A-Z: Andersons in Zimbabwe: April 2023

Big Al, Gemma, and Polo-cross with R.S. Presentation

We enjoyed another polo-cross game with the Gibsons. Alistair and Gemma Gibson, Zimbabweans, have been so thoughtful to invite us to watch them play. This was a tournament at Haka Park, 2023.04.28

Thursday night we all went to Victoria 22, a very nice restaurant, in our neighborhood in Highlands. Alistair and Gemma know the chef and meet us for a culinary experience. We had delicious "tapas" which we shared and got a taste of many menu items. Delicious food and very gourmet. Gemma gave me some Shona pronunciation tips. They were fun to talk to and get to know better. Alistair helped install the polycrete on the temple for his company. He seems to be a jack of all trades and has lots of side "gigs". He also smokes meat and barbecues, which he sells at the Stable market on Saturdays. He's given us all kinds of advice for Zimbabwe.

Saturday, April 29th, I was able to give another temple presentation to the stake Relief Society presidencies. I gave a 30-minute PowerPoint trying to help the sisters prepare to attend the temple and put the temple in their hearts. All my technology worked well since I have everything downloaded and we were in a school classroom. Unfortunately, Sister Warne, couldn't complete her presentation on family history without the Internet. You always need a backup plan in Africa!

Harare, Zimbabwe Stake Relief Society, Sister Janice Bell (Pres.) in middle, 2023.04.29

We had a nice catered luncheon of traditional sadza, rice, covo, and beef; no chicken feet this time!

I showed 3 short videos in my temple presentation. The temple timeline shows temples being built around the world. I never tire of seeing it and the sisters loved it! We all cheer when the African temples light up. They light up like stars until the whole earth is covered with light! Temples bring such light into the world because the temple points to Christ and Jesus Christ is the light of the world!

My brother Tom Boud and his wife, Meg, own a cabin up by Brighton in Big Cottonwood Canyon. Utah ski resorts made it to almost 900 inches this year. We saw a record snowfall in Utah this year. We are praying for our friends and neighbors not to get flooded once we have a Spring thaw. Look at all this snow!

My brother, Tom's cabin, up Brighton Canyon, March 2023

Our home in Mendon, right before we left end of February 2023

We love the sister missionaries, who help us pick up litter every Monday in front of the temple site. This is Sister Mbabazi and Sister Treese; they are amazing. Besides teaching our friends, Agnes and David, they come every week to help. We had them for dinner on Sunday to show them our appreciation. 2023.05.01

There are "poinsettia" trees blooming all over! I love their beautiful red blossoms. I thought poinsettias were only flowers like bushes we buy at Christmas time.

Family: Dr. Ian Anderson Ph.D, Aria's 2nd Birthday, & "There is Peace in Christ"

Congrats to my son, Ian Anderson, for successfully defending his dissertation for his Ph.D. in University Administration. He is now officially Dr. Anderson. I always wanted a doctor in the family! We are so proud of him, He'll be graduating in mid-May at Virginia Tech. Go Hokies! He has worked so hard for this, over 10 years. So PROUD!!! 2023.04.26

My Mommy, Elise, threw me a wonderful "2" year old birthday party!

"All my aunts and uncles, and daddy's parents came. We had a bounce house and puppy "paw"ty!

The happiest birthday wishes to our sweet granddaughter, Aria. She turned "2" without us! How do we keep them from growing up so fast? It's hard to be a "Go-Go" (grandma in Shona, somehow I think it fits me well) and be so far away from my loved ones. Wednesday, April 26th, was Aria's 2nd birthday. The week before she was very sick with a stomach virus and ended up back in Primary Children's Hospital for 2 days. When she gets sick, it's hard to control her blood sugars with her Type 1 Diabetes. Elise and Nick are such wonderful parents. Elise has everything on a strict schedule, including every carbohydrate and insulin dose Aria needs. Aria is so blessed to be born into this family. I feel bad, Elise is exhausted sometimes and I can't lend a hand. Elise is becoming a great "nurse" mom after all. Aria is beyond her years, so happy, full of patience, and endures so much well. I miss her! Look at her sweet "fanny pack" insulin pump and Dexacom. We are so grateful for modern medicine and insurance to help with her diabetic needs and stabilization. 2023.04.26
All my kiddos got together for Aria's birthday party (except William in Virginia). 2023.04.28

William and Elisa's family did the musical number at church last Sunday, "There is peace in Christ". We loved watching the recorded video clip over and over. Although they definitely had the "wiggles", we find peace in knowing what wonderful parents all our married children are. We love all our grandchildren and are so proud of their parents. There is no better "payback" than to watch them be such amazing parents to our grandchildren. 2023.04.23

We had the senior missionaries over for F.H.E. "Come Follow Me" lesson and taught Matthew 18 and Luke 10, "Love thy neighbor". We had to show everyone our grandchildren singing and we all had great enjoyment from it. Our neighbor, Leo, brought freshly baked pound cake over so we asked if she wanted to join us. It was great to have her in our home. We invited her to come for pro-golf lessons last Saturday with Reeve & Lolly and she loved it.

Golf Lessons with Lolly and Reeve, Leo joined us (far right) 2023.04.22

We had another great meeting and dinner with Anton Fourie, our director, and Roger Platt, one of the temple architects. It's always great to pick them up at the airport. They fly in once a month from Johannesburg. They always have great advice and suggestions. Anton came and learned pickleball with us early Wednesday morning. I think he's hooked!

Saturday, April 29th, Lottie presented another temple presentation to the stake Relief Society sisters. We met at Hellenic Primary School for the program and luncheon. Sister Bell, the stake R.S. president organized this meeting and invited us to help teach the presidencies of each ward and branch. It was a wonderful leadership conference. Sister Warne talked about family history and I helped to put the heart of the temple in these members.

"Rotten Row" and Wedding Plans

"Rotten Row", the street is really named that! We loved seeing the sales going on with a bustle of business transactions, bright colors, and happy chatter. 2023.04.26

We ended up driving on "Rotten Row" trying to find a printing store that made us business cards. It was an adventure in and of itself. We love watching the people happily visit and shop. I love seeing what the African women carry on their heads: buckets, suitcases, water, a sack of potatoes, and my favorite so far was 7.5 dozen eggs with no hands! Wow, that's confidence! I tried to get a quick photo while driving so it didn't turn out very clearly.

Now that's confidence! 7.5 dozen eggs without hands!

Apostolics, worship in white and gather outside

Fresh fruit, brooms, and hardware shops along "Rotten Row", 2023.04.26

We held our second week of 10-minute devotionals, during the temple site worker's breaks at 10:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. We had 6 the first week and 10 attend the second. We showed the video of Joseph Smith's First Vision. Edward asked sincerely, "Is this real?" We told him he would have to pray and ask God, only He could let him know the truth through the power of the Holy Ghost. We bore testimony that we knew it was true and how to feel the Spirit. It's amazing how much love we feel for these people! They are so faithful and willing to hear the gospel.

We fasted and prayed Sunday for Agnes and David, hoping they could get their marriage license finalized so they could get baptized on May 14th. Agnes told me when Dave went into the court they scheduled them for June. She mentioned he would try the new court in Epworth, where they hoped they could get in sooner to obtain their license. We told her we would fast for them Sunday. On Monday, David went to Epworth and they scheduled an appointment for May 3rd! Our prayers were answered! Agnes was so gracious in blessing us for our efforts. Agnes was at the worker's lunch with all the Rio Douro employees and they were all talking about how neat the church is. She exclaimed proudly, she was getting baptized! She came and told me and I told her she'll be a great missionary to her friends and fellow workers. She said she wanted to be just like me. I told her I wanted to be like her, so full of faith!

Look how stunning Agnes looks in white! Lolly was able to find a wedding dress to loan her. It fits perfectly! 2023.04.27

We've been invited to come to witness Agnes and David's wedding ceremony and I offered to take photos. I'm not a professional but the church loaned me a nice Canon camera. I'm excited to see the future day when she'll be dressed in white, her baptism! I also told her to look forward to being sealed in the temple for time and all eternity when the temple's completed.

Worms and Chicken Feet with a little Culture

Dare we try a chicken foot! Not too appetizing!

Dinner at Langton & Primrose's was a night to remember! Langton fed us mopane worms & chicken feet. He got quite a kick at our American reactions, but we gave it a try!

We actually tried a mopane worm, very tough and chewy!

Primrose, Langton, Benji, and Jordan 2023.04.22

An LDS member invited us over to dinner on Saturday. Langton works at the mission office and is quite a character. He likes to "initiate" all new missionaries to be true Zimbabweans and try traditional Shona food. He has served in the stake presidency. It was fun to meet his family and be invited to dinner; even though I choked down 1/4 of a mopane worm and a little taste of the pad of a chicken foot. The claws were still on it! Not too appetizing. We got a birthday cake to make up for it for their son, Benjamin's birthday. Penrose is the Relief Society president in their ward. She was so sweet to have us over.

Sister Turley and Sister Warne, both P.H.D.s who taught Linguistics and English. Sister Warne is over family history and Sister Turley teaches English Connect. Only Sister Warne was brave enough to eat a mopane worm. She popped the whole thing in her mouth!

Benji's birthday cake was delicious, especially after the worms!

Chicken feet (above), sadza (corn mash), Covo (green relish with peanut butter), Mopane worms, and Madora. Yum! We had to try a traditional Shona meal to be initiated into Zimbabwe culture.

Elder Cliff & Sister Tondi King were able to get clothes donated to help this sweet sister in our ward. Sister Mai Kupa Pahuwa (Jennifer) walks an hour to church faithfully with her 11-year-old daughter, Kupa, and the 2 younger girls (ages 1 & 2) strapped on her back. She was the first member we met and showed me how to wrap a baby African style. Lolly was able to donate a number of donated dresses, blankets, coats, shoes, toiletries, etc. to make their life a bit easier. The Kings made sure they knew the real source of the gifts was from God. Thank you to everyone that donates clothing to the people of Africa. Even bundles of clothes that come from the USA, get bid on and then resold by the people to help stimulate their economy.

Saturday we went to the National Zimbabwe Museum with Sister Turley and Warne. We got a little culture and enjoyed the art exhibits. It was fun to go downtown, the "CBD", as they call it: Central Business District in Harare. That night we went to Langton's home for dinner to initiate the "greenies!"