Visiting

I see I have been remiss in my blogging. I plead busyness… and TIA (This is Africa)… and even when you try hard to get things done…. You do get things done, but not necessarily what you wanted to get done, or what you planned to get done, or even much of what you NEEDED to get done.

Last week we dealt with water shortages and electrical outages. It’s amazing how life slows down. The brain is stressed and has to figure out new ways to do things. Even if you didn’t really need electricity for what you planned to do (wash your face, for example) you wander into the kitchen, then remember you can’t heat hot water in the electric tea pot and think, how will I wash my face… okay, I can do it in cold water. And really, I could have heated water on the stove. Then: what will I eat for breakfast? Well, wait, I don’t want to open the frig… Nope can’t toast. Opps, the eggs are in the frig… as is the milk. I finally toasted bread over the gas burner and had avocado on toast. Anyhow, maybe our brains are turning to sludge, but things just seem more laborious when conditions change.

We worked at visiting members last week. Some we couldn’t find. Some we missed the right time to be there, but we added others to our list and managed to visit six people in a day…. And have time for some Branch President training. There is a quote about a wonderful Danish teacher that says something like: “We could warm our hands by the fire of his testimony.” We love visiting the members. We do warm our souls by the fire of their spirits. We had lunch at the “hotel” of Willikistar and visited with her grown daughter there as well.

Two LDS Charities couples came to Kisumu on Monday. Prior to their coming, we visited with our favorite caterer to see if he could give them a quote for providing meals for the Neonatal training which would take place in March. He went above and beyond the call of duty. He scouted out guest houses and venues in both training areas. He bargained (pronounced bar-GAN-ed) the prices down. He looked for cleanliness and security. And wanted to quote a price so low he would absorb some of the costs. And he kept thanking me for the privilege of serving the Church. What a good man!

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We picked up some Strawberries on Thursday, and you know, they really won't keep. We discovered Fruit Pizza Pie really doesn't keep either. For some reason, it disappeared in like two days! Yum!

We finally located a place that will do yellow fever shots for our group going to the temple. We thought we got everything set up for the Busia group to get shots on Thursday the 18th, but when Elder Fox checked with them on Tuesday…. No… they couldn’t get the 10 dosage vials until the following week. Sigh. We had hoped to carry the passports, visa applications, letters of request, photos and yellow fever cards with us when we went to Nairobi next week. Guess the yellow fever cards will have to be couriered later.

Sunday we were scheduled to watch two sessions of General Conference—the Saturday sessions. We watched the AM one and it was excellent. We took a short break and invited everyone to go into the back to collect and eat mangoes, which they were delighted to do. Sometime in that interval, the decision was made to forgo the second session and have each auxiliary and priesthood do their last classes. I’m thinking, AKKK how can you just throw this on the different classes? But Relief Society did fine and Young Women’s said, “We can always have (create or do) a lesson.”

Monday two LDS Charities couples arrived in Kisumu. E. Fox picked them up at the airport. They are delightful people. Brother and Sister W and B are here to do neonatal resuscitation training in Homa Bay (2.5 hrs south of Kisumu) and Mbale (45min North). They came to meet with doctors and set up the trainings which will take place in March. We lined up a member to help drive them to Homa Bay and what with the car condition and the road condition, apparently it was quite an experience. Once again there were surely angels round about them to perserve them. But they got all organized. We served them lunch and dinner on Monday and they more than generously reciprocated by taking us out to dinner Tues and Wed. It was so fun to visit and learn what they’ve done and what they plan to do. They are such good people.

Tuesday Pres. Kogo came to visit and E/S L drove him and his wife down. While the Pres. conducted his business, the women and E. L went to the market for fabric, fish, and vegetables. We came back for a wedding:

Then we had a late lunch and sent Pres. and Sis Kogo and Elder and Sister L on their way back to Eldoret... just in time to prep for Institute class. We showed The Testaments, because we are in 3Nephi. Then talked a bit about Christ’s Sermon on the Mount. When asked how to tell the false prophets (who come as wolves in sheep’s clothing) from those who brought the truth, he said, “by their fruits ye shall know them.” So we talked about the fact that we are the “fruit” of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. When people see us and our actions, will they see the Savior? Will they see the goodness of God?

And we talked about how an earthly father knows how to give his children good gifts, so we can know that our Heavenly Father loves us with a perfect love and knows how to give us the gifts that are right for us. It may not seem like a good gift at the time, but as we look back, we will be able to see that it was a blessing. One sister came to realize that the difficulty of caring for a sick child was a gift from God. She learned so much that now as a nurse, she is highly skilled in pediatric care.

Wed. E. Fox drove the LDS couples to Mbale to meet with the doctors. I stayed back with Jackie (the cleaning lady) as my “companion” and went to district meeting and visited with Sister B. about her personal history. I love learning about the growth and progression of the saints. We have some really good people here.

On the way home from Mbale, they stopped at the Equator sign. Sister W. got to talking with these women. E. Fox and Sister W tried carrying the baskets and found them surprisingly heavy!