Traveling again

Saturday there was to be some baptisms at 9am. However the baptismal candidates were slow to show—along with most of the supporters. They were just getting started at 10:45 as we left to drive to Nairobi. First we had to get money from the ATM machine and get gas. Alas, the ATM kept flashing “waiting, waiting” and not giving us money and not giving Tom his card back. Three minutes. Five minutes. Ten minutes. We pressed cancel. We pressed clear… nothing. I went to another machine and got money, but we didn’t want to leave without our ATM card. The guard was very helpful. She let us know it was out of order and had eaten another person’s card. Eventually it spit it out and she kept it for him. We were going to be gone 5 days. No way did we want to leave an unattended ATM card around. We decided to go to the bank and do as Elder Elam suggested: “Go in acting like a wet hen!” Or else it would be unlikely we’d ever see the card again. As we were getting directions to the bank, we were also realizing that it was 11:15 by now. An hour drive to the bank and back plus 6.5 hours to Nairobi would put us there after dark. Ugh! About that time the machine said: Out of order. Then it said: Unauthorized Card! And spit our card out! We gave thanks for our miracle.

The Scriptures say about missionaries: “And whoso receiveth you, there I will be also, for I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up.” (D&C 84:88)

This was the first of several times Angels were round about us. Traffic out of Kisumu was heavy. Many Kenyans were going “up country” or to their traditional homes for Christmas. So passing on the two lane roads was more difficult. However, we were run off onto the shoulder of the road by a truck taking his share out of the middle. On a slow spot on the road, oncoming traffic was playing ultimate chicken with a matatu passing a truck passing a truck. So they were three across, taking up the whole road. However this time the shoulder was too steep, and Elder Fox claimed his lane. We ended up both stopped, head to head. The Matatu had to wait until the truck moved past and slide back into traffic, and we continued on our way. Then, we moved to pass a truck only to suddenly see a blue car approaching. Even though we slammed on the brakes, the truck was SO slow, we could not move behind him in time. Fortunately, the blue car had enough room with the paved shoulder and went around us. And lastly, we actually had a passing lane and were using it to pass a logging truck when it decided to move into our lane to pass a slower truck. We were forced into the oncoming traffic lane. We were blessed that there were no oncoming cars at that time and were able to complete our passing. On the plus side, a “diversion” that had been 10Km long, was completed and we made good time there. Well, until the end where it wasn’t quite finished.

Adding to that problem was a truck changing a tire in the left lane. As traffic was diverted around him, we came head to head with a line of trucks waiting to pass him, too. And at this spot, note the road is only one lane wide! Traffic was at a standstill. I love this truck! Tom checked out the embankment. We can do that, he said. So we careened down the side, road onto the gravel track until we passed the problem, and climbed back up onto the road. Dozens of Matatus followed our lead.

This is a new kind of "hitch-hiker' They just hold on the the back of a truck and get pulled along-- usually unbeknownst to the driver.
And finally, we did make good time. We got to Nairobi in less than 6 hours! We felt blessed and truly felt the guardian angels round about us.

We spend the night with Elder and Sister Blake. They came to Kenya only a few weeks before we did. They are assigned to the Kulinga Hills area and we decided to see more of south and west Kenya and go with them to Church on Sunday. So we got up and out the door by 6:30 am. We drove toward Mombasa and then turned off on a smaller paved road. We went up into the mountains where all the Chambas (farms) are terraced. It was a beautiful drive. Along the way we saw giraffes, Thompson’s Gazelles, camels, and zebras.

We saw Masaai men guarding their cattle. Elder Blake had no problem off-roading on the diversions, and up the dirt treks. It’s amazing what a truck can do. We had a fantastic time visiting up and back about how their branch was doing, how they were teaching English Classes and piano lessons, and investigator discussions and how the members were teaching in between times they could visit. Blakes have 4 branches (churches) they are responsible to support. They are amazing!