The Week of ZTM is Always a Party! Oct. 15, 2013

Hello Everyone!

This week has been crazy, but one of the most spiritually benefiting weeks of the mission so far. Also a lot of fun!

On Tuesday after emailing in, I was remaining with Elder I and Elder H, the Kilili elders who had come Monday night to stay with us till the ZTM (Zone Training Meeting). Elder U wanted to go home to sleep (he doesn't like the fact that we are all muzungus and that we email for a long time.) Elder J volunteered to accompany him back to the flat, because otherwise he would just leave and go home. Being with Elder I and H though was a ton of fun. We all went to the nicest hotel (restaurant) in town and ate some of the best food that I have had while here in the hills. After which we went down this big road of street merchants which I call the strip. I like to look at cool stuff and buy things without being rushed, and they are the same way, so we just kinda strolled down the road looking at shirts and cool stuff. Ita loves to buy Jerseys, but its super hard to find his size because Kenyans are about half his size. (Elder I  was 290lbs when he came out). I always hold up stuff and say "hey Ita this should fit!" but he always responds "dude thats hideous! where did you learn fashion!" hahaha! We did find a small merchant's shop that had some cool stuff though, I found the perfect shirt for me.. an authentic Harvard School of Business shirt made of under armor material. I like it a lot because it shows where I aspire to go someday. You can find some cool shirts here in Kenya, all second hand from America or Europe, but some are way cool. (Dad do you remember that oldschool red white and blue warm up jacket thing you gave me thats from the 70s? yeah I found another one just like it, but green white and blue for only 300ksh.  $3.50 ) We didn't get home from Nunguni until around 4:00pm or 5:00pm which is the longest we have ever spent there. Back at the flat we just hung out all night joking and laughing. It was a lot of fun.

Wednesday was Zone Training Meeting. We all went to the church to meet up with the Kyambeke elders at 11:00am. The ZTM was incredible, the spirit was so strong. For ZTM, Elder M the former AP and now Zone leader, shared with us the new mission standards of excellence created by the new Mission President. There are a ton of really good goals that will drastically improve the mission as a whole. I am excited about it.  This mission is functioning better now, but it has been jump started by the new and motivated missionaries. I just checked my email from the Mission President, and he is very happy with our numbers. He says that our companionship is leading the mission! Booyah!

After ZTM, we all went back to Kalongo where everyone would be staying at our flat, so that we could prepare the goat for dinner. The slaughtering of the goat was done by Big Mike who tagged along because we promised him the head, legs and intestines. Let me just say slaughtering animals with a knife while they are alive is not a pretty sight.  I can only imagine what it is like killing a cow. Guns are illegal and dont exist here in ukambani, so it's not like it could just be shot. It has to be cut open with a knife. Big Mike also did the skinning, which I watched carefully so that I could know how to do it for future reference. As they were finishing that, Elder I and Elder H, and I went to the market to pick up all the necessary stuff so that we could bri (BBQ) the goat. We got a BBQ rack made of wood and wire mesh for only 250ksh ($3). If only that could be done in America. We then headed back and set up rocks for the rack and lit the charcoal. Inside they were cutting the meat and putting all the bones in a pot to make a supu type creation. About two hours later, we ate. Goat meat is definitely not my favorite but it is still good. It is tough compared to beef, and has almost no fat. We could have bought a sheep for only 2000ksh ($23), instead of the 3700ksh ($43) for the goat, but Africans don't like sheep meat. "it's too fatty and soft." That night as we all sat around stuffed to the brim, Elder M pulled out a game called Monopoly Deal. It was super fun. Its a card game rather than a board game, and it is fast paced so it doesn't last all night like normal monopoly.

On Thursday, the Kyambeke elders departed and headed back to their area. The Kilili elders had planned to also, but their driver had gone to the shamba (field) instead of coming to pick them up. This turned out to be good though, because we were able to utilize that day to do exchanges with them. Elder I and I went to Kikoko, while our sons (new missionaries in training)  and Elder U went to Matua. It was funny because Elder I was hoping for the shorter area of walking, but instead we were going to the area with lots of walking and many hills. In Kikoko, we had the most spiritual and powerfully taught day that I have had so far on the mission. We first taught Brother KiviKivi, and from there we went to the Mutukus. At the Mutukus, it was the Mama, our investigator Elizabeth (their daughter) and another one of their daughters who had missed school due to girls bullying her. We first shared a short spiritual thought about family and the blessings of praying and reading scriptures together as a family. The spirit was very strong during the lesson. After the lesson, we had planned to practice the baptismal interview questions with Elizabeth. At this time, we were both blessed to witness a miracle. Usually Elizabeth is super shy and quiet, she has a mental illness which makes her act much younger than her age. I could feel the spirit instructing me by my thoughts that which I needed to say in order to allow the practice interview to go well. Last time we taught her I literally kept going in and out of sleep as we waited for her to respond to our questions. I did as I felt instructed by the spirit, and she opened up! She started talking and answering our questions. It was incredible. I definitely know that was a miracle. After teaching them, they fed us a huge Ugali (porridge) cake  and Sukuma. I was so thankful to have Ita there, because I can only eat so much Ugali and the amount they gave us was ridiculous!

We then went to the Kiokos where we encountered a shoe polishing cow. We arrived and made moos at the cow and it ran toward us and began licking our shoes. We were laughing so hard and we were slightly delirious from being up so late playing Monopoly Deal. We shared a short lesson with Joseph Kioko who watched us have our shoes polished by his cow. He most definitely thinks we are crazy.  After him we had planned to see J, a member whom we found drunk last week. I informed Ita of this and we walked there with the plan to teach the word of wisdom. We arrived and he was under the influence again. This was upsetting, and I had the immediate thought to blast him, but the spirit once again instructed me differently. We went about that lesson entirely by the spirit. I had never had such a powerful and spiritually led lesson before. We tried to figure out why he may have turned back to drinking, before we acknowledged he was drunk. I then confronted him about it, " asking him why he had started drinking again." He explained it was the pressure of his peer group, and those around him. We then expressed our concerns and our love for him, making sure that he knows we as missionaries and friends want the best for him, and it pains us to see him drinking his life away. The spirit was so strong, and it allowed me to feel empathy for what he was experiencing. Elder I was able to share personal stories about his past and the affect he saw of drinking in his family. At the end of the lesson, I was asked to close with the prayer, and we chose to do a kneeling prayer. I listened to the spirit as I prayed, speaking that which I felt we needed to ask, after the prayer J had tears streaming down his cheeks. He told me how much the lesson and the prayer had touched his heart. It also touched mine.

On Friday, the Kilili elders were supposed to leave, but their driver didn't arrive till around 3:30 pm, so we were with them at the flat all day, talking and eating until the driver arrived. After they finally departed, we needed to make the day successful somehow, so we went and taught N at the the clinic. That too was a very powerful and spiritual lesson, at the conclusion of the lesson, we commited her to be baptized. It was wonderful, she is so eager to join the church, she knows its truthfulness and looks forward to bringing her husband as well. After teaching, we weighed ourselves, and I now weigh 88kgs, that is 2kgs (5 lbs) less than when i came out! We then headed to the market to contact people. I can contact now in Swahili, and somewhat hold a short conversation, so that was helpful. The only problem is that when I speak, they assume I know perfect Swahili, so they speak to me as though I'm fluent. I invited 31 people to church and handed out 31 pamphlets with Elder J that day.

On Saturday, not much happened, it was a pretty slow day, but we did have to attempt to teach in Kiswahili.. Elder U now goes to the Mitini area on Friday and Saturday with a branch missionary, so we didn't have the ability to utilize his Swahili when teaching our investigators the Makwemas. That sure was a struggle. We just read straight from the Swahili Book of Mormon because that is all we knew, we didnt even know exactly what we were saying. We just knew it was scriptures talking about the spirit world. We then had to teach the Mutukus in Swahili as well, so it was a day full of Swahili speaking.

Sunday was good. I stood outside the church for an extra 15 minutes after the meeting had started, hoping that the people I had invited would come. All of them said they would, and I promised I would be at the door to greet them. Sadly it is common here in Kenya, to say you'll do something, when really you have no intention to actually do so. After church, we held a branch council. They always make me take the lead which is okay, but sometimes I feel they target me. I shared with them the new goals and such given by the Mission President and discussed with them all the activities the Mission President wishes to have. They always bring up relief food, and it turns into a discussion about relief food and food storage. I don't support relief food because it makes people lazy, and it shows that they are not following the principles of the prophet to keep a food storage for times of hardship like this. It really has helped me to learn that all the principles of the gospel and that which is said by the prophets applies to EVERYONE across the globe, not just specific countries or groups.

On Monday, we went to go do service in Matua, but instead just ended up teaching people, because everyone there refused to work or let us work because it was so hot. Big Mike fed us a dish of Plantines and sweet potatoes, it was good, but they piled it onto our plates!! It was like a small mountain. I was so full. I could only finish half of it, and I had allowed Elder U to give me half of his mountain. Big Mike loved laughing at me as I attempted to finish. His wife defeated me. I really feel that's what they try to do, give us so much food that we have no chance of finishing..

Well thats it for this week, It sure has been packed!

Love you all,  Elder Hiltbrand