A “Quiet” Thursday

Our schedule was open for Thursday. We had been busy most all the week and we looked at Thursday and thought… Oh, Good. Let’s not schedule anything that day. We can prepare lessons and catch up on some things.

But at 8:30 a member came to check and fix a leaky toilet in the church.

At 9-9:30 we got to visit with Elder and Sister G. who had gone to Mbita to look at the water project. They are such great people, it’s always a treat to see them! And we hate to see them go!

At 9:45 we got a call from Robai and Francis who had brought their family to get passports. And Sister Imendi came along with them with her two children. So E. Fox picked up eight people and brought them to the house to work on the documentation for their passports. They had faithfully gotten birth certificates and passport photos, ID cards, and marriage certificates. Now they needed recommender letters. Here is the trick: The recommender must be a Kenyan and someone in authority—church leader, doctor, civil servant— and the person can’t be related to you. You need a letter from them. They need to sign the back of one of the photos certifying that it’s you. They need to fill out the back page of the passport application and sign it. And you need a copy of their ID. So they filled out forms.

So Bro. Francis could be recommender for Sister Imendi and family, but we needed someone to recommend him and his family. Fortunately we have a great doctor who is also in the Branch Presidency. So I typed up the letters of recommendation from Francis and Geoffrey to the parents and children. I wrote letters from parents asking for passports for their children. We helped fill out forms and trimmed photos to passport size. Then E. Fox took everyone over to his clinic and he signed the forms, the letter, the photos, and authorized copies of his ID.

Then they went to get copies of all the originals and copies of the ID’s of the recommenders… and some bread for lunch. By now the passport office was closed for lunch. They came back here and we made sandwiches. Then they collated all the documents for each person and headed off to the passport office about 2:30. By 4:30 they had completed the work and were on their way back home and E. Fox returned triumphant.

It is special to be part of history. These are the first saints from Busia going to the temple. They were so grateful for all the help we gave them with typing up letters, taking them to get them signed and copied and helping them through the labyrinth of documentation.

I didn’t get to my list of things to catch up on, but it was a blessing the day was open to help these good saints.