I wept as I knew how hard it was for her to come. She is loving the experience. She can speak English now and she is the teacher who taught 8 woman to read last year. She is still teaching the literacy class and right now she has 10 women taking it. Can you imagine the impact on the lives of those families who now have a Mother who can read the scriptures and can read a Sunday school manual or teach Primary now because they can read the manual. It is a miracle. She is a miracle. I ask her about the impact the upheaval in Kenya is having on her life. She said, "Heavenly Father is taking care of us and we are prepared." I don't know exactly what she meant by being prepared because I KNOW how little they have. When she went to get out of the car, she didn't know how to open the door. She probably has never been in a car before.
I am always uplifted by these wonderful, humble people. Even in the orphanages where I go, I am uplifted because the children have 2 meals a day and they have a roof over their heads and they have people to care for them. I have learned to look at the good that is going on. It would be too easy to look at just the needs and the hard things. This is a good lesson that I have learned from my wonderful black friends. Every day is a gift, and looking for the wonderful things around us and the good in life is a choice even when life is very difficult. I continue to be blessed and I have learned that everyday is a gift and one to be enjoyed and savored.