Mikele & Arlene Padovich ....Established September 19th, 1970

In my life I have been blessed with many things. The most  life changing blessing came to me the day I met Arlene. Everything from that moment on has made sense to me. I had the privilege of taking her to the Los Angeles Temple where we were sealed together for time and eternity. That is where we began our life together. My life and hers has revolved around the Church. We both grew up in the Church. We have both served in the Church. We raised our family in the Church. And we continue to serve now in the Church. I don't want you to think that for me it is all about Church. I want you to know that the Church is my foundation and every thing else plays its part. My appreciation for everyone in my life who has taught, counseled, scolded or offered advice whether positive or negative has molded me into what I am today. The fun part about all of that input is you can use it or not use it. I am thankful for every part of it. I am thankful for the counsel, advice and patience offered to me by Arlene. Never in 42 years has her counsel or advice been unwelcome. She is wise, understanding, and kind. She is the kind of example that I want to become. I am in love with her today as the first day I met her. I am thankful to all of you who share your love with us. We have always told you. What you see is pretty much what you get. I am thankful that this little girl took a big chance on me. Last week we had the opportunity to travel to Victoria Falls and then into Botswana on Safari and to celebrate our anniversary. It was hard to express how magnificent the wildlife was. We hope you enjoy these pictures. The camera does not do it justice. 

I love my dear wife. I love my children. I am thankful for them and for the wonderful parents they have become. I love my grand kids. It brings me great peace to know that they are ours for eternity. We love you all. Thank you for your support. We would not have made it this far without you.

M&A

These little guys were right at our front door when we arrived.

We walked over to the Falls when we arrived. From our last trip it looked like they had shut off the water. A big difference from last March.

When the water flows over the rocks in the rainy season, it hits the other side.

This bridge goes over to Zimbabwe. We walked over this foot bridge. It took a great deal of talking to get Arlene over to the other side.....but she made it.

The locals swim in this area during the dry season. When the water is flowing it is bank to bank and 15 feet deep.

It is really tempting to walk out onto the edge. We were obedient....I took this with a long lens.......

Looking from the hotel into Zimbabwe.

If there is food....there are monkeys.....

We stayed at the Royal Livingstone Hotel.....We would go back there in a second.

Sunset over the Zambezi.....

These are not props.....I know that our daughter thinks that "dad probably paid the prop man to send them out" there is a large heard on the property and every evening they show up to feed.

It is so pretty.....but you must get inside before the mosquitoes come out.....OH BABY!!

Breakfast is served....

Lobby...

First picture on the Chobe River, Botswana

 African fish eagle. 1st cousin to our Bald eagle......really big!

Water lilies were everywhere. There is a bulb at the bottom of the flower that the locals make a drink out of. They also can slice it and cook it.

This guy was a great fisherman. After each dip he would fly back to his perch and dry his feathers. really cool.

Our first elephant....

As we watched them all come down to the river to drink. It was so hot. Way over a 100 and it's not summer yet....

It was so cool.

Yes you can swim....where are your "floaties"....

Hippo.....they make a great noise....

Cape Buffalo

This guy followed us everywhere......

always looking for a handout....

or just a hand.....

Sable Antelope

Everyone just hangs together...

We caught these guys going out to the island.....

The big one led the way and the rest followed....

Would you like a little bird with your butter......

These guys were everywhere....

Impala's or "CHEVY'S which ever you prefer...

We were in the jeep and we pulled up and right to my left were these young lions.....they were enjoying a nap....to hot to eat you, maybe later.....

The tall ones are from a "Kudu" the big one...no one knew.....

This is the ferry from Zambia into Botswana. This part of the Chobe River is where four countries share the same boarder. Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia

This one was right outside of our room.

XOXO

M&A

Mission Visit.......

Greetings once again......

We have  been so busy. It seems like every time we turn around another month is gone. Since we last wrote we have been all over the mission seeing all of the missionaries. We were blessed last month with a visit from Elder & Sister Ulises Soares of the Seventy. They spent several days touring the mission and holding interviews with the missionaries. We held two YSA firesides. One in Zambia and the other in Malawi. Several hundred attended and the instruction will bring great blessings to all who attended. We are happy and well. We miss all of you. When the Internet is working we are able to Skype with the kids. It is so neat to see all of them and hear their voices. They are growing and doing well in school. It is hard to think that the oldest is in her 3rd year at BYU and the little one is going to pre-school. That only leaves one thought. Arlene must be getting older. We miss all of you. We are so happy that Elder & Sister Milhoan from our Stake will be with us soon. They should arrive around the middle of next month. We are counting the days. Elder & Sister Smith also from our Stake will be on their way to Johannesburg soon. It will be fun to see them when we travel to South Africa. We hope you all read the September Ensign. The talk written on Responding to the Prophet's call on page 22. It has so many answers to your thoughts regarding if you should serve. The answer is YES you should. Come and serve with us. We need you all. When Elder Soares was here he asked "President, what is it that you need?" I told here without any hesitation. We need more Senior couples. He asked, How many do you need? I told him, 17!. That's right. 17. If we had 17 couples, it would allow us to have a senior couple in every branch in Zambia & Malawi. If we had 17 couples we would have three Stakes in one year. We need your leadership, your skills, your love, your faith. Remember what Elder Richard G. Scott said. "You may not know it all, but you know enough". I like the quote on page 24. "Fear of the unknown or fear that we don't have the scriptural skills or language required can cause reluctance to serve. But the Lord has said, 'If ye are prepared ye shall not fear' (D&C 38:30). Your life is your preparation ... Just go and be yourselves."We need you so. We will leave the light on for you, hurry and send in your papers. We have lots of fun, serving a mission is the best kept secret in the Church.

We had a great success with our "Mormon Helping Hands Project" It took place a few weeks ago all over Africa on the same day. These are a few pictures from the Lusaka area. We also just finished our National Measles Campaign in Zambia. We inoculated over 5,000,000 children. A special thanks to Elder & Sister Louthan and Elder & Sister Bowers for a job well done.

We hope you like the pictures.....

Lusaka & Copperbelt Zone

Conference 

Elder & Sister Soares

Elder Horne is right....

Smile for the family....

more smiles...

 The Sisters are the best...

Sister Soares and President Padovich

These were taken at the George Clinic a hospital in the village of George outside Libala. 

This hospital is funded by former President George W. Bush and his wife.

We moved over to the Lusaka side and cleaned up some of the roadway.

Who is that masked man?

The members were up and down the road as far as you could see....

Sisters from "Mothers without Boarders"

Boy....that guy really needs a hat!!!!

Elder Harper & Elder Okumu

Yes we did make a difference....

xoxoxo

M&A

One, Two, Three........

Time is going so fast. It seems that every time we turn around it's time to update the blog. We have been gone for several weeks. We spent time up near the border near the DR Congo. We now have Elder & Sister Bowers assigned to our mission. They are serving as Church Humanitarian Missionaries. It is so neat to have them here with us. Their first assignment is to oversee our measles campaign. It will encompass the entire country and inoculate over 7 million children. With the help of Elder & Sister Louthan from Public Affairs they have worked miracles here. It has been nice to be home for a couple of weeks.

We are so excited to have Ed & Jolene Smith arrive. We were sad that they were not assigned to us, but are happy to know they will be just down the way from us in Johannesburg. We travel through there all the time and it will be great to see them. We are counting the days until the Milhoans arrive. We are so excited. They will be here in Lusaka for a few days for training and all of the paperwork. Lots of forms and the like. They will be assigned in Lilongwe. Elder & Sister Prete will move down to Blantyre as we say goodbye to Elder & Sister Bullock. They will complete their mission at the end of September and return home to Canada. They are already talking about their next mission. So the tally from the Santa Clarita Stake stands at three. Who will be next? We really need you. We need  2-3 more couples to serve in the office. And we need several more couples to serve in other parts of the mission. We figure if we had several more couples here, it would be just about like home. You won't miss home cause you bring it here. It has been nice to be home for a couple of weeks.

 We feel like we spend way to much time in the car. We begin another round of zone conferences next week. Elder & Sister Soares of the Seventy will be here. Our missionaries are very excited to have them come. We begin here in Zambia and  then travel over to Malawi the week after. As we continue to learn our assignments here, we have come to know just how much the Lord loves His children. We are so blessed to have a small part in the great work. We have grown closer to our Heavenly Father and we have seen miracles happen right before our eyes. We are thankful that we have been called to serve. This morning we talked about a talk that was given in General Conference in 1995 by Elder Richard G. Scott. It is entitled "Trust in the Lord." In his talk he addresses how we feel when our prayers are not answered in the way we desire.  He speaks about adversity, trials, disappointments, and sadness. It talks about how we should react to some of these natural feelings. The part of his talk that touched me today was this, "just when all seems to be going right, challenges often come in multiple doses applied simultaneously. When those trials are not consequences of your disobedience, they are evidence that the Lord feels you are prepared to grow more. He therefore gives you experiences that stimulate growth, understanding, and compassion which polish you for your everlasting benefit. To get you from where you are to where He wants you to be requires a lot of stretching, and that generally entails discomfort and pain."

 I am thankful for a loving Heavenly Father who allows us to stretch and grow. We have certainly done a lot of that in this past year. So in closing we ask you. Is it time for you to stretch and grow? We hope so. Like the hymn states...."we are all enlisted till the conflict is ore, come join the ranks...." We love you all. We miss you more. We will continue to hold the line until you come.

xoxo

M&A