What Senior Missionaries do on P-Day

Now that our paperwork is complete and we are considered ‘residents’ of Kenya, we can visit parks and museums at a lower entry fee. This Monday we finally visited the Kisumu Museum which is about a mile from our apartment. To quote the guide book: It “is an interesting delve through the historical and natural delights of the Lake Victoria region.”



They had a wide range of displays with a variety of collections of traditional everyday items used by the different tribes; everything from tools, musical instruments, cooking implements, hunting tools, and weapons. The photo above is in the main display center.



There is also an aquarium with many of the fish that inhabit Lake Victoria. While I am fascinated watching the fish as they swim aimlessly around the tank, fish are not high on my priority list.
They also reconstructed a model homestead of a typical family with the various buildings. This model depicts the various homes for each of the wives. The first wife’s house is in the middle; subsequent wive’s homes alternate left and right. All visitors reported to the first wife’s house before proceeding to the home they wanted to visit. The husband’s home is to the right of the first wife’s home.

And of course, no museum excursion would be complete with the animals!

Here is the 7 year old male crocodile.

Here is the female companion; she too is about 7 years old.

The tortoise.

And Yertel the Turtle.

Kera is turning me into a bird watcher; here are the weavers. The male birds weave these nests; then the females come along and select their mate based on the best nest. Good incentive to build a sturdy nest.

And if you like snakes, here is the boomslang. Here is the speckled sun snake. We didn't take photos of the black Mamba, the Gaboon viper or the African Rock Pythons.

An Amazing Sunday

Today began at 9am with meetings and didn’t finish until nearly 5 pm. It is exhausting to try to see everyone who wants to see you, to teach, to listen, to counsel, to help. But at the same time, you know the things you do make a difference. I first met Godfry at the wheel chair turnover. He asked about our church and came the next Sunday. He needs to be carried up the two flights of steps to where we hold sacrament meetings. Godfry is 20 years old. He doesn’t really have a home. He lives with friends and moves from place to place. He has no job and no income. He would go to school if he had school fees. But he feels like he’s finding a home in the Gospel.

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He relates to Joseph Smith wondering which, of all the churches, is true. He read James 1:5 that says if any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God. He decided to read the Book of Mormon and pray and ask if it was the word of God. He feels he has found peace and a quiet answer and wants to be baptized.

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So many people here think that all you have to do is want to join a church and you go ahead and do it. They don’t understand that when you are baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints you are making a covenant with God. You are promising to keep His commandments. You covenant to repent and change your life, not just once, but ongoing forever. You agree to be an active, participating, member of the church. And before you can make those covenants, you must know what they are. You must know the commandments include chastity, tithing, keeping the Sabbath day holy, being honest, obeying the health law of the Word of Wisdom, following the counsel of the Prophet and other church leaders. So Godfry needs to be taught.

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But he has no “contact”—usually a phone number. And no home or location. And he can only travel in his wheel chair—which is not even a tricycle, but literally a wheel chair. But we persevered. The missionaries found a location close to where he is staying now and set up a time this week. Godfry is a sincere young man. So many places search for people who want to join the church. Here we have to insure they qualify before we can allow all who want to , to be baptized.

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We had great speakers today. Winnie was baptized last week and spoke today on choice and agency. Ilued, an older man, spoke very directly about chastity—having sex with only your spouse and not living together before you’ve paid the bride price. He talked about how important it was to teach our children about sex and modesty so they don’t learn from the street or experimentation. He said, “I wish I had a chart with a man and a woman and it all anatomically correct up here.” And I’m thinking, I’m really glad you don’t! That’s a bit too literal for a sacrament meeting.

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I’m exhausted. But life is good!

Relief Society Birthday

I missed the Relief Society Birthday party here in Kisumu because I’d been invited long ago to Busia for their party. We left home about 7:30 and arrived shortly after 10am. We had some training meetings, a temple preparation class, and then the Relief Society Birthday party. I had been asked to speak. I said, “I’ll talk on visiting teaching, okay?” “Fine.” As I’m introduced they say, “Sister Fox will tell us about Relief Society and why we celebrate the birthday.” Oh shoot! For someone who loves history, I’ve always thought the Relief Society history was boring and zoned out when they talked about that. See how your sins come back to haunt you? Elder Eyring said you need to learn everything since you never know when the Lord will call you to something and you need to know that. Sigh.

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So, I searched my memory and I think it was factual, if sparse. As I talked of Relief Society as sisters coming together to assist others, help support the men who were building the temple, and to organize to support one another, it morphed nicely into how visiting teaching is the Lord’s way of helping others and caring for one another.

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After I spoke, they had a sister who was a tailor teach about how to make a dress. They made a dress for me. So I was the model as she showed how to measure. Then she took the fabric, put the measurements on it, drew with chalk and cut out the pattern. Amazing! They also taught me three ways to wear a matching head scarf so I can be very fashionable in my bold printed dress. She finished cutting out the material at 4:30, our drop-dead time for leaving.

Naturally we still had to have “a bite” as well. It was raining again, so we walked next door to Mary’s house where the women had been cooking in the morning. We had chapates, cooked cabbage, boiled potatoes in sauce, and some kind of meat in sauce. It was quite tasty and so fun to watch people skillfully eat most of it with their hands. We finally left a little after 5 pm.

The difficulty was driving home in the rain and then in the rain and the dark. This is a road full of potholes… and people walking to and fro… and oil tankers, and matatus, and trucks and cars all with lights that have never seen a shop that correctly sets the headlamps. We know at least one of the walkers. Bro Crispin, an elderly gentlemen, was the first person and the only person on time for our Temple Preparation class today. He walked 24 km to get there. He said he awoke at 5am and started walking. What a great man! All these faithful saints are just amazing.

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Once again we recorded the road for your viewing pleasure. Note the cars and trucks are driving on the shoulder of the road and the pedestrians are walking down the middle.

Here the oil tanker is in the process of moving from our side of the road, back to his own side.

Here we are following the same truck, being passed by a bus, and you can see the oncoming traffic off to the shoulder and the very minor potholes in the middle.

The video is very bouncy because we were going through potholes. Maybe it gives you a small feeling of being on the road.

We returned home exhausted, but filled with the love of these good people

Miracles of the Lord

Today we drove to Sabatia to visit our widow sister. It had been raining as we headed toward the hills.

As we drove, we got spattered with rain, but great puddles, rushing streams, and muddy water gushing down drainage areas showed us heavy rains had been there before us. The last 3 km to her house are on clay roads. We took a new way that was more direct. Most of it was better than the usual road. Then we needed to wind down to cross a bridge over a stream and climb back up the other side of the ravine. We slithered down the crested road-- one car wide-- with gullies on either side, then steep walls. Tom did a masterful job of driving and we were in 4 wheel granny gear, but I am certain there were angels involved as well. We slid down to the bottom, but then, we had good traction going up the other side. Thank the Lord.

After visiting and drinking juice, she gave us some of her "home grown" honey. When we took our leave to travel back home, I was concerned about the drive in and out of the ravine again. This time, going down, we slid on the slick mud that hadn't been a problem before. But on the other side-- where it had been slippery-- we were able to drive out with no problem! Truly the Lord blessed us!.

Opposition in all Things

"For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. If not so... righteous could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad." 2 Nephi 2:11 Book of Mormon

We horded water. We took bucket showers. We listened for the music of trickling city water falling into our tank. We checked the water level. And at last our tanks are all filled-- both top and bottom. There is much rejoicing.

I think we need opposition and lack to appreciate what we have. I would not love a hot shower so much, had I not had one for a time. I appreciate the internet more when I can't connect with people I love because it's down.

One of the blessings of being in Africa is that one sees how much one can live without and still have joy and be happy and live a good life. I sometimes think that people who have everything, who don't experience opposition in things, forget to appreciate what they have. They accept it as their due and often are resentful they don't have more.

May I suggest you count your blessings. Stop. Don't ask for anything. Just remember with gratitude what you do have-- arms, legs, freedom, ability to breath easily, eyes that see-- we have SO MUCH! You'll feel so much happier.

I have WATER! and electricity, and Internet connection and a functioning computer (if I overlook the daily shut down because Internet explorer freezes up.) A safe, snug house, a wonderful 4 wheel drive truck (more about that later.) A fantastic husband. Plenty of food to eat. Health. Ah. Life is good! Thank you Lord.

No Water!

We have not had city water coming in for the last 4 days. We thought we'd been careful, filling the baptismal font on Thursday and Friday when a little trickled in. Then Saturday we had a branch meeting and lots of activity at the church as well as the baptism. Hmm. The water in the lower tank was very low. We turned off the pump so we wouldn't loose all the water on Sunday.

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All the upper tank water was used on Sunday and we had about ten inches remaining in the lower tank. We turned on the pump. Alas, we did not check to make sure all the faucets were off throughout the rest of the church and so some of our precious water escaped. There is just a smidgen in the upper tanks. So we have resorted to scooping from the font for our needs now-- including flushing all four of the Church toilets.

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So when you have a lemon, you make lemonade right? We'd been planning to clean the bottom water tank. What better time to do it than when it's empty.

Our mighty hero preparing for the feat! Note the tank is taller than he is. We did put a stool inside so here he is entering.

Sludge had collected below the exit pipe-- at least 8 inches. As Tom lowered the stool and it kept sinking, that we realized how deep it was. First Tom stood on the stool and scooped. This is what came out. Note the bottle cap floating in the water.

After surveying the project and dumping 6-8 buckets and seeing the water go down only a few inches. We decided to call in reinforcements. Note the arm with the empty bucket belongs to our intrepid hero. Elder Lipengah and Elder Hays formed a chain to dump full buckets and return the empty ones.

As you see our hero hard at work getting the sludge, note the color of the walls.

Elder Lipengah then volunteered to climb in and scrub the tank. They'd cleaned their tanks recently and were experts. He did an outstanding job. As I looked over the top, I could feel the heat coming up from the tank-- and this was pretty early in the morning. We'd started at 7am.

You can't see the beads of sweat on his face, but he got the tank cleaner than I thought possible!

When we called for help, they raced right over, even before breakfast. So I cooked French toast for breakfast for us all... or maybe it was brunch by then.

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Here's the irony. They, too, have been having water problems and have almost no running water. We all got pretty dirty cleaning the tank. But did we have water for a bath? For washing clothes? Sure! If we wanted to use a bucket! And in truth, a bucket of water is SO much better than no water at all.

The Weekend

Saturday we had leadership training meetings. We didn't have to prepare as Bro. James from Nairobi came and talked about materials, supplies, transport and such. Then we had a baptism.

It rained as we were waiting for the second baptismal candidate to emerge and then we were waiting for the rain to abate, so Elder Hays hung out in the font. He said it was the coolest he'd been since he came on his mission.

As we had just planted some bogunvillia, I was glad for the rain, just not the timing.

Sunday's full agenda was punctuated by a lost child. An investigator had come from about 30 km away and brought his little 5 year old daughter. Somehow in the midst of Primary letting out-- even though they directed them upstairs to the parents-- she disappeared. There was much searching, calling, checking homes of the girls she'd befriended in class. No results. Tom headed to the police with father and others. It was the tender mercies of the Lord and prayer that found her. I was impressed to ask someone to talk to our neighbor (who doesn't speak English) to see if she'd seen the child. She had not, but as she was walking down another road she overheard talk of a lost child. "I know people looking for a lost child!" she said. And the little girl was found. Two and a half hours. A city of a quarter of a million. And a found child. That's a miracle!

I have had an enjoyable time getting to know Sis. Jameson in the Congo through emails and her blog. She's the one with the Giant story. I linked her blog to our blog. It's the one with the french name. Hmm. Must be because that's what they speak in the Congo.

The Giants

Elder and Sister Jameson are the only Senior Missionary Couple serving in the Southeast Congo. I had heard this story and wrote to ask her if I could share it with you. She said yes, as long as it was used as written. The story is so fanstatic, it doesn't need any embellishment.

Enjoy.

We were in Likasi this week and had one of the most inspiring things happen that we have ever seen personally. These are three men whom we hope never to forget. When we begin to think we have challenges, we will think of these three Congolese Saints. We don't even know their names, but their faith and courage are beyond our imagination.

These three men live in a village in the bush North of Kolwezi called Kikondja. Having seen how it is in the villages, we would never have guessed that they lived there. Somehow, we're not sure exactly how, they learned about the church and were baptized. There are now 15 members, 6 priests, 20 investigators, all of whom usually attend church on Sunday. There are, however, 30 tithe payers. They bring the tithing from the village every 6 months when they come to District Conference. This helps us better understand the sacred nature of tithing.

They do not have the full programs of the church. As far as we know, they hold Sunday School and study only from the scriptures. They have not even been given permission to administer the sacrament. But they are faithful Saints. For District Conference some of them come to Kolwezi twice a year. This time it was only these three. It's the rainy season and it rains almost every day, making travel hard. In the dry season 10-20 people will come. Sometimes they come for a week or so in order to go to a regular church meeting to take the sacrament. It is such a show of strength and faith that they continue to meet and, even more so, that they come to District Conference. We have known too many in our life who think that Stake Conference is a vacation weekend in the church. The reason we find their coming so inspiring is that the village they live in is 520 km from Kolwezi. That's roughly 300 miles and they WALK all the way. Either there are no transports that go that far or they can't afford to pay for them. So, they WALK 300 miles to attend District Conference. It took them 2 weeks this time. That's 20 miles a day. They will stay for a week or so and then WALK another 300 miles home. On the way home they will carry boxes on their heads containing copies of the Book of Mormon that they requested. I wondered to myself--If I got up one Sunday in Tempe and my car wasn't working, would I walk to the church a few blocks away from home? Or would I just stay home because it was too far or too hot? And if it was raining all day as I walked, would I choose to go?

Before I knew who they were on Saturday, I actually noticed them. They were sitting on the front row in the chapel at the Sat. adult session and they seemed to be listening intently and taking notes. Then we were told about them. Again on Sunday I saw them on the front row and never missing a word. They had walked 300 miles to hear the gospel messages and to feel the spirit of a group of Saints. I wished so much that I had something profound to say to them and prayed for the ability to give the message I had prepared. I wanted to at least be able to be understood. I had spent many hours of work on my talk and five hours of hard traveling to get to Kolwezi, but it seemed like a pathetic offering compared to their offering made to the Lord by being there.

After the meeting Brent met with them for a few minutes. They asked if we were going to come to see their group. It almost broke our hearts. I'm not sure that a car could even get to their village and even in a car, traveling for another 300 miles down those dirt roads seems beyond our ability. But I will never forget those three great men, very small and humble in the eyes of the world, but amazing giants among men to me. I hope their demonstration of faith and devotion will be heard by many and inspire us to be more committed and willing to sacrifice. I hope to see them again and I think that I will at the next District conference in Kolwezi six months from now.

Walking

We have a new first for this week. When we first came to Kenya we felt a bit apprehensive. Were we safe? What was good security? What was foolishness? Sometimes when we stopped the car to buy things we were crowded with eager sellers. But as we’ve settled in, things have become more familiar.

So Monday we decided to walk to the 24hr Nakumatt area downtown. It may be ¾ of a mile. So we set off. First good thing—I felt like I got my bearings better than when we drive. Second, we wandered past a variety of shops and unless we lingered and expressed an interest, we were allowed to wander undisturbed. We went to the Posta— Kenya’s post off ice-- and were so sad to see we still had an empty mail box! We stopped to get photos developed. We traversed the vegetable market and got lost in the “stage” where people get matatus to take them to different towns.

I resisted the roses that seem to wilt after two days. I almost bought a dress, but it was the wrong size. We succumbed to three pens, some Swiss Braided bread, and a length of fabric that women use as scarf, shawl, baby carrier, apron, and wrap. As you can guess, it’s wonderfully bright!

I put to use my new sense of direction as I came back from Kondeli market on Tuesday after meeting with Susan’s Savings and Credit Cooperative. There we discussed how we could help some of the church members with micro-loans. We took a matatu back to the center of town and then I went “by foot” home and got there just in time to teach institute.

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Thursday we decided to walk to town again. I think it’s to avoid the 40 shilling parking fee that Tom hates. But I’m okay with it as I need the exercise. We visited a lady who will be baptized on Saturday at her work. We went to another place and visited with a lady who promised to come to church on Sunday. One of the fun things about walking, is that you get a chance to share the gospel with so many people. They see your name tag and ask. It says Jesus Christ on it, and it touches people’s hearts. It also reminds me that if I am to wear the Savior’s name, I need to be a good example and act as he would have me act. We taught a few lessons. This is one with Geoffrey and his wife. they are wonderful people!

But we had a number of appointments cancel this week. Sigh. Somehow the “less” that we have to do, still takes up all our time. We are preparing to teach a Temple preparation class at both Kisumu and Busia. People are so excited about preparing to go to the temple. The closest Temple is in Johannesburg, South Africa and it’s likely to be a once in a lifetime trip to the temple… unless one eventually is built in Nairobi.

Going Where no Truck has gone before

We were adventurous this past week, going places where few muzungas go, much less a vehicle. We already blogged our Tuesday adventure down the muddy road. Our escapades since then are regaled here in full color.

The six of us missionaries were invited to dinner Wednesday night, provided by Marcelus and his wife. He is a great cook. Notice the six pans on the table with our dinner, and the plates of fruit on the table in back. All this food was prepared over a charcoal cooker; beans, ugali, greens, stew, fish. A former pastor, he and his family joined the church last fall. They are some of the most humble and teachable people I know.

Friday the truck took us to the equator. Each time we travel west to Busia, we cross the border. Our trip today was to visit the branch president and his family in their home and another member in the same area. While we have driven past this marker many times, we had never stopped for a photo before. The Lion’s Club is to be thanked for providing this marker. If you become a shellback for crossing the equator upon the seas, is there a commensurate designation for crossing it on land? Snail?

We turned off the good road onto another paved road; although its quality paled to the previous one, unless you like a road with more areas unpaved and rutted, than paved. The Branch President (BP) met us at the local hospital to serve as our guide for the rest of the trip. No way we would have found our next three destinations on our own. Our first stop was to deliver a tricycle wheelchair to a ‘mama’ near his home. She is pictured here with her daughter on her right and some of her grandchildren. She has spent her life crawling on her hands to work her shamba, providing food for her family. Maize, pumpkin, millet, bananas, beans and more dot the freshly weeded large garden she cares for. While the wheelchair won’t help in this labor, it will permit her to ride to market and back and enjoy greater mobility and freedom for other activities.

We then headed to the BP’s house. Did I mention there are no paved roads to his house? I have included several pictures of the ‘road’ there. It is more of a footpath; it starts out wide enough and you think ‘I can do this’. The channel slowly narrows until you are aware of the bushes scrapping the sides of the truck and you think: ‘How am I going to get out of here?’ A great analogy of how Satan so often deceives us. The BP and his wife built the mud house they live in; no electricity (okay, he does have a solar panel for a TV); no running water. They live here with their three daughters and two sons. They have a small shamba and she teaches at the local school. While I had indicated there was no need to feed us, he informed me that tradition held that visitors get fed. We had mashed baked bananas (tasted just like mashed potatoes), cow peas, and ungali. Great food again.

Here is the BP with his wife and two sons; the three girls were at school. Their home is in the background.

The BP guided us our next visit; no way to find it otherwise. Justin lives a short distance away, over the same type of ‘road’ as the pictures indicate.

The road may be narrow, but you will be amazed at what you might end up sharing the road with. Note the pile of rocks on the photo of laundry day below. The pile of gravel was reduced to its current size by using a small hammer, beating big rocks into these smaller ones.

This is when we are really glad the church provides 4-wheeled vehicles for us. Would not make the 'grade' on roads like this.

Again, do you feel the world closing in on you?

Are we there yet?? His house is just around the corner... and other myths.

We found Justin at home, met his lovely wife and visited with several of his friends. They are most interested in hearing about the restored gospel. Such good people live here.

Justin and his two girls walk about an hour just to get to a road that is serviced by transportation; then it takes another hour of riding to get to church. The BP and his family do much the same thing, just from a different location. For those of you who are wondering how I got the truck turned around, it was not a matter of skill; fortunately, both of these homes we visited had sufficient room in their yards to turn the truck around, otherwise, I would still be backing up. Yes, I did come home and wax some of the scratches out of the finish.

The End!