Temple Prep Week

It's been a great and diverse week. We spent the first part of the week in Kisumu. We held some Branch Presidency training, we had district meeting, we visited. We coordinated and collected stuff for our temple trip.

Tuesday we went to visit our friends in Sondu and taught the Seminary and Institute teacher and also a group of others. It's fun to see them beginning to understand how to read scriptures, verse-by-verse, and look to see what the principles are and how they apply to them. They are obedient and learning and I know the Lord will bless them.

We left Thursday and drove to Nairobi. On the way down we made lists: Challenges facing the branch. Things we can do to to help resolve some of the challenges. Things the Mission President or others may want to help support the branch. Things to do in Nairobi. and so on. We stopped at the "Big Five Look-out" over the Rift Valley, and the shop actually had some of the soap stone carvings that I wanted.

We arrived in time to visit the Mission Office and accomplish much. We went back on Friday to get all the temple recommends signed. We looked at the records we thought had been properly updated and discovered two people had not had their priesthood ordinations recorded. One had an improper birth date and a few middle names were not the same as those appearing on their National ID cards and passports. So we needed to make some changes.

Friday night all the couples met together for a progressive dinner and games. We had such fun visiting with them. We got to know the new couple better and visited with Elder and Sister B. who had attended the temple not long ago to glean more details from them. We ate far too much tasty food and stayed up way past our bedtime. Then the New Year's celebrations in the city and the park with noise and fireworks and drums and such reminded us through the remainder of the night that the New Year had arrived.

Saturday we went to the Jogo market and bought some things-- a dress, a shirt, a suit, and some fabric. And we bought a soccer ball that we saw being made there-- hand stitched. We went to lunch with some of the couples and then went to visit with President Odero and his wife.

Sunday we went to the Upper Hill Ward for church and had a great testimony meeting. It was fun to see how other wards in Kenya operate and they are doing fine. We visited with the Imende family who had traveled over night from Busia so they could attend church on Sunday. They are SO excited to be going to the temple. And two of their children-- Glory and Robinson will be able to receive their endowments as their mission papers are approved. After church we had them all fill out exit papers and we explained the process of going through an airport and flying. Then later in the evening, we went with the Mission President and his wife to visit with the Busia families. They shared their testimonies and it was a sweet time.

Glory's birthday is tomorrow. We happened to have some cake left over from last night and thought they might enjoy it. They were delighted. Its interesting how a small thing from us can be a big thing for them.

Tomorrow we depart early for Johannesburg. I don't know if we will have Internet connection there. But we will surely have a spiritual connection there.