Rainy Season and Ramadan are upon us

Here is one of the prettiest Muslim Mosques in Kenema.  June 5th to July 5th is Ramadan this year.  Muslims fast every day during Ramadan from 6:00am to 8:00pm approximately.  Up in the top of those towers there are loudspeakers that really are LOUD.  The first day of Ramadan we had Muslim music and sermons going from 3:00am til 6:00am preparing the Muslims for the upcoming fast. The small mosque a block away from our apartment gave a clear, long, loud call to fast and prayer that first morning.  Really loud.  Since the first day they have been much quieter and not so long but they go every day in the morning from 5:00am to 6:00am and from 7:00pm to 8:00pm in the evening.  I wish I knew Arabic and could understand the sermons.

Traveling back from Kenema one day, we ran across this van on the highway.  This little goat, tied to the top, was standing up while it was going about 60 mph down the road in the rain. He was absolutely drenched and looked very pathetic.









This is a group of sisters at the Bo East District conference in their beautiful outfits.  The women here always dress beautifully and colorfully.  You rarely see a woman wearing pants.  Some of their headdresses are very elaborate and match or coordinate with their dresses and I feel pretty drab next to them.

They thought Elder Sherwood should be in it too.

Jestina had me gutting and scaling these small fish for our cooking lesson this week.  We made meat pies and "King driver" biscuits which are like a shortbread cookie. You can see them in the pan in the picture below ready to go in the oven.

Here is Sister Sherwood in front of her favorite tree at the mission home in Freetown.  The leaves look like a fern and the flowers are stunning and look almost like small orchids.










I loved the leaves on this plant growing under  the tree above.

We had a busy two weeks with District Conference, literacy classes, a trip to Freetown for Mission Leadership Council and Temple Trip preparation meetings where we did training both in Bo and Kenema. We also spent time in Dr. offices and Labs with a sick Elder trying to figure out what was wrong and getting him well again.  We also delivered generator fuel to all nine missionary apartments and a bed, wardrobe, desk and chairs to one of the sister's apartment to prepare for a new sister coming to Bo this week.

Another Two Weeks in Sierra Leone

Good Bye to Good Friends in Africa

These are Elder and Sister Miles with us.  They flew out with us to Sierra Leone in February.  They had been in Ghana on a mission and had gone when their time was over.  They were then asked to come back for 3 months to help start up the Sierra Leone Mission.  We can't believe they are going home already.  They were our next door neighbors while we were in Grafton, before we came to Bo.  We will miss them.  They helped us adjust to life in Africa.

Sister Sherwood Is A Plumber

This is Sister Sherwood's attempt at fixing the leak in the shower until Elder Sherwood could go buy some parts.  When the shower is only a dribble to begin with, it is important not to lose a single drop.

Propane Gas Anyone

We just received 36 medium cans and 4 huge cans for our elders to use for cooking gas in their apartments.  I believe this will last for two years, or at least a year.  Aren't we lucky that we get to store it on our front porch.

From the Top of Leichester Peak Overlooking Freetown

These pictures are taken high above Freetown on the highest peak.  This was where Elder Scott dedicated the country of Sierra Leone for the preaching of the gospel many years ago.  We take our new missionaries up here for the view, a devotional, and a short lunch before we take them to their areas.  You can see the bay, the Atlantic Ocean, and the US Embassy down below, 

Gospel Literacy Comes To Bo East District

This past week we have been working with a couple, Elder and Sister Heckle, from the Africa West Area who are responsible for putting together a program to improve the Gospel Literacy in West Africa.  Another sister Mellissa Hawkley, who helped develop the teaching pattern, was here to help them.  We are starting a trial program in the New England Branch, Bo East District.  2 Instructors have been called, as well as a Literacy specialist in the branch and in the district.  They have materials to last for 2 months.  We will be helping train the teachers and specialists.  The Heckles will come back in two months, review what has happened and begin spreading it out to more branches.  We are really excited about this program and so are the Branch and District leaders as well as those who have been called to implement it.  We spent a week with Elder and Sister Heckle training the priesthood leaders and the people who have been called.  The classes are taught in the Sunday School hour.   Last week we taught all the adults in the 2nd hour to assess how many we would have in the beginning and how many in the intermediate class.  We are now ready to begin next week.

Elder and Sister Heckle

These are our instructors and Sister Heckle

Training the leaders and teachers

Melissa with the beginning class instructors

The Dice Game in Africa

We searched the market for two days trying to find dice so we could play the "Dice Game" with the Heckles and Melissa.  We finally found a vendor who said "Come back tomorrow and I will have the dice for you".  We came back and he did have them.  They were not quite what we expected but they worked.  After all "This is Africa".

How good are your eyes?

Busted again!

Random Shots in Bo, Sierra Leone, West Africa

African Wildlife

Ooh a spider in the bathroom!  About the size of a lime.  The Africans say it is harmless but it is very fast.  And I suppose it does eat the other bugs.

We Are Starting A Garden

Here is a pineapple planted by Brother Marigboi, a member security guard several years ago with the previous missionary couple here in Bo.  It is almost ready to harvest, but not quite ripe yet.  It is planted right outside our bedroom window.  We promised he could harvest since he has been watering it during these dry months.  We just asked him to replant the tops so we can grow another one.  This plant will keep producing fruit year after year.  It has been fun watching it grow from very small when we arrived to a full big pineapple now.  It will be ready in two weeks.

Welcome To The Palava Hut

These are found all over among the local homes.  We might call them a gazebo.  Every village and most neighborhoods have at least one.  A village Palava Hut is where the chief settles disputes between village members or counsel together will people in the village.

This is a more decorative one within a compound.  It is used like a gathering place for family and friends.

Behold the Calabash Tree

The calabash tree has a large nut about the size of a basketball.  It is not a fruit.  We are not aware that they do anything with the nut meat inside.  They cut it in half, clean it out, and it becomes a large mixing bowl.

It is hard to believe the limbs can hold all of these.

The African Candy Sister

Here are some of the many children who come running as soon as they see our truck.  It is amazing how many friends you can have when you have jolly ranchers.

Another Baptism In Bo

Here we are at another Saturday Baptism.  We had several this Saturday.  This was at the Gbondo Town Branch near our apartment.  Unfortunately, they only had two towels for this baptism.  The men share one and the women shared one.  As hot as it is, no body really cared.






























This baptism was in Njaie Town Branch.  It was for the Njaie Town Branch and the Batiama Branch.

A Normal Day In The Market Place

This blue "mannequin" is a real man.  We have been seeing him in various places downtown.  He is an "Advert" (advertisement).  They pay him to be all painted up and stand absolutely still for several hours. People gather around trying to catch him blinking or something.  With the dark glasses you can not tell if he blinks.  He does not move though for up to 2 hours.

A Few Weeks in Bo, Sierra Leone

Here is Sister Sherwood with the neighbor children at one of our Elders apartments.  Where ever we go the children know her because she gives them sweets.  Today, not only the children came but the mother of a couple of the children came to show her new baby.  We are beginning to make friends here.














Each Saturday we try and go to the baptisms that are being held in Bo.  This one was at the Torkpoi Town Branch.  A whole family was baptized this day.  Father, Mother, teenage daughter and 2 primary age sons. It is a challenge to get the baptisms done correctly when there is a water shortage.  There was about 18 inches of water in the font.  The father had to sit down, then lay down flat on his back to get under the water.






Elder Sherwood and Elder Oyebambi were the witnesses at the baptism.  Elder Afonne, next to Elder Sherwood, was calling the names.  The baptisms were performed by a branch member.












Here is Sister Sherrif, wife of the branch president, playing the keyboard for the baptism.  Notice she has a helper on her back.  Her daughter kept trying to reach the keys as her mom played.









Here is another view of the future pianist peeking over her mother's shoulder.  Most mothers here carry their babies on their backs.  It leaves their hands free to do other things like playing the piano.  The babies are happy being right up next to their moms.  It is a great way to do it and it is fun to see the two little feet on each side of the mom as she is walking towards you. They would not think of putting their babies in a baby stroller.  Trying to push a baby stroller through a crowded market would be a disaster.





We do, however, see lots of baby strollers here in Sierra Leone.  This is what they usually look like.  They always have a cooler in them and are selling ice cream bars or frozen yogurt.  This one was selling yogurt.
We tried it.  It was not good.  But it was wet, cold, and refreshing.










Today on the way home from church in Kenema, we decide to explore a side road into the bush. We went for about 4 km and found a beautiful small village.  We can't believe we didn't take a picture of it.  Unlike everything along the highways which is very littered, this village was very clean.  The people kind of shied away from us so we didn't feel comfortable taking a picture.

The forest/jungle along the way was beautiful.











Notice how these trees are lined up.  We see this quite often.  It is clear that they have been planted.  Sometimes very large orchards.









This week was our mission tour by Elder Curtis and his wife.  They are the Africa West Area President and wife.  Here we are with them and President and Sister Clawson at a zone conference in Bo.  It was wonderful.

Baptisms in Bo/Kenema

Cattle Drive

We left our apartment Thursday morning and to our surprise there was about 30 cattle a block away from our place.  We found out later that few cattle are raised in this area of Sierra Leone.  They are raised in the north eastern part of the country.  They are then brought here to be sold and slaughtered for the market places.   These must have been dropped off by the trucks.  This  group had been sold to one of the local butchers and were being taken there.  Notice the guy with a switch.  There were about 6 of them driving the cattle.  Can you see that they are trailing a rope that each of them was tied with?  By the end of the day there was just one lone steer left.

We are assuming that is a "brand" on his side.  Tic-Tac-Toe anyone?  At the market they would slaughter 1 cow at a time.  When the meat was gone they would take the next one.  That way the meat doesn't spoil since there is little to no refrigeration.  

Baptisms On Saturday

In the two Bo districts we had four branches doing baptisms on Saturday.  They were scheduled to be done at 3 different branch chapels so we had to time share to get to all of them.  One of the fonts didn't fill because of lack of water, so we had to help transport people from Torkpoi Town Branch to the New England Branch in the same district. We ended up needing to only go to two instead of three branches. The Bo East district had 8 people baptized.  We were able to take pictures because it was outside.  

The Bo West district had 7 people from two different branches.  They held it at the district center which has an inside font.  The water level was about 1-1/2 foot deep.  It was a challenge for a large man being baptized whose feet kept coming up.  We ended up having him sit down and lay him back to get him fully under the water.  

The Kenema district also had baptisms but we were not able to get there.  We were able to witness one of the confirmations on Sunday in the Burma branch.  This young man was very diligent in trying to learn every thing he could in the Gospel Essentials class. I was very impressed.

We echo the Tibbitts in their last post.  They are in the Ghana MTC and had an area authority speak in their MTC.  Elder Stanfield said "This is Africa's time.'  He repeated that many times.  He said Church Headquarters is so interested in what is happening here as the church is growing so fast.  In the past, it may have been South America's time or Europe's time, but now it's Africa's time.  The church is very young here - only 30 or so years.  Members are going to fill this land."

The people here are so ready to receive the Gospel.  They accept it with their whole hearts.  The members here are so dedicated and are willing to make any sacrifice for the Gospel.  A great sacrifice is required of them if they want to go to the temple and/or go on a mission.  They step up and do it in spite of the sacrifices.

We are so blessed to be here.

Our Missionary Is On His Way

For the past two weeks we have been working with a very special young man from Kenema.  We met him first at the missionaries apartment where he was a security guard and a branch missionary.  We visited with him for about an hour while we waited for the missionaries to get home.

He had put in his papers to go on a mission over two years ago.  When ebola closed the country, and the mission president left Sierra Leone, his papers stayed in the mission home and were never processed.  If they had been processed he couldn't have gone because the country was closed.
President and Sister Clawson found the paper work when they reopened the mission home.  He has since received his call to go to Nigeria, Lagos mission. The one in the white shirt is Felix Kennah

Felix was born in Liberia.  When he was 4 years old his mother and father were killed by rebels when their village was overrun.  The lady in blue, behind him was his next door neighbor.  When she saw his parents dead, she scooped him up as she ran to escape.  He was put on an ambulance and taken to Sierra Leone.  Another lady in Sierra Leone raised him.  This lady ended up in a refugee camp south of Bo for refugees waiting to be resettled in Europe or the US.  They have lived there for over 20 years.  Felix credits her with saving his life.


We picked Felix up a week ago, last Sunday morning after church and brought him to Bo.  We were taking him to the mission home on Monday so he could fly to the Ghana MTC on Thursday.  He asked us if we would take him to this family that saved his life.  We were happy to be able to meet them.  His "brother" in this picture is making thatch sheets from bamboo leaves that are placed on the roofs like shingles to water proof the house.


We spent about an hour with this good family in the refugee camp
and took pictures so that Felix could have pictures of his "Family" while he was on his mission.  We laminated two copies of the pictures and took a copy back to the family after Felix was gone.  Two years ago, with the assistance of a missionary couople, he was able to interview her and get information about his parents, names, birth and death dates, that would enable him to do the work for them in the temple and be sealed to them.  Felix has since left Freetown and is in his training at the MTC in Accra Ghana.  He is taking out his endowments this week in the Ghana Temple.

Here is Felix with our good friend Loel Tibbitts.  He and his wife Paula are serving in the MTC in Accra.  They are from our ward in Provo.

They are making sure that all the documentation is in order for Felix to be sealed next week to his parents.  We were grateful to be able to send Felix to the Tibbitts and know they would take care of him.

On a little more somber note.  Sister Sherwood and I went exploring north of Bo this afternoon.  We discovered a very large cemetery that has been around over a hundred years.  We decided to drive through it when we found a very new section that had a sign indicating "Safe and Respectful Burials".  As we looked at all the markers that were in this section there were two versions.  One for Christians and one for Muslims.  They were all the same except the blanks were filled in.  We then noticed that all the dates were 2014 and 2015.  It struck us that all of these were deaths due to ebola.  There were hundreds and hundreds of them.  

Here is one for a Muslim.  Notice the age on this one.  We saw another one that was 1 month old.  And everything in between.

Here is one for a Christian.

Notice how they go on forever.  What a burden and trial this county has gone through.  They say there is not a single person in Bo who did not lose a family member or friend to this disease.  It was devastating.

But what a blessing that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is flourishing.  Members here are strong in their testimonies of Jesus Christ.  The atonement of Jesus Christ is the answer to all of life's pains and sorrows and unfairness.  God loves all His children.  Because Christ was resurrected, all will be resurrected and have the opportunity to come back to Him.  Of this we testify.