Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Visit to Mombasa, Kenya

This past weekend (July 29th through Aug 1st) we accompanied the President and Sister Broadbent to Mombasa, one of the southerneastern-most locations in Kenya. The trip was about an 8 hour drive. They were there to do some training of the leadership in the area as well as to preside over a Zone Conference for, not only the missionaries in Mombasa, but those from the neighboring Chyulu Zone (which is about 4 hours north of Mombasa). We came along because one of my responsibilities is to conduct semiannual audits of the financial records of the church branches in the Mission.

The almost 6000 foot drop in elevation as well as the 4ยบ lower latitude combined with its location on the coastline of the Indian Ocean, to make its climate much different than that of Nairobi. Luckily though, being in the southern hemisphere, it is winter now, so the temperatures were very mild and beautiful. Most of the rest of the year it is very hot and humid, but we enjoyed temperatures in the high 70s and low 80s.

We stayed with Elder and Sister McBride (from Roosevelt, UT) while we were there. They are the Senior Missionary Couple assigned to support the members in that area. It was obvious to us that the members in Mombasa love and respect them for their humble loving service to them. There are also 8 young Elders (4 missionary companionships) serving in Mombasa as well. They too love the McBrides. They are also very fond of Sister McBride's home cooked meals each week when they have their district meetings in their home.

As you can see, the view from the the McBride's home is incredible. They live in an apartment on the second floor of a complex situated on a hill that overlooks a marina on the bay.

These tusk-like arches mark the entry-way to the down town area (not an advertisement for MacDonalds).

This is another view from the McBride's back balcony without us in the way.

There are three branches of the church in Mombasa. One of the branches attends church on the second floor of this bank building. It is located in the heart of the busy business district. You may wonder where they park, but since no one drives it is not a problem.

We went for a walk in the Mombasa City Park. This is a pond with a map of Africa that one of the locals proudly escorted us to. We may have missed seeing it, even though it is quite large, because it is lower than the surrounding area.
We enjoyed our visit and are planning to find an excuse to visit again.