A Quick Tour of Kruger National Park ZA

OK Everybody!! Let's start looking for animals.


Waldo says, "Can you see the lion??"


Everybody thinks that they are so cute - but Zebras have an attitude. A really bad attitude!!


We saw this Hyena and her pup early in the morning and then late in the evening in the same place by the side of the road. One of them must have been sick.


I could use one of these tall guys in the kitchen to reach the upper cabinets.


Big Dude - a Kudu laying on the side of a hill.



A beast of the jungle, hiding in the trees waiting to pounce!


A rare siting! A klipspringer precariously perched.

If The Animals Could Talk

Chili Pepper Lodge - Kruger Park

Here's where we stayed for five days over Christmas. Just outside of the village of Hazyview which is just 10 kilometers from Kruger Park.



The courtyard - looking out from our room.


The pool


The Hippo pond


A side view of the Hippo pond


A friend who sat beside us at the pool. Look closely and you'll see he has a few battle scars on his back.


The Pillay family who befriended us and helped us get through a lonely Christmas day.

A cute anecdote about young Dylan. The previous day he and his family went to a National Park area called God's Window. It is a setting on the top of a small mountain that looks out over a jungle/bush valley. It is nice but nothing compared to some of the great vistas that we have at home. All the way to this scenic spot young Dylan had ideas of this great window that maybe looked at God or from where God looked at us. When he got there, he had one look at the vista and said very loudly - "If this is God's Window, it's pathetic!!" He got a lot of laughs from the nearby tourists who overheard his comment.

The Church in Africa (Nigeria)

Here is an article in a recent Washington Post publication that is a fairly decent view of the Church in Africa. Here's the link: (I hope this works!!)

Washington Post

The Wonderful Saints of the Congo

Mission Home in the Congo

Yep! Those are bullet holes!!
Most of the glass has been replaced except for the previous shown large panes. But as you can see it was shot up pretty badly.

Who us afraid? We can sleep where ever we are!!

Aren't We Just Too Cute!

Merry Christmas To You All

Dear Family and Friends,

The Christmas season is here as it is all around the world. It doesn't feel like Christmas time in South Africa though, due to the warm weather. At the time of this writing it is 27 degrees in Pleasant Grove and 75 degrees here. We think we can stand the weather but sure do miss you all and spending the holidays with you, our family and friends.

The Lord is blessing Africa in so many ways, preparing the Saints for the wonders He can perform, and has promised that He will perform to these humble and kind people. We could see how the gospel had grown in this country before we left Africa the last time, but since then it seems to have accelerated at break neck speed. We can see in the future new temples being built as the people dedicate themselves completely and can support more temples in this country. We won't see it but the day will come and all here will be blessed.

We are only a small part of the Lord's work here but we have found that as small and simple as our contribution is, it is sorely needed as the number of Senior Couples seem to diminish. There is so much work to be done in so many areas and so few to do it. It is a blessing to serve and we are grateful for the opportunity and the joy this mission brings. The Lord has truly blessed us and we are touched by his kindness and mercy.

As we ponder our Savior and His birth we need to re-dedicate ourselves to be the best people that we were foreordained to be. Our eternal lives are dependent on what we do today, tomorrow and forever. In God's gift to the world, His beloved son, we with gratitude, celebrate the giver and the gift. Kindness, service, humility, forgiveness and mercy are only a few of the attributes that we have inherited from our Heavenly Father, within us we have these traits which the world desperately needs.

We send our love and will be missing you, have some turkey for us and some pumpkin pie YUM!
Love,
Elder and Sister Taylor (Jan and Bob)

Connie's Wedding

First to explain. Connie is the niece of the Shongwes. The Shongwe have the two children Lillian and Jared (whose pictures follow). Some of our grandchildren have corresponded with them as penpals.


This wedding took place on Saturday, Dec. 8th. By South African law young couples in the Church must get married civily outside the Temple before they can get married in the Temple. So they were married first by the Bishop at their chapel and then left for the Temple and then returned for the reception. We attended only the morning chapel wedding as we had another engagement later in the day. (We went to see the musical "The Lion King" - which was totally awesome!!)



(L to R) Constance, Terrence, Elizabeth and George. This was after the ceremony and getting ready to sign the marriage documents.
Leaving the chapel after the ceremony, amidst bubbles and flower petals. Friends and family singing and dancing after the local customs.

Elizabeth made the wedding gown and all the bridesmaid's dresses. She also made the dresses of the flower girls and the matching cumberbunds for the boys.

Tana

Antananarivo known locally as "Tana" maybe the Malagasy have trouble pronouncing their long names too!

Would you like an Internet connection with that tire change?
The future of the Church in Madagascar.

Our chapels maybe the nicest buildings in the country!!

So, Is a Washing Machine a Neccessity?

A mystery of the ages! How can clothes get clean and especially shirts get white in muddy water? And further, how do they stay clean if you lay them out to dry on a mud bank?

Lemurs of Madagascar

Lemurs survive only on the island of Madagascar off the southeast coast of Africa in the Indian Ocean, and on the neighboring Comoros islands. The various species of lemurs can be found in habitats as different as the lush, wet, rainforest of eastern Madagascar and the very dry spiny desert in the southwest.
Physical Description Lemurs are primates. The species living today are small to medium-size mammals ranging from the smallest of all primates, the tiny pygmy mouse lemur (Microcebus myoxinus), which weighs only 30 grams (1 ounce), to the largest lemurs, the indri (Indri indri) and the diademed sifaka (Propithecus diadema diadema), which weigh slightly over 7 kg (15 pounds) and can reach 4 feet (1.2 m) tall.
Lemurs like all, primates have binocular vision and grasping hands. However, unlike most other primates, lemurs and other prosimians have a rhinarium, a moist, very sensitive nose.
With the exception of the indri, lemurs have long furry tails. They use these tails for balance when leaping through the forest canopy, but unlike some New World monkeys, these tails are not prehensile, and lemurs cannot hang from them.

Some Madagascar Laughs

Madagascar City Scenes

A "deux chevaux" common in France in the 1950's now retired to Madagascar to become taxis. Easy to fix with "baling wire and chewing gum"!


Need to get your haircut? Looks like there's no waiting in some of these shops!

So you think traffic is a problem where you live!