Comments from letter to Mom:
So there are 25 missionaries waiting to come in and still no visa approvals. We received 5 missionaries the other day, but none of them had the needed paper work, so President Hicken immediately put them on a plane back to South Africa.
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Well hello once more, once again it feels as though I just wrote. The weeks disappear like smoke, it's amazing how fast things go...makes you have a new perspective of how life is so short.
So now I feel a lot of you may be wondering about this, so I’ll inform you first, Dewormers taste like bubble gum...the stuff the dentists use on your teeth when you’re a kid. Not so sure that they work, but they do taste decent.
Now this week was a bit interesting, some ups and downs just like every other week. On Monday, Elder Turner and I began exchanges after playing football (soccer) as a zone. Everytime I play football with the Africans, I feel like I’m playing against world cup players or something... Especially Elder Nyirenda (who Rushton served under in Kilungu Hills), that kid can play! (Especially after he hasn’t touched a soccerball for more than 9 months then coming and totally showing us all up.) I am however getting better! For Lunch on Monday, we wanted to get something cheap because Elder Turner only had 150ksh ($1.75) for the rest of the week, so we went and bought "scones" they look and taste kinda like Hawaiian rolls. We each got a pack of 9 for 50ksh ($.60) and a soda. (they have most basic sodas like coca cola, sprite, pepsi, mtn dew, but that’s pretty much it for American soda. Absolutely no Rootbeer though...when you just say Rootbeer everyone thinks your looking for alcohol.) Now you can see why we don’t lose weight here. After returning home for the night after emailing, we made a bunch of rice and a nice supu of tomatos, onions, mchuzi mix (hard to describe, sort of sauce mix used for everything) and Sossi (fake meat ). It was really nice. Elder Turner and I talk and talk without stop, conversation just flows easily, so we ended up talking until 2:00am.. (we regretted that for sure!)
When we woke up Tuesday, we both agreed to be determined to get to bed earlier, but right after waking up we went right back to talking. Our full day of exchanges was powerful! One of the best days so far here in Huruma. I felt like we were able to spread our wings and fly. We had a nice companionship study and planning for the day, and then once we got out of the apartment, we had powerful lessons filled with the spirit. We first taught Simon, a recent convert who is the day guard at the church building. We talked with him about missionary work and being an example to his wife whom is yet to join the church. He expressed his desire to do so and overall, it wasn’t us missionaries teaching that lesson, it was definitely the spirit. After Teaching Simon, we were very hungry so we went to get lunch. I don’t really enjoy being a creature of habit here, so I am always looking for new things or new places to try, so we went to this small hotel (restaurant) near the church that sells Chips (french fries) for 20ksh ($.25). We each got 2 servings and sat outside to eat, because the inside was so smoky! I thought the chips were delicious, and they added a sort of Pico De Gallo on top that made it even better. Elder Ndwandwe, my companion, is a creature of habit and loves to go to an expensive hotel called BQEC which sells the same amout of chips for 80Ksh ($.93), so it was nice to mix things up while I had the chance. Just so you all know, here in Western Kenya, potatoes are common, so everyone is cooking chips on the side of the road to sell. There are no business permits and such needed for small dukas (shops) like that, so the people just find a spot, and start cooking. You can sell whatever you want here, and no one will care. If you sold in one spot one day, that will remain your spot and no one will take it.
Anyways, after lunch we headed down towards Kingongo where we had some appointments. It is a rougher area that we stay out of during dusk and night because it becomes very dangerous. Regularly we are informed that someone was panga'd (knifed) to death for a few ksh, or there are gun shots and such at night. It was the area where the most horrible and brutal killings happened in 2007. However, we have many people who investigate the gospel from that area. As we went down there, we contacted (talked to) everyone we came across, and that proved to be very fruitful. We were being yelled at by a slightly drunk man with a cigarette behind us, and then I felt maybe we should talk to him, so we swung around and talked to him about the Word of Wisdom, and if applied could change his life. I feel so much more confident when with Elder Turner, I think this is the case because we are unified, we get along, and we both desire to push the work forward. A lot of missionaries don’t like contacting, because the statistics are 1/1000 are baptized, but to me that doesn’t mean that we should just give up on that. There’s over 7 billion people in the world, so that means there's a chance of 7 million that will join the church due to contacting! We had a really powerful lesson with Panina, one of our investigators, we were able to discern that she hadn’t fully understood the last time we had taught, so we re-taught the very beginning of the restoration in the most simple way, and she seemed to understand. It was awesome to see! The spirit really testifies the truth to our inner spirit, bringing us to a remembrance of the gospel we once knew prior to coming here. At an appointment with Sister Jane, Elder Turner was holding a little child and then the child pees all over Turner. I was dying of laughter (Heart attack Laughter), he was just like "oh so you want to give me blessings! Thanks for the blessings!" That’s a good way to look at it. It was even funnier because he had just washed his shirt the night prior. Our last lesson for the evening was with Steve, his cousin Alex, and Winny, all of whom are new investigators except Steve. We taught at the church, and it was a great lesson. It was the first time Alex and Winny were hearing of the gospel, so we taught the beginning of the Restoration as simply as possible using the pamphlet. As it became night, we resorted to using my headlight as a light for the room because the power had gone out. They gave me the Kaligen (butchered Spelling) nickname of "Kiptum" meaning "born in the Bush". I’d say it's a perfect fit for me haha. Well once again we were up talking till 2:00am again, we didn’t mean to, but somehow we got carried away in conversation until I started to get delirious and was saying totally off topic things.
Wednesday was Zone Training Meeting which was really interesting because it started out nice and normal, but when Elder Vitason was given his turn to give his training, he acted as though he was in a race or something. He wrote some scripture references on the black board, then assigned people to read them, but after the first two he just decided to summarize the others and wrap it up. We were all super confused because it was a very good subject to discuss "The Culture of Obedience" and it was breezed through at light speed. I asked if he had an appointment soon or something, but he said there wasn’t one till 2:30 and it was only 1:00..? Afterwards we went with Felix Kogo (son of our District President) to teach Anabel, one of our progressing investigators. We committed her to baptism on the 23 of February, so hopefully that goes through. It was a nice lesson about the Restoration, but I felt we threw too much information at her. The interesting thing is, she has been taught in every area of Eldoret, but keeps moving around, so we're not sure what’s up with that.
Thursday was Service day once again at the childrens Hospital. I’ve grown kind of annoyed with the children here in Kenya because of the constant "muzungu!! How are you" that I hear no less than a thousand times per day. So I decided that if I really want to learn to love the people including the children here, then I must ask God for help, so that’s exactly what I did, I asked that God help me to feel that love that Christ expressed when he blessed and wept with the children in the Bible and as described in 3 Nephi 17: 21-24. So at the Hospital, my prayer was answered. I was able to help some of the children play games, and in doing so, I could feel that love for them that I hadn’t felt prior. The kids were inspiring to me. Most of the children at the hospital suffer from severe ailments, many of which are severe burn victims, but regardless of their ailments they are beaming with joy and optimism, just happy to be alive. It’s amazing to me. It really testified to me of how God loves all his children, and how some of the greatest spirits are trapped in frail and weak bodies. We were playing a block game together, and they were so happy to build the towers then knock them down and build them again. Really, truly an answer to my prayer.
After leaving the Hospital, we went and withdrew our money for the month, everyone was super low. I managed to budget this month, so I was able to still have 2000ksh ($23) remaining. So I was happy about that, especially since there is such good food available. We had planned to go get lunch as a zone, but we got separated and it just ended up being Elders Turner, Barasa, Ndwandwe, and I. Turner and I had gone back to see if we could find the other 2 companionships, but couldn’t so we were walking to the hotel (restaurant) and got stopped by a homeless guy using a crutch. He was saying something to us in Swahili (asking for money because we are muzungus). Elder Turner just got around him, but with me he held me back and tried to grab hold of me so I pushed around him. I caught up to Turner who was on the phone, and we continued walking. Then all of a sudden someone grabs hold of my backpack, so I turn around and it’s the homeless guy on the crutch! He got hold of one of my water bottles and then we got away. Man, that guy moves fast on a crutch! I guess he was thirsty. At the restaurant, I ordered the best Chips Masala, which is french fries mixed in a nice spicy sauce. It was delicious, but super high in calories! That was pretty much all for Thursday.
Friday is when I learned a great deal concerning Islam. We didn’t really have a full day of appointments and we planned to go see a LA (less active member) down the main barabara (road) a ways, so as we were walking there, we heard Muzungu! Missionaries! so we turned and there were these two people in this makeshift hotel (cafe) calling us over, so we went and talked to them. One was a mama and the other was a man, both muslim. They wanted us to talk to them about our message. They were super friendly, and first we talked about Islam and the beliefs and such, then they wanted to hear ours. The mama had a small daughter maybe age 3 or so, she was incredibly drawn to us and stood by me pretty much the whole time. I would like to say that it's because she recognized us as messengers of the truth as perhaps she is yet to be fully sealed by the veil (of mortal life), but the Mama claimed it was because I looked like her son. (Everyone thinks I look like a Spaniard). We discussed with them our beliefs and what separates us from other Christian churches. They asked many questions, and the Mama had a knowledge of Christianity, so she knew what we were talking about. Then lots of other Muslims came and joined us and we were talking with them. I came to the knowledge that Islam is just a branch of Ancient Judaism, I never knew that before. It was really cool to learn more about their beliefs and interact in a friendly manner with one another. After our discussion, we went and taught Panina again and committed her to baptism on March 23. One thing I have noticed is that most elders that came with me to Kenya from the MTC are experiencing trials and struggles just like me and it has put a damper on our confidence a bit. It’s hard on you when you want to work and spread the Gospel to everyone, but your companion is going home soon and their mindset has switched to home. I am determined not to turn into that.
Saturday I concluded that the mission is like a big group project, you don’t always know that you can rely on your partners, and may feel you need to do all the work. Only thing is, a mission cannot work like that. You NEED the companionship of the Holy Ghost, and if you don’t have it, then you’re not a missionary. Saturday really not much happened. We went and met with Brother Joel Ndiba, Brother Simon, and Brother Levi at the church where they had just received new manuals and materials for seminary and institute. Those new materials are so nice! My gospel knowledge was exponentially increasing just by looking through the pages. After they left, we got lunch with Simon and ate at the church. We ate Githeri (mixture of beans, maize and tomatoes), Chapatti (flat bread), and Soda. Now that I’m no longer in Ukambani, I really like Githeri.. strange how that works. After eating we were supposed to have Family Home Evening, but no one showed up, so we went to Sister Sarahs for FHE. We had a nice FHE. Sister Sarah lives in a rough situation, but she doesn’t realize that the only way to get out of that situation is to be faithful and keep the commandments with exactness, especially tithing.
Sunday was good, at church we had many people I had never seen before, including a new investigator who was referred by a friend. His name is Wilson, and Elder Nyirenda and I will see him tomorrow (we are on exchanges till Wednesday). After church, we had a teaching appointment at the church which went well, we taught the Plan of Salvation. With the Plan of Salvation you really have to keep it simple because it is deep in itself. It’s very easy to pull in deep doctrine, but that must be avoided. I guess some of the priesthood holders were supposed to give a blessing to a member, but decided to wait for us to finish, and when we were walking on the road to one of the members homes, the member who needed a blessing was walking to the church. We stopped and talked to him and he explained he had wanted the blessing three hours ago. The other guys should not have waited for us to finish, the one who needed the blessing explained thats not something to mess around with, it’s life or death sometimes and you must be there on time. He wasn’t angry with us because he knew we were teaching, but with the others he was upset. That's why it is so important to answer promptings, calls for blessings, etc, immediately when they come.
So that was basically the whole week for ya, there wasn’t a whole bunch of cool stories this week, but maybe you’ll enjoy it anyways,
Well, I love you all, Elder Rushton Jay Hiltbrand
Scripture assignment for the week: 1 Nephi 13 
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