So to begin with Tuesday. On Tuesday, it was exchanges with Elder Turner in Huruma. We met in town around 10:30am switched companions and then he and I headed back to my motherland in Eldoret. I was glad to be able to go back just to visit, because there were a lot of people I missed seeing and didn’t really get to say goodbye to when I left that area. I mapped out the whole day in my head because I needed to train Turner in the entire area in the space of 8 hours and Huruma sure is not small. To make it easier, I had us dropped in Huruma Estates, the major slum part of Huruma which is the first stage (bus stop) of Huruma on the main road. There were two investigators and some less actives that I knew of in Huruma Estates, so we first went and Visited Sister Kasina, the Kamba lady who runs a clinic over on that side. She is so funny. She was leaving her clinic for town, so we only visited for a few minutes before going on to the next home that I knew of. It was the home of Sister Virginia. She is a super nice lady married to a member. She likes to mess with us by acting as though she doesn’t know English, but she does. We visited with her for a few minutes and we even committed her to be baptized on the 25 of May. The whole purpose of the day was to train Turner in the areas, so each visit was only about 10 - 20 minutes and consisted mainly of Building a Relationship of Trust, leaving them with a prayer, then going on our way. Since we were in the slums, I (thought) knew where another Investigator and less active family stayed, so we diverged deeper into the slums. The slums are nasty nasty nasty...trash is everywhere, and then there is a sharp smell that permeates everywhere and slowly burns away your sense of smell. We searched all over for this home, but considering I had only been there at night, I didn’t have any landmarks or anything to gauge the location by. We asked people if they knew the person we were trying to see, "Franco, the man who was attacked with pangas and broke his leg?" No one seemed to know... see now if this were in our country, everyone would know...guess those in the slums aren’t so tight one with another. So gave up on trying to find the home and agreed to have a member show them a later date. So then we went and dropped my backpack off at the apartment and I switched to my miniature side bag (450ksh or $5.25) we then went and visited everyone in the next rough area, Kingongo. I wanted to knock out all the dangerous areas first, because the later in the day it gets, the more sketchy it gets there, and with two muzungus (white guys) walking around... yeah not such a good idea. We walked a ton, that day, from Huruma Estates to Kahoya, to Kingongo, to Duka Moja, to Tyrembili, to Road Block, then finally back home. We visited sister Rhoda as our last appointment and she showed us her Rabbits. Last time I was there she had 5 with 4 of them having 6 babies or so each... now she has 25 Huge ones! I couldn’t believe it, but she showed me this little brown one that I really liked when it was little, and now it was massive!! On our way home we stopped by my favorite choma (a restaurant that serves roasted meat) and got Matura (intestines with mystery meat stuffed inside kind of like a big sausage). They are some of my favorite meat here, and Elder Turner really wanted to try them. At the close of the day we were exhausted, but still somehow managed to stay up talking till 12:30am.
On Wednesday, we had our usual DDM, we arrived late this time because coming from Huruma is a far distance, and the Matatu we took was being super lame and would stop at each stage (bus stop) and wait for like 5 - 10 min before going again. Public transportation will always frustrate me here. It’s not made for Muzungu time nor Muzungu size. At DDM, Elder Turner taught on the subject of becoming as a child, meek, submissive, humble, and obedient. After DDM, Elder Nyirenda and I went with Elder Anderson (Senior missionary) to go pick up Sister Anderson who had been planning a wedding for one of the members in the District. We went together to Langas where we showed them our potential new flat. They really liked it. It’s so nice and big! Just the right size for missionaries though, and if we needed, we could fit four elders in it, because we have 2 showers and bathrooms as well as a big sitting room and two bedrooms. I was speaking to the Landlord/ building owner as we walked through the apartments sharing my likes about each one and concerns, the owner is a man and his wife, they are super nice to us and are trying to make their apartment building a bit different than all the others in Kenya. It is by far the nicest I have seen here in Kenya... and only 25000ksh ($290) per month plus 1500ksh ($175) service charge. After Touring the apartments with them, we gave the Senior Couple all the details so that they could negotiate with the Office Couples in Nairobi. We then went to the chapel where we were going to have two appointments, but instead decided to call the two appointments and reschedule for the next day so that we could go to town and buy medical supplies for the zone, something that the zone has been low on and greatly in need of. Plus when planning the week, we had designated Wednesday for inquiring prices and buying things in town to renovate each flat and bring them up to missionary standards. It was nice and we were able to get everything we needed while in town.
Thursday we had our regular service at the hospital. While playing with the kids, two of the nurses who work with the children wanted to talk to me, so I went and talked to them, and they both wanted to come to church on Sunday, so we got their numbers and names and told them where the church is and also that we would call them on Saturday night to remind them. After Service we went to lunch as a zone. It’s nice each week to go eat as a zone. This is a regular thing in almost all the districts or zones in the mission. It helps to build unity one with another. We then returned back to the chapel and taught a new investigator, Geoffrey. He was so excited to hear of the gospel, and kept thanking us over and over. He is a college student, but immediately knew the truth of the gospel. We committed him to be baptized on Easter Sunday, April 20th. A perfect day for a baptism. We then taught Jones, he is one of our progressing investigators, and will also be baptized on April 20th. After teaching Geoffrey and Jones, Gilbert the church night guard came. He is 21 and still happy as ever. He has been reading the church history and really understands things well. He will be baptized on April 20 too and after which he says he would love to teach the gospel to others and prepare to serve a mission so that he too can share the gospel with others. Really a powerful teaching day.
Friday...So friday was really an interesting day. We only ended up having one appointment throughout the day, but that’s because we had to go and give one of the sister missionaries in the zone a blessing. Our one appointment for the day was with Mercy, She began investigating the church around the time the new chapel was finished and she even came to the chapel dedication. Her main persuit however is to become rich. She was told by a friend in Mombasa two years ago that a church that has a spire like most of ours would make her rich if she was willing to sacrifice something, or someone... So once the new chapel was built with a spire, she came to investigate. (Just so that everyone knows, I have come to learn that the spire represents the mountain of the Lord, and raising an ensign of truth and righteosuness unto the nations or the communities where our chapels are found.) We had met with her the previous week and discussed her desires and concerns, and she even came to church that Sunday. We told her that her desire for money would not be fulfilled, but that her perspective and desires would change. This didn’t satisfy her, thus the reason we were meeting on Friday. She said that at church she felt very happy, but her desires were not met. We confirmed that her desires are money and she wants it only to "enjoy". She informed us that she didn’t want another Christian church, but instead a church of the adversary that would make her rich. The rumors and such here in Eldoret led her to believe that ours was the church she was seeking after. We then proceeded to bear testimony to her that by seeking after the church of the adversary she will bring nothing but misery into her life. She may obtain worldly riches, but in doing so will throw away everything she once knew to be good. I felt like we were speaking like Mormon in Moroni 9:4. We decided we would give her some time to think about it and change her mind. Right after teaching, we had to go over to the Jerusalem Sisters area where we gave one of the sister missionaries in the Zone a blessing. My companion was the one annointing, and I was the one to seal the blessing. I could feel the spirit so strong and I could tell that I was speaking by the spirit. After giving the blessing, we went on our way and went to Bakers Point in Town to negotiate for a Bulk order of pizza that we will be making this week for MLC (Missionary Leadership Conference.) We will be eating 15 pizzas for only 11 of us who will be there. 10 mediums and 5 smalls that come for free with the mediums. Its been a while since I had pizza, so I am excited for that!
Saturday morning, we had to go back to town to actually negotiate the price of the pizzas. The previous day we were just inquiring of its possibility and then that night we spoke to the APs and they told us to negotiate to pay 4000ksh ($46) for everything. When we got to the restaurant, the owner who is a nice Indian lady knew we were coming and negotiated easily, she agreed to do it for 4500ksh ($52), so we agreed to that. Just out of curiousity I inquired of the price of the nice cakes they sell and she told me the price then gave us two big pieces of Black Forest cake absolutely free. That made my morning for sure! Once we returned back to the Chapel for teaching, we sat down and enjoyed the delicious cake while waiting for our first appointment to arrive. That cake was amazing...so much better than the usual queen cakes that are usually made around here. So yeah that was an awesome morning getting free cake. You can’t complain about free cake especially when each piece is regularly 250ksh ($3) each. For teaching on Saturday, a lot of our appointments got bounced, so we had some extra time to diligently search the scriptures (like the sons of Mosiah). We ended up teaching Geoffrey and Jones again. Geoffrey really wants to catch up with Jones in progress in the lessons. We also met with Kenneth a young 18yr old boy we had met the previous week while contacting. We gave him a Book of Mormon, but he informed us that his father had taken it saying that he wanted to read it first. That’s okay by me, because I know that by reading the Book of Mormon, his father will learn of its truthfulness and seek to know more. It’s liking killing two birds with one stone. Simon our Progressing Investigator who was planned to be baptized on Sunday came late to his interview with the DL, so we took them on a tour of the new apartment. This time I met the man who owns the place, last time was his wife, really nice guy, really wants us to have a contract with them, and wants the place to be as nice as possible. The Sosiani Elders were amazed and said the flat will be known of throughout the mission... if we get it. Simon finally showed up and we went and reviewed the baptismal questions with him real quick, then he passed his interview. As they interviewed him, I spoke with Gilbert. He still desires to become a member and is on track for April 20th. So yeah Work in Langas seems to be progressing up to what we've seen till Saturday.
Now Sunday was a truly amazing day. We had a total of 26 Investigators attend church, 17 of them attended Sacrament Meeting. It was amazing to see so many investigators come. I sat next to Kimaru (one of the two from the hospital, the other ended up getting busy). I passed the sacrament then sat back next to Kimaru and explained what the sacrament is and the importance of it. Every time I looked at the chapel door, it seemed that more and more investigators were coming. It was awesome! Investigators were bringing their families and friends and it was just overall incredible. When I walked into Gospel Principles class, it was packed with Investigators... I have never seen it so full of people. Every chair was full and we had to set up more seats for people to sit. Brother Vicky asked me if it was my turn to teach, but I told him it was his, after I learned the lesson topic I wished one of us missionaries had done it, because it was the church in modern days. It would have been just like teaching a first discussion to all these investigators. Vicky did a nice job though, so that was good. After church we had Brother Simons baptism. It was super well attended, everyone that was at church came to it, and there were 22 of the 26 investigators present for it. The spirit was really strong during the service, and I’m sure all those present could feel the presence of the spirit. After the Baptism, we taught Geoffrey and Kenneth the whole plan of Salvation. They understood well and all in all it was a nice lesson in which it helped ease many of their concerns. We then went straight to West Indies where we visited Margaret and Anabel for lunch with the Sosiani Elders. That was a nice visit. I am no longer their missionary in that area, so it’s rare to be able to visit them.
So I dont know if I depicted this week in the exact way I feel, I tried, but yeah. Anyways, this week really was a great week, especially Sunday! It goes to show that our hard work is being noticed and is paying off. Great blessings come as we are obedient to the mission rules and delight ourselves in searching the scriptures. Like I said before, I challenge you to read the Book of Mormon. Try just reading it as a novel, you’ll be amazed! I am doing that right now and loving every page of it.
I love you all, and thank you all for your constant support and prayers. May God be with you till we meet again.
Love, Elder Rushton Jay Hiltbrand
On Wednesday, we had our usual DDM, we arrived late this time because coming from Huruma is a far distance, and the Matatu we took was being super lame and would stop at each stage (bus stop) and wait for like 5 - 10 min before going again. Public transportation will always frustrate me here. It’s not made for Muzungu time nor Muzungu size. At DDM, Elder Turner taught on the subject of becoming as a child, meek, submissive, humble, and obedient. After DDM, Elder Nyirenda and I went with Elder Anderson (Senior missionary) to go pick up Sister Anderson who had been planning a wedding for one of the members in the District. We went together to Langas where we showed them our potential new flat. They really liked it. It’s so nice and big! Just the right size for missionaries though, and if we needed, we could fit four elders in it, because we have 2 showers and bathrooms as well as a big sitting room and two bedrooms. I was speaking to the Landlord/ building owner as we walked through the apartments sharing my likes about each one and concerns, the owner is a man and his wife, they are super nice to us and are trying to make their apartment building a bit different than all the others in Kenya. It is by far the nicest I have seen here in Kenya... and only 25000ksh ($290) per month plus 1500ksh ($175) service charge. After Touring the apartments with them, we gave the Senior Couple all the details so that they could negotiate with the Office Couples in Nairobi. We then went to the chapel where we were going to have two appointments, but instead decided to call the two appointments and reschedule for the next day so that we could go to town and buy medical supplies for the zone, something that the zone has been low on and greatly in need of. Plus when planning the week, we had designated Wednesday for inquiring prices and buying things in town to renovate each flat and bring them up to missionary standards. It was nice and we were able to get everything we needed while in town.
Thursday we had our regular service at the hospital. While playing with the kids, two of the nurses who work with the children wanted to talk to me, so I went and talked to them, and they both wanted to come to church on Sunday, so we got their numbers and names and told them where the church is and also that we would call them on Saturday night to remind them. After Service we went to lunch as a zone. It’s nice each week to go eat as a zone. This is a regular thing in almost all the districts or zones in the mission. It helps to build unity one with another. We then returned back to the chapel and taught a new investigator, Geoffrey. He was so excited to hear of the gospel, and kept thanking us over and over. He is a college student, but immediately knew the truth of the gospel. We committed him to be baptized on Easter Sunday, April 20th. A perfect day for a baptism. We then taught Jones, he is one of our progressing investigators, and will also be baptized on April 20th. After teaching Geoffrey and Jones, Gilbert the church night guard came. He is 21 and still happy as ever. He has been reading the church history and really understands things well. He will be baptized on April 20 too and after which he says he would love to teach the gospel to others and prepare to serve a mission so that he too can share the gospel with others. Really a powerful teaching day.
Friday...So friday was really an interesting day. We only ended up having one appointment throughout the day, but that’s because we had to go and give one of the sister missionaries in the zone a blessing. Our one appointment for the day was with Mercy, She began investigating the church around the time the new chapel was finished and she even came to the chapel dedication. Her main persuit however is to become rich. She was told by a friend in Mombasa two years ago that a church that has a spire like most of ours would make her rich if she was willing to sacrifice something, or someone... So once the new chapel was built with a spire, she came to investigate. (Just so that everyone knows, I have come to learn that the spire represents the mountain of the Lord, and raising an ensign of truth and righteosuness unto the nations or the communities where our chapels are found.) We had met with her the previous week and discussed her desires and concerns, and she even came to church that Sunday. We told her that her desire for money would not be fulfilled, but that her perspective and desires would change. This didn’t satisfy her, thus the reason we were meeting on Friday. She said that at church she felt very happy, but her desires were not met. We confirmed that her desires are money and she wants it only to "enjoy". She informed us that she didn’t want another Christian church, but instead a church of the adversary that would make her rich. The rumors and such here in Eldoret led her to believe that ours was the church she was seeking after. We then proceeded to bear testimony to her that by seeking after the church of the adversary she will bring nothing but misery into her life. She may obtain worldly riches, but in doing so will throw away everything she once knew to be good. I felt like we were speaking like Mormon in Moroni 9:4. We decided we would give her some time to think about it and change her mind. Right after teaching, we had to go over to the Jerusalem Sisters area where we gave one of the sister missionaries in the Zone a blessing. My companion was the one annointing, and I was the one to seal the blessing. I could feel the spirit so strong and I could tell that I was speaking by the spirit. After giving the blessing, we went on our way and went to Bakers Point in Town to negotiate for a Bulk order of pizza that we will be making this week for MLC (Missionary Leadership Conference.) We will be eating 15 pizzas for only 11 of us who will be there. 10 mediums and 5 smalls that come for free with the mediums. Its been a while since I had pizza, so I am excited for that!
Saturday morning, we had to go back to town to actually negotiate the price of the pizzas. The previous day we were just inquiring of its possibility and then that night we spoke to the APs and they told us to negotiate to pay 4000ksh ($46) for everything. When we got to the restaurant, the owner who is a nice Indian lady knew we were coming and negotiated easily, she agreed to do it for 4500ksh ($52), so we agreed to that. Just out of curiousity I inquired of the price of the nice cakes they sell and she told me the price then gave us two big pieces of Black Forest cake absolutely free. That made my morning for sure! Once we returned back to the Chapel for teaching, we sat down and enjoyed the delicious cake while waiting for our first appointment to arrive. That cake was amazing...so much better than the usual queen cakes that are usually made around here. So yeah that was an awesome morning getting free cake. You can’t complain about free cake especially when each piece is regularly 250ksh ($3) each. For teaching on Saturday, a lot of our appointments got bounced, so we had some extra time to diligently search the scriptures (like the sons of Mosiah). We ended up teaching Geoffrey and Jones again. Geoffrey really wants to catch up with Jones in progress in the lessons. We also met with Kenneth a young 18yr old boy we had met the previous week while contacting. We gave him a Book of Mormon, but he informed us that his father had taken it saying that he wanted to read it first. That’s okay by me, because I know that by reading the Book of Mormon, his father will learn of its truthfulness and seek to know more. It’s liking killing two birds with one stone. Simon our Progressing Investigator who was planned to be baptized on Sunday came late to his interview with the DL, so we took them on a tour of the new apartment. This time I met the man who owns the place, last time was his wife, really nice guy, really wants us to have a contract with them, and wants the place to be as nice as possible. The Sosiani Elders were amazed and said the flat will be known of throughout the mission... if we get it. Simon finally showed up and we went and reviewed the baptismal questions with him real quick, then he passed his interview. As they interviewed him, I spoke with Gilbert. He still desires to become a member and is on track for April 20th. So yeah Work in Langas seems to be progressing up to what we've seen till Saturday.
Now Sunday was a truly amazing day. We had a total of 26 Investigators attend church, 17 of them attended Sacrament Meeting. It was amazing to see so many investigators come. I sat next to Kimaru (one of the two from the hospital, the other ended up getting busy). I passed the sacrament then sat back next to Kimaru and explained what the sacrament is and the importance of it. Every time I looked at the chapel door, it seemed that more and more investigators were coming. It was awesome! Investigators were bringing their families and friends and it was just overall incredible. When I walked into Gospel Principles class, it was packed with Investigators... I have never seen it so full of people. Every chair was full and we had to set up more seats for people to sit. Brother Vicky asked me if it was my turn to teach, but I told him it was his, after I learned the lesson topic I wished one of us missionaries had done it, because it was the church in modern days. It would have been just like teaching a first discussion to all these investigators. Vicky did a nice job though, so that was good. After church we had Brother Simons baptism. It was super well attended, everyone that was at church came to it, and there were 22 of the 26 investigators present for it. The spirit was really strong during the service, and I’m sure all those present could feel the presence of the spirit. After the Baptism, we taught Geoffrey and Kenneth the whole plan of Salvation. They understood well and all in all it was a nice lesson in which it helped ease many of their concerns. We then went straight to West Indies where we visited Margaret and Anabel for lunch with the Sosiani Elders. That was a nice visit. I am no longer their missionary in that area, so it’s rare to be able to visit them.
So I dont know if I depicted this week in the exact way I feel, I tried, but yeah. Anyways, this week really was a great week, especially Sunday! It goes to show that our hard work is being noticed and is paying off. Great blessings come as we are obedient to the mission rules and delight ourselves in searching the scriptures. Like I said before, I challenge you to read the Book of Mormon. Try just reading it as a novel, you’ll be amazed! I am doing that right now and loving every page of it.
I love you all, and thank you all for your constant support and prayers. May God be with you till we meet again.
Love, Elder Rushton Jay Hiltbrand
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