the rest of the trip

Thursday, our entire service group went and did a territory that was about 15 north of us in an area called Kunduchi. there were about 15 of us, and we took the daladala in two groups. we caused quite a scene as you can imagine. loads of white people pouring out of a cramped bus. we found a good amount of english speakers and invited all to the memorial. since we have been here, the meeting attendance for the swahili congregation we share a hall with has doubled. they have about 60 publishers and have at least 120 at every meeting. they are expecting close to 200 for the memorial. it’s nice to know that even though we can’t study with anywone in swahili, that our inviting everyone to the kingdom hall is working. if memory serves me correctly, thursday was spent mostly in the ministry. that evening, we went with wade and molly to thier meeting. they meet in a 20×12 mud building, with a grass roof. wade brings battery lights and they have a tape player for the songs. the seats are just benches made of untreated wood. they only have two elders, so they are still a group, and they only have about 15 publishers. there is a sister named mshunga, who is need-greating there and communting to bethel. she got the truth halfway through college. she is a doctor and has been able to save up enough money to take a year off of work and serve where the need is great. once they get 30 publishers, they will get a real kingdom hall, with slotted brick and electricity, but until then, they are doing quite well . friday was more ministry and some grocery shopping. that evening, we were invited over to a bethelit cuople’s place. he is our watchtower study conductor, and she is auxillary pioneering, even though she is a bethelite. we had a very nice time with them. on saturday, i made plans to meet up with rebekah for service. i took to daladala to meet here, but i got on the wrong bus and ended up in the middle of town. i also ran out of phone credit. and it started throwing down with rain. i panicked a little bit, but got it all figured out. that night we all cooked supper at her house for our final night with rebekah. it was a blast. on sunday, keziah and katie got up to take some studies to the swahili meeting. they ended up taking gibson (who i wrote about a long time ago.) he is the call that we explained to condition of the dead to and he only got it after reading it in the swahili bible. anyway- by chance he ended up going with them. during the last song ( #4 about the paradise) he started crying. he ended up sitting down, with his face in his hands, crying. after the meeting, he told keziah that he got so emotional because he recognized that this was the truth. i am looking forward to hearing about his progress. sunday evening was our leaving party, which went very well. two brothers brought their guitars and we had a mini jam session. excellent. monday we went to and island off the coast called mbudya. it was a twenty minute boat ride. we went with about 15 of our favorite people. a few of us went to explore the island and ended wandering for close to three hours. the tide had gone out, so we saw the reef that was completely exposed. there were crabs as far the ey could see, and if we were quiet, we could hear them running on the reef. we found a couple of moray eels. we sort of played with them for a while. by played i mean poked at it with a stick. they are mean and have a mouth full of teeth. we cut across the island, which is all trees and ended up on the other side. the water was amazingly clear. we were crazy hot from the hike through the jungle and the water was super refreshing. we headed back at about 4 and got ready for our last supper out. we stopped by marcus’ house to say a tearful goodbye to him and his awesome family. we went for supper at an amazing restaruant on the beach and said good bye to rebekeh there. and then back at our place we said goodbye to lorraine. too many goodbyes. tues. morning we packed and had a delicious breakfast. trish left for the airport at 11:30, and the rest of us went to bethel for lunch. the kassholm’s had us for lunch and cofffee at thier room afterward. from ther we finished packing and headed to the airport. courtney and i said goodbye to katie and keziah. probably the hardest goodbye i’ve had to say. from there we flew home. all went well with the flight and now i am home.
i have learned a lot of things on this trip and have come to appreciate being a part of jehovah’s organization like never before. i know this is just the beginning of my service to jehovah, and i encourage everyone to honestly look at their circumstances and see if they can do more to serve jehovah. i know now from personal experience that it is worth every bit of sacrifice.

all of last week

last monday, we took the bus up to arusha. it was a nine hour bus ride on an old grey hound bus with broken ac. we stopped once for the toilet on the side of the road, and yes, i went. we stayed 3 nights in arusha at a couple’s apartment who are in our hall in mbezi right now. arusha was beautiful and the weather was everything i could have hoped for. on thursday morning, we got up crazy early and took a bus to moshi (1 hour away). we met up with a missionary couple there and did the ministry for the morning and hung out with them at the missionary home in the afternoon. that evening was their meeting, with the first english bible study. there were 14 in attendance, including us. very encouraging. the next morning we got up crazy early again to get a bus to morogoro. the bus station in moshi is known for being the worst in all of tanzania, and i can attest to that fact. as soon as we pulled in the station, our taxi was surrounded by 12 guys trying to sell us bus tickets. fortunately, courtney had gotten ours the day earlier, so they sort of left us alone, but i still used my horse voice to get some of them to back off. i don’t mean hoarse voice, i mean the voice i use with the horses. it really gets the point across. after that, our we sat on the curb while people came up to us trying to sell us various items. anything from cowboy hats, to cashews. there were people begging for money after that. and then our bus was late. and i was not feeling good. then began the bus ride from hades. it was hot, hot, hot and super cramped. we stopped for the toilet once, but it there was only squatty potties, and i couldn’t walk into one without gagging. i honestly would have preferred an open field. after that, a travelling salesman got on the bus and tried to sell us a whole bunch of things including aloe lipstick and anti-fungal cream. a lot of people bought the anti-fungal cream. i guess a lot of people have fungus. eventuallly we got to morogoro, where we met up with a missionary couple who brought us to their meeting, because they were on their way. afterwards, we got to stay the night at the missionary home there. morogoro has small mountains all around it, and it warm, but not too hot or humid. basically, it’s perfect. the missionary home is right on the mountian, and they have a wonderful view. we got to meet some really amazing people and eat some delicious food. the next morning, we met wade and molly in the city and drove to mikumi for our safari. keziah saw the first animal. it was a giraffe and it was really far away, but we gawked out the window and snapped photos anyway. we stayed outside the park at a place for 20000 shillings a night (about $18). we did an afternoon safari and saw everything. it was amazing. there was about 30 giraffe and 20 zebras that were crossing the road and hanging out near the road. we saw hippos and got eyed up by a croc. after that we came across a herd of elephants that had two babies with them and got charged by an angry mama elephant for the first time (it would happen again). we even saw a lion sleeping in a tree. with the exception of the lion, all of the other animals were within 20 feet of the car. very cool. the next morning we did a morning safari. we saw less animals, but got to see a baobob tree that is over 2000 years old. i even got to climb it. we had to leave the park at 12:40, and we barely made it, but from there we drove home. all in all it was an amazing trip and i’m still amazed at how everything worked out. one of the many blessings of being a part of jehovah’s organization
this is my last week here, and it’s really killing me. i am looking forward to coming home and seeing you all, but i am in love with this place and the people here. monday i finished all of my gift shopping. i have spent way too much money on you people. tuesday i had my first talk and it went really well. today was long day in service and tomorrow will be too. sunday we are having a leaving party. monday we are spending at an island just off the coast to perfect our tans before we come home. and tuesday we are having a big breakfast with katie. it will be our last with her and keziah(who is staying).
i’m not sure if i will get the chance to give any updates before i get home, but i will update you all on the rest of the trip, even if i am already home. it’s a lot more convenient that way. miss you all and see you soon

circuit assembly

our circuit assembly was this past saturday and sunday. it was for the english halls in dar central, mbezi beach(our hall) and the arusha cong. all together there were 199 of us. the program was the same program we’ve had of keep conquering the evil with the good. we only had one get baptized, it was a young sister from our hall. one of the elders in our hall gave the talk and addressed it to her, calling her by name. for lunch, we brought bananas, peanut butter and peanuts to eat. a very sensible lunch in my opinion. however, we attracted quite a bit of attn, especially when courtney shoved half a banana in her mouth. even the missionaries were making fun of our “meal”. anywho. on ssunday i was sick. i’ll fill in those details once i get home, but i am well now and have some funny stories. sorry i cannot write more. i will see you all soon!

On Friday, we had our pioneer meeting for the English circuit. In the morning, cleaned the BIMA hall, which is where our circuit assembly was held. It was small, but needed a good cleaning. The pioneer meeting was held at the Dar Central Congregation, which is where the 2 swahili and one english hall meet in the city. It’s an open air hall, with the equivalant of slotted brick. there were about 50 of us, including missionaries, the co and do. very cool. the “music machine” went out before the program, so we sang without music (thinks its called acapella, but i don’t know how to spell that). most amazing experience as of yet. the program was very good, same as back home, but very tailored to the circumstances of the friends here. that’s easier to do, when there is only 50 people. Between all of us, there was 628 years of full-time service. There was a lot of experience in the room. afterward we met a couple that moved to arusha from greece with their son over a year ago. i had emailed them before i came, so it was nice to actually meet them. they have been instrumental in our arusha trip, but i’ll write more about that later. we also met a missionary couple at the moshi missionary home who are helping us find a place to stay there, because the missionary home is full. they are starting the english group in moshi, which will have it’s first congregation bible study on thursday. we will be out in the ministry with them on thursday and at the meeting that night. i am very excited about that. our trip up north is turning out even better than i could have imagined. it is going to be especially memorable. i would love to write all about it, but i am writing from a ridiculously over-priced hotel internet cafe and need to get out. miss you all…. later

update central

This week, we are the host congregation for the circuit assembly. We get the C.O. and the D.O. So on Tuesday, we had our congregation book study and a talk from the D.O. He is from Fl originally. His talk was about using our time wisely in the time of the end. He covered 5 different ways that we need to be wise with our time. They were our prayr, bible reading and study, ministry, meeting attendance and family. He highlighted the need to “buy out the opportune time” even more as the system progresses with each of the five points, but especially our meetings. He brought out that as every week passes, it becomes more and more important for us to be at the meetings. So every meeting that comes, it’s vital for us to be there. Also, he read Heb 10:25 and asked what our custom was. Is it our custom to regularly miss one meeting a week or even the first half hour of each meeting. With our new meeting we would be missing an entire meeting. All good reminders. We have service with them all this week, and then the pioneer meeting on Friday. This weekend is our circuit assembly. On Monday, morning we are heading up to arusha and moshi and will spend the whole week there.

This is a picture of my feet on the porch of my banda in kendwa beach. I am putting this picture on to show you my tan. It is proof that I am a need-greater and not a beach-greater. By the way, the lines are from my sandles. Obviously, I have ugly feet. Therefore in an attempt to stem the tide of commentary on the ugly characteristics of my feet, I intend to beat you all to the punch. 1. I have bunions. It is very ugly, it is very hereditary and I have no control over it. 2. Bad nail polish upkeep. Yes, it really could be avoided, but polish remover is hard to come by. Plus, I’m pretty much lazy. 3. I have unusually small feet. See number 1. 4. Strange sores on my feet and ankles. Here is how that happened. There are mosquitoes here that specialize in bitting my ankles and feet. I can control my scratching of them during the day, but when I sleep, my subconscious makes me scratch them. In other words, I scratch them in my sleep. In an attempt to stop this, I have started wearing socks on my hands. You know, like an infant or a crazy person. Anyway, in my all of my scratching, I sort of turned them into wounds and they got a little infected with all of the walking on dirty streets. I call them my festering wounds. Gross. Should you feel that this list in incomprehensive, you may add to it. But do so with the knowledge that my feet have been in Zanzibar. Twice.

zanzibar- part two

Zanzibar was so great the first time, that we decided to go back. Plus Trish hasn’t been yet. We decided to go only for 2 nights in an attempt to save money. Here was our plan: fly over Thursday morning, spend the day in stone town and then head up to Kendwa that evening. we were going to spend the next day at the beach and then head down to stone town the Saturday morning and take the ferry into to dar that evening. because we weren’t there for very long we packed minimally. As is no back pack, just a purse and a satchel. in this story, a satchel will refer to an over-the-shoulder bag. in most circumstances i refer to it as a bag, but i still say that with a Minnesota accent, so i’m trying this word out. i expect feedback on the functionality of the word ‘satchel’ in comparison with ‘bag’. Okay, back to the story. So we left on a plane 10:30. it was a little prop plane with 14 seats including the pilot seat that left from an itty-bitty airport. the only thing besides a departure lounge at the airport was a little cafe. We all got delicious coffees there. the flight was only 20 minutes long, but the view was amazing. we flew over coral reef and a sandbar, with a tiny beach in the middle of the ocean. the view was spectacular. the airport we landed on was smaller than the one we left. the runway (there’s only one) was straight out of Jurassic park 3. at one point, i even thought there was a dinosaur on the plane but it turned out to a large German man with a moustache. From there we headed to stone town, where we met some friends at Mercury’s Zanzibar, a bar dedicated to Freddie Mercury who was born on znz. From there we ate lunch at a little cafe named Binni Cafe. it was our third restaurant and my second cup of coffee. After that we split from the friends and bought some gifts. somehow i ended up buying a wooden box. why would i do that? i don’t even like boxes. in fact the only thing i hate more than boxes is carry boxes around a small muslim town for four hours. that’s pretty much what we did all day, wandered around stone town, drinking coffee, taking pix and buying gifts. When all was said and done I had been to 7 restaurants and spent way too much money. that evening we went up to kendwa beach. keziah and i spent the whole day at the beach, which was just as amazing as i had remembered. the water is so beautiful it could solve world hunger. Courtney and Trish went to rent a moped to take around the island. the only thing they could find was a full-grown dirt bike. that was a problem until it turned out the trish is awesome and can drive a kick-start dirt bike that some guys can’t even handle (fact that was proven later that day). So the two of them explored the island and keziah and i slept in hammocks. that night, we ate supper and went swimming. it was a beautiful night. the next morning, during our free breakfast, keziah and trish decided they wanted to stay another night. (side point about the breakfast: breakfast is included in the price of our room and is amazing. it includes: a spanish omelet, toast, fresh fruit and unlimited mango juice and tea or coffee. i take full advantage of this provision, and by 10 am have no desire to be in a bathing suit). Anyway, keziah and trish decided to stay with katie(who was also there) and courtney and i went back to stone town. we took the daladala back. that included walking 1.5 miles to the daladala stop, with our luggage(and wooden box, of course). the daladala was packed out and i got squished in a corner, but it was cheap. stone town was more of the same, wandering and drinking coffee. we found some pretty amazing places and bought some cool gifts. from there we took the ferry home. we rode on top of the ferry, which was an amazing view, but we got some crazy salt/wind hair. anyways, i thought this story was going to be more interesting…. sorry.
Here is the plan for the rest of trip. this week is service with the c.o. and d.o. next week we go to moshi and arusha. next weekend, we are going to a safari in mikumi. after that, it’s our last week. time is ticking.
Hope you are all doing well, and i will see you soon.

amazing pink house i saw out in the ministry.

me on chilewan's study with a cowboy hat. check out the pink accesories.