In May Elder Kevin Hamilton of the Seventy and Sister Hamilton toured our mission. We had 2 combined zone conferences...One in Lusaka, Zambia and one in Blantyre, Malawi.

 Lusaka East and West Zones and The Copperbelt Zone. Elder Hamilton has a terrific demeanor. He is very real. He is a great teacher and had the missionaries asking questions, laughing and enjoying the spirit. He told of being a mission pres in France/Belgium and having a senior mission couple come to serve in the mission. The couple was Elder Hamilton's mission president and wife of 25 years past. He read a letter that their son wrote on his mission when he detected in himself the change to be fully "in the work". He likened it to entering the narrow shoots of a steep ski run and once you take the jump...you are in! fully committed and no looking back. He taught about the language of committing investigators...Will you? not would you? We thoroughly enjoyed our time with he and Sister Hamilton.

 Lilongwe and Blantyre Zones

 Elder Hamilton and Sister Merrill grew up in the same small town in Washington state and knew all the same people. They had fun taking a trip together down memory lane.

 We have the best sister missionaries ever!  Sister Bulha from Mozambique in the striped dress came into the mission speaking almost no English and is now a sister training leader and a powerful missionary.

Just a handful of Zambia's good looking elders.

March - June 2014 Truly awesome new missionaries to add to our terrific mission!

 The Merrills...from CA...this is their 7th mission together....5th in Africa. How can you beat that?

 We received 4 more great missionaries from Botswana...they did not get their visas renewed. All but Sister Stephens are still with us. Elder Allred (just made a zone leader) Sisters Fuamatu, Stephens, Clifford.

 Elder Chilitza and Rugamayo

 Sister Twongeirwe also coming to us via Botswana.

 Sister Lowe and Sister Query...hey that is my big sister!! How cool is that to serve here in Zambia with my own sister. We are so proud of these 2 brave senior sisters. They are already teaching and fellow shipping and making a difference in Luanshya.

Sister Falco, Natsala, Elder Maaka, Sister Quaye, Rasband and Mbonyana. This group is powerful! We could feel it the minute we picked them up at the airport....good energy and strong testimonies!

Departing missionaries we will never forget!

Colorful Sister Arlanda came to us from the Madagascar mission.  She is from Mauritius.

 Sister Adong, from Uganda, got her visa to Kenya with Elder Henderson, Las Vegas, below. We were really sad to see these 2 leave us!

 Sister Maznio returned to Arizona. Her smile says it all!! She was a delight! We wish her all the best in her recovery!

 Elder Ojatum from Uganda who taught us a lot about the stories in the Bible.

 Sister Makau, Kenya. She was one of the first sisters that I went teaching with. Quiet, soft spoken...but funny as ever!

 Sister Stephens, Hawaii. She came from Botswana and before long was the only one of 9 who got her visa to return to Botswana. She was one sweet sister missionary with a lot of faith.

 Elder Christensen. Utah, Wish we could have spent more time with this very likeable missionary.

Sister Pierce, Utah. One of our first visa waiters from Botswana. This very loveable sister made others feel good about themselves and she was there when we needed her!

On the way to South Luangwa NP you can see the height of the grasses.

The animal kingdom is very alive and very well in Zambia. What a blessing for us to see so much in a few short days with our children.

We decided that animals are a lot like us, and we are a lot like them. We line up, we gather, we socialize, we touch, we pose...