We do stuff you don't get to do :)

I have been reading the Sermon on the Mount this week and have been impressed with the simplicity of how to live life while also struggling with the difficulty of doing what He teaches us.  When you think you have mastered something you find there is a much higher law than anything you thought before.  Isn't that interesting, Heavenly Father does not expect us to do everything all at once, he lets us go at our own pace and then gives us more as we are ready.  I expect we would all be so disappointed with where we need to be if we knew along the way how far we have to go.  We just do the best we can and every day, when we are looking for it, we find something else we can do to improve.

I mean - love your enemies, do good to them that hate you, pray for them that despitefully use you, be ye therefore perfect...etc.  Piece of cake really :).  To put so much teaching into three chapters in the New Testament is amazing (Matt 5-7).  He really is the great teacher and if we only lived according to the teachings in these three chapters, we would have a very happy and successful life. 

So the Elders in the Iganga Zone said to come and see their new pet.  I love how much they love animals, just look at them and how they rally around their new pet.  I wonder what the elder in front is doing with a knife...  The yellow shirts are the Christmas gift from the mission.  It has all their names in an outline of Africa on the back. Yes, we have one too!

Yea, it must be time time to exercise the billy goat.  How fun to get out in the sun and enjoy a walk with our new friend.

You know when you get about 20 kids gathering around there must be something going on.  I think we may need to find a new pet.

Yep, in less than five minutes he went from a nice walk up the road to hanging between two anchor points and getting skinned.

The butcher was really good.  At first he wanted the equivalent of around $8 to kill and skin the goat but when told he could keep the insides and the skin he did it for half that.

You remember a few weeks ago when I gave you the old African war cry "may the skin of your bum never cover a drum?"  Well, I have both hands on my cheeks right now because I have no idea what this skin will be used on and even more important, will it be big enough.

Some of the cute bystanders.  You can imagine the same scene anywhere there was something this exciting around where you live.

Another cute girl.

And another one!  She is already learning to pose like the sister missionaries.

Look at the faces as they watch the carnage.

Did I mention this was a zone activity.  They bought the goat for $32 and then made all the fixings during the day for a delicious lunch.  They really did a great job.

They served chapatis, three different kinds of rice, goat stew, and BBQ goat.  It was a bit chewy but the stew was great. They also made a yummy homemade passion fruit drink.  It was followed up with some chocolate cake and chocolate chip cookies because one of the elders had been sent some chocolate chips for Christmas.

What can I say, two thumbs up!

In a normal life, a goat killing would be enough excitement for the week but here in Africa you get to bump all the adventure opportunities up a few notches.  First, every once in a while I get to do baptism interviews.  This was one of the more remote villages that is just outside Jinja but where they live very humbly.  I too am learning to pose when I am with the sisters.

On up the trail we go.

Kids are everywhere here in Africa.

This guy was very drunk.  He liked having a muzungu to talk to (not really talk to because he didn't speak English). He was making all of us a bit nervous.

Edit, this was NOT the drunk guy.  This man was asking questions and the Sisters gave him a Book of Mormon to read.

This is the sister that was approved for baptism.  Her first husband died leaving her with two children.  She was living with Muslim man who wanted her to give up Christianity for him to stay with her.  She would not so he left her with his child and then the sisters found her and taught her the gospel.  She is wonderful.

When we were driving every week to Lugazi for church we would pass this sign for the Ssezibuw resort and falls.  We always thought we needed to stop and see it but really never made time for it.  Usually we were driving to church on a Sunday so we didn't do any sightseeing.  Now we have to inspect the elders apartment every transfer and we visit every Branch President once a quarter to see how things are going.  Since we had an apartment inspection and an interview with the Branch President on a Saturday we packed a lunch and went to falls after the appointments.

This is one of the bridges over to the other side of the river.

I know, I sure do spend an inordinate amount of time pondering and getting nowhere.  I will ponder that topic the next time I get a chance.

As we hiked up to the top of the falls we passed this cave that was being lived in.  There was the laundry and some pots around the opening.

After we got to the top I caught Sister Squire doing a bit of pondering as well.  She is much better at it than I am.

I caught this little guy (around 18" long) as I was climbing over the rocks.  It did give me a bit of a start.  I almost went Chuck Norris on him.  He is lucky...

The top part of the falls.

Someone has left this pot by the water.  Looked kind of cool.

Sister Squire was pondering what to call these pictures with both of us.  I think she settled on either wezies or usies. No, the final decisions was couplies (like selfies) Go ahead, you can copyright it.

Here is the other bridge and Sasquatch makes another appearance.

Lunch, yes my sandwich was even bigger than hers.

I really like this shot of the falls.

 Once I knew this was a prayer mountain, I did say one.

The locals use the bridge to carry goods to market.  I have no idea how far away that is.

Back on the home front James (our guard) climbed the avocado tree to get us some of the delightful treats.  Love having fresh avocado around.

I would stand on the ground and catch the booty.  This was but a few of them.

You know what avocado tastes really good with?  Rat...  Sister Squire made my life miserable while I spent a week trying to get this little bugger from the inside to the outside of our home.  We are both happier now and don't worry, I will not eat out of the dust pan until some time passes.

Finally, we had to get our own poster while here in Africa.  Being part of the greatest missionary workforce ever helped with our inspiration.

The missionaries don't think the picture does justice to my mid-section.  I think it captured it nicely!