The Giraffe Center

Monday I awoke excited to go to Nariobi! I had to laugh as I contrasted that with the absolute dread I felt the first time we got to Kisumu. I had determined I'd have to live out my life in Kisumu as I was NEVER going to make that trip again. Today's drive was a good trip-- about 5 hours of driving.

We went to the Mission Office and got a lot accomplished. They are always so helpful to us. We stayed with Elder and Sister N. and they were wonderful. It was so fun to get to know them!

Tuesday we took a holiday. We traveled with E and S F. whose daughter, her husband and five children had just flown in. They were so well behaved! Even the 4 year old. We went to Kazuri Beads, the Elephant Orphanage, and the Giraffe Center.

At the center, they gave us food for the giraffes and they were most interested in it. This one slurped her long tongue around my hand trying to get the food. I saw the tongue wrap around the little 4 year old's hand and the food and the hand disappear into her mouth. He looked a little surprised and eventually pulled it from the giraffe's mouth and wandered off to Mom for a little consolation.

Note said long tongue below.

You get a sense of size when you're standing not far from the giraffe.

Here is the feeding stand. We watched giraffes amble up for some munchies. One was very gentle... just a little lipping to get the small cubes of food.

I do love giraffes. They are beautiful and elegant. It was a fun day.

I love Kenya!

On Friday I woke to joy that we are here in this stunningly beautiful country. Friday and Sunday we ventured “up country.” On Friday we went to MacDonald’s place where you go to Kolweny and then turn into the mountains. It is such a beautiful drive! It is a feast for the soul! Mackdonald was working (a good thing) but he had 10 of his friends and 12 of their children there to greet us and to listen to a lesson. Then they fed us tasty food. This is the view from Macdonald's front door. When we left, we turned south to travel to Kendu Bay… and maybe toward Homa Bay, to see what the roads were like for the LDS Charities couple who might be traveling that way. The road was lovely… as far as Kendu Bay. Then it went to hard-packed dirt…Marrum, I think they call it. I interpreted it as macadam for a while and got confused between that and “tarmac”—their term for an asphalt road. So we learned about the roads and had a fun drive. We came across a bird in a tree-- a heron, I think.

Lake Victoria Saturday we had a first Anniversary Activity for the branch. They are so excited to be a year old. And when you see the progress made in that year, it truly is amazing. From 34 to 130 members. From few organizations running to all of them up and mostly running. From a handful of priesthood holders to 30 or more. Timeliness still needs to be worked on. It was scheduled to begin at 10am. It actually got off the ground at 12:30, although we showed General Conference to fill in the gap. We heard how the branch got started and heard from a few of the early converts, as well as testimonies from a leader from all the auxiliaries. One was a new convert of just a month or so, and she did splendidly. We finished about 3 pm…. But lunch was not quite ready. The sisters had all pitched in in the morning to peal, chop, and cook. We had plain rice, rice pilaf, potatoes in sauce with some meat, and cooked cabbage. Then everyone pitched in and cleaned the building.

Today we went to Busia. The roads are ever-changing with repairs in some spots and new holes in others. The cumulative effect is a faster trip for us. I love the spirit of the Busia saints. They are such good people, even as they struggle with common problems. Typically as we wrap up our temple preparation class or training session, we see storm clouds tumbling in and hear the rumble of thunder. In the time of long rains, it will always bring rain. These are clouds over the Busia chapel wall.Now, sometimes it rains and sometimes it doesn’t. As we drove home we danced with rain showers and were treated to a spectacular skyscape. I love how the stratus spreads ribbons of color across the billowing cumulus clouds. We see streaks of rain showers back lit by the orange glow of sunset. On one side the gray sheet of storms blankets the sky. On the other side brilliant clouds rise and spill over the blue sky.

These are flowers in our yard-- very spiderlike and delicate.
It's a great place to be! We love it here. More gratituous pictures-- Walking to a Shamba.

Rocks on the way to BusiaLake Victoria.

It's about the Children

This week we were on the road twice, visiting members and non members alike; for me, the children took center stage. Here are some of those experiences we want to share.

Today we traveled 60 km to visit a member of the church, who due to lack of transportation, does not get to church very often. He has been inviting his friends to hear the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ at his home and many of them are eager to learn more. While we are able to visit them, it is not possible for them to be baptized into the church unless they can come to Kisumu and attend meetings on a regular basis. We arrived at M's house shortly after 10 am; M was not there as he is now employed, but 10 adults and about 12 children slowly wandered in and we were able to teach them a lesson and answer questions. They were attentive and the children respectful and quiet (okay, so we put two of them to sleep!).

Here is the daughter of one of the couples that came.

The children sat on the ground for the 80 minutes that we were teaching. (Okay, the lesson was about 45 minutes, and the questions and answers took up the rest of the time.) Here they are after the lesson.
As we then walked the 1/2 mile back to the truck on the footpath, we were followed by some of the children on their way home. We regularly see older siblings carrying their younger brothers or sisters in this fashion; they don't need a sling!
Wednesday we drove about 15 km to visit two sisters that joined the church last summer. While we thought we were going to visit them, they really wanted us to see their school and other projects. Below are about 25 of the approximately 40 orphans that attend the school with their teachers. They were eagerly awaiting our arrival so they could show us some of the rhymes and songs they had been practicing. The video at the end is of one of those songs. They all meet in a small stick/mud building in three small rooms. People here are very mindful of family responsibilities; when one or both parents pass away, other family members, or even community members, will take the children in and help raise them. There is a great need for schools for these children; because of their situation, they are unable to afford the normal school fees, which often prevents them from receiving an education. What we have often seen is that the women in the community will join together, pool resources, and provide schooling for the younger children. In this community, about 15 women formed an organization; each has some type of business and is able to contribute a small amount each month to maintain the school. The older sister we went to visit provided the land and building. Her sister makes school uniforms; they are provided free of charge for the orphans.

Here are some of the children awaiting their noon meal. And here is the grand finale: the combined boys and girls choir!

Crazy Days

Some days it seems like we are SOOO busy we'll never wade through them. We start thinking about what must be done at 6:30 am when we usually get up and we're still going over things at 10:30 pm. Then, suddenly there's a break. What? A break? Some time that's not filled? Goodness! Everyone knows nature abhors a vacuum. It must be filled! Fortunately I have a companion who occasionally says, "No, It's time for a game of Five Crowns."

I have a moment... alas, only a moment... to blog. Here we see, they REALLY DO dig the potholes we drive over. (Actually we hope and pray they are digging to repair.) This is in beautiful Nandi Hills. We went to Eldoret for a Zone conference on Friday. We always admire these bicyclists who have to be carrying hundreds of pounds of wood on their bikes. What a balancing act!
We drove up Thursday and stopped at Ericah's in Sabatia on the way up. She served us (and the missionaries we brought) a feast. We also toured her projects. We got a photo of these wonderful women carrying things on their heads.... and the munchkins who afford Elder Fox the pleasure of waxing the car so often.
Elder H. is 6' 7". He must always duck at doorways. And Ericah's sister is pretty short. So it was fun to see the contrast.
Zone Conference, was great as usual! We had lovely visits with President and Sister Taylor. We will surely miss them when they go in July. Sister Taylor created a wonderful book with testimonies of the sisters of Kenya and Tanzania. WOW! Great stuff.

Today I had planned on lunch with a less active sister. I waited and waited. I thought maybe I would be "bounced." (stood up, no show, etc.) But she called about 3 pm and we went and sat and visited over sodas. I guess that was a "lite lunch." And she committed to come back to church... so it was also a rich lunch. I did a little quilting while I waited for her call. Now Elder Fox is up painting the blackboards. In their current condition, they are like pens that sometimes write... and more often don't.

Choose to improve today

I was pondering the statement that the afterlife—whichever kingdom we go to—will be more fabulous than earth life… and yet those who do not reach the highest of the 3 degrees of glory (1Cor 15: 40-42) will have ‘weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth.” How could it be both?

We are told that if we are unrepentant, we will shrink from God as all our sins will be revealed. And we will choose a lesser kingdom. (Mormon 9:3-4) I can understand that. When I was young I was around people that were so good, I couldn’t stand to be with them. I had to act and pretend to be someone I was not. I realized if I didn’t improve myself, I’d feel that way when I met God.

And we also know that the spirit we have in this life is the one we will take to the life hereafter. (Alma 34:32-34) So if we are kind, loving, gentle, caring, etc, we will take that spirit with us in the afterlife. But if we have the spirit of contention, the spirit of malice, or of revenge, we will take those attributes with us to the next life. And we are told in the same scripture, that this life is the time to prepare to meet God.

I thought, if I have malice, am vengeful, unkind, or small minded, I will not be happy here on earth, and even in the next life, if I take those attributes with me, I will not be happy there either. I will only be comfortable around like-minded people. But that will not lead to peace or joy. Jesus will not remove the sins we have clung to in this life—that would take away our agency. Jesus will only remove the ones we’ve tried to get rid of or change—to repent of—in this life.

So it becomes imperative that we cleanse and change ourselves while in this life. “As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.” (Proverbs 23:7) We may SAY that we have faith in Jesus Christ. But if our actions are selfish, small-minded, and unChristlike, we really don’t have faith in Him. Faith is an action word. If we have faith, we DO. We believe what he says. We act as he asks us to act. We trust that blessings come from obedience. We love him and want to be good. And then, with the wanting, comes effort, prayer, and consistent determination to improve—in other words, faith leads to repentance. Repentance is turning away from that which is not pleasing to God, to those things he’s asked us to do in the Bible, the Book of Mormon and the words from the living prophets. Start with perfecting ourselves with the 10 commandments then move to loving our neighbor as ourselves, and so on. He said, “Be ye perfect, even as your Father in Heaven is perfect.”(Matt 5:48) That’s the goal to work towards. We don’t do it by ourselves. We have faith that if we try our best, we’ll have heavenly assistance and the Grace of Christ to add to our efforts. Brigham Young said that relying entirely on God to bless us is like praying to God to grant a great harvest when we have not tilled, or sowed the ground. We must do our part.

As we develop these Christ-like qualities we find peace and joy and happiness in this life and we are prepared for the next. I think this is where the “heaven on earth” phrase comes from. As we perfect ourselves, we do have joy in this world. Not that earth becomes a paradise or we have no problems, but that we can have comfort and strength and peace in the midst of trials.

It made me realize I need to work harder NOW to create a godly me. My faith in Jesus Christ and his atonement MUST lead me to action-- to changing and perfecting me as much as I can in this life. Our thoughts and words and deeds will exalt or condemn us. (Alma 12:14) And as a young missionary said at zone conference: If I learn patience now, it will help me the rest of my life. If I learn kindness, love, patience, etc. now… it will help me not only in this life but also the rest of my eternal life.

So that’s what I’ve been thinking about. What about you?

The Rest of the Funeral Story

This is a continuation of yesterday's funeral story (Sandy says I need to identify this as my blog).

As we traveled the road to the funeral location, we rounded a corner to this sight. Immediate concerns were that the entire road was blocked and we would not make it to the funeral at all. But as we got closer we noticed cars were coming towards us.

It appears that these are bags of fertilizer and there was a crew of 10-15 men lugging the bags to the side of the road and then dashing back for another bag. They appeared to be heavy judging by the way they struggled under the load. Not sure what caused the load to spill. We were grateful the truck choose a road junction to tip.
And speaking of roads, this is just one of the many decisions a driver gets to make every day he drives: which way is the best way to go. There is always the good, better and best path; the difficulty, as in life, is knowing which one is the best - and we usually don't know until we try one. Guess that is what life is all about: learning from our mistakes. 4-wheel drive makes this process easier, similar to having the gospel in our lives: it can provide the extra needed help when we make poor choices.

We are almost there! Note where the pedestrians are walking in relation to the car. The extra path down the middle is where the bikes go.
Here are five of the Relief Society sisters cutting up the fatted calf that had been slaughtered for the occasion. It was later cooked with lots of other yummy delights to be eaten by all that attended. The RS president is the one in white. She joined the church while visiting her sister in Switzerland and then returned home to serve a mission in Kenya

This little girl was not happy that her mom wasn't being attentive to her needs; so mom just placed her on her back and went about rolling out and cutting the mendazi (fry bread). You will notice that there is no back back, lessa, or wrap to hold the child in place; she has learned how to hang on.
Here is part of the plate scrapping crew hard at work prior to the dishes being washed.
Looks like a church dance, all the women sitting against the wall waiting to be asked out! Look out for the one with the name tag she looks like trouble.
The End!

Final Resting Place

Today was Elizabeth’s funeral. We left about 7:30 am and drove to George’s place. We mostly knew where we were going, and it was confirmed by the amazing road we’d traversed last week.

Here is a picture of George's house, the casket, and setting up for the funeral program.

Elizabeth had converted from the S. Church and while they had not participated much during her illness, they came out in numbers for the funeral. Following the policy of inclusion, the Branch President allowed the other churches time to sing and to share after all the family fathers, mothers, aunts, uncles, siblings, friends and neighbors had shared. Most of this was in the “mother tongue” and so we tried to look interested. Then as the ministers stood to share the volume increased, the passion, excitement, did I mention volume? dominated the meeting and made me uncomfortable. The spirit wasn’t there. I leaned over and asked the Branch President if the meeting had just been hijacked. Later I learned they were speaking against the church and they expected us to respond with anger and start a fight.

But the Presidency responded with love. Without knowing what the pastor said, but knowing that some people said we were a devil church, I spoke first about Elijah (1Kings 19, I think) when the Lord was not in the thundering, the earthquake, or the fire, but was in the still small voice. I said I would speak softly, but hoped the spirit could be felt. Then I read from Moroni 7 about how we can know what is true—that which draws us close to God—and we need to be careful about judging unrighteously. And from Matthew 7 how you can tell a tree by its fruits. And then spoke about how we will be judged by our thoughts, words, and actions.

Elder Fox spoke about the plan of Salvation, and Pres O. used passages from the New Testament to talk of using this life to prepare to meet God, of the celestial kingdom, and how one should be willing to suffer for Christ’s sake. Somehow we all tied this into Elizabeth living righteously, going to a better place, and being an example of good for us all. Several people commented that there was a different spirit while we spoke and people paid attention. One pastor apologized and said he'd been misinformed about our church. And George's family was very happy we came. His uncle asked for the church to come there and said he'd donate land for the church.

During the service, the grave was being dug. I suppose that’s why we needed a 3+ hour event. It also allowed for the cooking of food.

Here are the children at the grave side.
We moved Elizabeth to the grave and sang while she was being buried. All the hymns were sung at a rollicking gallop. I came "Nearer My God to Thee," faster than I ever have before! Then we went to eat. They had prepared a cow, a sheep, and tons of mendazies (like Mexican fry bread), ugali, rice, gathare (beans and maize), potatoes, cabbage, and other tasty treats. We ate with our hands. They asked us to hurry as other people needed to use our plates when we were done. People showed up all during the funeral program. As they came later and later, I wondered if they just had difficulty with transport… or … like some in the USA… they just came for the food.

Elder Fox was impressed with the classic outhouse African style and had to take a picture of it.