Well I'm officially in Kenya and have settled into my area. Sorry for the long wait, its been crazy getting situated. My P-Days (preparation days) are every Tuesday in this area, and when I get transferred it will change to Mondays. Well I'm in Kilungu Hills, the most "Bush" area in the mission... and by bush I mean true Africa. Kilungu is a small agricultural village in the hills, and it was actually the first area that the missionaries came into in 1992.
It being very hilly and all the hills are terraced out and have cascading "Shamba's" (farms) down the sides. All of the homes are made of mud with a metal roof, it's quite shocking to see that people live like this, I feel as though I'm dreaming. Our flat is a tiny little two room place thats no bigger than 10x15. We have two tiny beds, and a sink in the corner that drips filtered water. We have no wardrobes or anything, so we live out of our suitcase. My companion is named Elder Kazomba, he is from Zimbabwe, and will be finishing his mission in 11 weeks, so I'm technically "killing" him in missionary terms. We are on a 12 week training program, so I will definitely be here in Kilungu for the next 18 weeks, but it could possibly be 24. The living conditions are the bare minimum. We have a stove in the other Elders flat across the hall, and two small chairs to sit in, but besides that nothing. Each day we take a bucket shower by boiling two pots of water and splashing water at ourselves to get clean. The bathroom looks as though you're going to get some sort of disease... we have a small toilet, but it barely flushes and is nasty. The bathroom next to ours consists of just a hole in the ground and is used by everyone else in the complex. Luckily there are very few mosquitoes here, so I dont have to wear bug spray, but I still sleep with a mosquito net at night.
Before I go on to tell you about teaching and such, I'll tell you a little bit about President Broadbent and my experience with him. So we got to Kenya on Tuesday, June 25. At the airport we were picked up by the Assistants to the President, and the President and his wife.
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| President and Sister Broadbent |
They were so happy to see us, it was great. We then drove three cars back to the Mission Office, the traffic was crazy, and street merchants were everywhere trying to sell stuff. The APs gave us a little walk through regarding how to barter with the merchants so they bought some bananas. Some little kids, probably 11 years old came and asked the APs for money, and they refused for a while, but the little kids started hitting our van and told us they would throw rocks at it if they didnt get money. The APs ended up giving them 20KES (20 cents) and they went away. So we just ate dinner that night and got our areas and pictures of our companions. Elder Kazomba seriously looks like he can kill me. We stayed at the APs flat that night with the 11 other missionaries. The next day we went back to the Mission office. We were there pretty much all day just sitting around waiting to be interviewed by President Broadbent. In the meantime we could go to the distribution center (church store), the prices there were so low.. I was shocked. When I showed the cashier my temple recommend he really loved my little holder, so I decided "hey this is nothing to me, but I'm sure it would mean a ton to him." so I decided to give it to him. He was surprised, but so happy.
Anyways, meeting with President Broadbent was incredible, he is probably one of the top ten most spiritual people I've met, and he is so friendly and happy. Right when I walked in his office he started talking to me about how when he first received my picture from Salt Lake, he knew there was something special about me. He said the spirit jumped for joy and confirmed that the moment he saw me at the airport. He told me that he could tell the power of my spirit and that the spirit testified to him of my great potential here in the mission. When he talked to me about my area, he said that when he and his committee were deciding where I should go, there were 3 opinions as to what area I should serve in, so he decided they would kneel down and pray about it. As they asked Heavenly Father where I should go, he said the spirit was so strong and that when they closed the prayer, they all had a unanimous decision as to where I should go. Kilungu Hills. So obviously there's a reason I'm here. I haven't figured it out yet, but I'm sure I will. I definitely think that was the hand of God in action meeting President Broadbent, because what he told me will probably stick with me the entire mission. (Side note: President Broadbent left July 1st and a new Mission President took over, President Hicken, so Rushton will only have had the one interaction with President Broadbent.)
So back to teaching and such. We plan and train and study till around 11am each day, and then we go out to teach the less active members. there are very few investigators here, so we are focusing on teaching the less active so we can strengthen the branch. We hope to open up a branch in Kilungu within the next 6 months, because currently the branch is in Mitini, a 10km walk from Kilungu. So we try to teach about 3 or 4 families per day, but we have to walk about 3 - 5 km to each family and then when we arrive, they're not there... some of the members even see us and then run away.. When we do get to teach they either only speak Kikamba, or Swahili, and because I can't speak or understand either it makes it very difficult for me to get my teaching through, I just work on bearing my testimony to them and allowing the spirit to do the rest for me. The first family we taught was a recent convert family, the Civi Civi's, they are super friendly and humble people that live in a small mud hut. During the lesson sister Civi Civi totally started breast feeding her child in front of us, that's the norm here, you see it everywhere, especially at church.
Church... what an interesting experience, I was seriously stared at by everyone, especially the children. I'm literally the only white man in Kilungu, so everyone screams Muzungu "british man" when they see me and run away. They say the white people are demons and that we are ghosts, so the kids will try to touch my arm to see if I'm real when they walk by. Oh and in Elders Quorum (a church meeting) they only speak kikamba, so i dont understand a single word, that is very difficult. In the youth class, none of the kids speak up, and I feel bad for the teacher, so I think I'll buy some candy and give it to those who participate. Also that will allow me to get to know the kids and they won't just stare at me. I teach choir after church, because no one knows how to sing well, their singing is all over the place.. I've been teaching them the basics of reading notes and such, and they assigned me to teach keyboard on Wednesdays... I guess I'm gonna have to remember my old piano skills haha..
So far I'm doing good and enjoying it, but it will definitely be a long 6 months. Luckily, we get back to the apartment at around 5pm everyday. We aren't allowed out after dark so thats when we have to be in. Oh and we eat only twice a day, so im gonna lose a lot of weight...
Miracle of the Week
So the miracle of the week is small and simple, and happened on one of the days when I was feeling pretty low. I saw an incredible sunset.. I considered that a miracle. Although small it meant a lot to me. God sure knows me well.
Also I encourage you to study Alma 32. It is one of my favorite chapters.
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