Excitement

Yesterday was voted the worst day of the trip. By far.
We woke up and got on the ferry to head back to Dar. This normally would be a easy thing to accomplish. However, the three hour boat ride quickly turned into chaos we never expected. Thirty minutes into the trip, the water became incredibly rough. The boat was rising high into the air and crashing back down, much like a roller coaster. Right away, children were screaming and crying. Once the first passenger threw up, a massive chain effect occurred throughout the entire ferry. The sounds of people screaming and violently throwing up almost made us get sick. A few rows away from us, there were a group of women screaming for Allah to help them. We tried to cover up our nose and ears but eventually had to leave. When we got outside it was a lot better, we met an awesome group of girls our age that had just finished climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro. After the terrible ferry ride, we went to lunch at our friend Rita's house. We were all very tired so we didn't stay for long. The five of us girls are staying at a house by ourselves. The house is beautiful with a TV room and many American movies to choose from. The generator kept shutting off so we ended up making dinner in the dark. Which was a fun experience for us all.

Today made up for yesterday. We are all extremely excited to go home tomorrow morning. None of us can stop talking about it. Kara and Amy woke up early to send Kara to Moshi for the next three weeks. After Kara left, Amy got ready for her Compassion child, Lucy, to spend the day with her. Once Lucy got to the house, they left for Coco beach. It was the first time for Lucy to see the ocean. She swam in the water and played with the toys Amy brought for her. After awhile they went back to our house to introduce Lucy to the other three girls. We made her a traditional American meal. Peanut butter and jelly sandwich! Then we all walked down to the Shoppers Plaza to look in the book store and toy store. Lucy was amazed with the escalator and looked similar to "Buddy" in the movie Elf. After about four hours, it was time to say good-bye to Lucy and meet the guys for lunch. We went back to Rita's house for lunch and then went to a market by the ocean to shop some more. Rita treated us to ice cream cones and we are now back at her house until we go out to dinner tonight.

Tomorrow morning we will leave early for the airport and fly to London. After staying the night there, we will start heading back to Dallas! We will try to post again in London so don't leave us yet! Thank you for all your prayers!

Sun

Today was a great day to relax and celebrate the great work we have done in Tanzania.

We met up at the Roof Top Restaurant for breakfast. It was so incredible! We saw the amazing buildings of Zanzibar and even the ocean. The snorkeling place told us to come back at 11:45 so we decided to go shopping. We went to a store that looked like any other store and ended up finding a room with hundreds of dresses! We each bought a dress. We went to a few other shops and then met at the snorkeling place to get our equipment. We laughed so hard while we tried squeezing into our wet suits. When we finally got into them, it was time to head off. We took a 30 minute boat ride to a small island where we snorkeled for 45 minutes, ate an awesome lunch, and then went to the north side of the island to snorkel for another 45 minutes. The second half of the experience was clearly more difficult. The waves were huge and we had a hard time keeping the salty water out of our mouths. On our boat we were accompanied by a couple from Paris on their honeymoon, and a couple from England that have been traveling. They went to Bangkok! When we got back we took the most amazing shower of our lives. It was so nice to get the nastiness out of our hair. We shopped a little more and then met the others for a candlelight dinner at an Italian restaurant. It's been a long day and we are excited to sleep! Tomorrow we will take the farry back to Dar and spend time with Aggripa again.

We think it is necessary to tell everyone our team nicknames:
Bill R-Simba/Lion
Bill A- Fisi/Hyena
Dale- Tembo/Elephant
Marvin- Mmbu/Mosquito
Katy- Tumbili/Monkey
Kara- Mamba/Crocodile
Kristen- Swala/Antelope
Amy- Punda Milia/Crying Donkey (Zebra)
Kelsey- Twiga/Giraffe

We also have received word that our blog is being read in various locations including Texas, Oklahoma, California, Florida, Tanzania, Iraq, Germany, Thailand, India, and Brazil! Wow!

Home soon!

Beauty

Yesterday we drove to Dar Es Salaam.
When we got there, one of the guys had to use the restroom very badly. Seeing as most people do it, he just went around the corner and peed on the wall. Some of the locals saw him and found an opportunity for some American money. They accused him of violating regulations and made him go to the police station. There they decided to either spend the day in court, or pay $100. He chose to pay. We went to our hotel and starting getting hungry so we hopped in a van and drove at least an hour and thirty minutes to the famous Seacliff's. Between the six of us girls, we ate A LOT! (Six because of friend, Milka, is now with us) We ended up spending around $100 for dinner. After that we found a little grocery store and bought some American candies. Amy found something amazing and hid it in her shirt. She went around the corner and tapped Kelsey's shoulder and pulled out an ice cold Dr. Pepper. Within seconds Kelsey was crying. Literally. We decided not to drink Dr. Pepper until we got home, but it was nice to know it is here.
Today we got on a ferry and rode three hours to Zanzibar. Katy unfortunately got sea sick but is feeling a little better. Keep her in your prayers. As soon as we got here we found our hotel and went to lunch. We came around the corner, starving, to find our lunch location had caught on fire minutes before. So we settled for a nice place on the beach to watch the sun go down. After ordering our drinks they took our menus away saying "lunch hour is closed now." Bill R. had had enough and said, "I give up! Here is some money and go find somewhere to eat!" So the four of us girls walked around downtown Zanzibar eating everything we found including, prawns, shrimp, crab, chipati, beef pizza, banana and chocolate pizza, sweet bread, donuts, beef cabab, samosas, chicken cabab, and still hungry! While eating everything we could handle, we found a snorkeling place that is $30 for a half day trip, equiptment, and lunch. So tomorrow morning at nine we are going with Kara, Kristen, Marvin and Dale snorkeling.

Also keep Milka in your prayers, she received news today that one of her best friends was shot last night when his house was broken into.

We are having fun without you! But can't wait to see you! Marvin especially misses his wife.

Faith

Today we have been going with the flow. We met in Bill R's room this morning and decided we wanted to go back to the village we went to Saturday. When we got to the village we had realized we accidently forgot Katy! Oops! We played and took pictures for a couple of hours and then went downtown for lunch. Our plans for today are still unsure.
Tomorrow we will take a bus to Dar Es Salaam where we will spend the night for one night. Wednesday morning we will set sail for Zanzibar!
Everyone is doing great! We are thankful for the great memories and friends we have made on this trip.

Sorry we have not kept up with our Bible verses, we always run out of time!!!
Psalms 117:2 For great is His love towards us and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever.

Patience

Sorry for the wait, it is always hard to find a good internet cafe when we get to a new city.

Friday we left Iringa for Morogoro. We woke up to Kristen yelling, "GUESS WHO DIED?!?! MICHAEL JACKSON!" It was a weird start to our morning. We made a last shopping trip in Iringa before walking to the bus stop. Margaret came with us. We waited about an hour to get on the bus and when we turned to say good-bye to Margaret she was full of tears. It was so sad to leave but we were very excited to see what else God had in store for us. We drove about five hours when we reached our amazing hotel in Morogoro. Morogoro is a beautiful city and much more hot than it was in Iringa. It had been raining off and on since we arrived. We took a short nap before meeting with two missionaries (who also read our blog) and they took us to dinner. At dinner we met a focus group from Kansas, it was nice to share our experiences with another group our age.

Yesterday we got up and went to another village. The kids and teens there were a lot different from the villages in Makambako and Iringa. They didn't run away! We taught them Bible stories and American games until it was time to leave. Marvin, Katy, Dale, and Bill A. walked door to door sharing the gospel and praying with families while we were teaching Bible stories. When we all met up again we walked to a nearby wood carvers. We didn't stay long and after it rained awhile we drove to lunch and had a short while to shop. Morogoro shopping is a little different from what we've been use to. Most of the shops sold used clothes and goods. We didn't buy anything until we got back to the hotel where a man was selling different jewelry and wood carvings. The girls had SO MUCH FUN trading things with him. We kind of became obsessed... We traded shoes, shampoo, backpacks, shirts, mosquito nets, razors, lotion, perfume, anything we could find! But in the end, we recieved a lot!

Today has been a great day. We split into three groups and visited different churches from around the area. We were excited because the church we went to was one of the churches our sisters went to in 2006. They remembered them well and told us to send their love. It was a unique service with roosters walking through the aisles and kids eating rocks. But we loved every minute! Afterwards we went to a very late lunch with the rest of the group and we are so full now! We plan on getting groceries and heading back to the hotel.

The plans for this week in Zanzibar have recently changed. We orginally planned to stay Monday-Friday but the churches we were working for are asking us to pay a lot of money we don't have. We havn't officially decided what we will be doing this week but we will get to go to Zanzibar for a couple of days.

P.S. Mom(s) we plan to go to Chili's the second we step back in Grapevine.

Iringa

Yesterday was an awesome day for all of us. While the guys went to the police station to give them soccer jerseys and soccer balls, the girls went to Beatrice's house to learn how to cook a traditional African meal.
The first thing we had to do was go to the backyard to dig up the sweet potatoes. Kelsey and Kristen washed them off and then Amy and Katy peeled them. There are no potato peelers in Africa, so we used knifes! After the potatoes we made beef stew, rice, and fried mashed bananas. The guys seemed to enjoy it!
Immediately after eating, we headed to our next village. While we were there we met Massai women, which was really cool! Almost the entire church came to know the Lord that night.

Today was a hard day for us because we had little to eat. We started off the day with one slice of bread and jam. We worked really hard in the village under the blazing hot sun and didn't get to break for lunch until about 2pm. We were both very excited to eat. We walked to the pastor of the village's house and squished into a dark, hot room with wasps flying everywhere. There, we patiently waited for our meal. When the women finally brought it to us, they opened the lids to find ugali, rice, and chicken. From across the room we looked at each other with tears filling our eyes. Both of us were looking for a more fulfilling meal; we laughed it off and did our best to eat what we could. However, a small portion of rice was the most we could make ourselves eat.
In the village we started off by baptizing the people saved last night, a total of 38 people were saved- awesome! After that, we offered a baby dedication. The five of us girls were able to hold about 5 babies, an average of 2 babies cried for each of us. Next we had the Lord's Supper, and then finally went home at about 5pm.
Thankfully, when we got back to the hotel we had 5 hot pizzas waiting for us across the street. Between the two of us, we ate 9 pizza slices! We were hungry!!! It was a lot of fun teaching the Africans how to eat pizzas. Sadly, after dinner we had to say good-bye to Aggripa and his family. We thank God for the amazing journey we have had with the people of Iringa.

Katy just got over an stomach ache, but now Marvin has it! Keep them in your prayers and pray the rest of us will stay healthy.

Both of us have taken over 1500 pictures so far, not bad.

Tomorrow we will leave for Morogoro and we are all very excited!

Animals

Yesterday was amazing, we are all very tired and excited for our day of rest.
We began God's beautiful day at five in the morning and headed towards Ruaha National Park. It took us about three hours to reach the resort. It probably would have taken us only an hour, but the dirt roads were so incredibly rough that we had to drive about 20-30 mph. Once we got there we had a really nice three course breakfast. Fruit, breads, then eggs.
After breakfast we hopped on our Land Rovers to begin the safari ride. We immediately saw a giraffe, so close we could reach out and touch it. The giraffe was followed by numerous zebras, elephants, jackals, baboons, impalas, hippos, crocs, and birds. Around one we stopped for lunch. We all discussed how upset we were that there were no lions. We got back in the jeeps, determined to find a lion. While looking, our jeep broke down a few times. We were able to get it started back up again, but it would never last for long. The sun was getting hotter and we were anxious to find our lion, so we decided to off road it. Not long after that we came across two HUGE male lions, finishing off a buffalo carcus. The drivers obviously didn't listen to us screaming, because they kept inching closer and closer to the lions. By the mercy of God, we didn't break down in front of the lions. On our way back to the resort, we drove by a momma lion with her five cubs.
Once we got back to the lodge, we got the keys to our cute, little huts and got ready for another fulfilling meal. While we were getting ready for bed, Kara spotted a massive bug above the door. It had legs of a spider, the body of a locus, and the antennas of a cockroach. IT WAS AWFUL!!! So Kelsey, by force, took a shoe and smashed it against the wall. Don't worry, it's all on video. Dale and Marvin told us they could hear the screaming of four teenage girls from across the resort.

This morning was long. We left the lodge at around 10 and spent another long trip back to Iringa. Since then, we have had lunch and shopped a little. Tonight we are going to a friend of Bill A. and Bill R.'s. We are excited for what else God will have in store for us.

Romans 10:10-11 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture says, "Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame."

Love to everyone! We miss you very much!