What a guy!

Markus, our mission driver, handy man with anything and all around great guy, hefting the old TV from our mission home apartment to the senior couples apartment two flights of stairs.  We watched, amazed, as he squatted down, lifted the nearly 100 lb TV on his head and stood up.  He carried it downstairs with perfect balance and strength, then lightly set it on a table.  What a guy!

Missionaries in December

Elder Moses Brima was set apart December 17th by President Roggia as a missionary going to Nigeria.  He was very excited to leave and get on the plane to Ghana for the Missionary Training Center first.

Elder Collier is from Freetown and was released from his mission today after faithfully serving for two years.  He will start at the University January 3rd.  The assistants took him to his home this evening.

Monrovia Zone Elders above and here waiting for lunch after a simple gift giving.

President Roggia with the Monrovia Zone giving his Christmas Message.

More eating...gotta feed those missionaries!

Elder and Sister Kimball in one of the skits...he is remembering wwwaaayy back to his mission in this shot.

Elder Stott prior to President's Christmas Message.

Elder Massey really liked this tie...

The missionaries getting a good laugh.

Elders Grabau and Elder Hickey having some cereal on our way to Liberia.  We make sure our assistants have some breakfast because we leave pretty early in the morning sometimes.

Elders Allred, Chikwendu, Priddis and Vaughan in BoZone prior to a baptism.

Some of the Bo Zone eating at "Sab's".  These are "cheese burgers"!  They are huge!

Elder Hickey showing us a close up.  It has hamburger, coleslaw, cheese and whatever topping you want.  It really is a very, very big burger.

President prior to delivering the rest of the new mattresses in Freetown.  I think he was resting up for the long drive to Liberia the next morning.  We have more snaps to post in the coming days...

More Bo and Freetown Zone snaps

Missionaries--watching Amazing Grace.  We passed around some m&m's, gummi bears and other goodies...it was gone in a matter of seconds !!

The Elders went to a hospital in Freetown and did their Christmas Program for the patients.  It was about an hour program.  The weather was perfect, not too hot or too cold!

 This is the Before:  We ate outside the first evening.  The tables seated 50.  It was starting to get dark in this picture.

This is the After:  We ate spicy rice with chicken and coleslaw plus fried plantains.  We had candles on the tables to see what we were eating!

It had rained a little and it was now pretty humid out.  The food and companionship between the Bo and Freetown Zone was just wonderful!

Gathering everyone together before the big non-competition football (soccer).

Our Trip to Liberia for Christmas 2010

December 20th!  It was very hot and the wind was blowing our Christmas letters all over the place but we got the picture! We sisters cooked and cooked for the two days.  We had sandwiches catered for one of the lunches, made hamburgers and a pasta salad for the other lunch, chicken tettrazeni and Hawaiian haystacks for the two dinners and enjoyed some ice cream with the Senior Couples on the last evening there.  The elders did two service projects: cleaned at a school and sang Christmas Carols at a hospital.

The chief cooks...six hands are better than two!  We had lots of laughs while we were doing the preparations.  Lots of sweat rolled off our faces but some was tears from laughing so hard.  That was a delightful gift for all three of us!  We are all excited because we found a "real" ham in Liberia for our Christmas dinner and canned yams!

Yeow!! Ant bites! Right on my toe next to the big toe! Of course, in the middle of picture taking! I think President is in more pain than me---I'm gripping his knee.!  Elder Hickey and Elder Grabau are full of smiles.  Those little ants really bite hard!  I put some of our son-in-law's "kill all" bacteria sanitizer on it...it stopped swelling and went back to normal.

President during the Christmas skits.  That's Elder Massey and Elder Instiful, the Monrovia Zone Leaders, enjoying the impromptu performance. The first day the elders did the Christmas Singing at the hospital, came back for lunch, skits and gift giving. 

The elders are enjoying lunch after spending the morning cleaning a school with buckets, mops, brushes and lots of soap.  They came back to the Paynesville Chapel to play some soccer and volleyball.  We then showed some movies.

Some of the elders playing volleyball.

And some playing soccer

Elder and Sister Patterson's Stake Young Women sent ties for all the missionaries in the Sierra Leone Freetown Mission.  The Monrovia Zone wanted to show them off!  Thank you Young Women!

December 22nd.  We made some breakfast burritos and grape juice for the road trip back to Bo.  It was preparation day for the Kimballs since we filled Monday with Christmas festivities.  We got on the road about 8:30 a.m.

How many men does it take to tie down the "burrito" on the top of the car?  It was tied down perfectly.  It hardly budged an inch down the bumpity bump road back to Bo.   More pictures to come....

A Clip of Freetown and Bo Zone Christmas Program

December 17, 2010.  We had about 150 people come by invitation to the Freetown and Bo Zone Christmas Program that was held at the Belliar Park chapel.  The missionaries had performed at the hospital the day before. There, the radio station recorded much of it and also interviewed the zone leaders. It was so hard to choose which video to post.  Their voices were really beautful on every hymn and song they sang.

'Tis the Season...

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE FROM THE FREETOWN AND BO ZONES!!

Mattresses and yummy cake,

President wating for the assistants to bring the next load of mattresses.  We are replacing more than half the mattresses in Freetown Zone and also some in the Bo Zone for Christmas.

Unloading the truck...

The Elders will have some better sleep, better health and better inspiration with some new, firm mattresses.  Makes me think of the Princess and the Pea...that was 20 mattresses and 20 featherbeds if I remember the story correctly!

Today was my 60th birthday!  For my birthday, my husband asked the missionaries to take a moment and text me.  All 60 missionaries sent me a happy birthday text with a picture of a cake.  It was about 6:30 a.m. when the texts started rolling in....it is very difficult to put on make-up when the tears keep coming...   It was very thoughtful and I loved it.  Sister Patterson made a delicious angel food cake with whip cream and strawberries. The assistants made me no-bake peanut butter, chocolate, oatmeal cookies.  I also was blessed to talk with my 94 year old mother.  (Obvious point; but I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for her!)  And enjoyed the messages and phone calls from all of our children and singing email card from my brother.  I am so grateful for all the wonderful people in my life.  I am so grateful for the joy the Gospel of Jesus Christ brings. I couldn't be happier!  And, tonight, I will drift away in sleep, counting my many blessings on our own comfortable mattress.



The Next Two Weeks...

This week the Bo Zone comes in by bus to Freetown.  We will have Bo and Freetown Zones for Christmas.  Meaning, for two days, the 15th and 16th, the 40 missionaries will do a Christmas Program (about the Savior's birth and Christmas Carols) at a hospital, play a little soccer, do some skits, watch an appropriate movie at the Mission Home, have hot dogs and fries, testimony meeting, more food and a Christmas Program to perform at the chapel for all new members and anyone else who might be interested.  Then, after sending everyone back to their areas, we will get in the vehicle and drive to Monrovia, Liberia on the morning of the 18th.  We will have Christmas with the Monrovia, Liberia Zone on the 20th and 21st.(All packages and mail will go with us.) They will be doing much of the same thing: service projects, Christmas Program, food, etc.  We should be back in Freetown on the 23rd.  We plan to take lots of pictures and do some posting along the way...

Some of my favorite things...

The Mission Office has a little family of monkeys. Today I ran out and got a quick picture of the daddy.  Sometimes the missionaries see the two little babies; but I haven't yet.  The landscaping is just so lovely thanks to the prior mission president and senior couples over the years.  I really love walking around the large area.

Red sky in the morning, sailors take warning. Red sky at night, sailors delight....Beautiful sunsets in Freetown.

Just had to take a picture of the ravens with their white chests...makes me think of magpies in Montana.

The colors on the Mission Office grounds are so vibrant.

More favorite things:  Family...

Next to the bed: phone, mother, fan, chap stick, flash light when the generator goes off, hand lotion and ear plugs when the dogs outside won't stop barking at 1 a.m.  :-)

more family...

 And my dear husband who spends hours and hours thinking and praying for the welfare of others...how grateful I am for him. I just love him bunches and bunches...

Today's images...

Elder Collier and Elder Lambson coming to the mission office after a long, long trip from their area.  On transport and on what's called "Kissy Road", sometimes the traffic is very, very congested.  They were bringing a gentlemen to meet President Roggia and had started early in the morning finally arriving about 2:30 p.m.  We had just gotten some fresh bread.  We fixed them some bread and jelly with lots of cold water. It tasted very good--since breakfast had been several hours back.  Elder Collier has just a few days left on his mission.  He is from Freetown and will begin college the first week in January. Such good elders....

Our son, Adam, made this for me in shop around the 7th grade or so.  It had a "thumb" but it was lost.  "Hold to the rod, the iron rod, tis strong and bright and true; the iron rod is the word of God; t'wil safely guide us through."  It is above the sink in the kitchen and is one of my familiar "home" things we brought.

 

Mondays and Masters

It was Elder Hickey's (one of our assistants) birthday Monday--today.  Sister Patterson made cinnamon rolls and we put a candle in it.  We forgot to get a picture of the original blow out so he staged another for us! :-)  The Freetown Zone had just finished a preparation morning of soccer.  Everyone came in all sweaty, a little sunburned and red-dirt-y because it was pretty hot today.

Elders Laneri, Bennion, Visser, Adjei, Njaga and Edwuzie still in their preparation-day soccer clothes.  They were glad to come into the air conditioning for a few minutes before they went up the hill to their apartment to get cleaned up for the rest of the day.  It had been a good break and some good exercise.  

Congratulations son Adam on completing your Masters of Science in Sports Conditioning and Performance.  Yay!!! With two little ones, a dear wife and more schooling at the same time, how'd you do it?