Ministering

We reported earlier about one of our Elders that was found to have congestive heart failure.  We recognize the hand of The Lord in his behalf several ways: 1) he was called to serve in an area where they have a cardio doctor (there are only 3 missions in South Eastern Africa that do); 2) When he complained of being tired, he was taken to a place where they could do an EKG etc.  Sis Squire was going to take him to regular doctor but prayed about it and was clearly prompted to take him to a cardio doctor; 3) once he was diagnosed with Rheumatic Heart Disease he had an appointment set up in South Africa for a specialist that has a 14 week calendar for appointments.  The appointment was made but in Uganda they have Friday and Monday around Easter as a holiday.  We found Elder Rami (short for Elder Ramiaramanana) visa had expired to South Africa and it is a very lengthy process to get a new visa approved.  The office and Sister Squire filled out paperwork on Tuesday with a booked airline flight for Wednesday so he could make his 8:30 appointment.  We found out even if we got an emergency visa he would still miss his appointment because of the time difference.  Dr Hoffman, the medical authority in South Africa called and, just by chance, they had a cancellation for 1:45PM and so he would get off the plane and make this appointment; 4) Visas have been difficult for all missionaries.  We have had some missionaries waiting for months for authorization to come into Africa.  They went into the visa department and waited most of the day but finally were approved for a 3 month medical emergency visa.  I find miracles in this work every day, the trick is to recognize them because they just happen, and I need to show gratitude by giving thanks.

This has been crazy busy for the past two weeks.  We had a missionary with sickle cell that had an incident and had to spend a day in our 24 hour medical center having pain medication pumped into him all night.  He is doing much better but he has these incidents every couple of months.  He is a real trooper with his great attitude and also a great missionary. 

We had a sister that was ill and had to be sent home to Kenya so we took her to the border where her aunt picked her up.  We had to park on the Uganda side because we did not have our passports; they are at immigration waiting for our work permits.  Once her aunt got to Busia, Nancy and I each grabbed a suitcase and started for the border.  I was really surprised how open the border was.  We were able, with a whole bunch of other people, to walk from Uganda to Kenya passing four automobile checkpoints along the road.  Once on the Kenya side of the border we left the sister with her aunt and headed back to Uganda.  On the way back we had two different people try to get us to pass through the immigration office in Kenya and again in Uganda.  We just told them we knew where we were going and didn't stop so fortunately you will not be reading about us in some jail along the border.

It was interesting they did not have that many bodabodas in Busia but did have tons of bicycles with seats on the back.  They all had a pink shirt as a uniform and were everywhere.  We had to wait for an hour or so while the bus with her aunt arrived in town.  The shopping was called customs row and they had tons of shoes and other items.  Sister Squire now has another pair of shoes...

We also had our first stay in a hotel.  It was getting dark on our way back to Jinja where we were to give hepatitis shots.  On the way up we gave shots in Bugembe (I have to put the name because Tyler actually looks them all up on a map).  Most of our African missionaries get shots in the MTC but are not there long enough for the boosters that have to be done 6 months later.  We make a lot of missionaries very sad when they see their name on the list.  Some of the sisters basically freak out about having shots.  Sister Squire has given close to 75 shots in the past month.  The hotel was very clean but the bed was like sleeping on a board.  Thank heavens for Ambien!

We also had a wonderful day at the zoo.  We had to take some medication to a sister missionary and it was right by the zoo.  I admit that I have not been much of a zoo person, other than obviously being someone who should live there, but it was a good time.  Things are much more relaxed here in Africa and that makes a much more enjoyable experience (like the snake park where you can play with the python).

 Our first open area

Queen of the roost

Humm, I wonder what the big one would taste like.  I didn't like the way he was looking at me...

Hey, you laughing at me!

I know you are wondering why Zebras have stripes, well:  “Again and again, there was greater striping on areas of the body in those parts of the world where there was more annoyance from biting flies.” Where there are tsetse flies, for instance, the equids tend to come in stripes. Where there aren't, they don't.

This little guy (about 4 or 5 feet) was in the road as we were walking around the park.

They wiped out the rhino population in Uganda for the tusks.  They have reintroduced them from Kenya to try and build the population back up.

Chimpanzees just chillin around the town.

This little guy was just hanging around.

Even gorillas need a little love

OK, I was giggling like a schoolgirl, this was fun.  The giraffe on the right was whispering sweet nothings in my ear.  Tell me, when was the last time you had a giraffe whisper in your ear?  Come to Africa

Sis Squire was cool, calm and collected

This was our beautiful African guide (Joyce) showing us around the park.  They have to volunteer for 6 months and then if there is an opening they can apply for the job.

 Meet the Grey Crowned Crane, the National bird of Uganda which is also on their national flag.

Finally, the Water Buffalo, one the big five of Africa