Our Mission in Ethiopia


Friday, January 30, 2015

Our LAST breakfast with two of our elders,
Elder Burdick and Elder Clement
on the last p-day we were in Debre Zeyit.
(Elder Napier and Elder Nzime were in Addis
working on visas and work permits.)


Our last day in Adddis Ababa…. had to snap a 
picture of the NEW fence along the light rail!
It is nearing completion in one section by Holy City!


Lunch with Elder and Sister Moses and our last mix-eds
in Ethiopia…. We will MISS them!  (The Moses' AND the mix-ups!)


Saying goodbye to Eyob, Mesi and cute Daisy
in Meganagna
What an AWESOME couple!!


Our last visit to FUJI PHOTO 
We had to get a picture of our friends there.
I went there a LOT to make prints for the members. 


Aregu, a non-member at our Youth and YSA Conference,
was baptized just before we left!  What a happy day!
Elder Burdick baptized him.  He and Elder Payne taught him.


Relatives of Dak and Nhial, two new converts in our
Debre Zeyit Branch from South Sudan
These kids are SO excited about the Church!!  


It was SO hard saying good-bye to Tariku and to the great
elders in Meganagna that we have grown to love!

(Elder Severe is in the sunglasses.)

We got to say good-bye our last afternoon in Ethiopia and visit
with our cute elders there.  We flew home that night….


Elder Dramadri, Elder Taylor and Elder Williamson (ZLs), Elder Mair and Elder Workman
Kalkidan in the red shirt left on his mission the week after we got home!  We taught him in 
institute during the summer when we lived in Addis Ababa and worked at the mission office!



We left Addis Ababa at 11:40 p.m. on Tuesday, January 27th, flew to Frankfurt,
Germany, then to Los Angeles and arrived in Phoenix on Wednesday, January 28th
at 6:34 p.m. !!  What a FUN reunion it was with our family!!!!!



We LOVED seeing ALL of our darling grandkids and the fun signs Jamie made!!


This was taken before we got there…. All of our grandkids in order of age!
Ages: 17, 16, 16, 15, 15, 15 (by ONE day), 13, 13, 12, 11, 11, 11, 11, 10, 9, 9, 8, 6, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2!




We're home!!!!!!!!!!







Our kids

Our kids and their spouses

Our grandkids

We had a private room at Tia Rosa 
for dinner!  Yum!!  Ü


It is GREAT to be home!! 
What a WONDERFUL 18 months!!
We LOVED our mission and will ALWAYS 
remember our friends in Ethiopia.  They have changed our lives forever!


Friday, January 23, 2015

Timkat, the biggest holy day in Ethiopia was Sunday, Monday
and Tuesday (Jan. 18-20). We drove home on Sunday just in
time to see the procession….  It is in celebration of Jesus' Baptism.



Everyone dressed in traditional clothing and even the
varies were decorated!






We stopped and ate at the Indian Restaurant in Debre Zeyit
on Saturday night.  This is Krisna from India, our friend and
the owner of the restaurant.

We took our elders to lunch on Elder Payne's
LAST day in Debre Zeyit before he flew home.
(L-R):  Elder Napier, Elder Workman, Elder Payne
and Elder Burdick

Elder Workman and Elder Payne walking down
the road from their house on his last day...

We welcomed our NEW elders to Debre Zeyit ~ Elder Nzime sitting 
and Elder Clement on the right ~  and said goodbye to Elder Payne
on the left.




We drove to Addis on Wednesday, Jan. 21st to pick up Bob
and Martha from the airport for their ONE DAY stay in Ethiopia!
We stopped by the Meganagna building and they were having 
mutual, playing a card game with Sister Moses.




We met Bro. Jackson's son at the Meganagna building to get a 
painting (the LAST one he did) to take home.  Bro. Jackson
was from the Congo and taught Gospel Doctrine in Meganagna
Branch but passed away a few weeks ago…. We were afraid
it was too late to ever get one of his paintings.


Bob and Martha got in around 9:00 p.m. and we visited at the SIDRA
where we stayed overnight.  Then after breakfast, we drove to  Debre Zeyit
to show them where we have lived and worked for 13 months!



We took them to the Kuriftu Resort  on Lake Kuriftu, for lunch, 
then stopped at the Pyramid Hotel on Lake Bishoftu to show them another lake.







Rick and Carla returned from way down in Southern Ethiopia and came
to the hotel to visit at 5:00 p.m. so we got a picture of all of us.  (It only
took about 12 shots to get a GOOD one!! Haha!!)
Then we all went in a van to the Habesha 2000 cultural restaurant
near Edna Mall.  It was an AWESOME show and we had traditional
food too.  This is the outside of the building ~ St. George Church in
Lalibela and King Fasiledes' Castle!


I got mostly video of the dancers and singers.

Our enjera, with the wats and tibs….







One last picture of me with my two brothers before we went to bed….
(Ray passed away 8 years ago the day before, Jan. 21st.)




Sunday, January 18, 2015

Here are more photos from the branch activity on Saturday, January 17th, and also from Tigist's 20th birthday celebration on Sunday, 18th, and the beginning of TIMKAT late that afternoon on our way home.

Fasika (Primary Pres. on my left) and Marta (Primary Couselor)
with Tutu and Tigist, Marta's sisters and Amen, her little boy

 



Tesfaye, Bob's good buddy and Marta's husband


The kind of dress that Ethiopian women
wear around the house 
(A gift from the Relief Society)

Bob's shoes that go with his traditional outfit,
a gift from the branch


My "netela" (traditional scarf) that the
Relief Society gave me along with pretty blue
earrings, necklace, ring, and bracelet!
(A "selfie" with my iPad)


"Cookies" for dessert at Tigist's party ~ deep-fried with green 
cabbage, carrots and onions inside

Tigist and her dad Ayele, the first member in 
Debre Zeyit, first Branch President and first
District President.


Ayele and his wife, Belaynesh with their grandson


Tutu, Tigist and Salem with Euale

The girls instructing me on how to wear my 
new netela….





Tigist's brother gave them a sheep after Christmas
so it was tied to the front porch.


American birthday cake and Ethiopian birthday dabo



The BIRTHDAY GIRL

Elder Wold making sure the gorilla was 
in on the celebration….


Tigist and her friends

Blowing out all 20 candles!


Showing us some Ethiopian traditional dancing….





On the way home to our house, we got to our street JUST in time
to take some video of the procession for TIMKAT with hundreds
of other people!




Every town you see has flags up across the streets 
for Timkat this week