Joy in the Journey...: Trip to Jinja...Take 2!

Jinja is the city we went rafting in last weekend. This weekend there was district conference in Jinja, so we decided to go a day early and do a little more shopping and touring. We left late morning on Saturday, and went to eat at the Source Café again when we arrived. I had a real legit hamburger, and it was so good! I loved it. After shopping for a bit, we took bodas (motorcycles) down to the source of the Nile. They took us on a boat to where we saw the water that comes up from underground and creates the Nile River where it meets Lake Victoria. It takes 3 months for that water to travel up to Egypt. It was actually one of the coolest things I’ve done/seen so far.

That night we stayed at the same hostile we were at last weekend. While we were there our country director got in touch with the mission president. Apparently he had talked with her about organizing the first-ever youth conference in Uganda. He invited her over to discuss it, and I invited myself to tag along J. When we showed up, it turned out to be a huge dinner for all the leadership in the district. We were very underdressed, but were fed a delicious African meal and I got a chance to meet President Jackson-the mission President. I started to miss being a missionary so much I was ready to make a nametag and start contacting.

The next day we went early to help set up chairs for the conference. A choir of primary children sang the prelude music, and it was so touching it brought tears to my eyes. I was reminded of the truthfulness of the gospel in every corner of the world. I loved listening to the children sing “I am a Child of God” and “Book of Mormon Stories” complete with actions. Also while we waited for the meeting to begin, I pulled out my Ensign to read. Two little boys came and sat next to me. I pointed out pictures to them of the Prophet, Temples, and Scriptures. They loved that Ensign, and it must have entertained them for at least 30 minutes just looking at the pictures. I wondered how many books they’ve seen in their lives. They were darling.

Our weekend was complete when after the conference we watched two LDS weddings, and the opening of a mission call. It doesn’t get much better than that!

The ride home wasn’t quite as wonderful as I was squished in a car with too many people and a man with a live chicken sitting next to me… but overall, it was well worth the weekend!

Sarah and I at the source of the Nile