The Dark Continent

I'm going to horn in on Jenny's job here and make a post. Since the camera is broken (both of them) I don't feel pressed to add any photos... Okay, that was a lie. I found one in my pictures on the computer. So yesterday my parents took off to Salt Lake for a brief stop off before continuing on to the lovely (so I hear) town of Kampala, Uganda. I think there may have been mention made of this event in an earlier post, but I thought now would be a good time to memorialize it again, or at least in a little more detail.

They will be serving for 18 months as Missionaries for the LDS Church (I am pretty sure that we have an almost, if not entirely Mormon readership here, but if not, that clarification is for you) in the countries of Uganda, Ethiopia, and Rwanda. Word on the street would have us believe that they will be the first missionaries into Rwanda, which I guess was just announced as open for the work during the most recent conference. (I may or may not have been awake for that part? maybe it was announced in one of those "world report" things between sessions...) I guess when you are in your early 50's and in good health those are the kind of assignments you draw. Both of my parents have spent time in Mali back in the 70's when my grandparents lived there, so perhaps the culture shock aspect wont be as great, although they are going to be in a very different part of Africa. That said, I would think that abject poverty probably looks similar wherever you may find it. At any rate, I cannot think of any better thing for a country less than 15 years removed from genocide than the gospel, and I am certain that they will do the job as well as anyone could.

I think I can speak for Jenny and the G-Unit as well as for myself when I say that were very proud of what they're doing, and excited to hear whatever experiences they have. I've counseled them just to avoid antagonistic natives wielding cast iron cauldrons. I hear that things usually end badly for the missionary in that situation.

So look for the periodic update here on what they're doing. I know they have a blog site set up for them and for the Rat child (my brother Clay who is also on a mission in Washington DC) and we will link in our blog links.