Lion Park and playing with cubs and Happy Birthday!

                We got to play with 6 lion cubs! We are now referred to as, "Daniel and Danielle in the lions den!" Maybe Tarzan and Jane?                                                                      Saturday, after a busy morning of youth conference set up and solving our power outage issues, we decided to go check out the Lion Park about 30 minutes from Harare. We didn't realize there was also a nice game park you drove through yourselves. I love taking photos of the animals and it's a fun game watching intently to see the first animal in the wild. Bruce always spots his "spirit animal" or giraffes, even though they were hidden in the trees and almost camouflaged. I didn't realize how much their brown spots and light coats blend into the trees. Can you spy the giraffe's head sticking out behind the rock?

Kudus and zebra in the game park

The landscape was really beautiful at this game park. We loved the large boulders and umbrella trees surrounding the views. We loved exploring and seeing 3 lions in the fenced-in drive; yet still in their natural habitat. We loved seeing this majestic beauty with his mane and nonchalant attitude.

Only in Africa!

Beautiful African skies and sunsets!

We took the chance for an extra $10.00 each to play with the lion cubs! There were 6 cubs about 6 months old; we got to pet and take photos with them. It was quite a joy to play with them. Their fur was a little coarser than we expected. The guards gave us sticks to keep them in line. We only got bit at a few times in playful jests.

Look at these cute little "kitties" MEOW!

They're forming their own pride then they'll be let out into the game park where they'll be protected.

We had to take a photo of this cute family in matching clothes; they matched the white lions behind them. The white lions are from Kruger National Park, in South Africa. They almost became extinct until there was a conservation effort. These two white lions have been in captivity and are about 18 years old. They are not albinos because they have pigmentation in their eyes etc. Their white furs were astounding.

A few more lions in captivity but well-fed!

We always make a list of all the animals we see at game parks. On this trip, we saw: giraffes, lions, baboons, vervet monkeys, wolves, hyenas, jackal, rock rabbits, crocodile (caged), camel, ostrich, impala and kudu, wart hogs, guinea fowl, a great parrot, and zebras. Some of these were in cages in captivity; it's always more exciting to see them in the wild and spot them!

Along the road to the game park, we see the humble surroundings of life in Africa. We love this typical scene below of strong Zimbabwean women carrying 50 lb. buckets of water on their heads. They collect at the pump or borehole as their only water source. The women are amazing! As my mission leader, Sister Judd puts it, "The strength, capacity, and grit of a Zimbabwean mother inspires me to embrace each day with more gratitude, humility, and faith in a Heavenly Father, who counts every tear." Julene Judd has an absolutely beautiful way of articulating things! You should hear her give her remarkable talks on the fly! She is an inspiration of her own! 

 This is a typical dirt road in Zimbabwe; although there are paved roads; few without potholes! 

Here's an amazing mother, Jennifer walks to church every Sunday from her "shanty town" with 3 children. She carries her little 1 & 2-year-old toddlers the whole way. She faithfully comes every week. I was amazed she showed up to our stake conference, a 2-hour walk, just a bit late a few weeks ago. We wished we could give her a ride; mission rules won't allow us to offer rides due to church insurance.

A very happy birthday of celebrating on August 4th to Benjamin, my 34-year-old son, Lisa Johnson, my

 60-year-old best friend, and Pres. Gary Judd's 60th, our mission president. We celebrated Pres. Judd's birthday with a nice dinner at the Judd's catered by Pistachio's restaurant. I offered to pick up the food for the Judds. The missionaries also made a fun birthday video of "impersonating" Pres. Judd. I texted all the missionaries and collected the clips. I put together a PowerPoint slide show, but Elder Calvin Scott, our social media elder, took his expertise and magic and made an even better Adobe movie maker video. He shortened the clips and mixed them up putting them to music making it so fun. Bruce and I bought Elder Clark and Gilbert pizza Friday night for making the best video impersonation. We surprised Pres. Judd and showed it during our Friday devotional to the whole mission. We all had some good laughs. Of course, we can't really impersonate the amazing love of Pres. Judd has for all his missionaries and his leadership, strength, unwavering faith, and testimony of our Saviour.

  Happy Birthday, Pres. Judd, Ben, and Lisa are all born on August 4th!

Fun to gather with seniors and friends to celebrate Pres. Judd's 60th!

Pres. and Sister Judd invited all the seniors and his counselors to a nice birthday celebration.

As Sister Judd so eloquently says, "One thing we have learned from our African friends, is that every day of life is a gift. So we celebrated Gary’s 60th birthday with our Zimbabwean family. We felt such joy and gratitude for our dear friends and for our mission. A highlight was a spontaneous gathering around the piano to sing hymns…after the traditional Zimbabwean birthday song! Happy birthday, dear president!"

I love the way Sister Judd puts everything in beautiful sentences!

Judds also invited us over for Sunday dinner with the missionaries. We always love to be around all the missionaries with their amazing spirits and testimonies. These are some of our favorites along with the assistants. We think Zimbabwe has the cream of the crop! 2023.08.05