We returned from our time in Nairobi Joyful to find water. Alas, our joy was short-lived. A mear trickle. A drop. A crabby husband. Fortunately also an effective husband. He called the water company and the next day we got to experience our version of Holes. They said if we connected to a main line, we would get more steady water. And that line was supposed to be... here... or is it here?
They dug down maybe 5 feet and found a sewer line. Nope. Won't work. So they went to the street and traced the line back to the house. Along the way, they found that-- or some other water lines-- a little too closely, and ended up patching a few other lines along the way.
So for two days, we stayed pretty close to home. We fed the diggers lunch and brought them water. We had this irrational hope that SOON they would be done. Thursday we had WATER! WAHOO! And great pressure... well, the best we've ever had. It filled our tank in 2 hours instead of 8. Then no water for days.... then some.... and for the last few days, I think we've had city water for the majority of the days. We have hope things are better-- for things yet unseen.Roosters
Amidst training and visiting in Kisumu, we went out to visit a member up country. We got a little cocky. The roads had been improving and we thought, no problem! We can go and see him. An hour out. An hour there, an hour back. Should work. We whizzed along the new road making good time.... til we saw that fateful mound of dirt across the road and the sign: Diversion, "Serem" and a small arrow. We headed up a country road. That sign was the last one we saw. We saw forks in the road like this:
The faint-hearted might have stopped and asked for directions. But we knew Serem was just past that mountain... or was it that one? I did pull out the compass. We did have several discussions. Not heated ones. Definitely not. No really.After a good hour just on the diversion we finally came to a paved road, guessed correctly which paved road it was and turned the correct direction on it. We were able to visit our friend and see the house he is constructing and his mother's posha mill (grinds maize to flour.) We also admired this rooster. If you think you've got a bad hair day.... he always looks like this.
Like the wise men, we returned home by another route. We appreciated the flexibility of African time, as people graciously allowed us to push back other appointments.Reports
I have been delving into the computer and accessing hitherto unknown parts of ldsces.org and cstar-- programs for Institute and Seminary. Institute holds religious classes for 18-30 year olds. Seminary--classes for 14-18 year olds. This is year end and so we've been encouraging those who are lacking a few classes to do make up work so they can get a certificate of completion for the course. I've discovered a few students who are not on the rolls. And I've found how to put them into the system, but only kinda, sorta, maybe found out how to attach them to a class.
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I've accessed the help line and made new friends as I've gleaned how to print off certificates. The silly things have to be shrunk a bit to fit our paper... which I learned after printing far too many.
What is exciting is that I KNOW these people. I was thinking back to January of this year when I was enrolling these students. They were just names. I was totally dependent on some wonderful branch members to point out the students, collect them to be instructed on the Seminary manuals, and then released to scatter to the winds to actually do the home study course. Now I know who they are and I know which families they belong to.
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And with Institute, we've had a wonderful year! In the beginning, the scriptures were unfamiliar to the students. Our method of teaching with question and thoughtful discussion and searching the scriptures was met with blank stares. Now we have great discussions. The students are reading with understanding. When one understands what the Lord wants of them, it's so much easier to DO it. Our institute students are putting down deep roots into the gospel. I love teaching that class!
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Face lift
We went to Busia on Saturday December 4th to teach the World Wide broadcast about the new church handbook. It is unfortunate that we don't have enough handbooks for everyone, but the principles contained in them are powerful and the role model of an effective ward counsel was impressively taught. (on video... not by us.)
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We also talked of the temple trip coming up in January for three families in Busia. There are 16 people going from Busia, and one sister from Kitale, and a family of 3 from Eldoret. We have not met the sister and family from Eldoret that we will be shepherding to the Johannesburg Temple in South Africa. We're still trying to collect the errant passport, yellow fever shot card, visa application, etc. And a few of the young adults need to have missionary applications submitted in order to go. Some of them have been working on these applications since early this year. And the deadline we imposed for the end of November has come and gone. But we have faith it will all work in the Lord's way. Now we move on to: do they have suitcases? How will they get to Nairobi? What is the schedule once they get to the temple? Akk. It's getting close!
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The new chapel (rented building) for Busia had been under construction for a while. The facade on the upper story were they meet was bland concrete-- unpainted. When we arrived this time, such was not the case. It was a bit of a surprise. And if you look closely, you'll see that even the sign for the church got a bit of the red and white on it.
On our drive back from Busia, we could tell it was the dry season. Typically clouds billow and cover the sky in the late afternoon. This time, the sky was just a dusty blue with a hint of thin gray at the edges to suggest clouds. The sunset was not a riot of color but a watercolor blend of pinks and oranges in a halo around the sun.
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Christmas!
One of our new elders plays the piano! He asked about starting a choir. So we've been singing after church. How fun it is to sing the carols of Christmas. We have some Christmas CD's we play in the car, too. It may be 85 degrees outside and a dusty brown or a lush green. No tree. No decorations. But we are celebrating the Savior's Birth. Life is good.
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