Our last entry was about Zone Conference time and since it is that time again, we thought about our blog.  Actually, we had a minute and were looking at what the Heningers Mission Romania was up to, and the Kelpetesackley2 were up to, and decided it was time for an update from Blantyre, Malawi.

Each week is a unique adventure here.  There are always a few kinks to work out and a few things to learn.  Sometimes we are the learners and sometimes we actually get to be the teachers.  But always, it is definitely an adventure.  The missionaries here have been busy teaching and finding much success in their areas.  The branches love to have the "Missionary Couple" come to visit - they treat us like Royalty and each want us All the Time.  Makes you feel good even if you don't quite believe it.

Maize (corn) growing on a mountain side January 21, 2013

The corn is growing quite well to the north.  We were in Liwonde last Sunday for meetings and took the 2+ hour drive with the District President and the Branch President that is over the group.  They sustained a new Group Leader and gave him 2 counselors.  Two weeks earlier when we were there, there were 26 at church, this week (in their new building), there were about 85 or so.  They were packed with people and had a small group that want to be taught the missionary lessons.  They are very enthusiastic about what they are learning.  We also took some of the men (after church) to the hospital to give a lady a blessing.  President Chinyumba made great use of every minute and we think everyone felt the day was fulfilling. 

Water balloon toss in our front yard

We also had a "lockdown" this week - no one was allowed out on the street as the country was having a protest over the prices all jumping (for Maize and all items) to where they cannot afford it.  No one knew whether it was going to be calm or not.  Instead, we had everyone over and they played football in the front yard, had a water balloon toss, played monopoly, and some watched a movie - How Rare a Possession.  They enjoyed the day.  We made them pancakes for breakfast and they made their own sandwiches for lunch.  It was good to see that they were all fine.

The hippos are almost invisible in the muddy river at Majete Game Park

This a kind of tree that appears in different places, some are bigger.

Monday this week, we had a Zone Activity and went to Majete Game Park.  They claim to have the Big 5, and probably do, but we only saw one of them (water buffalo).  We did see zebras, kudus, impalas, warthogs, and a few other animals whose names escape me.  The Elders and Sisters had a great time - we had lunch there and then came back for the rest of their PDay.  All went well.  They are a great group - get along very well.  We love them all. 

These are pronounced Canadian "Zebra", not Zeebra

They like the mud. (water buffalo)

Hillside or country homes on the way to Majete Game Park

The view towards the Shire River and the valley where Majete Game Park is located

We are involved in helping the young men from the area get ready for their missions (if they want to go).  There is no way that they can afford to get all the things they need on their own and the mission has decided to help them with some of the items.  The Passport is a big item and the mission is going to help them get that.  They still want them to do some of the preparations to make sure they are going for the right reasons.  It is making it so we get to visit a little more with some of these people and get to know them better.  We enjoy that.

Elder Perkins (our District Leader) leads DDM each Tuesday night and does a fantastic job at presenting chapter study out of Preach My Gospel.  Missions really make the leadership potential of each individual come out.  They have so much potential - all of them.  Amazing. We only wish that we could keep up with them.  

Another week and we will be close to 18 months "this side", as the locals would say.  The first of the increased number of missionaries, is about to commence arriving, although our mission is too small to take very many.  Until the next time, take care.

Our travels have not been as far in the last 5 weeks or so.  We have been to a half way point in the direction of the capital city of Lilongwe (Ntcheu -pronounced Nachao) to deliver a new missionary arriving from the MTC in South Africa.  We never did get an answer as to why he came here, when there are flights direct to Lilongwe.  The Mission President and Sister Padovich came to visit in early December, along with the Pretes from Lilongwe.  Their visit lasted over parts of 5 days.

Meeting Elder Wandera at the Airport

While our visitors were here, we took a drive through the tea plantations, just outside of the city and on to Mulanje Mountain, which rises above 10,000 feet and mostly is a vertical shaped rock.  We had a very nice lunch at a lodge a few hundred feet up the mountain.  The tea plantations were being harvested, by individual workers with "shear" like clippers attached to bags.  There are huge fields of the tea plantations.

Malawi Tea Plantation workers near Blantyre.

We also traveled to the area of Liwonde one Sunday to visit the small group that meets there.  Most of the members come from villages and one family walks 2 hours each way to get there.  The Church has rented a house to meet in instead of the school, which has no water, no electricity and is shared by some "rock music" church groups going on at the same time.  It is two hour plus drive each way (riding) for us too.  Many police checks along the way - they like and use a lot of Radar.  We've been o.k. so far.

New Years Eve in Blantyre, Malawi

Christmas Eve at Shields flat with missionaries

Christmas and New Years have come and gone.  Our major function seems to have been providing a place for the missionaries to gather, play games and eat.  There are 2 sister and 8 elders.  Great Missionaries! one and all. (If you are wondering why they are dressed casually - it is PDay).

Happy New Year to all of our family and friends who sometimes follow our blog.  We love you all.  May you be guided and protected in all you do in 2013.  May you know from whence your blessings come and always acknowledge them.

 Some animal pictures from our visit to Livingstone (Victoria Falls) and Botswana

One of more than 200 elephants we saw in an hour

Elder Lookhart and I checking out the Zebras

One of many giraffes on hotel grounds

On October 8, 2012, we officially left Lusaka, Zambia, being driven by the Mission Office Couple, the Lookharts to the Zambia, Malawi border, where we were met by Elder Prete, who with his wife, lives in Lilongwe, the capital of Malawi.  They are from Cardston, former owners of the Cardston Bookstore.  There is a lot of country with very few people between Lusaka and the border, but after the border it is almost continuous people, living mostly in villages along the road, with some in small towns.

The whole countryside is filled with villages like these

The plan was for us to live in Lilongwe and the Pretes would move to Blantyre, where they would take over from the Bullocks (from Airdrie, Alberta).  Because of some security issues, we moved to Blantyre on October 16, and the Pretes remained in Lilongwe.  They are doing great things there and the missionaries have been successful.  We have begun to handle the "Office" things for the 10 missionaries that are here.  That includes paying rent, utilities, cell phone time, medical issues, bus transportation, automobile fuel, and book supplies.

Our front yard at #1, Kufa Road, Blantyre

We live in an older home, that has air conditioning, a modern kitchen, washer and dryer.  The house has 2 garages (used for storage) and three bedrooms (one is an office), and two full baths.  It is large enough when all the missionaries come over.

Our dining room table, can handle 12

Malawi is a small country in size, by comparison with Zambia, but has just as many people, making it very crowded.  There are lots of mountains and Lake Malawi is the worlds 8th largest lake.  The country has very little to export, so suffers from currency issues.  The local currency have been severely devalued earlier this year and it looks like it will get worse.  There is a serious issue with fuel supplies, and without personal storage, one can sit for hours in a line waiting, if the station has any.

The local chapel, about 8 years old.  Apostle Nelson dedicated the country of Malawi here November 2011

There are four branches of the Church in Blantyre, two meeting in a modern style chapel and two meeting in renovated houses.  In Lilongwe, there are at least 2 branches and soon to be more.  Lilongwe is the capital city and was built from nothing a few years ago and is very flat.  Blantyre is an older, former commercial center, and is located between several mountains.

Some of the members at the Liwonde/Sitima Group - 2 hours from Blantyre

There is one group of members that are about two hours out in the country (Liwonde/Sitima), so we will visit there occasionally.  No members have cars, so they walk or rely on public transportation.  Food is mainly maize (a corn like porridge mixture) eaten three times a day, when they can afford it.  We are able to buy many things that we are familiar with, though supplies are inconsistent. The price is just outrageous, but we do it anyway.

This is a common scene every where in the countryside.  Usually the ladies carry one on their head.  The water comes from drilled wells (bore holes is the local terminology).

Life in Blantyre is much quieter than life in Zambia.  The traffic that is heavy and busy during the days - from 5 a.m. to 6 p.m. but after dusk there are NO buses or traffic or people for that matter.  All missionary teaching is done during the day and the people struggle with English - Chichewe is the Malawian language - they also use it at church.  We try to get them to stick with English but many of the ladies (in particular) do not understand English so they have a hard time staying active or understanding callings.

It's time for an update again.  Time truly is going too quickly - there is much to be done and we just feel the days getting away from us.
Today is a very special day - It is October 6th, 2012.  We are so excited that we came back from a trip to Livingstone (Victoria Falls) to find the internet has decided to give us a break (it's working) and we were able to watch the Saturday a.m. session of conference with very little problems.  It was such a spiritual session we felt really blessed to be able to watch the church leaders, and feel of their spirits in uplifting our lives with their inspired messages.  Wow.  We hope each of you were able to watch as well.  Conference is held for our benefit - not for their practice in speaking.  We felt the spirit of the Holy Ghost in each talk that was given and were very excited to hear of the two more temples, and of the age changes in missionaries.  Wow, again.  What a change that will be.  
We are leaving on Monday morning to move to Malawi for the next year of our mission.  We will be based in Lilongwe (where the Pretes were serving), and they have moved to Blantyre.  We don't feel that we can replace either of these great couples, but will do our best to be of service to the members and the missionaries in that area.  We love the Gospel of Jesus Christ, we know it to be true.  When we get to that point, we know that it is for our growth that we are placed in challenging areas to be of service to the people there, to help them strengthen their testimonies.  We will do our best.

Welcome to David Livingston Safari Lodge

Elder Shields - in front of Swimming pool then Zambezi River

Comfy Bed

We loved going to Victoria Falls the last three days with another senior couple, the Lookharts.  We stayed at the David Livingstone Safari Lodge - it was great. We went to Chobe (in Botswana) on a Safari and were not disappointed.  We will update with some pictures.  Also, we were able to visit the falls again.  The water level is quite low at this time of year so it makes them easier to see.  About March/April, they are so high that all you see is mist -

Very Low Water at Victoria Falls -

Elder Shields putting water on head - a hot 40 degrees

We had the Prete's here with us for about a week (a couples conference) and learned more about what we might expect in Lilongwe, Malawi.  They have been there since December 2011 and have done such a wonderful work that the branch has grown from 17 active members to over 150 each week.  No one really has much background in the church and everything and every program is a learning experience for all involved.  We hope to be able to be of some service and help there.
We, also get to have the Missionaries (12 of them) over for their DDM each Tuesday evening, and feed them, be with them, and listen to them.  That will be a great time for us.

Couples Conference - Pretes on Left back

  
We find that everything we are able to do here for anyone brings blessings for our family at home.  They recognize Heavenly Father more in their lives and we are grateful that they are being blessed while we are away.  

We are grateful for grandchildren who are being raised in the Gospel and are being taught true principles that will guide them throughout their lives if they but listen.  We thank each of our children for being such great examples and such great parents by spending the time and effort required to set the tone for your homes.  We pray that you will each recognize the hand of the Lord in your lives, that you will follow the messages our Prophet, President Monson, and his councillors are inspired to give during this particular conference.

We feel of your faith and prayers in our behalf.  We are grateful for them.  Keep the Faith!  
Choose the Right!  Know that we love each of you lots - but Heavenly Father loves each of you even more than we do.  We are excited that for some the mission just moved up a year.  Prepare now. CTR.

Elder and Sister Shields


p.s.  We will send ANIMALS  \(WILD) as soon as we get moved - Elder packed the cameras away while the internet was off.  We will get back to you.

June 1, 2012 we were replaced as the S & I Coordinators for Zambia by a local Young Branch President (26 years) who was hired by the church.  He is a great young man and will be successful in this position we feel.  However,  it is now August 26, 2012 and we are still trying to get him off the ground (so to speak).  It has taken these last 3 months to get office space, car, working funds, phone, furniture, computer and printer, etc. to get him a place to work from.
Tomorrow, we will go to the New Office of S & I.  This should be a great day.  We have been busy teaching his classes while he had to do 2 trips to Malawi, 1 to Zimbabwe, and 1 to Jo'berg.  The travel should now subside a bit and things should settle down.  He is also in University full time (5 evenings a week, and so is his wife).  He is also busy with his church calling.  We should all try the balancing act he is doing - it has got to be very stressful for now, but it should settle down by Christmas (this semester will be done anyway). We were able to go to Harare, Zimbabwe for 3 days too, and enjoyed that very much.
We are really enjoying teaching the Preparing for Temple Marriage classes.  The students really vary in each area of the city.  We are only doing 2 classes now as we wanted to open up our Fridays to get the gathering center idea underway.
We have been formulating some ideas that we think might work here and hopefully will try to implement some of them in the next couple of weeks.  We are to be working under the District Presidency - we will try to meet with him soon, and ask his help in setting up an Institute of Religion Advisory Committee (IRAC)  to work with. We were able to talk to the Stonehockers about some of the ideas they were able to use and that worked well for them.  Our setup is quite different from theirs but the ideas may still be helpful.
Our marriage classes seem to pick up 1-3 new students each week.  It is growing simply by word of mouth. We are very blessed to be meeting the cream of the crop as far as young adults go.  They are amazingly versatile and wonderful people.  In our Wednesday class at the Lusaka Chapel, we started with 6 people.  Last week we were at 16.  Libala Chapel on Thursdays started at about 12 people, we do fluctuate there but last week we had 16.  Matero had grown from 4 to 9 students so we were happy with the turnout but felt we needed to have the Friday and Saturday for activities with all the Young Adults.
These classes have been very good for us - we have learned much and love spending time there feeling of their special spirits.  They are like sponges in the learning area - they just absorb it and can regurgitate it back the next week with no problem.

#8 at it's finest Home Sweet Home

 The Backyard!

The Backyard facing the other way!

Spare Guest Room - even had guests this week - fun!

Kitchen - look carefully - cupboards way above my head - special for Giraffes I think

We were blessed to move this month. Our Landlord wanted to renovate the flat we were in.  Missionaries had been living there for over 15 years so it was time.  You should all be so lucky to come to Zambia on your missions, it's great.  We are now in a new Italian Villa style condo.  We have 3 bedrooms, our bed is a King, 3 bathrooms, a kitchen, laundry, garage, living room, etc.  Oh, yes, and our own private pool in the backyard that a man comes and cleans a couple of days a week, so it is ready for anyone.  We will add updates as things keep coming - draperies,   It is starting to get warmer - today back to 30, so soon the Air conditioner will be back on - however, last night Elder Shields said he was cold and wanted more blankets.  I'd say we've adjusted and our blood has thinned.  In another month it should be up to the 40+ degrees.

Michelo's finest moment - YW Presidency

We were able to help a couple of weeks ago with the Helping Hands projects for the two branches in our area.  What a Great Day that was.  Everyone worked so hard and so willingly.  They worked from about 9 a.m. to 1400.  Then they had a bite of lunch and cleaned the chapel for Sunday.  We were very proud of their efforts.  The community came out to see and we hope, were impressed.  It did get in the Newspaper the next day with some pictures.

7 a.m. - a slow start

Matero arriving - continuous growth of people

By Noon over 100 young women - Wow!

1600 hours - departure time - back home

This week we were blessed to have a visit from Elder Soares of the Area Presidency.  He flew in on Wednesday, did a Fireside for the YSA (Young Single Adults), Zone Conference on Thursday, meetings with District Presidency on Thursday evening, and flew out Friday a.m..  Yesterday was the first District Young Women Camp (All Day Saturday).  It was great.  It started at 7:00 AM and finished at 16:00.  The girls had never had camp before and by testimony time were loving every minute of it.  Sister Lookhart, had worked very hard with the District YW presidency and She actually was what made it work - but we hope it was a learning curve for them (they'd never seen one before).  The girls today at church were wondering when they could now have a 5 day camp.  They loved it.  We had about 100 girls show up.  We helped the Lookharts for the day - it was very uplifting to be part of it.

Lookharts and Sister Chua and Sister Mudzimba - day end

We are grateful that the Lord continues to make us aware of his Tender Mercies in our lives.  We do feel we are blessed for our efforts.  We feel guided and protected in all we do.  We are so humbled to be allowed to be his servants.  A mission is a Great Experience.  It reminds us daily of how much we have been given and blessed.  We appreciate knowing where we came from, why we are here, and where we may have the privilege of going if we can follow the example set for us by our Savior, Jesus Christ.  We are all here to try to emulate him.  We pray for each of you and know that as you follow His teachings, you too, can be instruments in His hands.  We love each of you and keep you in our prayers.
Keep the Faith.
Elder and Sister Shields

Sorry that this posting is so long overdue - it must mean we Think we are very busy - and yes, we do think that we are - But, we don't want to be too busy to update each of you on our assignments and adventures.

Firstly, we just want you to know that we love the Gospel of Jesus Christ - we are grateful to be able to serve the Lord Anywhere - Because we have been given much, we too must give.  We appreciate our challenges and our growth.  We are learning much about the people and the culture here in Zambia.  What an awesome people.  We get to spend most of our time with the Young Single Adults (ages 18 - 30, 31, 32, 33) or there abouts - many don't have a birthdate or year that they know for sure when they were born so it can be a guess sometimes.    We appreciate each of the young adults special spirits and their appreciation for all that they do have (not much).  They just eat up the Gospel teachings - they can recite scripture by heart from any of the Scriptures - they are really amazing (much better than we are).

We have been working with President Kaluba for the last couple of months.  Sometimes the physical part of the church is very slow - he came on board June 1, 2012 and still no car, no office, etc.  He has been to Johannesburg for training, to Harare, Zimbabwe for training, to Blantyre, Malawi for training and is going Thursday a.m. to Lilongwe and Blantyre, Malawi for a little more training.  Then he will have a week off from travel and need to go to the Copperbelt area.  Busy times.  He is the Branch President (since he was 23), and is in University Full Time, and works full time for S & I.  Can you see why we are his helpers?  Busy Times.

President Joseph Kaluba and Sipho Ndlovu 

We, also were in Harare, Zimbabwe for more training for 4 days.  What a beautiful country and city.  We really enjoyed the hospitality and the beauty of the country in that area.  Victoria Falls is on the border between Zimbabwe and Zambia - both like to claim it and there is a view on both sides.  We will try to go back there again (I think) before we are finished our mission.

Our Hotel in Harare - in the dead of winter remember, July 2012

Our Meeting House in Harare, Zimbabwe

Harare Meeting House (Chapel) 

We are moving somewhere around the end of the month.  We will be next door to another missionary couple (Lookharts from Boise).  It is going to be quite the upgrade - moving into a 2 story 3 bath, 3 bedroom townhouse with our own swimming pool in the back yard.  We didn't bring a suit.  Anyone coming to visit - bring a suit.  We get to have 3 bedrooms because our office is in our flat.  It
The mission furnishes it and all will be well.

This week we are teaching Lesson 5 (Temporal Preparedness) of the Preparing for Temple Marriage course.  We have a class Wednesdays, Thursdays and Friday nights.  Each class is a very different dynamic of individuals.  What fun!  They are great participators, not inhibited at all, and love the topic, so all is well.
Each class is an hour and a half - but goes very quickly.  We are enjoying it, and we think they are too.

Fancy equipment set up for our class - Pres. Kaluba looking on  - notice how the computer is on top of the projector - 

This month we also had a District Family Fun Day! (2nd Annual one). Each branch had a soccer team, volleyball and basketball team.  Guys played soccer, girls played volleyball and basketball.  It was really a great day.  The Mission provided lunch - we think we fed about 600 (some not ours, but oh well).

Pres. Chibbamulilo and Pres. Chishala (Libala and Woodlands  Branch Presidents)

Game 2 - Notice - some use shoes -  some  not!

Well try to do this a little more often (so we can remember more of what has happened during the month).
Grandchildren, please be good.  Live an exempliary life.  It is sooo important - do your best at school.  You just never know when it will be your time to return home.  There is a young couple in a branch here (he was here on a mission - went back home became an agronomist, married, has 2 little children, and came back here to work for 2 years for a fertilizer company.  Her sister came over to visit (from California).  They were missing the ocean so they decided to take 2 weeks and drive over to Mozambique to the Ocean with their family.  The Sunday before they left Brother Sherry taught the SS class and talked about being prepared to meet our maker.  Wednesday, they were in a very serious accident in Harare, Zimbabwe on their way to Mozambique - his neck is broken, his shoulder is broken.  She has internal injuries, their little boy has many broken bones, the baby (girl) is fine, the driver (friend) is fine, the sister will be o.k.  They airlifted him to Johannesburg to determine the extend and type of break and decide whether he will walk again (ever).  We have all been praying for him since this happened.  We are wanting a miracle for them and for him to be o.k.
Live each day as if it may be  your last, live it wisely.  O.K., end of my rambling.  We love each and every one of you and keep you always in our prayers.  We know Heavenly Father loves all his children (no matter what).  Emulate him in your lives.  It'll be Soooo worth it.

Love,  The Parents, Grandparents, Burton and Patricia, Elder and Sister Shields