This week I am at a much faster cyber which has "Fyba" which is much faster than all the other Internets here, but none the less is not really a fiber optic network. Hopefully I will be able to send some pictures today, so we shall see.
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| The area of Langas, Eldoret from our balcony. |
So this week was the week of Zone Conference meaning that it was a very busy week and and lots of spiritual edification to be had. Not much happened on Monday, because it was mainly cleaning in preparation for the Elders from the other zones arriving. We made our flat nice and clean, why?, because we are so kind to the other elders and want them to have a perfectly clean flat to mess up and destroy during their stay. It made me kinda think of a Hotel, they clean it daily knowing that it will just be messed up again the next day. (Yes I am the kind of person who doesnt believe in making my bed, because I will just get back in it and mess it up again that night.)
So on Tuesday it was basically a day of study and cleaning for the majority of the morning. We were expecting the Kitale Elders and the Kisumu Elders to arrive at any time, so we needed to be sure to be available when they arrived so that we could go and meet them. So that meant that we got more time to sweep and mop and organize everything for the three sets of elders who would be staying at our flat. Also, it gave me more time to study and catch up in my journal ( I was on a really bad streak of not writing in my journal each day, so I had to catch up on the 5 days I had missed... some nights Elder Nyirenda and I get into such interesting conversations that I just have no time to write before I pass out of exhaustion in bed or on the couch. Yes there have been days where around I fall asleep shortly after eating dinner around 9:30 and don't wake up until midnight or later. ) Well around 1:00 we were notified by the Kisumu elders that they were arriving shortly in town, so we would meet them at the Eldoret chapel where we had arranged for a Zone v. Zone Soccer match. We met them there around 2:30 because they first went and dropped off their stuff at the Sosiani Elders flat. At the Eldoret Chapel, there was also a farewell party sort of thing being held for one of the Young men in that branch who would be leaving on his mission later that week. Here in Kenya when there is any type of activity, everyone from the whole District/ Stake shows up, even if they don't know the person, they know there will always be food. This was cool though because I was able to see a lot of the members and Recent converts that I had left behind in Huruma. At around 3:00, the Kitale Zone arrived in a small Kangaroo bus thing, Their zone used to be one of the tightest zones and hardest working zones in the mission, but after receiving two different elders, there are only 6 of them that are really tight rather than all eight. This isn't because they are clicky or anything, but the two new elders Elder O and Elder U are very stubborn and don't have the same attitudes as the other guys in the zone. We soon got to playing soccer. Everyone in each zone played except for those two elders. We also had two members playing with us from the Eldoret branch. It was a fun game of soccer. We played for about two hours. You could tell people were getting tired near the end, because they were getting more rough and such. When it's just missionaries playing, it's easily controlled and doesn't get too intense, but when there are also members playing, they always get too rough and cause some shidas (troubles). We actually tied against the Kitale Zone this time, usually they always beat us, but the fact that there was a lack of unity and they were out two players, it hindered their winning streak. After soccer the Farewell party was concluding, meaning food was being served. I didn't feel comfortable getting food, because it wasn't my branch, and we weren't there to attend the event. We had all planned to go to Pizza Bistro for dinner, but the two stubborn elders went straight for the food at the church regardless of knowing people or having attended the event because it was free food and they don't like spending money. This frustrated some of the elders, because we knew that we would be eating the exact same food the next day for lunch at zone conference, so we were hoping to mix it up by eating nice pizza. After finishing eating, we walked to the Sosiani elders flat so some of the elders could grab their stuff, then we went back to Langas with three sets of Elders: the Kitale ZL's Elder Thomas and Maduna, the Kisumu ZL's Elder Ndaba and Nyambita, and the Mautuma Elders from Kitale Elder Griffiths and Utonga. We had already set up a room for them to stay with mattresses and such, everyone knows that when your staying at someones flat when it comes to choosing mattresses it's first come first serve, so it was a scramble for everyone to grab the good mattresses.
That night we made some final preparations for our training that we would be giving at Zone Conference the next day. We were assigned to train on how to develop the culture of Obedience, so we had spent the previous few days studying it and polishing it. The only struggle we faced is that it is such a great topic with so much to discuss, but we were only allotted 15 minutes to give it. Each set of Zone Leaders was assigned a training so all of us, the three sets of Zone leaders were polishing our trainings that night. Then we all got to talking and a lot of laughing as Elder Ndaba cracked jokes and told stories. He came in my MTC group, so it was really good to see him again. The APs
(Assistants to the Mission President) know that when you get a bunch of elders together there is no sleep, so they made sure to inform us that we needed to get to bed at a decent time so that we could be awake and open to the spirit the next day.
Wednesday was Zone Conference. We had told the Elders staying at the other flat to arrive at the Langas Chapel at 8:00 sharp so that we could all set things up, but at 8:00 they were no where to be found. We set up the Relief society room for the conference and President and Sister Hicken arrived with the APs at around 8:20. Its a very short flight for them from Nairobi, so it makes things easy for them to meet in Langas. The conference was scheduled to begin at 9:00, but we were ready to meet beginning at 8:45 when the other Elders arrived.
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| Missionaries, Senior couples and MIssion President at Zone conference. |
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| MIssionaries at Zone Conference. |
The Conference was really nice, it was a bit different than the previous ones I have attended because this time there were a bunch of short trainings on various topics. They really strived to keep time, so our training was much shorter than we hoped. it's amazing how fast time goes when you want time to go slowly. It's funny because when you want time to go faster it goes slower, but when you want it to go slower, it goes faster. During our training, we tried to get everyone involved and make them think and ask questions. This was nice, but it only allowed us to get through three of our fifteen points on the subject...whoops haha. Overall the conference turned out nice and we were all spiritually edified. President Hicken is earnestly seeking to create a mission of Strict Obedience and Diligence. We strongly believe that until that is enveloped into the mission, we will not receive any new missionaries. God knows best. In the New Testament, Romans 5:19 it says it perfectly, "for as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous." The mission has changed greatly since I have been here. I have seen a new determination and obedience be developed, and it is bringing about much good and allowing the Lord's work to progress more than ever before here. Sister Hicken hit it right on the head, one of the greatest struggles faced throughout both this mission and the world as a whole, is Pride. I encourage you to read the talk "
Beware of Pride" by President Ezra Taft Benson. I never thought about the fact that there is two kinds of pride, from the top down, and also from the bottom up. I strongly believe that each of us have to work on ridding ourselves of pride, because deep down in all of us it's there. Our Pride keeps us from admitting it. I know I have a lot of Pride that I need to work on, that's always been one of my weaknesses, and I never realized that until reading that talk. We were in charge of orchestrating lunch, so luckily everything worked out, because at first it seemed as though it wouldn't come and we would all be left there hungry. It was normal Kenyan food, Chapatti, rice, supu, and nyama
(meat). I like it, but it filled me with just one plate. After there were cookies baked by the couples, so those were delicious! Definitely one of the things I miss most are chocolate chip cookies freshly baked by my world class baking mother. (Yes mom, your baking trumps all Kenyan Baking.)
The night of Zone Conference, the Kitale Zone went back to Kitale but the Kisumu Elders remained behind to go the next day. It was fun to have them again, and that night we got a call from our Branch President asking if we could house a freshly returned missionary who would be going to Kitale the next day. I'm not entirely sure his name, but he was really funny, he totally lost his Kenyan Culture and became a South African. Elder Ndaba, him, and I stayed up joking and laughing, South Africa is what they consider the America of Africa. Sadly this elder had a suit case stolen the day before he was to go home. It was full of all his journals, notes, and planners, so basically all of his spiritual stuff to bring back all the memories of his mission. All of it gone the day before going home. Thus the reason I believe theft is one of the most abominable sins.
Thursday we went to town with the Kisumu Elders and the RM to send them on their way back to their areas. Now that we know how to send people to Kisumu it was easy. The couples volunteered to drive the RM to his home 3 hours away, so that was really nice of them. Our couples are seriously awesome! I love them, they are always looking for ways to assist us, and it is such a blessing to have them present with us here in Eldoret. I have such respect for couple missionaries, I definitely think that it should be mandatory for all couples to serve a mission together, it allows you to grow and learn together like never before, what's better for a marriage than serving the lord together..? So anyways, after getting those guys off on their way, we returned back to Langas Chapel and began our day of teaching. We really had a good day of teaching, teaching 13 lessons and committing two of our investigators to baptism. We ended up teaching three investigators at one time, because two of them came late to the time we had previously scheduled with them. Teaching multiple investigators at the same time doesn't really work, because usually each investigator is on a different level and has their own concerns and questions. While contacting we met a really awesome guy named Ezekial, he is a general contractor of a new apartment building next to the chapel. He is one of those guys that is just stoked on life, loves what he does, and is just happy. You could totally tell by the way he talked and the skip to his step. He told us that he would love to learn more about the church, and he wants us to come and visit him at his work some time. I really enjoy contacting, it proves to be so fruitful, and you meet lots of cool people.
Friday was a crazy busy day, we didn't just teach at the chapel, but instead went into the areas where our investigators live. We thought it would be a short walk to a place called Mkono Mbaya, but it turned out to be deep into Langas. Its not bad though, because we get to learn all of Langas. Recently the sun has been scorching hot in preparation for the rainy season so it drains all your energy quickly. We taught Quinta one of our recently committed investigators with a friend. It's great, because they understand everything and teaching is quick with them. The rest of our appointments in that area got bounced, but that was okay because we had back ups lined up to meet in case. So we then returned to the chapel and taught there for the rest of the day. We had some very interesting investigators on Friday. One of our investigators is determined on becoming a super wealthy business woman and that is all she desires to do. She says she will do anything to do so... kinda freaky... She heard the church makes people rich so she wants to be a member. We explained that's not what the church does, but as she aligns her will with God's and keeps his commandments, she will receive blessings. She was set on that, so she committed to church. We also met with a young 18 year old kid who we had contacted the previous day, we had given him a restoration pamphlet and he then returned 20 minutes later having read it through and through and wanted a book of Mormon and to know more. We didn't have any Book of Mormons on us at the time, so we set up to meet him today so we could give him one. He didn't have a phone, but he showed up on time. He explained to us that he was a Jehovah Witness, but lost his faith in their beliefs, so he has been searching for the truth. He reminds me a lot of the young boy Joseph Smith who also was seeking for the truth. We gave him a Book of Mormon and explained the Restoration as well as answered his concerns and questions. Two more of our investigators committed to baptism on Friday, so that was really awesome! The work is exploding here. As we turn ourselves to the Lord and rely on his merits, he is showering us with blessings and opening up the doors to fulfill his work here.
Saturday was a day filled with bounces. Weekends are really tough for teaching because all the students are still in school, (Students from primary school up through Secondary school attend school from 5:45am - 6:00pm Monday through Saturday...) Also the college students don't want to meet, because Saturday is their weekend when they want to do things. Those in the working force still must work on Saturday, or that's when they are collecting their pay checks, so they stand in a big line and wait all day. So getting appointments is tough. We arranged for 6 appointments, but all but one fell through. We kept our promise to Ezekial and went and visited him at his work, he showed us around the brand new apartment complex. He designed all the rooms, and built/ installed all the fixtures and such. He did some beautiful woodwork in the top floor apartment, the first woodwork I have seen in an apartment. These flats were amazing! absolutely beautiful, probably some of the best I have seen here in Kenya. Both my comp and I agreed we need to move into these ones. They are directly next to the church, and they only cost 20,000 - 25,000ksh
($230-280) per month! So we very well may be moving into these new apartments.
Sunday was a nice day, There was a Homecoming testimony by a freshly returned missionary, Elvis. He also served with the RM
(Returned Missionary) who stayed at our flat from Johannesburg. He is big! he went out weighing 71kgs and came back weighing a total of 110kgs.. (156 lbs to 242). That's 80lbs gained on mission! You see what happens when you go from githeri and ugali (maize and kidney bean dishes) to McDonald's and Pizza. I seriously am not going to let that happen to me. I actually think I will lose weight when returning home. We had lots of Investigators at church, a total of 14, 12 of which attended Sacrament meeting. During Sacrament meeting we got a call from our new investigator named Kassim, our phone was on silent, so I stepped outside to call him and direct him to the church. He said he was at the gate, so I walked over to see a man in a Kings Jersey limping to the chapel. I assumed well this must be Kassim, so I greeted him by saying you must be Kassim, he said yes, and came and sat in the chapel with us. Long story short, we met the real Kassim after church wearing a white shirt and younger in age. He had attended all the services, so I really am not sure who the guy in the Kings Jersey was. I was really tired in Priesthood meeting and was dozing off, and my comp poked me after I closed my eyes and said "umekufa?" meaning are you dead? It was funny. Right when I snapped back into alertness, I was able to answer the question asked by the class and even provide scriptures to support it. My companion laughs at me each morning as I tell him about my crazy dreams. He tells me that I am tired throughout the day, because my mind doesn't rest during the night. He says it's like I'm running marathons in my sleep... Well thats okay by me, because I really don't enjoy sleep unless I dream, and now I dream almost every night, so I enjoy it haha.
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| Rushton and his companion Elder Nyirenda. |
This next week we should be busy again, tomorrow I will be back in Huruma showing Elder Turner around. I must show him the entire area in one day, so we are going to be exhausted by the end of the day!! Also on Wednesday, we need to go do price checks for all the things needing bought in each flat, and showing the couples the new flat so that we can move there. So we should be busy busy busy this week. We have planned to commit 11 of our investigators to baptism, so if we can accomplish that, it will be great!!
So now if anyone here wants to read an action packed book, read the Book of Mormon, especially the end of the book of
, dang its intense! I feel like I am watching a super intense action movie or something when I read it, it's awesome!! Just try it.
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