Bushrod Island, January Zone Conference with Elder & Sister Curtis

 Elder and Sister Curtis came with Pres. & Sister Roggia for our zone conference.  Elder Curtis is second counselor is the West Africa Area Presidency.

 Elder Elliott, meeting Elder & Sister Curtis.  Elder Elliott came on mission to Liberia in December.  He is from Hannibal, Missouri.

 Here we have Elders Connor, Smith, Molahatsa and Elliott.  This picture was taken in December.

  The tall and the short of it. Elder Hill learning from Sister Kirkham.

The back and front of it.  Below: Elders Skouson, Kouao,Okunrobo, and Andersen going back to their areas after Zone Conference.

Transformation in Monrovia

These two pictures show the transformation that is taking place in Monrovia.  These pictures are of Caldwell road - showing the significantly improved road, cement curb and gutter, drainage system, cement sidewalks,  and solar powered street lights.

Farewell Lunch for Elder Buckman and Elder & Sister Smith, the first service missionaries to serve in Liberia

 Sista's Krumm, Miles, Roggia & Kirkham prepare a farewell lunch for Elder Buckman going home and Elder & Sister Smith finishing their service mission.

l to r: Elder Buckman, Pres. Roggia, Elder & Sister Smith.  The Smith served for two years as local service missionaries.  In his interview releasing Elder Smith as a service missionary, he then called brother Smith to be Branch President of the Upper Caldwell branch.  So Pres. Smith, literally, had a few seconds to rest from being a service missionary before receiving another important calling. 

Visiting Kakata with Elder & Sister Miles

 Elder & Sister Miles have humanitarian projects they oversee in Kakata.  We went with them one day to check out a possible apartment for missionaries.  These are some of the kids at a community latrine project near Kakata.

 Elder Miles teaches the kids how to "give me 5!"

 Pres. Harmon, Kakata branch president, showed us the house he has been trying to build for his family for several years.

Sister Kirkham and Sister Miles are in Pres. Harmon's son, Christian's "store."  He made the store out of bamboo.

Visiting Pres. Harmon's Village

Pres. Harmon of Kakata branch took us to the village where his parents live.  Pres. Harmon is on the left next to his mother and father and some neighbor children.

A few of the houses in this village had these hand prints painted on the side of their walls for decoration.

These are a few of the children in the village.  NOTICE the Salt Lake Bees T-shirt the boy is wearing.

Christmas morning pondering

Pres. Roggia: "Hmmm. Well, it is Christmas morning, but I don't think it's really Santa." 

Putting up the Christmas Tree

 Sometimes just thinking about the putting up the Christmas tree is exhausting :)

 The master light stringer at work!

Walah!  The beautiful finished product - and the Christmas tree is pretty too!

2012 Bushrod Island Christmas Zone Conference

 Serious Picture

Not So Serious Picture

Random Shots in Freetown, Sierra Leone

 We went on a hike with Elder and Sister Lauritzen up the hill behind the mission home.

 We saw this on our hike with the Lauritzens.

 This shows how Freetown is built on steep hills.  This is a view looking out from the mission office.

Elder and Sister Lauritzen took us on a scenic drive on Grafton Road.  It's the end of the rainy season, so the people use the river bed to plant vegetables.  We love this picture.