So this week began pretty slow in regards to work, we had a referral meet us at the church on Tuesday. He could only speak Kiswahili, so we used Simon, the church day guard, as a translator. I could speak a lot to him, but some of the deeper stuff was difficult. I can carry on casual conversations in simple Kiswahili right now, but I hope to speak it much better before June. He seemed interested, but as we got to talking, the person who referred him to us must have informed him incorrectly, because he was looking for a form of financial support from the church. This is one of the problems we have faced here, because that is the case for many of the churches in Kenya. If you go to church, they give you money. This keeps their membership up and attracts many followers. But that is not God’s way of church. He didn’t entice people to come and receive money as a reward for their attendance, but instead said "bring all your tithes into the store house." Quite the contrary. We had to make it very clear to him that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints does not give out money if you come to church.
Later we went and visited Caroline Nash who had been away on vacation with her family since I got here. She is a recent convert and is really awesome in that she shares the gospel with her roommates and can see the blessings the gospel has brought. She is a full on Maasai too, so that's pretty interesting because I was under the assumption that Maasai were pretty traditional in religion. We ended up teaching her friend while there, because her friend Anita had a ton of questions regarding the Book of Mormon. Once again, I have realized that using scriptures is the best way of teaching. After leaving, we went and met with Panina, the wife of a RC/LA (recent convert/less active church member). She still has the desire to join the church, because she knows it will bring great blessings to her family. Also she knows if she sets the example of living gospel standards, it will help her husband do the same and avoid drinking. Its really amazing though, because she used to never want to hear the gospel, but with a turn of events, she now seeks to be baptized. God works in mysterious ways.
On Wednesday, I gave my first training here in Eldoret. I prepared what I thought to be an awesome training through much prayer and study about how to begin teaching. I have learned there are great blessings associated with waking up on time, before 6:30 each day. It may sound crazy, but I have seen that when I wake up on time, I have the needed energy to go about the day, while if I miss my alarm and get up at 6:40, I am groggy and doze during the day. There are great blessings associated with that simple mission rule. It also sets the stage for obedience throughout the day. Plus you are on time to everything. My companion on the contrary does not believe in this, so we are still late to things quite frequently. For DDM we got there late, just to find only four of the other elders would be there for DDM. The bummer about that is I had spent a good 30 minutes writing by hand "My missionary Commission" by Elder Bruce R. McKonkie. I didn’t just write it once, but I wrote it 8 times planning to give it to each person present. If only I had known it would be 6 of us haha. The training went well, the topic is very simple, but everyone has heard the standard Preach my gospel version of the training many times before, so I gave it quite a twist and spoke about how we are each called of God (confidence in that is needed to begin teaching), the necessity of the spirit (you cannot teach without the spirit), people are being prepared by God for us to teach (it’s the work of God, he is preparing the hearts of the people) and then how to begin teaching. At one point it got off topic, because we were talking about how to help make sure you and your companion are both able to feel the spirit. I mentioned we should encourage and help our companions follow the mission rules, but then the African Elders present told me that we can’t judge our companions for what they do and by pushing others to be better it makes us prideful showing that we are better than those struggling. I guess they missed the point of that comment I made. But it goes to show there is a difference between Muzungu missionaries and African missionaries. I dont know why, but there just is.
After DDM, we went with the Sosiani Elders to go get lunch. The restaurant we went to was good and cheap too. We all got either the beans special, or the githeri special (maize & beans) which was delicious. The only part about it I didn’t like was the supu they brought with it. It smelled like the inside of a cow, and im pretty sure thats what it was made of. We called it Matumbo (bowel) supu. Think of a really bad smelling meat broth soup and that’s what it was. I took one bite of it and was done with it (must have been really bad for Rushton not to eat it it!)
We then went and visited Margaret and Anabel, but only found Anabel and Margaret’s sister Kiziah. We talked a bit, laughed, then we had to go to an appointment we had made with Steve. Steve is the guy we met a couple weeks ago at Sister Jane's when a super intoxicated Kamba girl came over there. Steve is a really nice guy, and he is always so happy to see us. We met in his small home which he lives in alone. He’s a mason, so a bunch of mason stuff and buckets fill his home with a small bed, small table, and only one room, encircled by walls made of sticks covered with mud. He informed us that since we had first seen him that day at sister Jane's, he has quit drinking, and only smokes a little bit. That was really cool to hear, and all we had told him the time before was that it is possible to quit drinking and break the habit. If we have faith, anything is possible. We taught him the first half of the Restoration, and he was very interested, taking notes and everything. He insisted on not asking any questions, because he just wanted to soak up the message as much as possible. The lesson was great, the spirit was strong, and I really think our message had an impact on him. After the lesson he informed us that he was very happy and just felt good.
Thursday was my morning of being a Cowboy. It was a very hot morning and we were going out to go do service, so I wore one of the cowboy hats, that we have in our flat, out to the shamba (garden). Those hats are incredibly functional and do quite a good job blocking the sun, no wonder they’re the classic American hat. We met up with all the other missionaries at Sister Sarah’s and dug her a big shamba. This time digging was much easier, because the shamba had been dug and planted many times before, making the dirt nice and soft. I made sure to bring my gloves this time and while everyone was counting each of their blisters, I was blister free. To all those who are going on missions, make sure to bring a nice pair of work gloves. You’ll be glad you did. While we dug almost every person walking on the nearby road would stop and say Muzungus ni kulima (the muzungus are digging). It’s such amusement to them to see white people doing work. Once again they assume we are super lazy in America. When they would say that, we would be sure to jokingly invite them to come dig in our stead, but none accepted the offer. After finishing digging, Sister Sarah had prepared us the biggest Ugali (corn meal) cake that I have ever seen in my life. That thing was seriously massive. It was served with mboga (cabbage leaves that are fried). She expected us to finish it, but us six missionaries were only able to pound down a little more than half. I wish I had brought my camera, but sadly I had forgotten it at the flat.
After eating, we were hurrying back to the flat to change and go meet with Brother Steve an RM (Return Missionary) to go teaching with us. We came across a man named Ansel, whom we had met before multiple times while he was intoxicated. This time he wasn’t drunk, and we got to talking, and he informed us he is a rescue diver and firetruck driver for the area of Huruma, Eldoret. (Never did I think that there was a fire department here.) He told us that diving here takes a lot of courage, because the tanks aren’t good, so it’s very risky. That’s seriously craziness. He explained the reason he drinks so much and so often is to forget that which he sees on the job. I also wrote down one of the things he told us, "There are no bad people in the world, you just have to understand them." I’d say thats a pretty true statement, if you know the reasons someone is doing something, it makes it easier to understand. You can learn something from everyone.
Friday was a day of total bounces. Every appointment didn’t really go through. We went to see Fredrick because he informed us he would be home, but after a long time of waiting, he showed up and had to leave immediately. At around 5:00pm, we went and visited Ansel at his home. We had told him we would come before today, but each time we went he was drunk and we told him we had to be getting home. It was really a nice visit with him. He wants us to just be friends and as we do so we can share a gospel message with him. He comes from Mombasa, so he loves to talk (he says thats how it is in Mombasa). He told us his whole life story about growing up as a street kid, but by the mercies of God he was blessed with Sponsors by two European women who provided the needed school fees so that he could get both a primary and secondary school education. Really a cool story, and just shows how much someone can impact another’s life. After he shared that, he wanted to hear from us, but we were both pretty speechless by his story. It was funny because he gave us "Hot Chocolate" and was super confused in the kitchen, because his wife usually does all the cooking. We shared with him a short message regarding the Plan of Salvation. I felt inspired to share with him about Christ being the good shepherd and watching over his sheep. Just like how Ansel has been watched over and blessed his entire life. He liked our message and told us to come back anytime we want. Before we were leaving, a friend of his walked in totally drunk, and was talking a ton to us. He did tell us to remember one thing though, and that was "Dont ever give up, Always do your best." It was interesting because that was something I needed to hear, but who thought I’d receive encouragement like that from someone entirely intoxicated.
We had Family Home Evening at the church on Saturday which turned out to be pretty good, but needing improvement. For FHE, we played musical chairs, brother Steve shared a spiritual thought on Faith, and then we watched "A Work and the Glory 1". We started late, so most people had to leave early. I also came to the realization that here in Africa, the people don’t have the same sense of humor, or appreciation for certain aspects of film. They just want action or comedy, and even then, a lot of it is comedy about watchmen jobs (the common job in Kenya). That was seriously all that happened on Saturday, which was a bummer, we had called everyone to see if we could see them, but no one was available or the phone was off. In cases like that, I would be fine going tracting or contacting, but my comp doesn’t want to do that, so yeah we didn’t do that. But now I have decided that regardless of what my companion doesn’t want to do, we will do everything we are supposed to. "Obedience brings blessings, Exact obedience brings miracles."
In my interview I explained the issues I’m facing, and President Hicken gave me instruction as to how to handle it. In regards to my companion, he just told me to do everything that I am supposed to do, and be the example for your companion to follow. You can’t force anyone to do anything, everyone has their agency. So I can work as hard as I myself can do, and God will understand. That was comforting, and exactly what I needed to hear. President Hicken is truly inspired.
We received transfer news last night, and everything is staying the same, expect that the ZL (zone leader), Elder Beacom is going to Kilungu Hills!!! I was stoked when he told me that! He will be in Kyambeke, but still! It’s awesome. Elder Nyirenda, the ZL from Kilungu will be the new ZL here, so that will be cool to see Nyirenda again.
Well thats pretty much it for the week.
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