So this week has been exciting, but crazy busy!
We are working hard up here in the hills, we are setting high goals and have the determination to meet all of them. The language is still totally a hard thing to deal with, but we are doing language study each day for about an hour, so that is helping a great deal. It really takes a lot of reliance on the lord, because learning Swahili, however easy they say it is, it is not an easy language.
So on Tuesday while emailing, the power cut out in the entire area. It happens frequently, we are just never sure of when it will happen. It was a total bummer when it cut out last week, but it made for a powerful experience later that night. We headed back to Kalongo once the power cut out, because Nunguni is worthless without power. Kalongo is on the same power grid, so there is no power there either. We needed to do our necessary shopping in the produce market, then laundry back at the flat. It was beginning to get dark and without power, we really have no source of light, candles and small flashlights can only do so much.. It got to about 7:40pm and still no power. I wanted to cook food, but without light its more difficult. So I decided okay, I'll apply the promise in the scriptures and ask God to help in faith. So I called my other companions together and said, "okay so we have no power, so lets test something, we will kneel down and ask God to restore the power, that way it's in the hands of the Lord rather than that of man." After some more convincing, we knelt down and I offered the prayer. After closing the prayer we did not immediately receive power, but it was now in the Lord's hands. Less than 5 minutes passed and the power returned in full force. It was an answer to our prayers. In personal study that morning, I had read a story, or listened to a talk about the ten lepers (Luke 17:12-19) so I knew what I needed to do...say thank you. I got everyone back together, and we offered another prayer of thanks and gratitude. God is willing to answer our prayers, we just must act on our faith to open the opportunity for him to answer.
It has been a rainy week this week, so each day we wake up with no power , which means bucket showers. I was able to fix the shower, kinda a jimmy rig fix with duct tape, but it works and should prevent another explosion. Sadly, the water is lukewarm and not scalding hot as it used to be.
On Wednesday, we had our regular DDM (District Development Meeting), I made sure to send the assignments earlier this week, that way people knew what to expect. I decided it would be a good idea for me to lead by example and give the training in DDM. I thought it was a good lesson, my teaching skills are drastically improving, but I still have a lot to learn. Sadly, there is no participation from the other missionaries. This is a regular thing, not anything new. I do feel that with more participation, we could learn a lot more from one another, and be edified by the spirit more. That is something we will have to work on.
On Thursday, it was a day of bugs...We once again attempted the short cut to the back side of Kikoko, and this time I had a much better bearing on where to go, but I had only one place of uncertainty, it was where we got lost last time and had to march through shambas and rivers. It doesnt look so good to walk through people's shambas, so I tried to find the beginning of the path in which we had connected to. I saw a path crossroad, and the working mamas nearby pointed us in the direction. We followed that path and it led us through more densely covered shrubbery. It was wet and dark in this path, but the path did lead us to where we needed to go. I thought nothing of this at first, but later while at a members house, we were sitting there talking, and I saw something on my arm that looked like a scab. I looked more closely, and it was a Tick! It was a small one, but a tick none the less.. They call them Vilaboto here. I was scanning my arm, and found another, then another, then one on my hand. I checked my other arm and all together I found 10 in my skin.. The mama we were with kept trying to scratch at them and pull at them, but you must be careful with ticks because their head will get stuck in you. I had to keep telling them "Eka! Eka" meaning stop in Kikamba. I got all the ones off my body, and then I noticed small things on my pants, so I looked more closely at them and noticed they too were ticks! I counted a total of 86 on my pants and 10 on my skin. To think that one tick earlier in the mission was bad. Little did I know I would have to deal with close to 100 later. We went to two more appointments after that, wacking our legs with leaves and sticks to read them of any ticks. After finishing our appointments, we ran to Kalongo and went immediately to the Agrovet which sells pest control and stuff. We bought Dudu Dust which kills all bugs and headed home and dumped it all over the clothes and set them outside. The problem with these ticks is that they grow into swarms very quickly. They are able to multiply rapidly and cause a big problem. We all took the hottest showers possible (really just lukewarm) and scrubbed to remove any remaining ticks. That sure was a crazy experience.
That same day, while eating Matunda (fruit) at a members house -- we were waiting for him to show up and he has given us permission to eat any fruit we desire, so we were eating loquads. I bit one after eating a few and looked down and saw a few small white worms squiggling around in it.. Elder Utonga then found worms in his. Our Matunda came from separate trees, so it wasn't just one tree with this worm problem. Lets just say I haven't eaten
Matunda since that experience..
On Friday and Saturday, they were pretty ordinary proselyting days. We have been getting fed by our members and investigators a lot lately, so that is super nice. They feed us so much, and we get so full. They give us a huge pile of food and if we dont finish it, then it is disrespectful to them and it almost means that they are bad cooks, so we eat everything. We get full, but then there is a level past full where i feel as though im growing a second stomach to handle more food. At that point your stomach gets big and expands and the pants get tight. Its sure funny trying to go teach another family after that happens, and when you get there, they bring out more food..
Sunday was Church as usual, I was super glad to see many of our investigators there. Our investigators are solid. The Makwemas are amazing, and although they are unable to be baptized right now because of polygamy, they are inviting others to come to church, and they give us referrals. The people really are amazing here. You must notice the good and put aside their faults. If you desired, its easy to find faults in everyone, both here and back in the states, what I have learned is to see the good in everyone, look at them for their strengths , and you will see the potential of whom they can become.
Monday we did our service day in Mutua. I chopped wood for a good while for Big Mike's family. Let's just say chopping wood ain't easy. The wood here when dry is rock solid, Luckily Big Mike has a big metal axe (looks like a metal pipe with a axe head welded on the end) that works to cut the wood. His wife totally showed me up though. She is a pro at wood chopping. She comes out with this superior Kamba Mama strength, and busts the wood apart like nobodies business! She must have left the more difficult logs for me, because they were tough kabisa! (emphasis) I built up a nice sweat though. We had made an agreement with Big Mike that if we brought Chapati ingredients, then he would make us chapati (a traditional Kenyan flatbread), so we brought him 4kgs of flour and 1 liter of oil. His wife lovingly made us about 30 Chapati. We ate some with Big Mike while drinking hot chocolate, then left some for his wife and headed home to meet the Kilili Elders who were just arriving in Kalongo. I did more laundry to wash the dudu dust covered clothes, and we finalized the purchase of our goat.
Our goats name is Supper. Elder Ita and I agreed to name it that so that it knows what it can aspire to be, and what it will be tomorrow after ZTM (Zone Training Meeting--a training meeting with the Zone Leaders. Zone Leaders are over several Districts which are groups of 6-8 elders. Rushton is a District Leader). With the visiting Kilili Elders, there are currently four americans staying at our flat, so that is a lot of fun. Elder Ita (the tongan on the picky picky picture) is awesome, he is from Mesa Arizona, and he is one of the friendliest guys I've met. I learn a lot from him about looking at peoples positives, and forgiving everyone for everything.
Tomorrow we slaughter the goat and will have a bunch meat, so that will be exciting!
Thats just about it for this week, Training is going well, my son is progressing quickly and is figuring out the ropes so we are becoming a more effective companionship. Time sure flies here! It's crazy to think that later this week, I will have been here for more than 4 months!
Oh and by the way, I was not able to see General Conference. They don't show it here for about a month or so.
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