FoxAfricanSafari

Moving on

2011-05-21T14:08:00.000-07:00

Since our mission is over, it seemed we needed a new blog. If you want to see what we are doing now that we are home and only doing common things, here is our new address.

www.foxflash2@blogspot.com

Since I want to be able to put names and perhaps be a little more detailed, I've decided to see what it's like to have a private blog. I think when you click on this site, you can ask to view the blog. Then I can add you to the list. If this doesn't work, email me at sakafox@yahoo.com

Settling In

2011-05-08T17:34:00.000-07:00

I thought coming home would be like putting on a pair of comfortable shoes-- I'd just slip right in. It didn't work that way. I think we were more like the younger missionaries. We came off our mission and what were we to do next?

Maybe a combination of young missionary/old missionary problems-- we couldn't remember where things were in our home. Where's the silverware? Where did we keep the iron? Was that piece of furniture always there?

We spent a few days with our oldest son, Andy, and his family (and one of the five grandchildren born on our mission). It was fun to visit with them and the grandchildren. When we got in the car to drive home... my left food didn't know what to do. No clutch! But driving IS like riding a bike. You don't forget. And it wasn't hard to transition to driving on the right side of the road.

Miranda, Dan, and new (to us) baby Camden-- he's one year old-- came to visit and that helped with the transition.

I don't know if it helped or hindered. Certainly it hindered in getting the house organized-- but we'd moved stuff out of the downstairs for the housesitter. And it seemed like a good plan, while the furniture was not there, to take down the old paneling and popcorn ceiling in the last room in the house with paneling (and also the largest) and put in drywall. Of course the food storage closet is there, as well... and why not... and so we have tons of food storage cluttering other parts of the house now. Well, that includes the 96 boxes of food storage our daughter brought over as she stages her house to sell.

We will start on a circuit to visit the remaining children and grandchildren and end with celebrating my Mom's 90th birthday the end of May. Then, I suppose we really must settle in and decide what to do with our lives.

The Trip Home

2011-04-28T09:15:00.000-07:00

Friday morning we planned to get up at 4:30 to be prepared for the 6am departure to the airport. We set the alarm. We failed, however, to turn on the alarm. We awoke at 5:15.

What excitement! I didn't know I could shower, finish packing, clean the room, and be ready so fast. I even got a little breakfast. I preferred to go out with a rush. We stuffed much into the last days of our mission. It was a good way for the last day to begin.

We had much time to decompress and transition while in the plane and at airports. Our flight didn't leave until 7:15 pm. We thought we could escort our Kenyan people to their gate, but it didn't work as we didn't have our boarding passes. So we said good-byes, and then waited. We read. We walked around. I crocheted part of a necklace. We hung around like vultures for the ticket office to open so we could rid ourselves of 4 of our bags. We weighted them-- EXACTLY 23 KG each! And we checked them through to our final destination! Hurray! We feared we might have to pay for the extra baggage for the USA leg. Then we enjoyed a Subway Sandwich and shopped at the Out of Africa place for a last tie for Tom.

We slept on the Johannesburg to London flight and arrived at 5:15 am London time. Again, the airport became our friend as we waited the 6 hours for a connecting flight. This one was harder to sleep on-- 11 hours-- but it was all daytime. We arrived in Dallas at 3pm or so. We had to claim our luggage and take it through customs, but then they rechecked it immediately after.

Our 7 hour layover there increased by 2 hours as Dallas had a lightening storm and the flights were stopped during that time. By then, we were moving pretty slowly ourselves. I don't know about "brain dead"... but certainly in critical condition. We arrived in Jackson, MS at 1am, collected all our luggage, and got to our son, Andy's, house by 2:20. Ahh. The bed felt Sooo good.

Sunday was Easter. We enjoyed being in church. But how odd to have no responsibilities. None. It isn't all that good of a feeling. So I held somebody's baby most of the time. We enjoyed the grand children. They are bright and talented and smart and...

Monday Andy had off and we worked outside landscaping their house. They've done a beautiful job of it! It's just lovely. I mostly mulched and admired.

Tuesday we hauled our stuff home. Tom drove the truck and I, the new (to us) Toyota. Wait! Where's the clutch? What's the left foot supposed to do? And, er, which side of the road should I be on? It IS like riding a bike. You don't forget. Our intent was to stop in Little Rock at the commissary and stock up. Alas. A tornado had come through the night before and damaged it... and it was closed. So we stopped in Mountain View at Walmart and picked up a few things.

It felt almost strange to be home. I expected to walk in and just feel this overwhelming sense of: I'M HOME. But it didn't happen. It was hard to remember. Where does this go? Where do I find that? Has that always been there? It was like slowly immersing oneself into a warm tub of water. Ah... but crawling into our own bed felt GREAT!

As we unpacked, old met new. Which memorabilia or memories will take the forefront now? We have TOO MUCH STUFF. Some things will have to go. When you've lived with little-- it's a good time to evaluate the much.

Wednesday afternoon we drove to Springfield to meet with the Stake President and the High Council and be released. It was good to report. We feel we have served a mission with our heart, might, mind and strength. Not a perfect mission. We certainly made our share of mistakes. But a mission that was pleasing in the eyes of the Lord.

I felt a touch of sadness at taking off the name tag for the last time. We have been so blessed and protected as we have served. I KNOW the Lord has watched over us. I KNOW angels have been round about us protecting and guiding us as we've been about the Lord's work. Will we still have that guidance and protection?

I trust we will. I trust as we continue to give ourselves to the Lord, what will be done will be according to His will. It has been a great mission. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is true. It is God's church. Jesus Christ, the savior and redeemer, is at its head. We will draw nearer to God and the the peace, joy, and love that is His nature, as we follow its teachings. I know this is so.

Every Good Thing

2011-04-28T09:08:00.000-07:00

When Elder L. Whitney Clayton came to the mission he said that the Lord is pleased with every good thing we do. It doesn't have to be a big thing. It can be a little one-- a smile, a helping hand. Listening. Doing a small service. How much easier it is to do good, when we remember that it pleases the Lord.

He also said, you don't have to be perfect today. Keep working on it. Life is a process and it takes time. In Moses 7:21 it says "in the process if time" the city of Enoch was taken to heaven. It took time. And in D&C 50:24 we learn if we receive what comes from God-- if we listen to what God asks us to do, and do it... we will receive more. More instructions, more wisdom, more light and truth. We will become more perfect.

Isn't it wonderful that it can all start with doing One. Good. Thing.

Johannesburg Temple

2011-04-24T12:36:00.000-07:00

Monday morning we went to the mission service center and met all the people going to the temple. We had a family of 5-- the Ochieng Odunga family, and sister Consulate from Nairobi, and we had Josephat Barasa Lumuli and his wife from Naitiri near Kitale in addition to our 17 from Kisumu. We discussed the details of airports and flying and then had a testimony meeting. In the afternoon we flew to Johannesburg and arrived at Patron Housing at the temple about 9pm. We crashed and regained strength for Tuesday. It was much chillier in Johannesburg. We found it delightful, the Kenyan's found it cold.

Tuesday we went to the distribution center. Then the adults went to the temple about 11 to make sure all their paperwork was in order. After a quick lunch, they went to the temple at 1pm. The children went to the temple with us about 2:30 when we went up for the 3pm session. It was wonderful to see all these couples and single sisters there. Pym, a 13 year old in the Odhiambo family, was supposed to come to the temple with the other children to be sealed. But after the endowment session, they came to tell the parents he was seriously ill and needed to go to the hospital. Pym had been sick and treated for malaria, but was not better. They had prayed he would be strong enough to come to the temple... and he was strong enough to come. It turned out he had a fluid filled cyst on the brain-- maybe TB of the brain-- and certainly would have died had he stayed in Kisumu. So it was a blessing he came. The rest of the families were sealed as the Odhiambos went to the hospital.

Some days the children walked around the temple grounds.

Wednesday morning was spent in the family history center as the families put their family history on the computers and prepared names for the temple. Just as Jesus acted as proxy for all of us as he took our sins upon him, in the temple, people act for in behalf of the deceased to do baptisms and other work the spirits who have passed on cannot do for themselves. The spirits of the deceased, of course, have the choice to accept or reject these ordinances. But Jesus said everyone had to be baptized. I love it that there is a way made for those who have not heard of Jesus or the gospel in this life are not cut off from the presence of God but can have this baptism and other saving ordinances done vicariously by other.

At 1pm we met for photos in front of the temple and at 2 they did baptisms and then the adults went on to other work. I stayed back with the young children until the older teens returned.

The Odhiambo Family

The Okila Family

Marcelus Owino and Family

Brother and Sister Barasa

Joseph Oching Odunga and family

Ericah, Sister Fox, and Consulate. And below is the whole group.

There is a trick to trying to get food prepared in time for the ordinances to be done. But this group was very time conscious and did manage to feed us all and still get to the temple. The men were very capable and several times they made the meals and other times they cleaned up. Wednesday night we ate about 9pm. I asked the Kenyans and they often eat about 8pm or so. Elder Fox made a sandwich and bailed out. I stayed and ate.

We enjoyed visiting with the missionary couples and the wonderful people at the temple and and Patron housing. They were so helpful with Pym. The area doctor also assisted with some other of the youth who had been struggling with illnesses.

Thursday was a repeat of Wednesday with the exception that we did sealings at the end of the day. It made for a long day. But it was wonderful. It was a choice experience to take these families to the temple. They glowed! They were so excited to go and so spiritually fed.

Then came the sad good-byes. Even the families we had only known a few days had become close friends. Thursday evening we shared how the temple had increased their testimonies. Then on Friday we had to be up and ready to leave by 6am. We set the alarm for 4:30 so we'd have plenty of time. Alas, we failed to turn it on! We awoke at 5:15.... and that was the fastest getting ready and packed I've ever done. It was a fitting ending. No lingering. No contemplation. Just work as hard and fast as we could!

Our goal had been to take the Kenyans to the airport and help them get to their gate. Then we were told that we departed from a different terminal. Then it turned out that we did leave from the same terminal, but we had been unable to print our boarding passes, so we could not have gone past the security check-point anyway. So we hugged good-bye and sent them on their way.

In the Moment

2011-04-17T22:14:00.000-07:00

We have been blessed to be “in the moment”—not worrying about things past or anticipating things in the future (very much.)

Monday and Tuesday we cleaned, packed, finished all the zillions of odds and ends we needed to do before leaving. We spent way too much time at Telkom, calling customer service, and explaining the problem as we worked on a refund for days the internet was off line. I wrote up George’s chicken project. Tom interviewed two sick teens who had not been able to be interviewed for the temple—under the direction of the mission president. A young man came from Busia for passport and Yellow Fever shot in anticipation of going on a mission. And we tried to finish the area book for the missionaries who will follow us.

Wednesday we left. Lots of lasts… last good byes… last visits to people… last hugs and last minute gifts. Last time to drive through the countryside… last diversion… last chance to see the markets and the brilliantly colorful dresses the women wear. Last time to see the acacia trees, the zebras, the Thompsons gazelles. On the way we talked. Had we done enough? Are there things we wished we would have done? Can they carry on? We felt a sweet peace that our work was acceptable to the Lord. The people will step up to the plate. They will grow. They will learn many things as they await a new couple and they will be stronger for it.

We had a wonderful exit interview with President Broadbent. He is a godly man! We and then had a really sweet (and tasty) farewell dinner at the Broadbent’s that evening with all the missionary couples. We got to meet the brand new couple—the Scotts—who are going to Mombasa. One of the wonderful perks of this mission are the fantastic senior missionary couples who also serve here. We have visited, dined together, shared ideas and support and encouragement and picked brains about how to do things better. I think the best missionaries in the world are sent to the Kenya Nairobi Mission.

Thursday we tied up loose ends at the Mission office, contacted those going to the temple to check that their transport was in line, and visited the Nairobi Telkom office in an effort to get the refund we expected. We shopped for food for the last few days and finished most of the area book. We put the things we thought the new couple would need on a jump drive as well. And we had a lovely dinner with Elder and Sister Tuttle.

Friday we went to the Nairobi Park. It has most of the animals except elephants. We drove all over the highways and byways of the park and E. Fox had a great time! We saw a lion, lots of elands and cokes hartebeests, a crocodile and a terrapin, Thompson’s gazelles and impalas and ostriches and a variety of other birds. Alas, we grabbed the old video camera instead of the new one. So we finished the mission as we began—with a snapshot camera and a finicky-zoom camera.

This time was a great time to decompress. I felt the weight of responsibility lift from my shoulders as we left Kisumu. Yes, there were still problems and concerns there… but there was nothing I could do about it now. And yes, I really didn’t know what we would do when we got home, but the Lord has reassured us he has something in mind and when the time comes, we will know it. So we have been happily living in the moment. Well, sometimes the driving in Nairobi traffic is a little stressful. And certainly packing adds it’s spice of excitement. Will it all fit? Will it be within the weight limits? Are the carry-ons the right size? I know at times the Lord has shrunk the truck to fit through a narrow spot. I trust if it’s right and necessary, he will shrink our baggage as well. If not… we pay through the nose.

Saturday we went out to dinner with the senior couples. We met Elder and Sister Judd who had spent two years in China teaching English to university students. This job is handled through BYU from where they are trained and sent. They loved it, and it sounded like fun. Saturday night our temple group left from Kisumu.

Sunday morning we met our temple families at church. They had wanted to travel through the night so they could attend church in Nairobi. For most, it was the first time to see a “real” chapel (as opposed to a rented house.) But the greatest tender mercy of the Lord was that the stake was showing the DVD of general conference and they got to hear President Monson talk about the value and importance of temples and temple attendance. You could almost see them glow with excitement. They were GOING!

Sunday evening I wrote up our seminary activity of last Saturday. E/S Harms from South Africa public affairs were visiting to do training and we got to see some of the new videos they are producing to introduce the church and the Family Enrichment Program (A value oriented but not religious oriented Family Home Evening program.) It’s interesting that now I can see that the people shown in the video are… or are not… from Kenya. African is not African—there are many subtle and not-so-subtle differences between nations and they are working to address this and make the videos country specific.

Today we fly to South Africa and the temple portion of our journey begins!

Things I will miss

2011-04-12T10:19:00.000-07:00

As we prepare to leave Kenya, here is a random list of thing I will miss.

1. I will miss all the wonderful people. Saying good-by to those we have come to love is difficult. For many, we are the church are intertwined. We are the face of the church and they wonder if they will be able to go on without us. Of course they will. They are strong. They have faith. They will do fine. But our hearts will always be with our friends here.

2. Seeing people’s lives change. It is so awesome to see a person looking into the church and see them begin to understand God’s love for them and his plan of happiness. As they take hold of it, they are INVARIABLY blessed both spiritually and temporally.

3. Doing something that really matters. It’s hard to think of anything else that we could do that would make such an impact on others. Lives change! People say: “I used to be angry and my family was afraid of me. Now we sit down and talk and my children love to come and tell me things.” Or “I was very bad off back then. Now I can hold my head up. I can pay my rent and my children’s school fees.” Or. “I was so sick. I couldn’t do anything. Then the missionaries gave me a blessing and I have not been sick like that ever again.” Or. “I did not know I was a child of God. Now I know I matter to God.” The prophet said, “The Gospel makes bad men [and women] good and good men better.” I have seen it.

4. Talking to random strangers about Jesus Christ. People walk up to you on the street, read your name tag and say, “I love Jesus, too.” Or “I have been saved,” or “What is this church?” It’s so easy to tell people about the Savior and his love for them and how they can have a happier more peaceful life.

5. Eternal summer. I love the trees always being green, the flowers ever-blooming. The bougainvillea just blooms it heart out in a spectacle of red, fuscia, pink, yellow, white, orange and rust. The vine on the fence and gate periodically sports a bright yellow overcoat of blooms. It’s a beautiful country. I think it’s the garden of Eden. Want cassava? Push a stick of it into the ground and it will grow. Want sugarcane? Cut a cane into pieces and plant them. They’ll grow!

6. The skyscape. We have spectacular sunsets and sun rises. I love it when the afternoon storm blows in with tumbling clouds and rumbling thunder. There are times when the thunder grumbles continuously for 10 minutes or more as lightening flashes from cloud to cloud.

7. The animals. We have seen amazing animals here in all their varieties—giraffes, zebras, lions, elephants, monkeys—both on game preserves and often by the side of the road.

8. Cooked Cabbage. I’ve never been a cabbage lover, but this is so sweet and tasty!

9. Sunrise at 6-6:30 and sunset at 6:45-7:15. I didn’t need an alarm, the daylight woke me up. I loved the consistency.

10. Having a fixed purpose. Politics, finances, World events were not the focus. The purpose each day was to serve the Lord the way we were directed by Him to do. There was variety, excitement… sometimes apprehension, joy, duty, satisfaction, and the sweet influence of the spirit directing us.

11. The wonderful variety of accented syllables and the unique use of words. “If they are late for the meeting, they miss the preamble to the meeting.” “You are supposed to discuss things in your presidency meetings and come to branch counsel to digest them.” And of course, the all time favorite: “This area is infested with Quakers.” April is Ah-preelle. Wednesday is Wed-ness-day… just like it’s spelled. It’s just that each letter is pronounced.

12. The wonderful singing of the African saints! Even a small number make a grand sound. I love the harmonies they create. Every time I sing Redeemer of Israel I will remember being in Marcelus' house around his small table with the cement walls echoing back the sound. It was his favorite song and we sang it each time we visited.

13. The diversity of people, landscape, clothing, housing, etc. Just such a variety of all kinds of things. I love the brown skin in all it's varieties, the different eye shapes and cheek bones. The shapes of the chins. Since we can't quickly identify people by hair color or style, we needed to really look at the face shapes.

14. COLOR!!! I love the bold colors of the clothes and the large scale prints. Tye-dies, batik, patterned lessas and getangas. the elegant lace work and cut work of many dresses. the ruffles and tucked sleeves of the dresses. Really these are a well dressed people and I have enjoyed the vivid colors they wear.

Things I won’t miss:

1. Opening and closing and locking the gate every time we go in or out.

2. Ants. Tiny black ones that wander singularly and sparsely on any surface including shirt front or arm or neck. However, they congregate enthusiastically when there’s a knife with a speck of peanut butter left on the counter.

3. Heat. Sticky, sweaty heat. And no place to go for relief. Well… actually the truck has A/C… but we’ve never been tempted to ride in it just to cool off. No. Really. We haven’t done that. And hello! What kind of heat do we have in Arkansas in the summer? Maybe it will feel more comfortable to me now.

4. The lapse of utilities. * Electric power fluctuations, blinks, and the all too frequent stoppage. It’s tough when you suddenly drop into pitch black as you were working on dinner. *Water tanks nearly empty where you wait anxiously for the music of the trickle of city water dropping into the tank and splattering on the puddle at the bottom. *Internet connection interruptions. Now that we have a wireless, we can go from an okay speed to a crawl (read: we cannot open this website or this email… try again.) However, when the electricity goes out, there’s not much time left to use the computer before it, too, conks.

5. Cold water. Okay. I’ve learned to wash my face in cold water if I have to. I have not yet mastered showering in the chill. But we managed with the electric shower head and an electric tea kettle… with the exceptions of utility failures noted in #4.

6. Being away from family. I know, I know, we don’t live near family anyway. And Skype was great (excepting lapses noted in #4). But it was hard to miss babies being born and seeing children grow up for this long. We were so blessed with good health for all our family and with employment and the tender mercies of the Lord on them while we were gone.

7. Bleching black clouds of exhaust. I won't miss that. Or the dust that swirls around when you walk.

8. Wearing a dress every day-- seven days a week. I will be glad to go casual. I think I'm sloppy at heart.

So you THINK you know what’s going on?

2011-04-11T11:25:00.000-07:00

So many times in this mission we’ve been faced with an uncertain situation. “Come to my house.” Where? What is expected of us? What will happen there? Sometimes it’s a phone conversation where you don’t exactly hear what’s going on and you agree. Again… a bit of uncertainty. Sometimes, even when you feel pretty confident you know what’s going on and what’s expected… it turns out you don’t.

It used to stress me out. But the Lord promises help. And he has.

“For it shall be given you in the very hour, yea, in the very moment, what ye shall say.” (Doctrine and Covenants Section 100:6) “Neither take ye thought beforehand what ye shall say; but treasure up in your minds continually the words of life, and it shall be given you in the very hour that portion that shall be meted unto every man.” (Doctrine and Covenants Section 84:85)

I can’t think of a time on our mission, when, after a moment or two, we didn’t figure out what to say or what to do. The Spirit guided us. We’ve been so blessed! These words of the Savior are true!

It’s Not Just Black and White

2011-04-11T11:20:00.000-07:00

I love the skin color of the African people. It’s a beautiful, glowing brown from the color of dusk to mahogany to a shady beach. It makes the smiles brighter and the eyes more alive. It has this wrinkle free texture that makes people look the same age from 16 to 45.

I have pondered the scriptures, knowing that the Lord made us all and loves us all. I am reminded that to the Lord all things are spiritual. So when he talks of sinners who become “a dark and lothesome people”, he is not talking of the physical appearance, but of the spiritual appearance. In the same way, when people become “white and delightsome”, I believe it is a spiritual change, not necessarily a physical one.

I went out one morning and saw these leaves on the Mango tree. The leaves are actually the same dark green color. What makes the difference? The light shining through them. I think the dark leaves are the natural man. And the illuminated leaves are what happen when we let the light of Christ shine in our lives.

In people of all colors I have seen the gospel shine in their lives making them “delightsome.” And I have seen the Spirit of the Lord depart from them making them indeed look unhappy and angry-- “dark and lothesome”—regardless of the color of their skin.

Crazy Busy!

2011-04-10T11:45:00.000-07:00

We have been crazy busy this week. A quick recap. Monday—Who knows. I went fast with laundry, prep for the Seminary activity, and visiting with Pres O, visiting some sisters and trying to set up a sister in a business.

For the seminary activity we invited students from Busia and from Sondu-Nyabondo. On Saturday we learned that the branches were supposed to pay for the transport. AGG. So we had to call the branch presidents and cajole them into spending their precious budget on that. Our theme was “The Armor of God” Earlier we’d made Shields of faith, Helmets of Salvation, Swords of the Sprit, loins girt about with truth, breastplate of Righteousness, and footies of paper for feet shod with the gospel of peace. Monday E. Fox lay on some cardboard and we traced a warrior and made all these parts for him. And we made signs explaining some of these things.

We continued Tuesday refining the program. We started with scripture mastery, and then had a speaker. Then the video of the Armor of God. Then we planned for them to break into groups and do skits. They were like: You go to boarding school and are busy and don’t have time to read the scriptures. How can the armor of God help you? Or you find a wallet and need money for school fees, how can the armor of God help you? Then we had lunch of sandwiches, bananas, and soda. After came games: About 15 min each: volleyball, “How do you love your neighbor?” and learning the Hokey Pokey, the Chicken Dance, and the Bunny Hop. Lastly we scheduled photos and a testimony meeting. So we worked on who would do what. While we were supposed to have someone else do institute… they called and E. Fox ended up teaching it.

We needed to pack and leave early Wednesday AM. We had a circuitous route. We went to see Bro. H. who has not been to church in months, then Ericah. Then we went to the hospital at Mbale to drop off training material for the neonatal training. Finally we visited Jane in Kakamega—an investigator. We had the missionaries with us to visit with all these people as well. We continued on to Kitale to visit with the Beechers. We got there about 6pm. We ate quickly and then the missionaries came over for their weekly night with the Beechers. They’d planned a video. Er. Power went out. So they had some games.

Thursday the Beechers and we went to Mt. Elgon. It was a lovely drive! Very relaxing and peaceful. We saw Columbus Monkeys and other monkeys and baboons. We saw waterbucks and impala.

I loved the peaceful landscape. We saw a great cave and a poacher… who did in an impala as we watched… from a distance. E Fox and Beecher went to check and found some snares and actually photographed the poacher and turned him in.

In the afternoon we drove to Eldoret and visited with Pres. Kogo and then went to dinner with Pres and Sis. B and the E/S Scott from S. Africa. We spent the night at the Noble. It is a new conference center with lodging and quite nice.

Friday was zone conference. As usually it was fantastic. One quote: “Talking doesn’t cook the rice.” The missionary was speaking about how when you come in in the evening you may talk and talk about whose cooking dinner…. But it doesn’t get the job done. We had a great talk on symptoms of stress and how to reduce stress. We also learned about the importance of attitude (see 1 Nephi 17: 1-3, 21-22 to see same situation, different attitudes.) and about how to become converted missionaries.

After zone conference and lunch, we visited with Pres. Kogo while we waited for E. Beecher to give two patriarchal blessings. It’s awesome that we now have someone approved to give patriarchal blessings to those going on missions. Then they visited with Pres. K. I thought no problem. We have time to get home. Then we forgot E Fox’s suit coat and had to go back. Then there was this AWESOME rainstorm with hail and thunder and water so thick you could hardly see. And I began to think I misjudged the time to leave. We did get home after dark. Ugh. The Beechers were faithful and followed us all the way. We finalized plans for Saturday’s activity and crashed.

Saturday we were up really early to do the final set up and get things organized. We needed to buy the food for the lunch before people started arriving. We really had no idea how many people were coming, in spite of asking for numbers. We thought maybe 45 total. We actually had 45 youth plus about 11 legitimate leaders and maybe half a dozen others who showed up. The youth had a great time.

They really enjoyed all the activities! Power came on in time to see the video about the Armor of God. Then they did skits.

It was fun to see them have fun. They had some of the scriptures memorized and a number of the non-members who were enrolled in some of the outlying seminaries had a great grasp of the scriptures. We had some good strong testimonies from the youth. They played volleyball.

They played "How do you love your neighbor."

The Beechers taught the dances, led two of the skit groups, helped with music and were just invaluable! I think they kept us sane that day.

Here is our happy group.

After the activity we were really bushed… although there was a high from a job well done… and a job being over (well done or not.) However, there was a farewell for us later that evening so we went to that. It was heart-warming to hear the kind remarks of the members. They will really miss us. And we will miss them. They are remarkable people. Again we got home after dark. We had to stop and buy more bread as we’d used up all our bread for the extra people at the activity.

Today we had more fond farewells. The Beechers did such a lovely job of sharing the gospel here. They bore their testimonies and gave such perfect comments. In Branch counsel they were right on in their comments. It’s so great to have another witness of how things should go. Branch counsel ran the best I’ve seen it. The branch is moving forward in a good direction. After church we helped people with family group sheets to send to the temple and visited to make final arrangements with those going in April and to keep those going in August on track. Sundays are tiring because often we don’t eat or drink from 8:30 to about 3 or 4. And then tonight, there was a problem with a leaky sink that had to be fixed as water was running over the floor. And the pipe on our shower has moved from a spiffy 90 degrees from the wall to a sagging 45 degrees and continuing south. It will have to be fixed before we leave. We can’t have a new couple arrive to that.

So we are finished with the last major project before we leave. Still have things in the area book to do… and packing… and some updating of branch lists… and visiting… and….the internet is down again and we are back to the wireless modem... and...

Good night. It’s too late to think of these things today.

Grudges

2011-04-04T23:32:00.000-07:00

There is a person in the branch who has not been honest in his dealings. The person has been hurtfully revengeful to some of my favorite people and may be casual about keeping sacred covenants. I really had a hard time with this person. When they would stand to pray or teach I would feel resentful—judging them as unworthy to perform those things. I would think: The handbook says....

I had been praying for greater love, greater trust in God and more joy. One day I realized all my feelings—as modest or intense as they were—had absolutely no bearing on that person’s salvation. The person’s salvation was between them and the Lord. My feelings had no influence at all on their judgment. BUT it had EVERYTHING to do with MY salvation.

And you know what? I was blessed to let it go. And I did have more joy as those resentful feeling were gone. And I could laugh at the Lord’s joke on me as the next few Sundays this person both gave prayers and taught lessons!

Good Bye Busia

2011-04-04T05:21:00.000-07:00

This last Sunday was our last chance to go and visit the saints in Busia. It was a bitter-sweet day. The branch is growing. (picture of a baptism earlier in the year.) There were about 60 people there. They are godly people trying to do what is right. We enjoyed the testimony meeting. Elder Fox taught the Elders Quorum and I taught Relief Society. The sisters participated and seemed to grasp the gospel principles. Those who have attended the temple have deepened their faith and are leading the branch. They are starting a new Temple Preparation Class so others can ready themselves to go to the temple. (One member brings all his family in this pickup.) After the regular block of meetings, they met to wish us farewell. Oh. They were so grateful for all we had done. They reminded us of how small they were when we first came and how they struggled. They told how we’d uplifted them and taught them and blessed their lives. They only imagined and dreamed of going to the temple… and now they’ve done it. Some spoke of the struggle to go on a mission, of almost giving up, but through our encouragement, they made it. . Two are going, and two more are working to go—knowing it IS possible. This is Glory whose going to the NY, NY South mission. And Robinson (in the vest) with other current and future missionaries. President Odero recommended families name babies after us—and introduced Tom Freeman Imende, named after Elder and Sister Freeman who served about 12 years ago in Nairobi and blessed their lives when they were new converts. They sang: God be With You ‘Til We Meet Again. (This is Pres Odero and his family and Pres and Sis. Broadbent.) It was rewarding. As we drove to Busia, we were looking at all the things we were leaving unfinished and still struggling. And we wondered…. Have we really done much since we’ve been here? So it was nice to hear we’d made a difference. ***(pretend the astrisks are paragraph breaks. For some reason blogger won't let me put in paragraphs today.) - It was also important for us to remember this was really gratitude to the Lord. One said, “you were heaven-sent to bless us.” That is really where the praise and gratitude should go. We were just His messengers sent to act as He would act… which we did MUCH less perfectly than He would have. But we’ve learned and grown. We, too, have gained love, faith, trust in God, understanding of gospel and administrative principles, and maybe even some patience. ***(pg) - Still, it was very nice to have so many people say “Thank You!”

T.I.A.

2011-04-02T01:16:00.000-07:00

My friend Lorraine introduced me to this term. It means This Is Africa… which means don’t expect things to go as you think they will. Yesterday was a TIA day. Fabulous… but not as I had planned. _ We were to take our last visit to the Nyabondo saints who live about 50 km south of us. Dennis and Bethsada had invited us to their house… for what? A bit unclear. Kenneth and his family makes bricks. We’d often driven by brick making operations, so I asked if we could spend just a little time seeing how bricks are made. Sure he said, it will take 10 minutes. Then we planned on teaching a short teacher training lesson for the seminary and institute teacher and then a little longer lesson on Doctrine and Covenants 50 to both show the teachers teaching methods and enlighten all the others who would be there. Our time frame: Leave at 10. Arrive shortly after 11 at Dennis’ house. Leave at one. Do bricks and stuff until 2. Teach until 3, be home about 4:30. We left a little late. Orange was reconnecting the phone line outside our gate. HURRAY!!! INTERNET!!!! It had poured rain the night before. Normally I have some concerns about going on the dirt roads when it's rained a lot, but I trusted they would have dried out, and they had. And we arrived at Dennis and Bethsada’s house about 11:20. We visited with Dennis as Bethsada cooked. And we had quiet, contemplative time while we waited. Sitting and doing nothing is not easy for me. Fortunately we had scriptures and could read. We ate lunch of rice, meat stew, cabbage, avocados, pineapple and bananas. We spent some time visiting with several girls from a nearby school. They are starting to take seminary classes with Bro. Dennis during the week. Sweet girls. A little before 1:30 we drove to Kenneth’s house—where the gathering would be. Here's a photo of Dennis, his wife, and several of the students.

We picked up Kenneth and drove to the brick making place. But first we stopped in front of the primary school to admire their stand of trees. Then we walked past other new tree plantings the saints in Nyabondo are doing for a community project and went to the secondary school. This area tends to be boggy in wet weather. When they plant blue gum trees, they draw the moisture from the soil and keep it dryer. Ingenious. We visited the secondary school principal and talked with him about Kenya and America and how lovely his school was. Then we walked by where people were building with bricks and mud mortar. We saw where the brick mud was stomped and then pulled from the top soil. We saw the fired bricks and the “kiln” made of the mud bricks to be fired. 3500 bricks make the kiln with a space for two holes for fire to be built.

Then the whole thing is mudded over to keep the heat and smoke in. The smoke eventually exits through small holes in the sides and top that it finds, but a well built fire will last for 3 days—enough to bake the bricks. We returned to Kenneth’s and he had us plant a tree so he could remember us.

The Women gave a demonstration on how the walls of mud homes are sealed with a mixture of dirt and cow dung.

And we also saw a demonstration of the brick making.

Leonard was fast, efficient, and turned out perfect looking bricks. Here he is pressing out the finished brick.

Then we had the father of the clan, Stephen, take us on a tour of the shamba. It is large and well cared for. By now, it’s about 3pm.

We began our meeting after the opening song and prayer. I love the singing here! Rich, beautiful voices with their melodic harmonizing! I will miss that! First, the Seminary gave a lesson. (Last time we’d asked both seminary and Institute if we could come and watch their lessons. I guess it set a pattern.) One of the youth gave a fine lesson on Keeping the Sabbath Day holy—from the Doctrine and Covenants (D&C). Then the Institute teacher gave a great lesson on Missionary work. I loved how both of them took us repeatedly into the scriptures to find answers. They invited discussion and class participation. Then it was my turn for the lesson on how to discern the spirit of the Lord from other spirit from D&C 5. Then Elder Fox taught about keeping the doctrine pure by teaching from the scriptures and the church publications. By now it’s close to 5 pm. Closing song and prayer and we’re done… right? No.

Now we get to hear a word of thanks from Elder and Sister Fox and then from the patriarch of the family, Stephen. Stephen’s talk was so sweet. He spoke of the day we first came to his home and went out to the brick field to meet him. He told we introduced the Book of Mormon and he could not understand it. Then we came a second time and talked about the Plan of Salvation. He went through the plan in detail—from our pre-earth life, to the creation and the fall of man, to our life on earth, the atonement of the Savior, death, spirit world, resurrection, final judgment and degrees of glory one can inherit. This additional knowledge made such an impression on him that he converted and has spent the last year seeking more knowledge and guidance. He said, “We wanted to rush things, but that does not lead to good results. We need to be patient and wait and in the Lord’s time things will come about.” This was so sweet as that is what we’ve been telling them, and to hear it repeated back meant they understood it.

Then we went outside and took pictures . This is Stephen's wife, children, and grandees.

And all the attendees at the meeting.

Then the Seminary group and other groups gave us gifts. Avocados and baskets from the women. Bananas from Stephen (they are all wrapped up. Doesn't it look like a large cocoon?)

We got banana leaf purses and a soapstone dish. Elder Fox has a banana leaf belt hanging around his neck here. This is Kenneth giving the dish.

It was so moving. They were giving us from their heart and their limited resources. We also got a book with thank-you’s written in from many of the members and investigators. We took a picture of all our gifts when we returned home. We are so touched.

Then we went back to the compound so Kenneth could show us the kitchen where food was prepared. Then into the home to visit and eat. We talked about grain storage methods we’d learned and about drying foods like onions, tomatoes, mangoes, etc so that they could preserve them against the lean times. Often they grow them, sell them when there is a glut, and then go hungry with little between seasons. They were very interested in the idea of drying foods to preserve them.

As we were finished and ready to go, Zedok spoke. He talked about how he’d been in the hospital in February of last year and met Stephen, a member from Kisumu who was in the next bed over. He was so impressed with the people who came to visit him and their reverent manner, that he asked and Stephen gave him a church magazine. He studied it, learned of Kenneth’s group of people and came and learned more. He talked about how his life changed. He stopped smoking and drinking and saved 2,400 shillings a month. He now had money to send his boys to school. He said he was “the man” and never sat with his family, had no relationship with his children and they feared him. But he repented and now the family sits at meals together and discusses and reads scriptures. He is friends with his boys and they talk to him about things. He is so grateful for the changes. His health is better. Since that time he has not gone back to smoking or whiskey. When he has a desire, he prays. I was touched anew about how the gospel really does change lives in so many ways. Not just the person converted, but those around them feel the influence.

There was such a sweet spirit, it was hard to leave. At 6:30 we got into the truck. It got dark at 7pm and the phrase: “play now, pay later” came to mind. We drove slower than normal and ended up home after 8pm. There was much rumbling and lightening along the way, but no rain. Good thing. Our laundry was still on the line from the morning. After all, we expected to be home in plenty of time to bring it in.

It was an exhilarating, exhausting day and in every way typified the saying: TIA.

Four Projects, Four Days.

2011-03-31T23:57:00.001-07:00

We have been focusing on several things as our days wind down. We have three things to do with our departure:

1. clean up, sort, organize.

2. pack

3. complete the turnover packet for our followers—the couple who follows us.

We have several activities yet with our missionary work:

1. visit people one last time.

2. regular training and teaching

3. prepare for the seminary activity.

We have been poking at each one all week.

Monday we worked hard to get the last of the “armor of God” prepared. E. Fox had cut out the Shield of faith, the breastplates of righteousness, and the swords of the spirit. I was having a hard time figuring out how to make the shoes of the Gospel of peace or the helmet of salvation. I finally took light cardboard and shaped a shoe top. Sister B. came up with a brilliant helmet of salvation—small dust bins covered with aluminum foil. They had strips of plastic for the sides, so part of the strips she just covered the strips making a grillwork for the face part. Monday we bought fabric for the “loins girt about with truth.” And we got fabric and cut it for arm bands for the different groups—yellow, blue, green. (no symbolism to the colors… just ones that looked nice.) They are now labeled and prepared to go. We got the Armor of God video clip and the speakers lined up. E. Fox is still working on the scripture mastery activity. We think we’ve decided on a lunch menu.

On Monday we took one of the young elders to the Woolen mill to check out suit material and to the tailors. E. fox finally dropped off his last fabric to have made into pants. The last one got a hole in it as the tailor was ironing it and one of the charcoal pieces dropped onto the finished pants. I got some crochet hooks for making necklaces.

In the afternoon we had a chance to visit with the branch president. He expressed gratitude for our service. He said, you’ve been my parents—encouraging and correcting as needed. And sometimes I’ve acted like the child. But I really appreciate you and I’ve grown a great deal. He is a good man. The branch is moving forward. The leadership is becoming aware of those not attending and focus is turning to them.

Tuesday my goal was to stay home and get stuff done on the turnover packet. I introduced each of the Kisumu members and identified relationships. I also started on the phone contact list. We have people in the phone like Elizabeth, Morrice, Electric Isaiah, Didikis, and so on. I thought it might be helpful to know who they were. Actually, if I would just put the last names into the phone so they could be cross referenced with the branch list that would help on some. In the evening we taught our last institute class. We have really enjoyed that. I think those in the class will see that it continues.

Wednesday we wandered through the house getting rid of stuff and organizing it. We have a file cabinet we’ve gone through about 3 times now. Each time we find things to take, things to toss, and things to leave. I think we’re done with it now. Part of the problem was Tom organized according to his thoughts, then I’d organize according to mine… then together. I made a list of things we’ve purchased since we came to Kenya for customs.

Wednesday evening we went to Elizabeth and Isaac’s house for a cottage meeting. I forget how far back into Nyalenda it is. We took boda-bodas to Solwe stage. Got there a little late, didn’t bring the right video we’d promised, and waited for more to show up. But still, it was good. The video was the Book of Mormon Stories instead of the John Tanner Story. So we watched “How we got the Book of Mormon” and several other chapters while we waited. Then E. Fox did a masterful job building on the things taught on that video. By the time we were done it was pretty dark. They walked us back to the stage stop, and we decided to take a piki-piki home. It’s a motorcycle… and they have headlights. It was a first time for us. Kinda fun. And we arrived safe. And it wasn’t much more than a boda boda for two.

Thursday Glory came to get her immunizations and we then sat with her and went over her missionary packet and talked about the USA. She’s going to the New York, NY south mission which includes Bermuda Island interestingly enough. We picked her up and took her to the Public Health place a little after ten. I thought, by noon we’d be done… Sigh. TIA. We returned her to the stage to return to Busia closer to 3. I got my last haircut here. Then we went to pick up the missionaries to go and visit Joan and George. Again, we parked the truck and walked back in a ways. Joan had not been present at church for over 2 months. I think she was a lost sheep. She’d wandered from church, but still was reading the Book of Mormon. E. Fox had her read the parable in Luke 15 about the lost sheep and the joy that was felt upon its return. In the evening we packed a suitcase of things we won’t need until we get home. Then we couldn’t find the scale—BAH!—to know if it is under 50 lbs. or not.

Today we will go to Sondu or the Nyabondo saints for the last time. We will visit a home where we’d been invited numerous times… but not gone. We will teach a lesson and do a little Seminary and Institute teacher training. We will also visit their brick making operation.

So, I suppose there are more than 4 projects. And technically more than 4 days. But mid next week we go to north and return just in time for the Seminary Activity. Then we clean and pack and head to Nairobi for exit interview and farewell.

All these activities have been made more interesting by lack of high speed internet and occasionally by lack of power. We've been having AWESOME thunderstorms. They tumble in with booms and crashes. Sometimes the rumblings seem non-stop. Alas, frequently then the power does stop-- anywhere from an hour or so up to half a day. If it stops at night, it will eventually come back on, but often stops again the next day-- presumably when they do a more secure fix. On the good side, we've had plenty of water!

Obedience

2011-03-28T03:17:00.000-07:00

When obedience ceases to be an irritant and becomes our quest, in that moment God will endow us with power. -- Ezra Taft Benson

Sunday, Sunday

2011-03-27T07:24:00.000-07:00

Last week raced past! I so appreciated the hand of the Lord in it. From Saturday when we drove back from Nairobi, until Thursday afternoon there were a million things to do. We loved having the Tuttles with us. They are a great couple. We delighted in showing them around and finding Homa Bay ourselves for the first time. We were pleased that the road toward Kitale has been repaved and is a good road. When we showed the Tuttles the way to Kitale, we enjoyed a tailgate picnic in the back yard of the Misihku branch with the Beechers. On the way back home we saw the shambas tilled and planted now that the rains have come. . I enjoyed teaching the Self Employment Workshop for two days with Susan Kanga and we celebrated our graduation. And of course, we needed to take time to prepare to teach Institute. It is always a treat. We didn’t get everything done that we wanted, but we got the important ones done. The miracle was that I didn’t feel stressed out. I felt that I was prepared for the classes and they went well. E. Fox made a great dent in the preparations for our seminary “Armor of God” activity. And I finished up classes on Thursday feeling well satisfied with all the things we’d done. We began to plot out the remainder of our time here and actually have about 10 days that are not scheduled. On Friday with a seemingly manageable list of things and a space of time to do them, I felt stress and tension creeping in. It made me realize how great the blessing was from the Lord that earlier in the week I was calm and stress free. We have been going through bookshelves and the filing cabinet to clear out our paperwork and leave what is needed. We are trying to write an “Area Book” that will help when a new couple moves in. Friday we had George here painting the Primary Room and Jackie cleaning our house and we left them at the church and went out to visit Morrice the guard and his family. They live about 10 km out of town and he rides his bike to work guarding the church every night. He's been a very good guard. We learn all the local events through him-- what's happening. What it means. What it may lead to. I guess the Fish Mamas were tired of their trade being interfered with due to roads being blocked and resolved the problem on their own. AH. Woman Strength!

We had a baptism on Saturday that was very nice. Here is Memory and her uncle Eliud who baptized her. And there were two investigators there as well.

I decided to go native for the baptism, and got a lot of complements on how "smart" and "African" I looked. I donno. The head scarf is always hot to wear. But the dress may replace my toucan one.

We both spoke in Sacrament today and we had a good attendance today. And in Branch Counsel concern was expressed by many about how to reach those who are not coming. I think that as the leaders and members have the desire and focus, they will find success in bringing back the lost sheep. My counsel was not to ask: “What’s keeping you away from church?” (which focuses on the negative,) but rather, “What will it take to come back to church?” (Which focuses in a positive direction.) After church we met with several new investigators and with those preparing to go to the temple. We discussed luggage. On Saturday we’d bought some duffel bags so they could carry things in something more than a polythin bag. They need to finalize their transport to Nairobi. With the family and a single sister from Nariobi, a couple from Kitale, and our 3 families and one single sister we will have 24 people to help get to the temple. It's still like herding cats... but at least I have some experience in that now.

For the past 10 days we have been struggling with our internet provider and have had to rely on a remote modem that doesn't do large files, to include allowing us to Skype. Really we would like to talk with you...

Learning of the Lord

2011-03-24T10:34:00.000-07:00

Mission Tour was a unique opportunity to ask questions of Elder and Sister Clayton and Elder and Sister Koelliker. I learned much.

1. A young man with serious cancer asked Elder Bednar for a blessing. Elder Bednar asked: “Do you have the faith NOT to be healed?” After thinking about it, the young man said, “Yes. That means I know the Savior CAN heal me. So if he does, or if he does not it’s okay. It happens because that the Lord knows is best for me.”

2. Sometimes we focus too much on behavior. The goal is to focus on conversion. If we are converted, our minds and hearts change. Then the behavior will take care of itself.

3. How does the husband “preside” in the home when the husband and wife are equal partners? He serves. He is responsible for the family. However he is not the boss. The Broadbents have a saying: “Happy wife, happy life.”

4. Reverence is the key to revelation. Reverence is being. It’s not only an action, it’s who we are. The heart and mind are receptive to the spirit.

5. Don’t feel you have to be perfect today. Keep working on it. Life is a process and it takes time. Moses 7:21 “In the process of time” the City of Enoch was taken up into heaven.

6. There is a preciseness in the Lord’s pattern and he wants us to move closer to that perfection. However, it takes time to learn in new wards and branches. Lift the leaders. Support them. Don’t criticize.

7. What are the prophet and apostles like? They are like you and I in that they eat. They sleep. They wash their clothes and shop and do dishes like everyone else. What sets them apart is that everything they do, they do with great love and purity of heart. They do things for lofty reasons. They see the Lord in everything.

[I made it my goal to act more in love. The Savior says “no” many, many times. And he does it in a spirit of Love. I should be able to love all—the unkind, the hateful and hurtful and those that just want something from me. I can love them and still set boundaries and say no. Clearly it CAN be done. I just need to figure out how to do it.]

8. He gave the story of a man who purchased a pearl of great value. He hired a master craftsman to make a box to showcase it. People came to see it… but many went away discussing the beautiful box. The Gospel is the pearl. The church organization is the box. Don’t get so caught up in how the box is doing. Don’t struggle with the wrong details. What matters is who you are. Be as good as you can be. Conversion will change hearts and minds which will change behavior. The Gospel of Jesus Christ will create a Zion on earth. Eventually the church here will look like established churches in Utah.

9. The Savior has rectified everything that is fallen about this earth.

It’s Still Interesting

2011-03-23T06:01:00.000-07:00

Life has been interesting since Andy and Kera and Family left. We had made plans for that week, but then we learned that Elder L. Whitney Clayton of the Presidency of the 70 and Elder Koelliker the South- East Africa Area President were coming to Nairobi for a Mission Tour and all Missionaries from Kenya were to be in Nairobi on Friday. So we decided to stay in Nairobi for the week.
Tuesday I laboriously wrote out Visa applications for our people going to the temple. Then we went to the service center. Wednesday we went to Jogo market and the service center and got a lot done. Thursday we made a cake and lasagna. We also met with Josephine who makes the lovely necklaces. Thursday night we went to dinner (and took our lasagna) at President Broadbent’s house and met with the general authorities. Elder Fox and I were blessed to sit next to the Claytons. They are delightful people and we had a lovely conversation. After dinner they opened it up to questions for the church leaders.

We were up early on Friday and had a grand Mission Tour Conference. Again, Elder Clayton opened the meeting for questions from the young missionaries and we learned a lot. Of course after being spiritually fed, the missionaries got temporal food.

After lunch I was able to connect some of the sisters with Josephine so they could get great necklaces, too. Friday night we laundered and packed and Saturday we headed home.

We lead the way and the E/S Tuttle, the LDS Charities missionary couple, followed us. This was their first time out of Nairobi. They’ve been on their mission just a month and are still getting their feet wet… almost literally. They are looking at water projects. We arrived home in Kisumu at the tail end of the Relief Society Birthday Party.

We had good church meetings on Sunday and on Monday we took the the Tuttles to Homa Bay to see where the neonatal training will be held later this spring. They spoke to the water monitor down there. The bay was lovely as was the drive.

Tuesday Susan Kanga and I taught a Self-Employment workshop from 9-3:30 and E. Fox stayed in to work on our seminary activity planned for 9 April. Tuesday night at 5-6:30 we held our usual Institute class. We sent the Tuttles off to Busia in the morning to look at spring projects. It’s been a long day and I be tired!

Tomorrow we will go with the Tuttles to Mbale for the second neonatal training site, and then on towards Kitale so we can show them the way. Then the Beechers will help them find latrine project and other needs in the Kitale area. Thursday will be the second day of the Self Employment Workshop. I have not seen this workshop, so I’ve really had to study from the book and prepare.

When I was with Josephine I got some string and beads to crochet a necklace. I had hoped to bring back one of Josephine’s to show my ladies here, but it wasn’t there. So I’m busy trying to crochet one. Akk! My crocheting is lousy! I hope the uneven stitches add to the charm and uniqueness of the necklace. It is something I can do when I’m really tired.

The End of the Visit

2011-03-17T12:31:00.000-07:00

We returned to Kisumu on Friday. I prepared a kit for Margaret so she could start making dolls and pot holders. Elder Fox and I took boda-boda’s to her house and taught her how to make them. Fortunately the rain came as we were there and was gone when we left.

Saturday morning was Aaron’s baptism. We had another 8 year old girl baptized and the wife of a member. It was a great service.

In the afternoon we took boda-bodas to the vegetable market, walked to the masaii market, and took a tuk-tuk home. Kera improved greatly on her negotiating skills. And I think everyone had a good time and came home with desirable loot. It is both exhilarating and exhausting to be corralled, cajoled, and commanded to buy things. They spent the rest of the day with laundry and packing. Oh, and talk preparation. Nathan, Andy and Kera were all asked to speak on Sunday.

Sunday morning we had Branch Counsel. The good news is that we are having the meeting. Progress is being made and learning is occurring. Sacrament was good. Our attendance is down, sigh. I keep thinking if the visiting teachers and home teachers would just contact those not there and say, “We miss you!” more would come. This was Elder Bakker’s last Sunday. He’s been doing such a good job playing the piano. We will miss him.

In the afternoon we went to visit some church families. We stopped and visited Fred Okoth. Aaron got to see his chicken again.

Then we went to Marcelus’s house for a lovely dinner and good company. It’s always so uplifting to hear their conversation stories and their testimonies.

It was dark by the time we left, but we gathered for a photo of Marcelus and wife, his daughter, grandson, and the landlady.

Monday we left early for Nairobi. I had prayed that the Lord would stretch the car, and I believe he did. The ride seemed not as crowed or as long as the last ones. I think it helped that Kera entertained us by reading from “Tick-bite Fever” by David Bennun for part of the way. Sometimes we were laughing so hard, she had to stop for a minute.

We stopped at Westgate mall for lunch and a bit of shopping. Then we went to the couple’s apartment and I caught up on emails. Almost the whole time Andy’s family has been here, the internet has not been working! Grrr. We’ve had to rely on our wireless connection. The rest of the group decided to walk to the Hilton for one last shopping spree. That evening we had the couples family home evening and as I was leaving, they voted new people to the Couple’s Co-op board.

We hugged good bye and Tom took the family to the airport. They had LOTS of stuff, but made it back to the USA safely!

Mara With Andy and Family

2011-03-17T01:30:00.000-07:00

Wednesday we left early for the Mara. We squished into the truck and the ride was not too bad. Once we got to the rough road, we let the children climb into the back of the truck. Ohh. They got dusty. But they were excited to be there. Along the way, the skid plate came loose and a temporary fix was found.

At the Mara, we had many game drives and saw great scenery, animals and birds. While our Masaii driver spoke some English, his understanding of OUR English was minimal. However, he took us to see all the big 5 and he had a good command of the names of birds, so Kera was happy.

Eland

Sacred Ibis

Big bird in a tree-- Gray buzzard?

The lions and our cubs.

Banded Mongooses... or mongeese. And below, a black backed jackal. Try saying that three times fast.

A really big buzzard.

We saw the cheetahs on a hill looking out. Then running as if they were playing. Then an unfortunate bush buck ran past.

And our driver tracked down the three cheetahs and the kill. (the brown shape on the left.)

We found our fun secretary bird (about 3' tall) and an Impala, not all that much taller.

This is the first time I know for sure I've seen a black rhino. The mouth is more pointed than the white (or wide) rhino. There aren't many on the Mara, so this was cool!

Then we found a mama leopard...

with her baby.... and breakfast.

Warthogs seemed to be standing...or running away. Not many eating grass this time. But they are fun "Pumba" types.

For the first time we saw a hippo on land. I'm glad he was on the OTHER side of the river from where we had our breakfast! He walked up and down that side several times.

We had breakfast with the hood of the safari van as our table. This was just as we were to leave the river site. John was our driver (pronounced Joan.)

I'd seen the bee catchers in my bird book and was delighted to find one in person... or in wing. I think today he was a dragonfly catcher.

One of Tom's favorites is the Topi.

We saw many elephants.

Several times when we stopped for photos of birds, we saw other animals-- a lion under a tree, some elephants in a ravine. I wonder how many times we drive by, never knowing the animals near by. How many times do we pass by, never seeing the need in others?

When we got back to camp, no one was hesitant to dig into the food. It was very good. Aaron was fascinated by the trees growing inside the dining area... and out the roof.

We saw a number of lions-- in small groups and large. Here there were about 9 lion cubs all sprawled out together.

The giraffes are always so graceful.

While I refrained from getting so many zebra shots this time, Katie made up for it. I wonder if half her photos aren't zebras. And rightly so. They are lovely.

Tom's camera accidentally got on the "take a gazillion photos" mode. So we have dozens of this hyena! Left paw up.. left paw slightly extended... paw stretched a bit more... you get the idea. He also had that on with a bird that took flight. That series was much more interesting.

Sunsets on the Mara are always exquisite. This is the water mill at Telak Gate.

And on the way home from the Mara, we saw buzzards circling. We came closer and found buzzards gathered around a deceased zebra. It was just off the road and out of the Mara. So we got closer, scattered the buzzards, and then watched them come in to land again.

Our drive home was dusty, but uneventful.

Fun With the Fox's

2011-03-16T23:23:00.000-07:00

Monday March 7th we went to Dunga Bay and took a boat ride on Lake Victoria.
It's always fun to see the fishermen and the fantastic shore line.
We had wanted to go to the bird sanctuary near hippo point. Although we said that a few times… we got taken elsewhere, until I got a bit grumpy and paid a few more shillings. Of course, we did see some awesome birds! This kingfisher was standing on the head of a giraffe sculpture .

Look at the feet of this bird!

Later in the day we went to Erica’s. She fed us a great lunch and we visited with her friends. They asked great gospel questions and we had a good conversation. At the same time Aaron spent the 3 hours chasing chickens. As we walked to the fish pond he managed to catch a baby goat and scare the mama enough to break loose of her tether—and catch her again. When it was time to leave, Erica took Kera and Aaron off… and came back with a chicken. One of her friends had given Aaron a chicken! The white one is Aaron's.

He was SO delighted. He held it all the way home. He fixed a place in the patio and fed it rice, chased it, held it, and collected leaves for a nest for it.

Tuesday morning we went to Eliud’s school. The Fox children shared about their school and asked students about how their school worked. Then we watched Eliud teach about “sharing” or division. It was really good. “I have 6 sweets I want to share between two children. How many will each child get?” See? Sharing. He introduced the concept. Each desk had a set of “counters”—bottle caps—that they used to visually figure out the math—even up to 24 divided by 8! The children were swept on to the playground to play with the children a while, then we lounged and awaited sodas before departing. (Sorry. Andy got photos of the school, I think.)

We came home and they relaxed and E. Fox and I prepared for our Institute class we had that evening. We asked one of the class attendees- Fred- if he would be kind enough to take Aaron’s chicken. Aaron was SO sad to see it go. We had hopes Fred could use the chicken to raise and sell eggs. But it turns out it’s a rooster.

Wednesday we left for the Mara.

Pictures

2011-03-15T07:58:00.000-07:00

I went back and put photos into the last blog... then somehow, the old blog came up again. so here are the pictures that go with the first part of Andy's family trip.

We went to the giraffe park.

And to the Elephant Orphanage.

We did take lots of pictures!

It was awsome to see the rhinos cross the road we saw about a dozen each day.

And we saw lions each day.

This little baby waterbuck seemed to have lost its mama.

Most of the pictures are birds-- in honor of Kera. I like birds, so we made a good team-- stopping for all the birds in Nakuru... well, not ALL.... although some might think so. Of course we managed to take pictures of some strange birds here, too.

A LONG tailed bird!

Marabu Storks.

Egret

Secretary Bird

Buzzard.

Katie got a picture with the masaii guard at the Lodge.

Adventures!

2011-03-08T19:30:00.000-08:00

Sorry. No time for pictures. Maybe they will come later.

We have had a great time with Andy, Kera, Nathan, Katie, and Aaron. The kids are really good kids and fun to be around—both young and older.

Thursday we went to the Elephant sanctuary where we watched the elephants roll and wallow in a mud bath. They shared a little of the mud with each one of us! And we went to the Giraffe center, were Nathan shared that he wasn’t all that fond of giraffe spit. Granted it is a bit slimey, but Aaron was happy to feed the giraffes. And Katie got quite adept at dropping pieces of food on their tongues.

We went to some of the shops at the Hilton and had much joy in relieving them of many of their items. The Blakes were “up country” finishing up their fantastic mission, and they kindly allowed us the use of their flat. That made life so much easier.

Friday we began our journey to Kisumu via the wild animal park at Lake Nukuru. Just as we turned off the Nairobi highway at Nukuru, the clutch went to the floor and didn’t come back up. Not good. We were blessed that the topography was down hill to the lake. We coasted a bit and stopped near a gas station and E. Fox went for help. We had a drunk and a free-loader who were very anxious to be of help. So all but E. Fox went off in search of lunch or adventure and left him with the van. We walked down streets filled with shoe vender and those selling jerry cans, and electronics and parts and clothing. We stopped for lunch at the New Mt. Sinai Hotel and had simosas and chips. Katie had a quarter of a chicken that was tasty.

We learned the van limped to the mechanic’s stall. So we walked a bit that direction and came across—ahhh—the Masai market! We girded up our loins and headed into the fray. “Come see my shop!” “Look here.” “Will you promote me today?” “You’re my first customer (it’s 3 pm) I give you best price.” “Some wood carvings? Some soapstone carvings? Some bags, beads, bangles, toys, wraps?” “Are you SURE you’re not interested? Just look a little longer.” You see, they do have really fun stuff to look at. E. Fox asked me to get a little hippo, so that was easy. Then there were book marks for the kids. And then the children each saw several things they thought were charming. They were really good about saying, no, I’m really not interested. Or if it was too expensive to put it back and move on… much to the sadness of the salesperson. Katie got a wooden rhino, Aaron a bird, and Nathan a really cool stone carved chess set. That one took a bit of bargaining! We got a purse for Rebecca and Kera liked them too. And somehow Kera got such a deal on a huge wood carved hippo she couldn’t pass it up.

We walked over to where they took the van only to learn they couldn’t fix it, it had to go to a dealer place. So they drove it over there. “So sorry. We think the clutch is gone out. We might get the parts in Tuesday.” By now it’s after 4 and they close at 4:30. But we had started working on plan B… and C… and D. Good thing. Ultimately, a van from Lake Nukuru Lodge came and fetched us and took us to the lodge. The driver was really very nice. We had a game drive on the way in and saw rhinos, cape buffalo, zebras, baboons, 2 lions and later 2 lionesses, and various and sundry antelope and birds. Kera, of course, was in love with the birds! And our driver knew all the names. Even one flying overhead at a glance, he knew what it was.

We got to the lodge, settled in and dined. We thought we might have someone drive out a van from Nairobi… nope. Then we thought someone would drive our truck out… nope, couldn’t get the spare key. So early Saturday morning, our game drive took us back to the gate and took E. Fox to the shuttle where he caught a ride to Nairobi. He got the truck and drove it back. In the mean time, the rest of us had a fantastic time seeing giraffes, hyenas, elands, water bucks, and birds, birds, birds. I remember Dad saying the difference between a disaster and an inconvenience is often money. So everything worked out. By the time Tom got back with the truck, our driver had driven us on the last game drive and out the gate. We were blessed that there are SO MANY animals on the way from the gate to the lodge. And it was a delight to have someone so knowledgeable about birds. And a sweet husband willing to fetch the truck.

We sandwiched into the truck and made the final 3 hour drive to Kisumu. We arrived just about dusk, shopped at Nakumatt, and came home, ate, and crashed. One of the biggest hassles was taking all our STUFF out of the van and putting it into the safari vehicle. Then schlepping it into the lodge and having to repack and haul it back out to the safari vehicle, then transfer it to the van. We thought we could pack up after the game drive, but after breakfast, they said, you need to pack now and we’ll store it for you at the front desk. So we were in a rush to get E. Fox to the shuttle so we crammed stuff into suitcases and tried to downsize from all the boxes and bags of groceries, trinkets, clothing, missionary supplies, cameras and binoculars, and books we’d assembled in Nairobi. I’m pleased to say that when we unpacked at this end, we had everything except for a jar of peanut butter, a container of mustard, half a loaf of bread, and a half used bottle of peppermint. No clue where they are…. Maybe in a suitcase somewhere??? (Found the p-butter and smushed bread.)(later- found the rest... but are now missing handbooks.)

As we were transferring the things from Safari van to truck, we tried to keep the doors and windows closed and keep the monkeys away. But they were smarter than we were. They made off with a bag of home-made trail mix. And they found it mighty tasty, too!

Today E. Fox and family went to Busia to the Branch Conference. I stayed back in Kisumu to do things here and give a little more ease to those in the truck. Things went well. The branch is learning to do more things on their own.

The wind is blowing. I hear thunder. Perhaps the rains are coming.

The Children are Here!

2011-03-03T09:44:00.000-08:00

Andy and Kera and Nathan, Katie, and Aaron arrived last night (March 2.) and we had the use of the Mission van to collect them. Of course we ended up picking up the van after dark, so Elder Fox got a chance to figure out how to drive it while going through Nairobi traffic in the dark. But he did have some help from the Assistants to the Presidents-- how to put it in reverse-- and so on.

Today we went to the Giraffe Center and the Elephant orphanage, and we went out for pizza and then went to the Hilton to shop. It was a good day.

A Fun Day

2011-02-27T10:01:00.001-08:00

Saturday we had leadership training scheduled for 10am. But we had a baptism about that time-- this great young man-- so the training, with typical Kenyan flexibility-- was pushed back about an hour. When the training was over 1pm, we had a quick lunch and went out to the Robari home site.

Bro. Robari was a member who lived in South Africa. He had been a great blessing to his home area, 50km from here-- better roads, an orphanage, work for people. After he joined the church he was vastly blessed and shared those blessing with his village. They had only a church with traditional beliefs, so he introduced gospel principles and built a Zion church for the people.

He passed away unexpectedly and the burial will be held this Saturday. We went to his property to bless the grave site as per the family's request. The missionaries had also been teaching some of the family members and they had invited the missionaries out to introduce the gospel to some of the family there.

We drove for about an hour, then parked at the new Roberi home site. We visited the house built for the burial and the footprint of the new house scheduled to be built. And a prayer was said at the grave site.

Then we started walking.... er... where were we walking? Not far. It seemed like we walked for about an hour-- down the hill, first on the marrum road, then on a "rough road" then on a foot path.

Elder Bakker had fun. He took a basket from the Mama, and was really quite well balanced. Naaman, brother to the late, asked it this was too much walking for Elder Fox, so E. Fox challenged him to a foot race to the upcoming primary school.

E. Fox also carried the basked. But I took a photo just as it slipped off. So this time, he had a little help keeping it on his head.

I really think I could have balanced it, but the wind was blowing SO hard. So sweet Margaret, the lady in pink, helped me with it.

This is the church Bro. Robai built for the people. It's the nicest one I've been in. Padded seats and all. And they are trying to start a radio station there to broadcast wholesome messages to the people. They interviewed Elder Fox while the missionaries were sharing a message of hope.

I visited with Naaman on the way back and didn't walk quite so leisurely, so it seemed to go faster. Of course I could have been hoofing it because of my aversion to night driving. In any case, we met some lovely children along the way. All the people were SO NICE. They just appreciated us coming out. They loved the gospel message. Our hearts go out so such good people who would love to embrace the gospel if it were more available to them.

Again and again we are reminded of Elder Snow's comment that there are villages waiting to be baptized but cannot be because there are not enough Senior Missionary couples out to help them grow properly.

We got back at dusk, but it was a great day!

A Day of Miracles

2011-02-25T11:05:00.000-08:00

Today was the day for passports and yellow fever shots.

Passport application needs: The application. ID and copy of ID, birth cert and copy of birth cert. Recommender letter and copy of recommender ID. 2 photos with one signed on the back certifying it’s a likeness of the person. Marriage cert if you’re married… and copy. Passport and copy (If you have an expired one… or if the father has one, his family members need a copy.) Children need birth cert and copy and a recommender letter from the parent and a copy of the parent’s ID… oh, and money. And everyone applying MUST be there in person.

We’d organized everything we could—got letters, signatures, photos, etc. I was a bit stressed about it. Trying to get things organized is like herding cats. And even with the best intentions, life happens here to interfere. Would they show up? Would everyone have all their documents? We knew some still needed a recommender’s signature so we tried to factor time for that.

One mother and children were coming from up country. Each family had to take their children out of school to come, and there was a question about whether they would have exams that day. No exams… they could come. Another was still searching for her birth certificate. (We THOUGHT everyone had theirs before we slotted these families into this trip.) One family had a sick husband. Would he be well enough to come?

The day did not start off promising. I reminded women that all those 15 and over needed to have a pregnancy test. They would not administer the YF shot without it. The Up Country family with 3 girls… didn’t manage to get it done. They were at the hospital early Friday and would be a little delayed.

The Mama searching for her birth certificate 110 km away was waiting for it and might miss the YF “jab”.

I said, “Tell her to get into town. It’s better she have to go back and get the birth certificate than she miss the shot.” You see, the shot cost 2000 shillings individually. However if you buy the 10 dosage vial, it only costs 1000/-per person. BUT—the agent is only good for an hour or so after it’s been opened or mixed or whatever. So all 10—or in this case 20 people needed to be there at the same time.

So we were scheduled to meet the father of the 2 up-school teens (husband to the mama searching for her BC) at the passport office at 10:30. About 11:15 the family of the sick husband arrives sans husband.

He’d left earlier to go to the hospital and was to meet them there. We organized things and processed the wife’s passport. The children needed the father’s signature on a permission form. The agent agreed to let the wife sign… and just then the husband walked in. Oh, but the wife had an expired passport. She needed to go and get photocopies of some of those pages. Another problem was the youngest child didn’t have the recommender signature on the back of the photo. We were waiting for the up-school teens and dad to come because they also needed the recommender signatures on the passport applications.

But the passport office closes between 1-2:30 for lunch and then, on Fridays is only open until 3:30. The up-school teens and dad arrived about 12:00. Elder Fox dashed off to get the recommender form signed and the photo. The passport people really were VERY nice!. they let that family go and pay and then when the photo came, we inserted it in the application. About the same time, the Up-country family arrived with all 5 of their children.

They went to the window. The forms were not fully filled out. They went back and wrote some more. Still there were problems. Time was ticking away. Finally E. Fox got back with the signed passport forms. At about 12:45 the up-school family got to the window. It was too late. They were told to come back at 2:30. The Up Country family got about ½ of their children’s passports processed. By then it was 1pm…. Er we’re supposed to be about 8 km away at the airport for the YF shots. So E. Fox took the two delayed families (about 11 people), stuffed them into the truck, and headed out to the airport for the shots. I waited until the sick father family had their photos taken. YES! They were DONE!

Then I said, “I’ve helped you here. But you have to lead me now. We need to get a tuk tuk and get to the airport.” So we walked a bit and flagged down one and they negotiated for 150/- (I was thinking it would be twice that—and it would have been for a muzungu.) We got there not long after E. Fox and group. We had asked a family planning on going to the temple in August to go and get YF shots to make up the 20 people. They were there. As we pulled up in the tuk tuk, the mama seeking her BC arrived from Busia! What a blessing from God. So we walked in together. WOW! All 20 people there on time… or at least on Kenya “on time”!

They took the people one by one and gave them the “jab”, filled the forms, and made out the yellow fever card. There was a delay as the baby had heat rash. They decided it was okay. The up-school teen had NOT taken a pregnancy test. They called me in and told me she might be pregnant, they didn’t know. I say, “In our church we promise to be morally clean and not have sex before marriage. If she has not had sex, can we be confident she’s not pregnant?” They agreed. And on her assurance, they gave her the shot. I was grateful. Last time they insisted on the test for everyone. Again, it was the Lord’s blessing. By the time all the shots were given it was after 2pm.

E. Fox started ferrying people back to the main road so they could catch transport home or back to the passport office. I learned that the sick dad was released from the hospital for a few hours to come and do this! Wow. Again, a major blessing.

I was in the last group as I was finishing up collecting the YF cards and paying. We installed our family of 7 in the truck and headed to the road. It’s now 2:40. When we reached the main road, the up-school teens and dad were on the roadside… still waiting for transport. It’s such a hassle to pull kids out of school and an expense to bring them back to town. They really needed to get their passports today! So we did something we’d never done before. We took the tarp off the back and had everyone climb in the back of the pickup and drove them into town. (6 in the back and 9 in the cab).

Last time we got passports, they only wanted 1 photo. This time, they said they needed two. So E. Fox had taken a photo of one of the up-school teens who didn’t have two copies. He dropped me off at our favorite photo place. I begged. “Please! Can I have these five minutes ago?” By the time E. Fox dropped off his passengers and returned, I had the photos!

Okay, so by that time they had about 30 minutes to process all these passports. Could it happen? With the Lord’s help, YES! They all got the application submitted, the photos taken and the money paid and we left the office about 4pm.

So we did it! 20 jabs, 13 passports! Can you see the happy dance??? We just have 2 passports and one more YF shot to have all the families complete. I really feel the Lord is blessing this group and that all things will work out for them.

A good day… and I’m exhausted!

Bore Hole Turnover

2011-02-20T08:50:00.000-08:00

We call them wells. They call them bore holes. I love the language here. Today we were counseled to "taint" our children with gospel principles. The pejorative nature of words is just different. Just like "infesting" is not bad... it just means lots of.

Anyhow, on Monday Feb 14th we went to Mbita with Elder and Sister G-- of LDS Charities, and Elder and Sister J-- of public affairs, and President Okila, and Charles the contractor. We saw the completed bore hole and the generator they'd installed. (inside the building.)

We went to one of the kiosks where water would be distributed. They had just gotten the generator and people were so excited about water they'd drained the storage tanks. But while we were waiting the water began running again.

People lined up their jerry cans to fill them. The lady in green was most demonstrative of their delight in having water. Kyiyiying and dancing. she was an extrovert and it was fun to watch. She told of going to the lake clogged with hyacinth and having the crocodiles snatch the jerry cans.

These were some of the women waiting for water.

Elder and Sister G. were sent here for 2 months as a gap between full time missionaries. They had recently been released from serving in South Africa as LDS charities missionaries. Their mission extended to close to 6 months as they took many difficult projects and brought them to closure. They finished some large projects in Chulu and I know they were pleased to conclude this project before they turned things over to Elder and Sister T and headed back to the children and the awaiting "grandees."

President Okila, like a majority of Kenyans, had never been on water before, but he was very brave on the hour long ferry ride and seemed more comfortable on the way back. He was a good representative of the church in Kisumu on this trip.

A Marathon

2011-02-20T08:47:00.000-08:00

When I get into the flat after Sunday meetings, I feel like I’ve run a marathon. I take deep breaths. I stop and think: have I done everything I’m supposed to? I wash my hands. Collapse in a chair for a moment, and then fix something to eat-- at maybe 2 or 3. Elder Fox usually has his lunch.. or second meal at about 4-5.

So, what do I do? It’s all small things. We’re trying to get a seminary class going, instead of just home study. So today I printed off the students and contact numbers and a sample of how the class should run. I asked a young woman to act as secretary. I went in the last bit of Sunday School class to explain it. We had a flurry of investigators come during Sunday School. So I visited with them, and then, after, encouraged them to come to Relief Society. However a friend had been in an accident and they were going to visit the person at the hospital.

We are preparing families to go to the temple so I printed the recommender letter and wrote on the backs of 13 photos, “I certify that this is an accurate likeness of this person” so that the recommender could sign the letter and the photos. I met with the mothers of the 3 families to confirm they could all gather on Friday at 1 for Yellow Fever shots - and go to the passport office at 10 that day to get passports. I spoke with another family who will need to get yellow fever shots to make up the total of 20 people to get the lower rate. And we talked about how the recommender could sign the passport applications before Friday. And of course, we reminded them about birth certificates and copies, ID’s and copies, Marriage Certificates and copies. And…oops… I need to type up a father’s recommender letter for the children of the three families.

Beatrice ordered a hymn book and I needed to give it to her. Winnie’s husband didn’t come to church today because a member said he needed to be in a white shirt and black pants… and he didn’t have them. He’s not even a member mind you. Argh. It’s so frustrating when people either give out misinformation or information given is misunderstood. Anyhow, Rebecca had brought over some white shirts, so I gave her one. A sister I’d heard about from Kisii came for the first time, so I needed to visit with her. And also Bernard and his wife Helen came from Migori about 20 km north of the Tanzanian border. We’d visited with them yesterday. They didn’t have money for food, so I’d given them some few things from our pantry. I knew they’d need something for the 5 hour journey back home and put some things together for them. Relief Society had planned to do some sewing class on Saturday, but no one showed up, so I showed Bernard, who was a tailor before an accident injured his hand, my idea of hot pads. The women here just grab a bit of paper to hold on to their HOT pans or to move the jiko charcoal stove. They must have burned all feeling off their fingers by now. Anyhow, I showed them a pot holder I made and then included it in the lunch along with the pattern for cloth dolls.

The Primary leaders had come Saturday and scrubbed the walls in the primary room. They are probably 300% better, but still have marks. Then they hung pictures around the room. Looks good! I may see if we can paint that room with a glossy paint that will be easier than flat to get the marks off.

I visited with the Young Men’s first counselor. I hoped they would have a presidency meeting, but the President rushed off and so they were left leaderless again. The counselor didn’t know about the Duty to God program so I ran up and down the steps several times looking for a book and the DVD to explain it. I hope he will review the material and be better prepared to help the young men move toward their goals.

That’s not all, but it’s probably more than anyone wants to know about what happens on a typical Sunday. Oh, and sandwiched in was a good Sacrament meeting, (I was asked to lead the music and some were hymns people hadn’t sung before), a fun youth class I caught a bit of, and a good Relief Society class. And in Sacrament they said approval had been given for a chapel in Kitale, one in Eldoret… and a TEMPLE in the DR Congo!

More Tender Mercies

2011-02-16T09:41:00.000-08:00

Thursday Feb 10th we went to Sondu to see the saints there and see a Seminary and Institute class. The teachers were well prepared and the students engaged. We are so impressed with their faithfulness and their continued improvement in understanding and following the Gospel. They are good people and it’s always great to mingle with them.

Friday Elder and Sister F came our way to do audits. Saturday we drove to Busia to do training, do the audit, and hopefully see a seminary class. On the trip there, we got a call from the Mission President’s wife who was in Mombasa. Where were we? When we said on our way to Busia, she practically cried. What a blessing! One of the missionaries there was sick. She’d gotten a call he was coughing blood and having trouble breathing. Could we go and see him? Of course. What a small miracle that instead of having this missionary hours away in trouble—he was only 15 minutes away. While I taught relief society sisters how to hand sew cloth dolls and Elder F did the audit. E. Fox went and saw the missionary and dispensed fatherly advice and peppermint. After the training, we asked the one person who also had asthma if there was a person in town who was capable of helping the missionary. There was. We went back to the missionary, who was now sleeping better, and connected the missionaries with the sister and the doctor. After we left he went and got shots and is now much better. We didn’t get to see the seminary class, as the instructor was at a funeral. Funerals are ubiquitous here.

We have been working to get a second group—this time from Kisumu—to the temple. We decided if there were three families we’d go to the temple with them. That would mean the cost of flying to South Africa, but we’d leave our mission about a week early and fly directly home from South Africa. We thought—Is there anything we could do in a week here that we have not already done? Is there anything we could do here that would be as important as smoothing the way for families going to the temple? No. So we organized and set up and arranged for the Branch President to interview the families and by Friday we realized these families really were going to the temple. That meant we would fly home from Johannesburg.

We had planned on flying into the city where we’d have purchased a missionary car. We thought that would be Tulsa, but there were no cars to be had there. Suddenly we realized before we made our ticket arrangements, we had to know for sure where we could get a car. And the ticket should have been ordered 3 months before we went home. AKKK!

Again, the Lord is merciful. We sent out a plea to children and relatives. Catherine offered cars in Colorado. Steve offered cars in Richmond, VA. We were almost to the point of going to Colorado (cheaper car) when Andy chimed in with cars in Mississippi. That was a done deal when Jonathan offered Des Moines and Sally hinted at Southern California. So we will be flying into Jackson, MS probably around April 23rd. At least that’s the date we sent to the church travel department.

Lest you think it’s a simple thing to buy a car from Kenya, let me assure you… with the help of the Lord and a good son, it actually is! When we wanted to call the mission office of the car, our internet was down. Akk! Fortunately we had purchased a phone here and we “topped it off” with enough minutes to make the calls by phone—about 4cents a minute. Not bad. We figured a way to get the money to Andy. We figured out how to get it insured. And even called our revenue office and they were very helpful in telling us how to get it registered and get plates for it. And we did this all in a few days!

So once we figured out where we were leaving from and where we were arriving at, we asked for the tickets. Now we are waiting for that. We hope to be able to return to focusing on our mission, but everything seems to point to an urgency to tie up loose ends, review what stays or goes, and plan last events. We still have about 2 months—but it seems to be like tomorrow we will be departing.

So now, in spare moments we go through book shelves and drawers to see what we’ll be taking and what will stay. We don’t have a couple replacing us immediately so we need to write an “area book” for when they come, with directions, information, hints and helpful instructions. We need to get our families who are going to the temple passports, yellow fever shots, visas, and so on. We have scheduled a Seminary event for April 9th. And I promised to write up a schedule of events for a youth conference to be held in August. I also have two articles to write, and people to visit, and lessons to teach.

On a lovely note—the terrific heat seems to be dissipating. The weather is cooling and the breeze is nice. However, it’s been so dry some crops have failed and people are hungry. We pray for rain.

Tender Mercies

2011-02-09T10:42:00.000-08:00

I love how the Lord takes care of us. As we were driving, Deborah and Rebecca occasionally found it a bit… awesome….terrifying… perhaps of the variety that makes one want to check their wills and insurance policies. There actually is a kind of dance of cars—a give and take—but it is certainly not apparent to the beginner.

On the drive up the escarpment where we had a winding road and were passing slow trucks, Rebecca mentioned that perhaps we were wearing out our guardian angels. We do believe that the Lord will be with us and guardian angels round about us. But she suggested they might be overtaxed.

I wanted to let her know they are still in action. As we drove back from the airport, there was a distinct vibration in the truck. We’d had a problem at higher speeds since December and had asked for the truck to be aligned when it was serviced in January. But the problem was still there. We assumed it hadn't been aligned. Now, however, it was serious vibrations. Still we arrived back at the missionary apartments safe and sound at about 10pm.

The next morning when we went out to pack the truck, the right rear tire was low. As we looked, we saw a patch on the top of the tire that was worn down to the wiring—just that one patch.

We got the tire changed and got a new tire while we were in Nairobi. They said driving over rough roads would do it, or skid braking. But we have anit lock brakes. Rough roads? Ah, those we have. But I wonder if it wasn’t a weak spot in the tire. As we drove home, the vibration we’d had since December was gone.

So the blessings were that the tire didn’t give us a problem until the children were on the airplane and we were in Nairobi. It could have easily have been a blow-out—on the way to the Mara, on the way back, to or from the airport, in the dark. Or wait until we were on the road back to Kisumu. Instead, it was just low enough in the morning that we couldn’t travel. And the problem was sitting there right on the top of the tire, instead of someplace else where we wouldn’t see it. And when we called the “car tzar” he told us where to go to get it fixed and we actually knew the area. And we didn’t have to fork over money for the new tire.

And when we returned home on Sunday we had 115 people at Sacrament Meeting—an increase of about 20 over the attendance of the previous 2 months, and we had about 20 people who are invesigating the church. Primary went well with teachers teaching the classes and children learning and singing the songs. It feels like there is a greater sense of unity and purpose.

Life is good.

Short Week-- Long Blog

2011-02-07T05:08:00.000-08:00

We have had a wonderful time with Rebecca, Marian, and Deborah. We are still basking in the afterglow of that enjoyment. We are also exhausted and are catching up on sleep.

Thursday January 27th, as we left to go to Nairobi, we got a last minute email from Ian saying the plane was snowed in and they would not be leaving as scheduled. We left anyway. And it was a good thing. We spent time at the mission office getting more Institute and seminary books, collecting the Liahona magazines for all the members who subscribed here, visiting with President Broadbent, and doing a host of other things. We were staying in a missionary couple’s flat and they were gone, so we had the house to ourselves. I was surprised at how restful that was. We’ve always enjoyed visiting with the couples and getting to know them better, and so I was unsure about staying on our own. It worked out well in that when the kids arrived we had extra beds for them, too.

Friday we went to the Jogoo Market to get a few things. This is an industrial area where they are making clothing on a wholesale level. We bought little dresses for Rebecca’s children for about $2-3 a piece. How could we resist? So we needed one for Sarah as well…. And… Well, we stopped there for now but bought hats for the boys which our visitors used on Safari. Rebecca, Marian, and Deborah straggled through immigration, luggage pickup and customs and emerged about 10pm. We went back to the flat and crashed.

Saturday we were up early and went to the Giraffe Center where Deborah was brave enough to
be kissed by a giraffe.

Then we went off to the Sheldriek Wild Animal Trust—which is the Elephant Orphanage to see the babies frolic in the mud and water. Marian really enjoyed them… even when they got a little mud on her!

Then we headed back to Kisumu. It was a bit of a rush to get home before dark. We stopped to shop at Nakumatt and did get home after dark, ate a quick dinner and sacked out.

Sunday we decided to go to Busia for church since they were having 5 baptisms and needed our baptismal clothing. It was also a chance to take them materials and check on seminary and institute attendance. Rebecca and Deborah learned how Africans carry babies on their backs.

The kids enjoyed stopping at the equator to get their picture taken, and enjoyed church, but the drive was long.

Monday, since they were up early anyway, we went to Dunga Bay to see the lake and the birds. After coming home and breakfasting, we took boda-bodas to the Maasai Market.

The boda-boda riding:

At the small maasai market Deborah and Rebecca indulged in a shopping spree. Marian was great. She had 50 shillings and if it cost more than that, she’d say, I only have 50 shillings. One nice vender gave her a painted soapstone egg. One nice mother gave her a few more shillings to buy something she really wanted.

We had thought of going other places, but it was hot and we came home and rested until it was time to go and visit some families in Manyatta. We visited Joyce and George and his girls, and then went and visited Everlyn and Fred. Marian especially liked playing with the children in the slums. She played with the goats and chickens, and would have gone out after dark if we’d permitted it. Fred’s wife Patricia made some rice and Greengrams (you have to roll the rrrs when you say it.) and everyone enjoyed the food.

Tuesday we went to the fruit and vegetable market first, then went off to visit Ericah in Sabatia. She has a large shamba there and Marian again played with cows, kitties, and a zillion children. We visited the school there and the 340 children were a little intimidating, but half a dozen or so at the shamba were fine.

We met one of Erikah’s sons who has been reading about the church and changing his ways. We spoke of food storage and having a garden, and he said, “Oh, yes, I read about that in Latter-day Saint Women.” So I believe him when he says he’s been reading church material. I think one day there will be a branch in Sabatia because of Erikah’s example. Here is Marian with some of Erikah's "grandees" or grandchildren and a son.

And here's the group in front of Ericah's house with Ericah and her son... I think his name is Eric.

We came back from Erikah’s in time for us to teach Institute class. The kids rested while we taught, but came up to greet our class members. We then got phone calls. “Why don’t you come see me and bring your family?” Alas, we could not see everyone.

Wednesday we left early for the Mara. It took forever over rough roads, but we arrived in time for a late lunch, a bit of unpacking, and then an afternoon game drive. Ah, we saw many animals—hyenas, lions, cheetahs, zebras, lots of gazelles and DLA’s (deer like animals) This is a topai and below is an Eland, one of the largest DLAs. Note the oxpecker bird on its shoulder.

By the time we showered and had a 7:30 dinner, it was time for bed.

Eleven cubs, five lionesses and three males in this pride.

Thursday we were in the safari vehicle by about 6:30 for our long game drive.

Again we saw amazing animals- a leopard up in a tree with a kill,

cheetahs running across the road in front of us,

Elephants,

giraffes,

cape buffalo, secretary birds and many more. We stopped for breakfast under a tree. Little privacy for our call of nature… but we managed. We went on to see crocodiles and hippos and returned in time for lunch.

Marian was zonked and wasn’t sure she was up to going out again. it was hot and some got sunburned. But by 3:30 Marian was ready to go again. This time we saw many of the same animals, but I was surprised to see so many black backed jackals and

Hyenas.

We went in search of a rhino… and found one! Later I learned there are only 17 rhinos in the Mara!

We decided to forgo the Friday morning game drive in favor of the chance to do some last minute shopping in Nairobi. Good thing. It took us longer to get to Nariobi than we thought. We did managed to get to the Hilton shops and had a grand time there scooping up “essentials” for them to take home. We weren’t sure where we would hang out until the flight but the couple who had invited us to spend the night ended up going out of town to a water project closing and so we invaded their house for a few hours. The kids crashed… and blogged and checked emails. We scarfed down some spaghetti (they said it was okay to eat their food) and some delicious brownies they left for us. I LOVE the missionary couples! And (boo hoo) we took the children to the airport and sent them on their way.

Happy Days!

2011-02-01T19:44:00.000-08:00

Rebecca, Deborah and Marian have been visiting. They arrived Friday night, a day late due to snow in Washington DC. We are having a great and a busy time. Indeed, too busy to blog.

But Rebecca has done an excellent job so if you want to see what we've been doing, check out her blog:

whitehouseofchaos.blogspot.com

The good… the Bad

2011-01-25T01:02:00.000-08:00

I think there’s an advantage to a failing mind. You don’t remember the difficult… but the glow of the good lingers somehow.

This week was spent doing some catch-up things. I inputted the Relief Society visiting teaching into the computer and I was delighted at how easy it was to use the MLS—the church membership program. I also wrote a short how to tutorial on how to visit teach. I explained that when we join the church we become the Lord’s family and need to look after each other. If a sister doesn’t come to church—find out why. Would you just wait and see what happened if your child didn’t come home? Of course not. You’d go looking for them. In the same way, we need to seek after our sisters, nourish them spiritually and strengthen them.

I also spend hours…. Hours I tell you… putting in seminary and institute students. With help from Nairobi, I think I got most of it done. There is deep satisfaction in finally getting those things organize. We still don’t have a teacher for the Manyatta class. So Saturday Elder Fox and I went over and showed a video about early church history.

Saturday was an interesting day. We had a baptism at 10 am. It was great. I love to see the happy smiles as the baptismal candidates come out of the water. Then we were to go to a funeral. However, we needed to wait a bit because someone was cleaning the church and either we or someone else with a key had to be there.

As the cleaning was going on we discovered—oh oh—no water in the upper tank. No water? Why not? There was city water. The lower tank was full. Ah. No pump. AKKK! No pump? Why not? Sigh. Elder Fox looked at the circuit breaker box. Some things were melted. That wasn’t a good sign. So he called our friend the electrician-- "Electric Isaiah" is how he's listed in our phone. The Isaiah was at a funeral up country but he agreed to come back into town. So we made a quick trip to our funeral and got back just a few minutes before the Isaiah arrived—at about 4pm.

He said the box was too small for the draw needed and needed to be replaced before he went on to the pump problem. Since parts were melted…. we had smelled something electrical a while back…. and it was impossible to turn power off if needed… and we needed water…. we decided to have him go ahead. He worked up until a little after 8pm on the problem. We lit candles. We ate by candle light. Finally lights came on. Hurray! Then he worked on the pump. For some reason, we weren’t getting power to the second floor. Anyhow, about 9pm we heard the joyful chugging of the pump. There was much joy and rejoicing as I had some fear that the pump had burned out. And, miracle of miracles—city water continued to come in during the night so that by morning, both the top and bottom tanks were filled.

Water, however, trickled into our kitchen and bathroom very slowly. Slooowwwwly. In the morning, there was not enough water pressure in the shower to power the hot water heater. So it was bucket bath time. We thought it might be air in the line. Whatever it was, by the time people arrived at church and started using the water, the pressure increased.

So the good news was we called Electric Isaiah and he was able to come quickly AND he fixed the problem in a professional way AND we got city water all night—when they typically shut it off. Great rejoicing!

And today was a good Sunday. During primary I took pictures of the children so the new primary leaders… and I… could get to know their names. This is just a sampling of some of the cute faces.

We moved forward with visiting teaching. We had a successful branch presidency training. We are learning and growing. The blessings of the Gospel continue to roll forth.

Monday we again walked to the Jubilee market to talk to the fundi making Tom's suit. The pants we had made first are an African cut-- a little higher at the waist, a little baggier. So he will revise the next ones. We shopped, we met with the Branch President, and worked on the church computer with finances.

We finally drove out to Pascal's to see his new house. While we were there, the fundi was mudding the walls inside-- taking globs of stuff and smacking it on the wall. It looked like dark cement, but I think it's a combination of mud and cow dung. Then he took a long pole and smoothed it, kind of like floating cement. Pascal has a large house now. This is Pascal. He's 16 or so, the only member in his family. If he can't get transport money, sometimes he walks the 10km or so to church. As he lives far out, he connects to the world-- or at least us-- but flashing us up to several times a day asking us to call him back. Mostly he just wants to greet us, to say "hi", or to ask when we are coming to visit. He can see the blessings of the gospel in his life-- including this larger house. We asked him, how has the gospel changed you? He said that now he has been able to find enough money for school fees-- at least he hasn't been sent home for the unpaid balance. He acts differently and feels different. And now students look up to him and he is a role model for them.

Busia is Growing Missionaries

2011-01-21T05:06:00.000-08:00

We have a two siblings in Busia who have been preparing to go on a mission. They are already acting as missionaries in Busia. When Helping Hands day came in August, they invited their friends from the YMCA drama group—and 25 of them showed up to help.

Robinson has been serving as branch mission leader and Young Men’s President. Glory has been Young Women’s President. When they went to the temple, their calls were far enough along, that they could take out their own endowments.

Now they know where they are going! There was much excitement. Robinson will serve in the Ghana Accra Mission. Glory will serve in the New York, New York USA mission. They opened their mission letters at about 8:30 last night. I think the whole world knows by now.

Glory will leave for the Provo MTC in June. Robinson will go to the Ghana MTC in April.

When they went to the temple, they met with Elder and Sister Watson, counselor in the Area authority. These pictures were taken in the Area garden and offices.

They are great people and will be fantastic missionaries. We are excited to see the work growing in Busia and the world.

The beat (or the beatings) goes on

2011-01-18T05:00:00.000-08:00

It seems like we’ve been coming and going a lot. We drove home from Nairobi on the 8^th of January. One of the missionary couples wanted to drive to the Mara, and we were not exactly sure of the place where the road to Narok and thence to the Mara took off the Nairobi road. But we had our map handy and it looked like we could return home that way. We’d been on all that road except for a 30km stretch or so…. As long as THAT was paved, we were okay.

Fortunately it was. We were able to give good directions and solidify in our minds how we will drive it in a few weeks. The roads were good. They were a little longer, but took about the same time as the Nairobi road. It was much dryer—yellow grass… sometimes no grass—herds of cattle and goats. Rusty dirt, gray-green trees. Then suddenly we went over a hill and we were back in the green banana trees, sugar cane and tea fields, and soft brown cultivated dirt of the upper rift valley we are familiar with.

Sunday we reconnected with people. Our Sacrament attendance has been down. We thought it was because of the holidays, but they are over now. Of course home teaching and visiting teaching has also been minimal. And we’ve been trying for several months to have a Branch Presidency training meeting with all members present. The up side is there’s lots of room for improvement.

I wanted to get some stories written up for the Liahona and Public Affairs. I got two done, but both need some fact checking or permissions. I have two more that need doing.

Thursday we left early to go to Mbale. This is where the neonatal training will be held in May. We needed to resolve some concerns about cost vs. need. We looked at a place I thought would work, but the Medical Manager felt it would not give a good impression for those coming, that a more costly place would be better. So we compromised and recommended the place the manager wanted, but moved some of the food costs to a less expensive (but very tasty) venue.

Then we went on to visit Erika in Sabatia. We had thought it would be a short visit, but they insisted on killing the fatted chicken for us. I learned how to cook ugali and fried bananas. I learned that the green bananas that will turn yellow can be used for cooking them. And they really do taste a lot like mashed potatoes. We took her some banana bread and now we need to take her the recipe. In Nairobi and South Africa I learned—at least intellectually—how to bake cakes and bread over direct heat. Now I need to try it and then teach the sisters.

After Erikas, we went to Eldoret, out to dinner with the missionary couples and the Mission President, and then on Friday we had zone conference. They just keep getting better and better. Some points:

* The spirit can’t remind you of something you haven’t learned—so we need to be studying the scriptures.

*The power of our calling depends on our personal worthiness. Our worthiness affects other’s salvation because “their understanding will be influenced by our personal worthiness.” (from Preach My Gospel pg.176)

* When a person receives revelation peace and joy come into the room. Our hearts soften, and there’s no place on earth we’d rather be.

There was such a special spirit that we wanted to stay there and feast on it. But we needed to return to Kisumu for a Leadership Training meeting on Saturday.

On the way back home, the Branch President called to say he could not come—he was going to a wedding—and oh, by the way, please don’t train on that subject when I’m not there. So we got to stay up late and plan another training. However we’d had such a good training on receiving revelation at Zone Conference that we used part of that for our training and it was very effective. We had many of our leaders at the training as well, so it felt successful.

Sunday we drove to Busia to deliver their curriculum materials, some pictures of the temple for those who went, and a wheelchair for Sister O. The temple glow still floated around those who had gone. They were so happy and grateful! Their desire to be loving and righteous has increased. Robinson and Glory are eagerly anticipating their mission call. I think it will come this week. We discussed future training and had a good meeting with some of the members. We stopped to visit a less active member in Maseno on the way home. We arrived about dusk to a tremendous rain storm! We saw the black clouds, then the gray sheet of rain. As we entered Kisumu the huge drops pelted on the truck. Then the deluge! Hail, wind, the sheet of water across the road with raindrops making thousands of splashes as they plummeted. We could hardly see out the windshield. The upside was that all the pedestrians and bicyclists were off the road so we were unlikely to hit anyone. The other upside for ME was that E. Fox was the one that got drenched opening and closing the gate!

Monday I spent a good part of the day trying to input seminary and institute students into the Church system. The Church has done a marvelous job updating www.lds.org and www.mormon.org. These sites are so attractive. They have fun stories about people. They are easy to navigate and a pleasure to view. Alas, the same cannot be said for the Church Education System program. Grrr. It was a tough battle. I bear scars. And it’s not over yet. But I will succeed!

In the afternoon, I met with the Relief Society president and the Visiting Teaching coordinator and we revamped the Visiting Teachers and their routes. It took about 2.5 hours, but I think they will be able to update it and do it on their own from now on. Now we need to help the sisters have the desire to go and serve and to actually do it. I think that most of them, when they understand what to do, will be willing to do it. It was so rewarding to think we are moving forward in that area. E. Fox on the other hand, had scheduled a meeting with several things that NEEDED to be discussed… and NONE of it got accomplished. I think we have some new dents in the wall from head-banging. Poly poly. “Slowly by slowly” as they say here. We take a big breath and regroup.

This morning we met with the tailor to see about getting some more pants for E. Fox. We bought some light weight wool and I think it will cost about $12 to get pants made. If he does a good job, we’ll go ahead and get a suit made for about $45. Clue: Microfiber looks good initially, but starts to get a shine as it wears.

2011-01-09T10:26:00.000-08:00

A Pearl on the Necklace of Life.

Sunday evening, our last day in Nairobi before going to the temple, we had a wonderful testimony meeting. Pres. and Sister B. were there and added to the joy.

Each person going to the temple from Busia, of every age, had a chance to share their thoughts on the Savior and the temple. The Branch President said, when we first started the Busia branch 15 months ago, we were crawling. Then we learned to walk… and run… and now we are FLYING! None of them had ever been on an airplane before. Another brother spoke of how they joined the church in 1992 and had spent 18 years preparing to go to the temple. I was surprised to learn that each of the brothers had spent time in Nairobi as Branch President or bishop’s counselor before work transferred them to Busia.

Pres. O.shared a story of how when he was new in the church, a missionary couple had spoken. They said, when you die, your family who has passed on will all come and greet you. They will say, “Did you perform the saving ordinances for me?” If you say yes, there will be great rejoicing. If no, they will sigh, and look down, and say, “I hope my next relative will think of me.” This had great impact on him as he had deep love for his grandmother, Salome. She was the one who found his wife. She was the one who, when the new wife had to wash clothes for not only Pres. O, but also his 6 or 8 brothers, and got frustrated and started walking away, Salome was the one who went after her and whispered sweet words and got her to come back. So he was eager to do Salome’s saving ordinances.

Brother F. said that the Sunday before, Barbara from Uganda had been visiting their branch. She said, “Are you really ready to go to the temple? Fully committed to live all the covenants you’ve made?” She said when she came back from the temple, after a bit, her son became rebellious. He was sent home from several schools. She’d paid the year of school fees, but they were left behind as she had to pay again and again in the new schools. She wondered why she had to leave all this money behind and why this was happening. Then she found the reason. She had stopped paying her tithes after she went to the temple. She repented and made it right, and after a time, the son’s behavior changed and he was able to stay in the same school for the year. She said, it’s not too late to change your mind and not go. So don’t go unless you are truly committed to keeping the covenants you make.

Glory and Robinson spoke of their struggles and efforts to get the documents needed to send in their mission papers. It was a miracle that they went through as fast as they did. On Friday we learned they’d been assigned and would not only be sealed to their parents, but also take out their own endowments. They were so happy.

As we finished the testimony meeting, Jane and the family from Eldoret arrived. I am so impressed with Jane. She had never been out of her local area. She is a single mother, a farmer from deep in the country. Her Branch President took her to the bus station and put her on the bus for the eight hour ride to Nairobi. There Victor collected her and brought her to the guest house. She looked dazed, but determined and delighted. Here is Jane at the temple.

The trip to Johannesburg was a bit like a three ring circus—exciting, eventful, and in need of great orchestration. Up at 4am. Airport by 5:30. Plane took off about 7am. We had to shepherd our flock through ticketing, baggage check in, immigration and to the gate. I only lost Jane once. “After you go through the Kenyan immigration (I had to go through the foreign line) stop and wait for me.” We did our thing with the paperwork and passed through. No Jane. Akkk! We’re not even out of Kenya and I’ve lost her! I raced up the steps. No Jane. I looked down the busy, confusing concourses. No Jane. I instructed the Achimba family to stay put and if Jane showed up, keep her there and then I searched down the concourses. No Jane. But… she saw me and came back to the flock. Phew.

Off to the gate… with 17 people trailing. Tom and I took head and tail of the line and that seemed to work. We had explained about airplanes, but I think the take offs and landings were a bit uncomfortable for our friends. Again, we deplaned and tackled immigration and baggage claim and found our transport. Johannesburg is beautiful and the weather was lovely. The Patron Housing was welcoming and quite nice. Sister Taylor explained about the food provided, the rooms, and went into the necessary detail about flush toilets and hot and cold running water. After a short time Jane was skilled in using the elevator and the key card to get to her room. It was so fun to see the learning curve! We had a chance to wander the beautiful grounds and gardens. The first afternoon we wandered into the “White house” which we learned housed the area presidency and got invited to visit with a member of the area presidency and his wife. We went to meet one of the couples who works in the area office and ended up meeting so many wonderful, fantastic, warm, friendly missionary couples. It became one of the highlights of our time there. We met several of the public affairs people and talked shop—articles to put in the Liahona and on the SE Africa area website.

In the mornings, the gardens were a wonderful place to read scriptures. Tuesday they went to the family history center and used the computers to put in their genealogy. At 1 pm they went to the temple. (Mom, the agapanthis was blooming all over the place.)They were so excited! They wanted to do everything right. After, I asked one of the sisters, “What did you like about the temple?” She said, “It was so reverent and peaceful and beautiful. And I loved making covenants with my God.” That evening families were sealed together for time and all eternity. Words can’t express the wonder of seeing these innocent children dressed in white coming to be sealed as a family forever. One couple had 6 deceased children sealed to them.
I thought we would have some spare time as the mornings were not scheduled and we didn’t go to the temple until about 2. I hoped we might see a tiny bit of South Africa. However, time was taken up with getting things from the distribution center and with the family history center. Elder Fox spent two hours there and became the resident expert. The volunteer was not a member and so couldn’t help with all the work that needed doing. But we got names printed off, and the family members did the saving ordinances. Pres O just beamed as he and his wife did the ordinances for Salome and her husband.

The recommendation was that the sisters fix the large meal midday and have sandwiches or something quick for dinner as we often didn’t get out of the temple until past 7:30. However, sandwiches aren’t a meal, I guess. We did do sandwiches the very first meal-- at about 3pm. We had hot meals for every meal and they were so good at taking care of us. We thought maybe we’d have cold cereal in our room, but no. Toast and “tea” (hot chocolate) would be waiting for us, or an egg, or apple. Lunch was stew, ugali or rice, and vegetables…. As was dinner. Wednesday about 8:30pm, we did claim tiredness and take bread to our room for sandwiches. Thursday we did not, and ended up eating about 10pm. Elder Fox was an excellent role model. The women cooked, and he and the men went into the kitchen to clean up. That is quite a change from African culture to Church culture—have men helping clean up in the kitchen! One day, the lunch took too long to prepare. Faced with the choice of lunch or temple, they all fasted and just went to the temple. That was the day they ate at 10pm.

That was the day Elder Fox and I went to MCDONALDS! The public affairs couple took pity on us and took us to McDonalds. It was like the USA. Sigh. Just a small taste of the USA, but I enjoyed it. It seemed each day we visited with some of the couple missionaries there. Ah, it was so nice to talk to them, learn where they came from, learn what they do, connect. We found one was childhood neighbor to the mission president’s wife. Another spent time as mission president to the Vickerys who were in the MTC with us. She volunteered to watch the two under 12 children so all the rest of us could go to the temple. The couples just tucked us under their wings and loved us.

The whole temple experience was precious! We loved being there and seeing these wonderful people from Kenya learn and grow. Even the journey back to Kenya was handled with much more confidence by the members. Ticketing? Immigration? Gate number? Yeah, been there. Done that.—although Johannesburg has a much larger airport. They were all reluctant to leave the temple knowing they will likely never see it again. On the plane, mid-flight, Jane popped her head around the seats and sang us a hymn, smiled, and disappeared again.

We arrived back in Kenya, awaited transport, and arrived back at the couples flat about 9pm. Ah. A good trip.

Temple Prep Week

2011-01-02T08:49:00.000-08:00

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.

Good News!

2010-12-31T21:57:00.000-08:00

We had two children of a family going to the temple. They needed to have their missionary papers processed in order to go to the temple and both be sealed to their parents and take out their own endowments. We learned yesterday that they had been assigned a mission and so could do all this! That was exciting and they processed the papers very quickly!

Also, Tanzania, is technically bilingual with official languages of English and Swahili and so the language of the church is English. But the reality is they are taught English in schools as I was taught German--- and we both speak it with the same fluency. So it's been hard to grow the church there. People would love to join, but can't speak English well enough. There is a great advantage to English as there are so many resources available in that language and there's no problem with translation errors. However, it really limits people's ability to join. We just learned that people can now be taught in Swahili in Tanzania. That's GREAT NEWS!

The Nature of God

2010-12-27T07:43:00.000-08:00

At Christmas time it seems appropriate to ponder on the nature of God. Who is God? What does he look like? What are his attributes? Why is it important to know what he is like?

Why do we care? Why is it important to know the nature of God?

John 17:3 says, “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” So if we want Eternal Life, we need to know God. We need to know who he is, what he’s like, and what attributes he has. The attributes are especially important when we read Matthew 5:48 (or 3 Nephi 12:48). It says, “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” So we have a commandment to be perfect. And the example we are to follow is that set by Heavenly Father. How can we follow that example when we don’t know what it is? We can’t be saved in ignorance. The Lord says people are destroyed because of lack of knowledge about him. ( Hosea 4:6).

Also, when we know who God is, we better understand our relationship to him. Genesis 1:26 says, “…let us make man in our own image, after our likeness…” So we know we look like God. We are theomorphic beings. Genesis 1:27: “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.” When Joseph Smith had his vision he saw God the Father and his son Jesus Christ and saw that they were two distinct personages and they had glorified bodies similar to our own (Joseph Smith History 1:17). God is our creator and also our Father. 1Timothy 1:2 says, “Unto Timothy, my own son in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Why does it matter that God is the father of our spirits? Look at Matthew 7: 11 “If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?” I remember one person saying how different it felt as he changed from praying to an unfathomable universal God to praying to his Heavenly Father. Suddenly God seemed to him more real, more personal, more caring. Indeed the Scriptures say he is a God who cares for each person. Even a sparrow doesn't fall without God being aware (Matthew 10:29).

So God is caring about everyone. What are some of his other attributes?

He’s the same yesterday, today, forever—unchanging (Psalms 102:27)

He is giving and unselfish (healing the sick and such)

He sacrifices himself for the good of others (the Atonement)

He does not lift himself up above others (John 13:14)

He is humble, teachable and obedient to the will of the Father (John 8:28)

He is loving (John 15:10, 1 John 5:2)

He is merciful (Deut 5:10)

He invites all to come unto him, to know him, and to be saved by him (2 Nephi 26:33, Moroni 10:32)

God is intelligence; he has all knowledge (1Sam 2:3, Psalms 147:5, Matt 16:30, 2Nephi 2:9)

God is just and tells the truth (Deut 32:4, John 5:30, Ether3:12)

God tells us who he is (Isaiah 11:9, Alma 9:12)

He tells us what he wants of us (Amos 3:7, Heb 8:10, 2 Nephi 9:25, D&C 1)

He is all powerful (Jer 32:17, Luke 1:37, 1Nephi 7:12)

He is the source of all good things: love, peace, hope, patience, faith, kindness, generosity, gratitude, comfort, happiness and so on. “…. all good things which are good cometh of God… That which is of God inviteth and enticeth to do good continually; wherefore, everything which inviteth and enticeth to do good, and to love God, and to serve him, is inspired of God.” (Moroni 7:12-13)

So what does knowing the nature of God mean to us?

1. It sets the example of how we should live and what we should strive to become. We want to make these attributes of love and kindness and caring and sacrifice and knowledge become our own. When people around us say—go here, go there. This is good, no this is what you should do—we have a firm guidance and direction. We have a sure course to follow.

2. When we know God is our loving Father and wants only good for us, we can trust him. We can have faith that as we pray and ask, God will grant that which is good for us. When we are going through hard times, we can have faith that God is there with us. Alma 7:11-12 says he took all the pains and infirmities, and weaknesses of each one of us on Him so that he would know how to help us in our times of trials. Because we trust in his love and care we can know that “all these things [trials] will be for thy good and give thee experience.” (D&C 122:7) He is all powerful. When he says he will fight our battles for us—he can and he will.

3. Because God has all knowledge, we know He knows what is best for us. God has given us commandments as a guide to happiness. He knows as we do these things we will be happy. Wickedness never was happiness. You can’t do wrong and feel right. So because God loves us, he shows us the way to find happiness, peace, and joy. Because he is a God of Truth, we can trust what he says.

Because I know these things, I have peace. I trust the Lord that his commandments will bring happiness. They have in my life. I have found his strength and help in overcoming adversity. I have felt him lift my burdens. I have found his inspiration and knowledge as I’ve tried to follow him and learn new things. I’ve felt his love and blessings as I’ve tried to gain his attributes of being kind and loving and patient and doing good to all people. I know he has lifted me beyond my own abilities many times. I know he has protected me and preserved me—especially here in Kenya as we’ve traveled these roads. As I have come to know the nature of God I have been blessed, blessed, blessed. And I am grateful.

Triple Hurdle 2. Christmas

2010-12-26T03:39:00.000-08:00

We returned from Nakuru with a day to prep. We got dropped back into real life with some serious branch concerns: a single mom without food. Relatives snatching children because they didn’t like the parent’s beliefs. Amidst the phone calls and such we made pies (starting from the pumpkin off the vine.) And we made some sugar and gingerbread cookie dough with the help of the missionaries. And I sewed a few more of the dolls. Sewing on a treadle machine is not bad. Sewing on a treadle machine where the tension is wrong and the thread keeps breaking is bad. I NEED to get it fixed.

The Busia missionaries arrived and brought our turkey with them. He spent the night in the back yard.

We have a very small refrigerator so we had to clean it out before we could have a place for him. We drank the juice and used up the tortillas. We evicted the leftovers that claimed squatter’s rights. We pulled out jams, cheese, water jugs and other “nice to keep cool” things. And we did have room for the important things: pies and turkey!

Thursday the six missionaries came for breakfast. Then we got to work. The missionaries turned and stuffed the dolls. They clipped out balls from soft foam. They rolled and cut and baked cookies. We weren't sure what Elder B's mom would say about him hanging around with dolls. Or maybe he's just all dolled up. He's definately having a ball. We sent the missionaries off to find lunch and rejoined at 1pm to take the things to an orphanage. We’d never been there, but one of our members, George, works there. I was surprised at how upscale it was. The buildings were attractive and the children had plenty of toys and nice cribs. The number of workers to baby ratio was very good. The orphanage takes abandoned babies and raises them or adopts them out. They have several facilities all over Kenya, and this one mostly does birth to 3, with about 10 disabled children between 3 and 10. It made our home made toys appear a bit shabby, but we suggested they might find a less fortunate place to share them. And they were very appreciative about what we brought.

We took a tour of the orphanage and then it was feeding time. What fun! It was nice to hold babies! It was really fun for me, and gradually the missionaries joined in and helped out. We finished about 3:30 and headed home for last minute gift wrapping and skyping of children.

Christmas day I got up early to start with the fixings. The dinner was a mix of American and African. We had turkey. Our butcher said we should stuff it with vegetables. I had onions, so we cut small ones in half and stuffed them in. Rebecca (bless her heart!) sent a brown in bag and that was most helpful. I did potatoes in the crock pot. And cut up pineapple and had shredded carrot salad. Once that was done we watched a video with the missionaries. Then we opened gifts. They had fun with the gift exchange—stealing from others (I guess that commandment was waived for Christmas) and laughing at the fun things they got—a wind up bunny, an African hat, flexible snowman, etc. They each got a letter of appreciation from another missionary. And they got a DVD about the mission from the Mission President. Of course THAT had to go in to the DVD player. They loved watching it and seeing all their previous missionary companions!

Good thing. The turkey that was supposed to cook in 3.5 hours in the brown in bag actually took closer to 5. Maybe it was because the bird took up most of the oven. Or maybe because the oven shuts off when the timer goes off… and it did for an unknown period of time. It was easy in that the last things that needed to be done: mash the potatoes, carve the turkey, and make fried cabbage all happened in the last half hour and we had lots of help. The elders really enjoyed the meal and were very appreciative.The turkey was delicious and moist. The fork only bent a little… and I avow it’s due to the weakness of the forks. Fragile things. The turkey—it was fine! And a good meal was had by all. After the missionaries left we cleaned up, deboned the turkey, and collapsed. Oh yes, we also opened the presents to each other. Which of course we both knew about as we’d been present during the shopping…but… What a surprise! That’s one advantage of a forgetful memory!

Here is our faithful little tree.These were good days. Different than a home Christmas, but good, none the less.

Triple Hurdle-- 1. Nakuru

2010-12-25T06:45:00.000-08:00

In horse jumping, sometimes you have three jumps in a row. You have maybe a stride or two before the next jump. It's exhilarating, fun, and you choose to do it, but it's still work. You look forward to it coming and you rejoice that you've successfully mastered it... or at least survived it.

We have had many things coming at once. But the three biggies are Nakuru couples event, Christmas, and the Johannesburg Temple Trip.

On Monday December 2o we drove to Lake Nakuru for the couples gathering. It was SO fun to get together with all the other senior missionary couples. There were 12 of us including the Mission President and his wife. What great people they all are. We had a gift exchange that was wild! But Tom ended up with the Skippy Peanut butter! So it was a successful night for him! Chocolate chips and wood carvings were other sought after gifts.

This blog is about Lake Nakuru and the Couples gathering. We loved it! Here we are with the new Public Affairs couple, Elder and Sister J.

Here is our sober and respectable Mission President (the arm waving one) with his waving wife, and Elder and Sister N. They are sorting through the tons of stuff brought to be shared. We took back half a ton-- mosquito nets, missionary gift packages, the curriculum for two branches for the next year, etc.
Here are our Kitale friends, the B's. They trusted us enough to drive with us on the roads shown below.
Our Eldoret friends, the L's, enjoying a great meal.
The lake area was dryer this time, but still lovely. (those are zebras.)As is Elder Fox's perchance, we took many of the "roads less traveled" including some

I would rather have not taken. This one is benign... even beguiling. But beware of the gullies, rocks, and disappearing road ahead. And who knows where you'll come out?
We stopped at Baboon Lookout. And look out! A baboon visited our truck.
We had a great time watching them play.
And Tom took lots of pictures of the little ones monkeying around on the sign.
Of course the birds were fantastic. Unfortunately, many of my photos of them were less than fantastic. But Tom got some great ones. We tried many times to get the pelicans in flight. There were hundreds of pelicans and flamingos. Ah, the giraffes! These are Rothschild giraffes. We saw a dozen or more at one time. They are so graceful, but they also hide surprisingly well.
And Lions! This group decided to camp by a tree after walking past the front gate of the Lodge. So all the couples had a chance to go and visit them. I think they were slightly disgusted by the attention. However, they looked like they would like to have been very attentive to us... if we would just get out of the car and come a little closer.
This time we saw both white and black Rhinos. This mother and babe were right by the lake.
And Elder Fox was enamored by this zebra foal who resided near the lodge gate. Each time we went in or out, we looked for it.
At the end of our stay, we went to an orphanage to visit the children. It was at Eldama Ravine just north-west of Nakuru. Here they are singing to welcome us. One of the missionary couples had met the Pentecostal Bishop who was a patron of it. We had a good time visiting with and playing with the orphans and the other children who had been invited to the event. I love how they care for one another.We arrived home late Wednesday afternoon, Dec 22. One hurdle happily achieved.

Fish

2010-12-18T06:43:00.000-08:00

Fish

When Elder and Sister G came to visit, we were standing by the open gate and a woman came by. When people come with things to sell, I’m always more open than when they come asking for a handout. She was selling tilapia fillets. Were they fresh? She didn’t understand that question, but they came from Bondo and likely were, and they were reasonably priced. So I bought a kilo. Well, a hefting-it-in-the-hand kind of kilo.

We had dinner planned that night… and I was just a little hesitant to use Elder and Sister G as guinea pigs in case the fish was not great. And I thought, Gee. I don’t know how to cook fish! But now I had this fish and I had to do something soon.

So I remember my mama cooking it with lemons sliced to cut down on the smell. I put some lemon essential oil into the water and put in the fish and added some basil and tarragon and steamed it. And by golly, it was GOOD! The flavor was very mild. E. Fox liked it. Of course he uses fish as a method of eating tartar sauce in the same way ice cream is a vehicle for eating chocolate sauce. And the kitchen didn’t smell at all. I wish now I’d gotten her contact. But I expect she will stop by the gate again since we bought from her.

Tender Mercies

I’ve been feeling especially blessed by the tender mercies of the Lord.

* Our internet has been very iffy the last few days. I needed to call our property manager at his request. I’d tried calling last night and the wireless modem was too weak to sustain the call. It was like calling people in Africa: Hello! Can you hear me? I can’t hear you. CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW? You’re coming through broken. I can hardly hear you. By now my decibels will cause hearing loss and every living thing has retreated from the area. I CAN HEAR YOU. CAN YOU HEAR ME???? Click. Alas. No.

But the next morning, I thought I’d try the first thing in the morning. And the Internet was up and I got through and we had a good conversation. And just as we were finishing up, the line went dead. So we were blessed with that short window to call.

* Our property management wanted to talk over the phone… usually not too good of a sign. Indeed, we’d lost both tenants from one of our duplexes. But, miracle of miracles, he has two new tenants: one lined up and the other already moved in. These are good tenants from other properties he manages so he knows their rental history, and they are accustomed to that area of town. So I think they will stay a long time in those units. He said, December/January is a terrible time to rent, we just got incredibly lucky. No. Not luck. The mercies of the Lord.

* Today we had our branch Christmas activity. It’s during the hot, dry season and so being on the top floor under a metal roof was a bit toasty. But we were blessed with the wisp of a breeze that would flutter through periodically and cool it off. We had about 150 people at the activity. That was a great turn out. Some were members we haven’t seen for a long time… or ever, and some were serious investigators. We had a baptism, watched the Saturday afternoon session of General conference, had some entertainment by some of the youth, and a very tasty lunch. After lunch, some played football and volleyball, some cleaned the church.

* And we’ve gotten packages from home and feel loved.

A great week

2010-12-16T04:35:00.000-08:00

I’ve been remiss in writing, so maybe you’ll have a few blog posts in a short time… or maybe not. We’ve been pretty busy.

Travel to Kitale
Thursday December 9th (Happy birthday Dad) we drove to Kitale. There are several roads to Kitale with the shortest distance wise being the longest timewise. However, there was a woman in Kakamega who really wanted us to come and visit her, so we went the bump…pothole… bump… Kakamega road. It was worth the bumps. She was a delightful woman with thoughtful questions and a strong desire to learn. She plans to travel the 50km or so to come to church here in Kisumu. She’s influential in Kakamega, having taught secretaries employed in the government and businesses. So we had a good visit and moved on.

Once again, we were charmed by the scenery and the people and succumbed to taking more photos. Elder Fox’s favorite is of the children. Me, probably of the markets and the scenery.
.

Seminary Program
We stayed with Elder and Sister B. in Kitale. They had planned a fantastic end of year activity for the seminary students. Oh my! So much work and so many details planned out. And so many uncertainties. This was their first event like this. How much had the students learned? Would they like this activity? Would they participate. The answers were: They’d learned a lot. And they LOVED the activities!

The students gathered about 9am. We had a little difficulty with registration. The “A through K” they didn’t quite get. Especially since they don’t usually use their last name. They’re more likely to use their middle name, or the names shift position. And seldom do they have a family name. But they all got signed in and got a colored scarf.

They were divided into groups with a “Captain Moroni” as their leader. Each group went with the Moroni dressed in their colors. The day began with some wonderful motivational speakers talking about being obedient, preparing to go to the temple and go on missions. Read the scriptures. Pray.

Then they had a Book of Mormon Quiz. This year’s course of study was the Book of Mormon. And the theme for the event was from 1Nephi 3:7 “… I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded…” After the quiz the groups had 15 minutes to prepare a skit on a Book of Mormon story. They had some simple costumes to help them get into the spirit of the thing. And they did a good job. My group was the Green Group. You see Nephi in the red with Laman and Lemuel with drapery capes saying Nephi can’t build a ship, while the other members of the “cast” are busy working on building the ship. We had awesome wives wailing and begging to have Nephi released when his brothers tied him on the ship.

Elder Fox’s group was the Red group. He thought his group gave the best performance of Nephi and his brothers going to get the Plates of Brass from Labon. Here Nephi is offering up all their treasure to Labon in exchange for the plates. Nehpi was very convincing in his acting as were the brothers, “I’m not going! You are asking too hard things!”

For lunch each person got their own loaf of bread, a bottle of pop, and a banana. They were delighted with the food and there wasn’t much bread left over. In the afternoon, they rotated through games: volleyball, and sack races.

The circle game of “How do you Like your Neighbor” took a little to learn but was enjoyed as they raced from seat to seat.
And they learned three dances: The chicken dance, the Hokey-Pokey, and the Bunny Hop. Even the mamas who came to help with lunch giggled and laughed as they “put your left hip in… and you shake it all about.”

The last event was a testimony meeting where the youth shared how joining the church and coming to seminary had changed their lives. I spoke with one young man who was looking into the church. He was enjoying himself at the activity and at the testimony meeting spoke of getting baptized.
It was an awesome day! We so enjoyed the company of Elder and Sister B. The next morning we wandered through their outdoor market and I stocked up on veggies I needed for the weekend. We drove home on Saturday and prepared for our Sacrament meeting which was on Seminary and Institute. Their certificates were handed out that day.

We also have a new Relief Society President and new Primary President and counselors. So we trained them a little bit. Did some Choir practice. Learned the Choir is singing at the Branch Christmas Activity this Saturday. We currently have more enthusiasm than harmony. But that’s okay. So many of the songs are totally new to our branch. As we sing the songs in Choir, at least some of the members learn the songs.

This week it seems we’ve been crazy busy. Still don’t ask me what all we’ve done. Elder Fox has had some good opportunities to do some training. I wrote up an article about the Seminary activity that I will submit to the S.E Africa section of the Liahona, and maybe the New Era. I’m trying to collect information for an article on senior missionaries. It is such a rewarding thing to do, and yet I wonder if some people don’t let fear stop them from experiencing the blessings of a mission. We grow to love people and rejoice in their successes—when they are strengthened and overcome difficulties. And we mourn with their sorrows—sickness, death, job loss. So many times as we visit we hear, “I was in such a difficult spot. Then I joined the church. Now things are so much better.” They are small and big miracles—better health, being able to pay off the bride dowry, hope for a better future, a pick up in work, not going hungry any more. What else can one do that will bring blessings like that?

Wednesday Elder and Sister G. came to visit. They went to Mbita today to hopefully resolve a well issue. They will continue on to Busia to look into other water projects there. We always love to have people visit. But we likely talk far too much.

We are being blessed. We rejoice in the celebration of the Savior’s Birth.

Holes, roosters, and reports

2010-12-08T15:07:00.000-08:00

Holes
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.

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.

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!

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.)

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!

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.

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.

I hope they call me on a Mission…

2010-12-03T00:30:00.000-08:00

At the Couples conference several of us discussed: Is there anything else we could do—any other calling-- that would be as meaningful as this? Hands down, the answer was NO. The amazing sense is that we’re helping lives to change, we’re pioneering a new area, we are blessing people in a way that could not happen any other way. This is not said in any sense of bragging, it’s said with an urgent appeal for you to consider: Will you go on a Mission? If you are 19-25, single and worthy, will you go now? If you are a couple with grown kids and retired- will you go now? If you are a couple and not retired—will you make plans and prepare to go?

“…the field IS ripe and ready to harvest; and lo, he that thrusteth in his sickle with his might…bringeth salvation to his soul.” And her soul, too.

What is stopping you from going? Fears about health. Fears about finances. Fears about leaving family. Faith casts out fear. Trust the Lord. Sure stuff happens. It happens if you are there or not. But the Lord can take better care of your family than you can. If you prayerfully go to his with your concerns about finances or health or family, he will help you with them. A way is made if you are faithful and determined.

Many missionaries have commented on how their families have gone through trials, but been vastly blessed while on their mission. Surgeries that went well. Wayward children returned and happily married. And with blogs and skype and email, you’re not all that far from family even on the other side of the world.

At the Couples conference we watched as Elder and Sister P. teared up each time they spoke of going home. They leave in December.

Our fabulous PEF couple, Elder and Sister F. leave in February.Our powerful couple in Mombasa where he’s acted as branch president and increased the branch from less than 30 to over 90 leaves in March.

Elder and Sister B who have driven the winding hills of Kulinga and shepherded four, going on 5 branches is leaving in April. Here they are with a family they took to the temple in Johannesburg, S. Africa.We, who assist and oversee two branches in Western Kenya, leave in May.
Elder and Sister B, who have supported and strengthened the three branches in Dar Es Salam and all the outlying branches in Tanzania leave in June. Elder B also acts as counselor to the Mission President. AND THERE ARE FEW COUPLES COMING IN TO REPLACE US! WHO WILL CONTINUE THE WORK?

One definition of missionaries are those who leave their families for a short time so others can be with their families for eternity.

Each of these couples quietly and humbly left their homes, their families, their hobbies, their doctors, their dogs—and just went. They learned, they grew, they stretched and did things they didn’t know they could do. And the joy is great. The satisfaction is immeasurable. The warm and heart-rending experiences can only be understood by others who have served missions.

This is one of my favorite scriptures! I love being blessed in ALL things, both temporal and spiritual.

“And moreover, I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness. O remember, remember that these things are true; for the Lord God that spoken it.” Mosiah 2:41

Me and my Quilt

2010-12-01T02:37:00.000-08:00

We needed to bring something that described or identified us to the Couples Thanksgiving day. I chose this quilt that I made. It’s made with small pieces pulled from a sack of throw-away scraps from a tailor. Like life, we are often not handed things in full cloth. We have to put our lives together. Sometimes someone’s reject is our treasure.

We get to choose the pattern for our lives like I chose the pattern for the quilt.

This quilt was made as I went. I chose the fabrics, but I didn’t know how many squares I could make with the scraps. Once I got the squares and organized them, I needed to figure out the border. Like life, it’s a make-it-as-you-go project.

The quilt is imperfect. My backing ended up too small and I had to piece an extra piece onto it. But life is imperfect too, and we need to fix it and move on. Even in its imperfection, it can still be a thing of beauty.

A Week of Thanks

2010-11-30T10:44:00.000-08:00

We had an exciting lead up to Thanksgiving. The Saturday before (Nov20th) we introduced the Worldwide Broadcast of the New Church Handbooks to the leadership of the Kisumu branch. E. Fox and I previewed the DVD the day before… the day it arrived… and we showed it the next day. It’s a wonderful presentation. One person said, “If you want to keep a secret, put it in the handbook.” But the goal is to have everyone know what’s in it—the guiding principles which, added to inspiration, will help the church run smoothly. We also spent the afternoon washing clothes, collecting things and pre-packaging flour, sugar and other things needed for pumpkin pie and chocolate pie.

Sunday we went to Busia to visit, collect open house material, and collect passports, letters from parents, copies of birth and marriage certificates and signed visa applications to take with us to Nairobi and on to the temple in Johannesburg in January. When we came home we packed and tried to get to bed at a decent hour.

Monday we were on the road by 6:30am for Nairobi. Along the way, we stopped at Lake Elmentieta to check out the lake and the accommodations. It's a lovely lake.

It’s supposed to be an excellent place to view birds. We drove down the imagination of a road and came to Flamingo Camp—a fun place RIGHT on the lake. Then we found Elmenteita Safari Camp an upscale version of a resort at pretty good prices also close to the lake. And finally Elmenteita Lodge… which is where we thought we were going when we got to the camp. This is built around a 1915 farm house and distinguished, but pretty far from the lake. Each place they were happy to show us every available room and all their amenities.

We stopped at Westgate Nakumat on the way in and scored with some triskets and wheat thins! Tom was in heaven! We also got the remaining ingredients for the pies. We stayed with Elder and Sister G who are the temporary LDS Charities couple and all-around great people.

Tuesday we went to the Mission office with a page long “things to do” list and hacked away at a number of them. We fought traffic to the US Embassy and mailed a package, bought good stuff at the PX and learned that is really isn’t a PX any more, it’s an employee’s food store and in the future we can’t shop there. Oh well. It was nice while it lasted. We had some time and so went to the Maasai Market at Westgate and wandered in the hot sun past rows of wares: carvings, scarves, paintings, masks, jewelry, wood, soapstone dishes, pots. We were just window shopping, mind you, but we managed to come away with three scarves. (I had been admiring them on the women here and asking where to get them, so that was okay.) We also got a soapstone plate, a cow-horn pencil holder, and a painting of elephants and giraffes in the African sunset. I saw a very nice soapstone carved nativity set, but we could not agree on the price.

Wednesday we hit the Mission Office to accomplish visa things and then went exploring with E/S B from Kitali. They had not seen things in Nairobi so we went to the Giraffe Center.

I like the up close and personal with the giraffes. Elder Fox hung out with the old men.
The bronze art gallery was magnificent and expensive. Did I take photos of the fine sunbird on a grass stem? No just of Elder Fox in front of the sign.
We went to the boma park (didn’t stay, dancing wasn’t until the afternoon) and the Mamba park which had mountains of crocodiles from baby to elderly, a lake the shape of Africa and half the children in Nairobi. Worth it for the 100 shilling price for residents.

This is a "crown of Thorns" plant which our guide said was the plant used for the crown of thorns of Jesus.
And they had a mural of the history of East Africa. This is of the railroad and the Man-eater Lions of Tsavo.
We got back to the Mission Office in time to meet Josephine, maker of fantastic bead necklaces, and collected our year’s supply of those. Josephine has an amazing life story and shared a bit of it with us. She is also kind enough to volunteer to teach someone in Kisumu how to do these necklaces so they, too can prosper.
Elder Fox was kind enough to "hold" some of the necklaces for me.

I made the pies in the evening. We have “Barbie” stoves—small apartment sized with only one rack, so we farmed out the other pie to the missionary couple next store to cook for us. We shared the aroma!

Thursday was a perfect day! We actually slept in a bit, then went to Pres Broadbent’s about 11. We visited, chatted, talked, and shared with all the senior couples. We had 12 couples there—just missing E/S B who were at the Johannesburg Temple with 21 people from their area. Did I mention we visited? We also ate a fantastic banquet cooked by various couples.

They couldn’t find a whole turkey, so they cooked parts… and it tasted great to me! I had cooked radish for the first time. Tasty. After the main course, we had an activity where each couple shared something that defined or illustrated them. Most couples also shared a talent—a skit, a song, etc. We learned how to dance “Cotton- Eyed Joe” and did a credible job of it. We learned how to teach a primary song and got an apron full of song illustrations.

We teared up at “I’ll be Home for Christmas” sung by Elder P who had sung with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. One of my favorites was a couple singing “There’s a hole in the bucket” with the elder singing the part of “With what shall I fetch, fix, mend … it” lying prone with a hat over his face and with convincing disinterest in the fetching/fixing process. When the song came around to the beginning again instead of fixing, fetching, mending…. He suggested they just go on a mission! Tom and I did a reader’s theater that we’d seen our Atlanta Georgia Mission President and wife do on our last mission. My singing and dancing are iffy, but I can read.

After deserts and more visiting, we sang through all the Christmas carols in the Hymn book and finally departed for the couples flats at nearly dark.

Friday we went to the Mission Office early again to finalize seminary and institute manuals for next year and stuff at the distribution center. In spite of our list, we forgot a few things. But we did meet with a sweetheart of a sister in our branch. He seems like a nice young man.

This is the Upper Hill Chapel and part of the Mission Office. It's a lovely building.

At 10AM we began our Couple Conference. It is so good to share and learn from one another. One brother has really been working hard at assembling steps to take to go to the temple. Sometimes it seems like there’s a conspiracy to not release information until after you really needed it. Usually it’s done with a surprised air…Oh? You wanted THAT information? Even though you thought you’d asked for it specifically 5 times. (Such as when the Public Health officer arrived 3 hours late to give the Yellow Fever shots and said, “Oh, don’t you know that all women of child bearing age need to be pregnancy tested first?” Hello. Wouldn’t that have been nice to know ahead of time?)

We learned more about the lessons on receiving revelation through prayer, reading the scriptures and attending sacrament meetings that the missionaries are giving as part of the refined Preach My Gospel lessons. And we had a spiritual feast reading 2 Nephi 31 verse by verse and discussing it. It was billed as a 10-12 meeting that lasted until 2:15, but no one cared that it went over it was so great. (Except the LDS Charities couple that had a 3pm meeting across town. But they made it.) We discussed problems and concerns and got directions which way to go. We left the meeting feeling so uplifted, like we could conquer the world… or at least whatever concerns we faced. We ate pizza, packed the truck with all the manuals and such, and then went to shop at the Hilton arcade.

Sister B. had written all kinds of pricing and notes in her notebook so when she found something, she was sure it was a bargain (or not). Other missionaries indicated the best stores to shop at, and we got some Maasai blankets cheaper than any place else. We also bought a phone. You see, our phone conversations began to consist of “Hello Hello? Can you hear me?” “Hello. Hello? Are you there?” Er. No. They couldn’t hear us. Fortunately James told us exactly what model to buy, so we just had to find it. Well, that and learn to use it.

Friday night the couples gathered together again over salsa and scones, again just to visit. You see we have couples from Mombasa and Dar Es Salam in Tazania as well as the three distant couples in western Kenya—Kitali, Eldoret, and Kisumu who don’t get to visit with other couples much. We learn we have the same… and different problems. We share joys and successes. No one really understands what you’re experiencing as well as another missionary couple does. We’d learned to fill out the visa forms, but they’d been safely locked away for two days. So we stayed up far too late Friday night filling them out. They had to be black ink, block letters, and letter perfect. As it got later, I had more problems with the “letter perfect” part.

Saturday morning we visited with the B’s just back from the temple, and then headed home. We dawdled a bit and stopped to admire the tea fields.

We came home to find that we actually had water! Hurray!!! Great joy! Delight! It didn’t start coming in until Friday, so it’s a good thing we were gone for the week. And now we have a page long list of things that need to be accomplished here! And we are eager to get to work!

Word Pictures

2010-11-28T08:35:00.000-08:00

As we left for the drive to Nairobi, the scenery was exquisite. The sun was in our eyes making photos difficult, so I decided to write a word picture.

A parade of people along each side of the road emerged from the shimmering dust tossed up by matatus. They cast long streaks of shadows as they grew distinct from the brown flecks. The sun skimmed across the cow-mowed grass and the tips of the sugarcane leaves. In the flicker of back-lighting the leaves of the eucalyptus trees turned gold and black. Even the bulky sugar cane tractor loads reflected a soft glow in the early sun.

Uniformed children ebbed and flowed on either side of the road like a herd of gazelles, waiting for a safe chance to cross. As the towns thinned, occasional drab humps of squatting people rose rock-like from the dirt shoulder.

Umbrella acacia trees reflected back the light and offered generous shade. They spread like dinner plates for giraffes. And the sun teased a soft reflection from thatch and mud houses and brought warmth to rusty tin roofs.

In the markets weathered women unfolded bags and bundles and bales sprouting with cabbages, sukumi wiki (greens) and a rainbow of matumbu (used clothing.) Donkeys hoisted yellow gerry cans for sale or water carrying. The bones of stick market stands jutted out, their dingy black and gray plastic roofing swaying in the breeze. Some of the stands were already fleshed out in vibrant red onions and tomatoes, golden maize, white rice, heaps of beans, and tangles of rope. Hardware merchants spread locks and bolts and bits of dazzling silver metal.

Toward Karicheo, orderly manicured tea fields glinted lemon-green until they disappeared over the horizon. Boxes of white painted houses with red roofs offered a nestled contrast to the un-ending new-green leaves. Sometimes trees shot up through the tea fields looking like errant bits of hair in a bad hair-cut.

It’s a beautiful world. One of the departing couples said, “In a few days this will all be a dream and a memory.” All too soon that will be true for us, too.

Mangoes

2010-11-18T06:16:00.000-08:00

Mangoes are truly a gift from God. Without any effort on any person's part, the trees grow, flower, fruit and then drop the fruit. Well, sometimes you need a stick to knock them down. Other times we hear a ThunK as they land on the tin roof. I'd hate for one to drop on my head.

The trees are kind enough to not have all the fruit mature all at once. I think we've had mangoes for about 3 weeks now and the trees are still producing.

When hungry people come to the gate, we invite them to help themselves. When the primary children get hungry after church, we open the gate and let them forage for mangoes. Our guard collects some each night and the gardener gathers in the day. Sometimes Dr. Geoffrey sends Benard over to collect and haul bags full back to his home and clinic.

I have mangoes for breakfast. And still the trees are loaded with mangoes. I think Kenya must be part of the Garden of Edan.

Visiting

2010-11-18T05:45:00.000-08:00

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!

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!

Busia Open House

2010-11-09T10:08:00.000-08:00

The top floor of the building is the new chapel for Busia. They celebrated its completion with an open house. They had about 25 people come to learn more about the church.

They took them around-- into the Primary room.

And into the Elders Quorum class room. In each room they were given a mini-lesson.
They topped it off with biscuits, bananas and soda in celebration of the first anniversary of the Busia Branch (actually August 31.)
During some down time, I visited with my friend Peter.
And on the way home, we got to enjoy some lovely skyscapes.

Impala Sacturary in Kisumu

2010-11-09T10:03:00.000-08:00

We've been here in Kisumu for nearly a year now and finally went to the Impala Sanctuary. We'd seen it... even stopped once before we had our resident alien cards. But we could see they'd done some fixing and improving and indeed, it was a nice treat. It had been designated as a 2010 tourist destination site and so they'd done a lot of improvements. We thought it was just impalas, and we did see those. (Do you see them walking behind me?) But we also saw Lions and Cheetahs, oh my! And we saw a desert Patas monkey and Duikers and black backed jackals-- that looked like dogs to me.

and a spotted hyenas. The Hyenas is big and dangerous looking up close. Not quite like the Lion King variety.

We had a young man on "attachment" with us. This is like an unpaid internship. He was training with the Kenya Wildlife Club and was quite knowledgeable. So we got to hold hands with a blue monkey... the baboon was not so friendly. And pet the Cheetah....

the lions were definitely not so friendly. Tom was so pleased to see the cheetah slip to the ground and start purring. However we were careful to stay well back from the teeth!

The lionesses looked well fed... and a bit bored.
The lion was kept separate from the females. He is from a different family and they said he would not breed with the lionesses as they only mated within their families.
It was a lovely day with a beautiful view of Lake Victoria behind.

At night hippos come up on the land here to feed. We, however, were safe during the day. The snakes in the forest seemed to mind their own business, too.

Barefoot

2010-11-08T05:02:00.000-08:00

We've been doing some training with the branch presidency and Sunday School Presidency and feel like we are making progress. These are good men and they are learning. While we were visiting with one of them, I asked about his conversion story. One of the things that attracted him to the church was that the church came because of a revelation, he said, and that all people are invited to receive their own revelation and ask their creator what he wants for them. He said in this church the leaders care for their flock. In other churches the flock must care for the leader. I guess here in Africa some churches totally expect members to pay a certain amount to support the pastor.

Our Relief Society President has moved, I think, to Rwanda and has left the counselors in charge. They are doing an excellent job of running things in her absence. It's so rewarding to see things run well. And on Sunday we had a great Branch Council meeting with all the auxiliary leaders discussing their concerns about how to help people, and others giving good solutions to the concerns.

The goal of the Gospel is to bring souls to Christ. The scriptures say that first the Lord will speak in a still, small voice, and if we don't listen, then he will speak with thunderings, lightnings, and tempests. With repentance, it's kind of the same way. First counsel is given and encouragement to change offered. If a serious transgression is not in the repentance process, then the church offers greater encouragement in the way of a church court (the thunder and lightning.) Always the goal is to help with the repentance process-- to save the soul-- so the person can return to joy and peace. Wickedness never brings peace and happiness.

We have a nice member with the inconvenience of possibly multiple spouses. So Friday we went to deliver a letter inviting the member to a church court. It takes two priesthood brethren to deliver the letter so we picked up Bro. J and visited/trained him as well. After the delivery, we continued to drive out to Ericah's house as Bro J is suppose to home teach her.

It began raining while we were there. Not so good as her road is exceptionally muddy. But when there was a break, she wanted to show Bro. J her projects. So we started walking toward the tea field, the fish pond, the bees, etc. After a short distance I realized I could sacrifice my feet or my sandals. I only have one pair of each. But I figured my feet were more durable. So I took off the sandals and walked through the mud and grass barefooted. We walked across fields and down Slipppppery slopes. I skidded. I slid. But I stayed upright! Mud squished between the toes. About half way through, I recalled... oh, oh. I bet this is against mission rules. But it was a bit late for that thought!

I was glad to get back to her house and get my feet washed off.

We planned on leaving then, but no, Ericah begged us to stay for a little something- cooked bananas. They are very tasty and taste much like potatoes. It was now about 2:00 and I was hungry. Elder Fox gave her 30 minutes more of waiting. She said, "This is Africa. In Africa time is not important. Ten minutes can mean two hours." I had seen it in evidence, but this was the first time I heard it confessed.

I'm so gullible, I keep believing people! "I'm just coming."-- That one, I've learned means anything from I'm a block from your house to I'm just getting out of bed but I really mean to come sometime. But the variations of that: "I'm on my way." "I'm just leaving." "I'll be there soon."-- Somehow, I expect people to actually show up in the next 15 minutes or so. And I get frustrated when I make plans around that... and it doesn't happen.

We were told when we came to Africa that many people would have amazing stories... and some of them might actually be true. I think I have gotten better at saying No to requests for handouts, but on Wednesday David Oching Oching came to the gate. A young man, an orphan, the oldest in the family. His sister had just died and he needed to get transport home to the burial. He said he'd been to church, but when I asked which missionaries he knew, he looked blank, so I questioned that. But I gave him some shillings and asked him to come back and let me know how the funeral was. Two days later, Elder Fox was outside when he came to the gate. No report on the funeral, but his sister was a diabetic and needed medication. It’s a tribute to his skills in storytelling that Elder Fox ALSO succumbed and gave him some money! Then we compared notes, recalling people usually stay away several days at least for a burial.

The idea is that if you’re white, you have money to give. But E. Fox came up with a good analogy. When you go to the market, you have tomato sellers and used clothing sellers, and shoe sellers. If you ask the used clothing seller for tomatoes, he’ll say, go see the tomato seller. And if the used clothing seller happened to give you a tomato, you know it came from what he planned for his dinner. There are many different kinds on NGO’s (charitable groups) that come to Africa. Some give stuff. Some do spiritual things. So when David came back the 4^th time in five days (we were away the 3^rd time), I explained this analogy.

“We give people spiritual food. We teach how to be in harmony with God so he can bless you as he promises. And his blessings are both temporal and spiritual. We invite you to come to church and learn more. We are not here to give stuff.”

“But I need help paying for this high blood pressure medicine I need for the sister who has diabetes who is the twin to the one who died....”

“Sorry David, we will never give you more stuff.”

“But the medicine?”

“Never.”

I’m sure he was sorry this sugar daddy dried up so quickly.

One Year Anniversary

2010-11-02T12:41:00.000-07:00

Tuesday Nov 2 was the anniversary of our mission. One year. I've decided I must have been in the military too long. I love beginnings, middles, and endings. Or maybe that's the writer in me. When you know you only have a certain time in one place it's more vivid. You have to capture the beauty, the excitement, the drama of the place because you won't have it forever.

All the experiences the sweet and the bitter are more vibrant because of the snapshot of time. Each sunset needs to be admired. Each turn in the road where the hills fall away and the lush vegetation sprouts around the rocks needs to be cherished. Even the difficult times are more tolerable because there is an end in sight.

When we were in the military and times were tough or I didn't like some thing, I'd think, no problem, in 2 years... or 6 months... or whatever, I'll move and it won't be there anymore. When we finally settled down, I had to learn that if I had problems with someone, I had to get over it! I wasn't going to move away from it. But I think in the continuum of time-- with no established beginning or end-- one tends to think there is time enough for everything. No rush. It will be there tomorrow, or next week, or in 10 years.

But on a mission, it won't. Time is of the essence. You only have so much time and then it's over. Done. So every moment matters. Every face, every friend, every responsibility, every event stands as a pristine jewel to be cherished and packed carefully away in memory. I see the slippery slope of the end of the mission and I think: Hurry! Do it all! Make every moment count! It will soon be over.... and have we done all that we could have done? I want to be able to answer, "Yes."

Good Times

2010-11-02T11:40:00.000-07:00

Friday we went to Sondu to train for Institute and Seminary and to see some of our favorite people. We saw fantastic clouds on the way out. The Sondu folks are good people trying to do what is right even though they live a long way from the branch. We went later in the afternoon and had a good scripture study after the training. We thought maybe the time change would relieve them of the obligation to feed us, but no... we still had an excellent meal. We try to avoid getting home in the dark, but often the Lord rewards us with these spectacular sunsets.
Saturday we had a jumble of meetings. Gardencia, the daughter of branch faithfuls Elizabeth and Isaac, was baptized. We still are struggling getting enough water for us, the branch and the baptismal font, so the baptism was done at the Milimani Resort. We had some branch presidency training in the afternoon.

Sunday we went to Busia. We love going there. The branch has strong leadership and they are organized. And we watched the Sunday sessions of General Conference and they were a spiritual treat. Maureen's little baby was born about the same time as my grandchildren in the US, so I've always had a soft spot for him. That and the fact that Peter alway smiles for me!

Between conference sessions we had 4 baptisms. It's aways awesome when a husband and wife are baptized. Then you have faith that the whole family will be raised with Godly principles. On the way home we visited with two members from Kisumu.

Monday we again helped with passports for people in Busia and we did some training. We had enough water to do 4 loads of laundry! And some hand washing! And I got it all in before the rains started. I love the smell of line dried clothes and sheets.

Today I remembered again why I love this mission. We went and visited a member. I just love hearing their testimonies. I love it when they are humble and teachable and want to do what is right! There's just nothing better than feeling that the things we say and do will help someone have a better life and draw closer to God. Tonight we taught Institute and had a great class. The members are understanding the scriptures and are doing a better and better job of reading the scripture block before the class. We have some fine members here!

A “Quiet” Thursday

2010-10-28T08:55:00.000-07:00

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.

The Children

2010-10-27T00:23:00.001-07:00

Tom's Story: This past Saturday we attended the funeral for the brother of one of the local church members. Knowing that these events can last up to six hours, we chose to be fashionably late and arrived about 1230 (it started at 1000). We were ushered to the front and invited to share a brief testimony. Then Violet joined us as we sang 'Come, Come Ye Saints". Shortly thereafter, we were invited to the dining area and were served a delicious meal of vegetables, chicken, beef, ugali, chapati, rice, fish, and more. And no, I didn't sample all of the menu items, just some of them. It is a tradition to feed all those that attend funerals; there must have been over 250 people at this funeral. It was close to 4 before the casket was placed in the hand dug grave and covered with dirt. Again, the tradition is to permit relatives an opportunity to speak, local church leaders get a chance to share their beliefs, friends express thoughts and if any politicians are in attendance, they are permitted to share something too. Since most of these spoke in something other than English, I really don't know what they said.

To help pass the time, I started people watching and was intrigued by the number of children in attendance. I began to take pictures of some of them; they would then crowd around me to look at the image; they would point and laugh. It seemed to be fun for them. So, as we paid our last respects to Fred, I would also like to pay respect to some of the rising generation as depicted in the photos below.

One Drop at a Time.

2010-10-24T04:43:00.000-07:00

The minutes of this week have been like drops of water-- crystal clear and vivid as they come. Then when they splash into the pool of the past, they are gone. They become indistinct, vague, and merged into the stream of mingled memories. To pull them back is like trying to find that one drop again. A week ago seems so distant.

We had the joy of having Elder and Sister B from Kitali come and visit us on Monday. They are new in their area and wanted to see what we are doing here. It's interesting that each area is different even in the mission. We took them to visit a less active sister. We went to a strong member's "hotel" for early dinner and then to their house. And we came home in the rain.

Tuesday we went to Dunga Bay and took the requiste number of lovely photos- plus some. The Charcoal boats come in from Uganda. Here's this barefoot guy carrying a 200# bag of charcoal.We then introduced them to the Jubilee market. Sister B loved the fabrics there! Not sure about the smell. Elder B. and Elder Fox had a good visit with the Branch President and then we taught institute.

Wednesday they left before district meeting. I gave a training on faith there while Elder Fox did... er, ah... heres where the murkiness increases... something important. Maybe it was to help the Branch President from Busia get his passport. Or maybe it was a meeting with the Young Men's presidency. You see how the weeks just blur together? OH YES! I remember! The passport was some other day. Wednesday Bro. N from Nairobi came to train on tithing settlement and to work on the computer. They trained from 10-2. Then they had lunch provided by the excellent branch Elders Quorum activity.

They did a fun activity with a plate, 6 strings and a glass of water:
The strings represented scripture reading, keeping the commandments, prayer, sacrament attendance, service, and I can't remember the last one. The glass represents each person and the water inside is the spirit. When we have all these things balanced well, we keep the spirit. When one fails, the plate tips and we "lose the spirit" and need to call for it to be refilled. They made it trickier by starting outside the building and then having the 6 people walk the water up the steps (all 40 of them).After, they had a good meal.

After lunch Bro. N, the BP, clerk and Tom trooped into our house to fix the computer. They poked at it, proded it, changed things, reinstalled things-- and left about 7 pm. And still we can't connect the computer to our modem or have sound.

Thursday was spent getting stuff for the computer and changing out the lock in the Clerks office so it could go in there. And alas, the next morning when we started it up, we couldn't get past the Administrator login. I spent hours downloading a program so I could download and burn a CD so we could discover the password. Didn't work. I actually got into the guts of the computer system (by the grace of God, I'm sure) and discovered there WAS no set password and set a password-- no luck. Changed the password (using the one I just made so in that place the computer recognized it-- but it would not recognize it at the log in site. So now we have no working computer for the branch. Sigh.

Thursday was fun in that when we went to the bank to pay our rent, a lady asked about the church and we invited her to church. Then we went to visit someone we'd missed at church and learned she had a testimony, but also had an abusive husband that prevented her from coming to church. However, she's shared the gospel with her co-workers and Elder Fox gave them each a Book of Mormon. (And one came to church on Sunday.) And we went and visited a great sister. We took boda bodas and we...er...forgot exactly where she was. So we got some exercise before we found her.

Friday Jackie cleaned the house. She usually comes on Wednesday, but it was a national holiday. We left her there and went to help a member pick up fish from the fishery to take to her fish pond. They are guppy size but will grow larger than your hand in about 6 months if fed properly. We hope it will be a good money making business for her and her widow friends.

Saturday was the funeral of Sister V's brother. He was quite young and died of TB of the pelvis. Did you know TB can lodge in places other than the lungs? The funeral was very well attended. Elder Fox and I spoke for about 2 minutes each. Then Sister V joined us to sing "Come, Come, Ye Saints." Who knew we'd be public singers? Elder Fox loved taking pictures of the children. Perhaps because he came to know them a bit he was deeply saddened rather than angry that they gave him memories in the form of scratches on the truck as well as digitally. Check a future blog for the posting of the children. It rained a bit... and since I didn't understand 90% of the speakers, we visited.

Elder Fox decided to give you a glimpse of the Voice of Salvation and Healing Church preaching. The man in the suit is the preacher. The one in the white shirt is translating from Luo (mother tongue) to Swahili. At one point, when I asked for a translation he was talking about keeping the youth close to home and not letting them go out partying and to bars. Another preacher of this denomination spoke in English and said good doctrine.

Today the primary performed the sacrament service. They were wonderful! It may not have followed the format of the Sharing Time program, but there were excellent talks on honesty, families, and faith. We had about 15 Americans from the Reach the Children foundation who enjoyed seeing the children participate. And we enjoyed their excellent piano playing and full harmony singing.

And there you have the river of our week.

Faithfulness

2010-10-17T06:33:00.000-07:00

There are many good members here. Last week an old mama (well, about my age) came to church from a good distance. She pointed to the mud on her cuffs and dress. It was so rainy the matatu got stuck and all the passengers had to get out and push. She called about 6pm that night to let us know she'd just arrived home. The matatu had broken down along the road. They would not refund the fare, so the passengers had to sit and wait-- no food, no water, a bush for a latrine-- until it was finally fixed. Then they continued on their way.

One brother comes from Maseno area-- about 23 km away. When he greeted me he said, "I have been very blessed! It rained a lot in my home and it's very muddy." He pointed to his shoes and cuffs that were brown with dirt. "But some places are not getting the rain they need, so we are very blessed!"

Alex, a 30 year old man who also lives about 25km away called Saturday night to say he was coming to church. He said he didn't have the fare, so he was getting up at 4:30 to walk. Apparently he did get a lift part of the way. I wonder if it was in one of the open bed trucks we sometimes see filled with people. But what dedication! How can someone say, I can't get out of bed on time to get to church?

And we have a young 16 year old named Pascal who lives about 12km away.

He has been coming on his own to church for months and finally was baptized. When he has fare, he rides. When he doesn't, he walks. You have to love the testimony that this is really the Lord's Church that makes the sacrifice worth the effort.

Members struggle with typhoid, Malaria, TB, and AID's but when you ask them how they are doing they say, "I'm just okay" which is the equivalent of "fine." Sometimes they say, "I'm alive, so I am blessed."

Tonight I called a sister who is disabled and we visited. At the end of the call she said how blessed she was for the call and for friends and for the church family and called down blessings on me. With the purity and sincerity of her faith, I tell you I felt blessed!

One wonders why people with little can find reasons to rejoice, and people with plenty often think they don't have enough.

Tostitos!!!

2010-10-16T10:50:00.000-07:00

[Tom's Blog] Recently I found myself in a small store stocked with American foods unseen and unsampled by me in 11 months; Wow, it was like being in paradise – with one exception: I didn’t have sufficient money at that time to purchase all the goodies my taste buds desired and the store was closing in a few minutes! What to do? What items would be most desirable and fulfilling and stay within the limited money available? One well thought out item that I purchased, at the sacrifice of Jiff Peanut Butter and chocolate chips, was a bag of ‘Tostitos’ tortilla chips.

They ‘called’ to me: “buy me, you will love my delicious flavor and crunchy goodness”. So I did. I brought them home, eager to munch on them, and placed them on the shelf.

The bag sat there for two weeks before it was opened.

How many times in life do we have a compelling urge to really want something that requires a large personal sacrifice, or comes at a high cost, only to set it aside on the shelf where it gets an occasional glance and little recognition? Then, by the time we get around to doing something with it, that item has lost its ‘flavor’ and we wonder: what did I see in that thing in the first place? We want something so badly, and when we finally get it, we realize it has no value. We chase after something and find it unfulfilling.

This is reminiscent of Matthew 6:19-21: “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through not steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”

Hind sight for me would indicate my time would have been better spent making a price list of each desirable item and returning at a later date with sufficient money to make rational purchases. But the chips kept calling out to me… And the bugs aren’t going to devour them: When I finally got around to them, I ate them in less than three days!

Kitchen Janga

2010-10-14T03:13:00.000-07:00

Our kitchen sports one lonely dish-drying rack and Elder Fox is the chief dishwasher. He does it because he has tough hands. Why the need for tough hands? Because we begin with boiling water. Just boiling water in one basin with soap and in the next basin with Jix (bleach). It's a little too hot for me!

However Elder Fox is an artist. He has perfected the skill of stacking every dish, plate, spatula, fork, cutting board, knife, pan, serving bowl and mixing container into this one, solitary rack. Well, glasses have permission to rest along the edge.

I usually wait a bit before drying them... or not drying them just putting them away. The heat from the water usually dries them well. However, the game is to be able to dismantle the construction without causing a "collapse". This avoids the possibility of unhappy consequences to the glasses (note the variety of partial sets). It also provides the evening's entertainment. If you can pull items off without a "Ca-clunk!" You win. Try it! It may be your entertainment, too! (You may be wondering about the plastic bags. They are scarce here and our part in not adding to the plastic bags dotting the landscape.)

On a slightly different artistic note, I decided to get adventurous and try some strip quilting. It lends itself to the kind of scraps I have. I thought to do a pillow cover, but the squares turned out a bit too large, so I did another quilt. Sometimes our days are so upside-down that we really don't know when we are doing what. It's easier to wait for people and things when I have something to do. I think Elder Fox was doing some Branch Presidency training while I was working on this.