Feb 16th

We have been in Uganda for a week and the time has flown. We are adjusting to the humiity. I have found it very easy to adjust to the culture the people are so wonderful and people all over the world are the same. I have loved the children spending hours catching butterflies and seeing amazing birds, playing tennis, basketball, football (soccer). I have loved gathering at night and reading scriptures the Stake President here has asked that each member in Uganda read five pages a day. It has been a blessing to us. Even has the electricity goes on and off each night. The children feel like they are in the olden days but the are so happy with the simplicity of this life. Walking half a mile to get drinking water. Walking into town (about a mile and a half) to get groceries and then carrying bags back up hills.
Church was so wonderful. I feel the strength of these members. A sweet sister took off her hand made beads and gave them to me. We went to church today and what a great experience. The members are so sweet. We were all sustained Tim Sunday School President, I am in the Primary, Cariel the ward organist, Liza the beehive Advisor, Mckay Primary greeter, Hannah Primary greeter. They even sustained Mckay and Hannah so tender. After church had a leadership meeting for 2 and half hours and in the middle they brought out bananas and water. The bishop stood up at the end of the meeting and asked if we cared if we went for another hour (he was just joking) and one sister said as long as you have another banana. They are faithful sweet saints. After the leadership conference I was sustained to my calling and that was such tender experience as four Black Melkezidek Priesthood holders laied their hands on my head and set me apart. I still remember the day when the Blacks received the Priesthood. Very special moment in my life. Eric went with the Elders all day yesterday 9am -9pm and came home and told us about his day. So fun to have him share. On that night we had Grace and Davis over to visit. She works on campus and they brought their little baby to show us. They stayed for over 2 hours very typical Uganda. They told us about the marriage process here. The man has to take cows to the bride family very similar to Jonny Lingo. It is very expensive and hard to do. The young men in the ward hate it.
On Monday we had a Sister Julie over for FHE She has just started a small business of raising chickens. Two months ago she bought 200 baby chicks and put them in her garage to raise then to sell. She had been taking a class at the church to help people earn a living. A month into the project her chicks became very sick and she thought that she would lose them all. She didn’t know what to do so she put the Book of Mormon in by the chicks because she knew that the book had power. She says it was a miracle because she only lost 5. The faith of this sweet sister has changed my life.
The elections are this week and some are frightened and others not worried they just all pray for peace. Elections here are very big. Last week was on campus elections and there was noise from 6 in the morning until 3 at night. They take their elections seriously.
We went into town to visit the Bishop’s wife and new baby. On the way there was a parade for elections and so we were clapping and cheering them on and then all of the sudden there was fire. I quess the opposing side was there too. The new baby so so cute and little. The home very small and they wash the dishes outside. It reminded me of my mission in Korea 25 years ago. She talked about being the first mormon on the UCU and how the professor could not believe that she was a mormon because they were not allowed on campus. She was the top relgion student and gave the Ensign and told hime that this is where she got all of her answers. I am grateful for her example because I do not believe that we would be here if it ahs not been for her. She also told us about her mother has not seen her baby because if the son-in-law is at home the mother-in-law cannot be in the same room. Some silly tradition.
Eric has been out with the missionaries and comes home and tells about each days experience so fun together as a family and hear those.
Feb 16th
Went into Kampala today with Rosie a mother who had to pick up her children from school there. Traffic was terrible and no order at all. She has told me about the policemen here and them pulling you over for no reason at all and how much she hated that. We went to Shoprite and I bought lots of things food, bowls. Drying rack ect. Then went to the school to pick up the children darling little school. Then headed home and we saw three people on the side of the road in white clothes and tone had his arm up. It was a policeman and that is how they pull you over. He looked at the car and said that the tire was low. There is a lot of corruption and he wanted a bribe so he would let her go. She said that she was a Christian and worked at UCU and he let her go. They know that Christians do not do bribes so he was not getting any money. Police here only make 120,000 schillings a month(24 dollars a month) so they make more money by bribes.

Travel

We left Brigham City at about 5a.m. to head for the airport. My dad drove us up we unlo aded everything and that was a lot of stuff. We checked in very easily and everything was so smooth.  When dad got back home there were 2 in of snow. What a blessing to have not had snow to the airport. We went to Dallas and were there for about 4 hours. We got chicken nuggets and the children played at the mcdonalds play area there. Then we loaded the airplane and were off to London. I had not been sleeping and having some hard time with all the stress. I did not sleep well on the plane but felt great peace( Tim had given me a blessing that would go well on the flight) When we got off the plane we very nicely went through customs. I realized that our cell phones would not work and so when we went through the doors and Tim was waiting for us it was heaven to see him. I was so relieved and finally to be together and know that we would not be apart again. We then got our rent a car and headed for Stone hedge and then on to Stratford upon Avon and went to Shakspeare’s home and the children walked in the plaza and saw a juggler with a bunny. Then we went Oxford and then to preston and checked in the temple and the children ran to do baptisms in ten minutes because they only do baptisms just two nights and we would not be there on the other night. We were blessed to be there just in time. Then the next day we went to some of the sights the place where the first converts ran across the bridge to be the first ones to be baptized and we ran across the bridge as a family. Such a fun memory. We saw where the market where the missionaries preach and also president Hinkley. We then went to the home where President Hinckley got the letter from his father that stated to forget yourselves and go to work. It was very nice to see the sights and related the missionary experiences. Then we went to Chatburn and then to Donham and rode the  mile in the fields full of sheep and the beautiful country side. I loved Preston and the feeling of being out in the villages We went to the temple a lot and loved that. The housing was great the girls slept in one room and the boys slept in another. It was so peaceful and the spirit was there. The next morning Tim ans Eric went to the temple early and then we went to Cambridge waked around and got some soup and bread. Thenwe headed

Italy

We flew to Milan it was a short flight and then we drove to the Milan square and saw the incredible church there and ate pizza. We watched the people and enjoyed that moment. Then we drove to Verona and pulled up to a place that looked like a dump and I was worried as Tim walked in but once we got inside it was a darling bed and breakfast We had two rooms on the 5^th floor. Hannah did not like the bath room down the hall. The children loved the elevator (very old fashion) and the breakfast was great. We met a man from Sweden who son had lived in Uganda and was going back to visit. The children and Tim walked around the town for a while. We were wondering if we should go to Venice because of the drive but decided that we should go. So we spent the day in Venice and we are so glad that we did. We had the whole city to our selves almost and the children played tag on the square. It was so beautiful. We rode a gondala , fed the pigeons, went to the church walked the little back lanes. The weather was fabulous and the memory was incredible. We then drove to Impruneta, a small villiage about 10 miles from Florence. We got  to our place and we stayed at a very nice villa. It was an old farm house converted into a place to stay. It has been just perfect like a condo with lots of room for the children. Tim and I went shopping and loved that experience. I want to be missionary some day with him in Italy. The views here are amazing and the people are so kind. We spent the first day exploring the country side and the views are amazing. We went to castles and to a vine plantation. We went in and said that we would like a tour but did not drink wine. The man thought we were weird but thought that he could do a small tour without the focus on wine. We did it and had a great time. After he let us try some  olive oil and some balsamic vinegar they were delicious. Tim bought some honey that tasted like olives and grapes.(very good) We went back to the villa and relaxed and the children sang songs until late into the night. It is so fun to hear them laugh and giggle so much. I love it. We went to the work out room too. The next day eric and Hannah went to the all you can eat breakfast on a date they had a great time. Then we went to Florence and saw some really fun sights ate pizza that we loved and saw the first baptistery. We were driving there and the view of the city was fabulous. After got home  the kids went to the pool and played in the sand.Tim and Cariel walked to the store and then came home mad a fire in the kitchen and then the kids ate dinner . I have loved having a kitchen and sitting down and eating as a family. Then Tim and I went out to dinner at a restraunt I had some very good soup. It was nice to be together. This is such a nice time to travel with children they are all old enough to carry their own stuff and to stay close to us. I have loved Italy. IT has been so nice The Lord blessed us. I had wanted to go Egypt and had asked Tim many times to go there it would be warm we could see the pyramids but he felt we should not go there. Now after watching the news and seeing the turmoil there we understand why we did not go there. The weather has been in the high 50 and just lovely. I like to travel on the off season here it is not crowded and just perfect.

I didn’t think that Italy could get any better but yesterday was so incredible. It was amazing we got up went for a run and then ate breakfast, pasta and then walked around the pool and Mckay and Eric ran through the olive trees. We were sad to leave the wonderful  place. We headed for Senia and I loved city on the hill. We bought 3 passes to see things and took turns going into different venues. The church was amazing and the view was great. There were escalators that took us to the top of the city. We then headed for Assissi. The country side was delightful. Then we saw the city on the hill and we stopped at a cemetery and I saw an old lady climbing a ladder to put flowers on a grave sight of her ansester. They have very different cemetaries here and they stack them upon each other. We then went to Assissi and I LOVED IT. It felt very removed from the world. We went to the St fransicas church and we saw a lot of monks and n uns. The streets were so quint and so neat. I felt the spirit there and knew that these people were trying to be like Christ. I fell in love with that city. We then tried to find our hotel. It was about an hour father and boy was it out in the country. We were the only ones there it was really out in fields. The children watched a Andy Griffin Movie all on one bed. It was fun to see them all so close and laughing, We got up this morning and did yoga and then walked through the farm and read scriptures and said a prayer overlooking the country side. It was really a farm with cats and a dog that wanted to play with us. The children loved it. We then headed to Rome. It took about an hour. Tim told the children about the catholic church and the Roman empire. Liza did her report. Each of the children had been given a city to do research on and tell us what they had learned. It was great. We then got a bus tour the man gave us a good deal and went to see the fountains and and also the unknown soldier tomb. We saw a lot of the roman ruins the Collsium, and where Julius Cesar was killed. It was amazing. Loved seeing and hearing about it from the view of an open topped bus. We then found our apartment it is about 120 yards from the Vatican. Amazing. We went to church at the rome ward such a sweet experience to be around saints so great. Then went back and ate dinner and then took the bus to sights around town we saw the collsum and spray painters on the road. Then we saw the pantheon and then walked b the Tiber river and saw st peters from a distance. It was such a great walk. Eric taught the children about history very fun. Then we came back and packed up and got ready to leave at 4 am. Left in the morning and headed for Pisa early enough to have no groups just us. Mckay had done this report so loved it. Found our last pizza place  and then headed for the airport. Returned the car and then got on the plane and got to London at about 7pm went to the hotel and got our 10 bags all was fine. Another blessing read scriptures we have been reading 5 pages aday because our stake president in Uganda asked that all families read 5 pages aday.Has been a reat blessing for our family. Have loved that. Got up and the kids had a buffet breakfast and loved that. Went to the airport with all our bags so nice to have Tim with us everything was so smooth then8 hour flight to Uganda the children just watched movies for 8 hours. I tried to sleep but could not very well there was a church group in the hotel and they were up all night.

 Arrived in Uganda late long lines Hannah had had enough very tired made it and met our driver Jerimiah saw the poverty and lack of keeping things up all over. Got to our home very nicely fixed up. Tim had worked hard and slept lots of noise. Then the next morning our helper came Agnes young lady 21 and very nice. I woke up to TIms voice outside the window talking to our gardener about an injury as he spoke  could hear the Savior in his voice gently trying to heal the hurt. Very beautiful moment. Everyone came to say hi I can tell that Tim is so loved here very much. Just such a sweet man. The Fountsind  brought dinner and then the Dennisons brought food for a couple of days  They are so nice here I feel so welcomed.