Tuesday Elder Fox went to get a haircut. He show them the short amount he wanted cut off. We think they thought that was how much he wanted left on his head. It's SHORT! At least he won't need a hair cut for a while.
On Wednesday, we again had no city water. We decided to fill the tank from a tanker. The water was pretty clean. Only a few bottle caps floating in it. The had to back the truck up to the door, run a line down the hall, and put a hose through the window to the tank.
There was a small matter of water spraying from the pump onto the floor, but they were adept at sweeping it out the door. and the hose coming off the truck had also sprayed water.
Still, they did a good job of filling the tank. Then we pumped it up to the roof to make sure those tanks were filled. All this delayed our district meeting for a while. District meeting ran over and so we rushed to eat and do errands before going to the Nyalenda Slums for a meeting. We had about 12 people there- new converts, investigators and some older members. It was a great experience. I spoke on Alma 34:31-40 about this life being the time to prepare to meet God. How each though, act, habit creates our character and that determines our destiny. We have the freedom to choose. And each of those choices leads us closer to or further away from God. Our life is the sum total of those decisions. It is who we are. And that nature or character won't change when we die. We'll face the Master and present to him what we have done with our lives.

We were asked why we came on a mission and what we expected to accomplish here. We said we wanted a Stake in Kisumu before we left. Not likely, but hopefully we can raise up leaders who can be prepared to lead the church as it grows.

We returned home to greet Elder and Sister Esplain who are humanitarian missionaries. They came this way to check on some wells that were being dug. We had an enjoyable evening with them. They spent the night and then went on to Homa Bay in the morning.

A Great Week

Here are some random thoughts to end the week. We were talking to Morris and he said, "There are too many stray animals in this city.... There are cows all over the place!" I had to laugh as that was not the first animal that came to mind when one discussed strays. However cow do wander around and keep the grass trimmed. And chickens seem to roam a lot. The neighbor's chickens come to visit when the gate is open. Then in the evening we need to shoo them home. The first night our guard got the neighbor to come over. Tonight we tried the bread crumb routine and that worked much better than herding.

We have also been grateful for camping experiences earlier in life that prepared us and that the water break is now fixed and we have running water again. Bathing in a basin is not my idea of fun. I'm so picky!

Friday we went to an open air market with Susan, a lovely young African mother. She introduced us to some good people to buy from. As we bought, we also invited people to come to church. We went to the fish woman and bought some fresh talipia fish. We had them fillet it-- something Africans rarely do as they think the head and the eyes are the best part. I cooked it that evening and it was quite tasty. I put a few drops of Young Living's Lemon Essential oil in the water I poached it in, and the room did not smell at all fishy.

Saturday we had some baptisms. The missionaries have been teaching a lot and several members of families got baptized. We met at the church for prayer and talks. Then we walked to a nearby resort with a swimming pool to do the baptisms. I had asked about Lake Victoria, but with the crocodiles and hippos, it isn't very safe.

Here is Elder Lipengah (center) with the people getting baptized. Benta, Lorraine, and Elizabeth are on the left. The boys and men happen to be on the right. There were a few other swimmers in the pool, so we had some on-lookers who had not come from the church.Still, it was a very special time. After the baptisms we walked back to church for the closing remarks. Then people stayed to clean the building before Sunday. It's amazing how just walking into the building creates dirt on the terrazzo floors. Later in the afternoon we went to visit a member who owns an Internet cafe. We visited with her outside her place, and she took this picture of us. (I think we were both telling her she needed to keep pressing on the shutter longer. And Elder Fox's chair is on the dirt, not the sidewalk.)

I have been teaching conducting classes to the choir and others at church. One of the people, Doreen, is supposed to be the choir director, but she was hesitant to lead. It was so awesome today. I played the keyboard. (That part was not awesome, only mediocre.) But Doreen conducted! And she did a great job. How fun to see my students progress and blossom! I am also teaching some people keyboarding. Many want to learn! The church has a wonderful program to teach them. We have covered timing, rhythm, tempo, and signatures. They teach first by finger numbers. If you place your fingers on the keys correctly and play according to the fingering-- you can play "In Humility Our Savior" and "Abide with Me" just using 2 hands with one finger on each key. It helps the students feel like they are accomplishing a lot very quickly. And they can play songs in church right away.

Long day at church today, but a good day. Budgeting, people still learning callings and how to run programs and care for people. Sometimes we shake our heads. Then go back and teach once again.

Visiting

There are the cutest children in Africa. They have captivating smiles and a love of life. We went visiting to a member's home to teach new member lessons. First we sing a hymn. Then have an opening prayer. Food is served at some point. This time we had a delicious meal of fish, chicken with potato, tomato, onion and savory seasonings in a sauce, cooked cabbage, ugala (a maize paste and a staple of the economy), rice, and pineapple and mango. And Chapotes, a sweet tortilla like bread to eat it with. We asked for a utensil, but indeed, the fish was more easily eaten with fingers-- following the example of others who ate it all with fingers. I feel a little guilty, this is probably a weeks worth of food.

Elder Fox and I gave lessons on service, missionary work, and how the Lord loves men, women, and children and all should be treated with respect. This as I was the only woman in the room, the rest were cleaning up the meal. They did join us for the question and answer time. The younger missionaries spent some of the time teaching two investigators.

This photo is taken outside of Eluid's house with many who attended the meeting. Some of the concerns are for the children and having them go to good schools. Other concerns are of the widows who are left to care for their children and have few ways to make a living. They say, "She is stable." when a person is making enough money to support herself and her children on an ongoing basis. When someone is "not stable" they don't even have the money for the essentials-- food and rent. To send children to schools costs money-- tuition each trimester. This schooling is their hope for a better life for their children. My heart goes out to these sweet people. I pray that through the Lord's way and His blessings they will increase in strength both spiritually and temporally.

Transfers

We have great missionaries in our area. They have been our guides, our instructors, and a true example of love, dedication and charity. And they do it all with a smile! When we drove to ElDoret, we got a chance to know some of them better. This photo was when we crammed into the truck to go to lunch.

Now it's transfer time and we will be losing Elder Hutchison. Elder Clark had t-shirts made for our district. Yesterday we modeled them for a photo op.

Here are Elder Clark, Elder Mkhabela, Elder Lipengah, and Elder Hutchison. The message on the back has a dual meaning. Elder Clark was fanitical about ironing everything-- even the baptismal clothing. and of course the traditional meaning of holding to the iron rod-- or the word of God. The Elders have their names across the front. We have our names on the sleeve. And while they call us Mom and Dad-- They have been more parents to us.

Trip to Busia-- Sunday Dec 6

There is a new branch that was just organized in late August in Busia about 111km away from Kisumu. We drove there on Sunday to meet the branch. The scenery in Western Kenya changes with each curve. Some of the mountains were quite rocky. Then it changed and we came across a lovely river. Mostly it is a more rural area and we saw many more mud and thatched homes long the way and many cultivated farms.We also loved seeing the people along the road.The road was interesting. Part of it was very good. Part of it encouraged slalom like driving to avoid pot holes, ruts, and disintegrated roads. Note the oncoming buses. I was taking the pictures from the passenger side of the truck. Fortunately the shoulders were sometimes better than the road and there was room for three.

In a way it is liberating to feel free to use whatever side of the road seems best to you. You only have to choose your side when you have oncoming traffic. The Matatus are especially good about knowing which part of the road to drive on at any particular moment.The purpose was to meet the branch and help them understand the doctrines of the church and the organization of the church. How does the church strengthen and care for it's members? (Visiting Teaching, Home Teaching, giving them callings to help them grow.) How do we handle finances (discretely, honestly, filling out tithing forms, filling out weekly financial sheets, working by twos to reduce temptations.) How do we strengthen young men and women to be honest, morally clean, and modest (lessons, For the Strength of Youth, young women's program.) There is SO MUCH to learn. And these people are so humble and willing and trying to do it right. It is a blessing to be here!

This is part of the Young Women's class. The woman in the back is a "Mama" who only understands Luoo, but she walks miles to church every Sunday. She will hum along on the songs. She feels the spirit, and wants to be there. We are hoping to start an English class so she can learn and fully participate.

Here is Sister Fox with Pres Odera and his first Counselor, Bro. John Kwoba.

They meet in a rented house that comfortably seats about 50-60 people and they filled it entirely up. It's a small compound and we barely fit the two trucks inside the brick fencing. Elder and Sister Watt from Kitale drove down from the north about 2.5 hours, showed us how to find the church and introduced us to the members.

Virtual Tour of Kisumu Home

Welcome to our new home in Kisumu, Kenya. Since you aren't able to visit us, we thought we could 'bring' our home to you through these pictures. So enjoy! This first picture is looking out our front gate; perhaps you can see the cows munching on the grass just outside. It is common practice for the livestock to roam the roadsides for food. We live at the end of a culdesac.
This is what the building we live in looks like from just outside the gate. Under the carport is 'Dobie" the 4 wheel drive Nissan truck the church provides us. To the left front of the truck is the guard shack. We have a guard who stays on the premises from 6 pm to 6 am seven days a week' I really doubt he spends much time in the shack. We live on the 'ground' floor; the 'first' floor has classrooms for church and the 'second' floor is open on the sides and we hold sacrament meeting there. The church is renting the building. Let's see what we get for paying about $5-600 a month.

There are four main rooms (plus bath and kitchen); here we have the living room; the furnishings were provided by the mission.

And this is the rest of the living room. It has a door to the outside, but we don't use it; there are actually three doors, all of which have their own locks. Note the curtains; we had the local Nakumatt (Walmart wantabe) make them.

This is what we refer to as the office. If you are curious about the pink wall covering in front of Sister Fox at the computer, it is a mattress standing on end. We don't have any other place to store it, and there may be times when other missionary couples will be passing through this way and need a place to stay.

This is the office looking the other direction. The door in the middle is our official front door; it is actually two lockable doors. The curtains again are from Nakumatt. All the rooms were repainted prior to our arrival. This is the floor that was sanded (by hand) and restained; it took about four weeks to dry.

This is a look at the bedroom from the doorway that leads into the kitchen. The fan on the right is more for white noise. And just what is that white thing hanging from the ceiling? It is a misquito net - we have not had the need to use it yet. So far the misquitoes have not bothered us. Besides, we just found out that the net is for a twin bed, so it would be a tight fit. We have Morrice looking for an affordable bedframe since we currently don't have one. There are many wood shops at the market, but that is another blog story.

Here is the reverse shot of the bedroom. Note the windows; the kitchen is on the opposite side. We do have limited closet space; good thing we don't have many clothes!

The bathroom is off the bedroom. The tank in the upper left is the water heater; at least at one time it was. It doesn't work now. The only hot water in the house is at the shower head, which has an electric heater attached to it and instantly heats the water as it comes out. Make sure you turn the water on first and then turn on the heater switch; otherwise it will burn out the element. Sorry, I did not include a picture of it this time.

And this is the rest of the bathroom. The windows straight ahead look out onto a fenced patio in back. The wooden thing on the right is actually a headboard; but since it doesn't fit anything else, we 'hid' it in the bathroom. You will notice the vent in the top center of the picture; they are at the top of the ten foot ceilings to allow air movement between rooms, and to the exterior. As with all the windows, they are covered with screens. They make it real handy to add electrical lines; since the walls are solid concrete, you just run the wires up the walls and through the vents into the other rooms as needed.

This the dining room; the bedroom is opposite the window. Note the location of the refrigerator. This floor, as well as the kitchen and bath, are terrazo and look really nice.

The kitchen could use some updating, but it is functional. In the right corner of the counter is the triple water filtration system that provides us our drinking water (it must work, I haven't gotten sick from drinking that water yet!). To the left of the microwave is the 1.7 liter water heater that boils water in about five minutes. That is our hot water source for dishes and morning/evening face washing. One of our more valuable assets here! The walls, like the bathroom, are tiled.

The stove is has two electric and two propane burners. The oven is electric. The propane burners do have electronic ignition. Note the outlet above the open stove cover. It has a switch so you can turn the power on/off. The propane tank is a little larger than the US 20 pound ones and it sits to the right of the stove, just out of sight in this photo.

There is also a pantry accessed by a door off the kitchen, but it is narrow and was too hard to photograph; sorry. It has a countertop and lots of cupboards. We hid all the odds and ends in there. This is our home and we love it! Hope you enjoyed the tour.

Julia Child wannabe-- Kenyan Style

I've learned how to cook two things here I thought I'd share with you. The first is Green Bananas-- probably called Plantains back home.

Sautee 2 chopped onions

Add chopped tomatoes--roma maybe 5-6

Add some parsley-- fresh or dried

Peel and slice the green bananas. Add them to the mixture.

Add enough water so they can simmer for 20 minutes.

I didn't think I'd like green bananas, but actually they taste like potatoes, but a little sweeter.

Mangos-- How to cut up.

I learned this from Sis Randall who learned this on her mission in the Philippines.

I suppose you don't need to wash them in Jix-- or bleach as we do, but wash them

Orient the mango stem up and cut along the sides of the pit on both sides.

Score the mango tic-tack-toe style through the flesh but not the skin.

Then take a spoon and scoop out the squares of mango from the side pieces.

Peel the skin from aound the seed and either cut the flesh off or just munch it off.

It's slick! Note the colorful kitchen counter here.