Once again it’s Monday here in Kenya meaning that you get another action packed update of what happened last week! This week hasn’t been so action packed and has probably had the least amount of proselyting hours, but none the less it was awesome.
So I’ll start with Tuesday. Tuesday we scheduled for the Kitale and Kisumu Zone Leaders (ZLs) to be arriving around 2:00pm in preparation for the Mission Leadership Council (MLC) meeting on Wednesday. So we had previously made lots of appointments in the evening not remembering that these elders would be arriving this day. That morning once we remembered, we had to rearrange our appointments and move them all to Thursday after the conference. We planned to see two families in the morning, those that we knew would be available, because during the week most of our investigators, recent converts and less active members work from morning till 5:00pm each day. If you see our planner, after around 4:00 pm it’s packed with appointments, but prior to that it’s a bit sporadic. So we went and saw mama Brian (when you say mama Brian, it means the mother of Brian her child, it’s common custom here). So we went and saw her and found her son Brian home from school. He has malaria, so he is pretty much bed ridden for the day. Mama Brian’s husband is a theatre owner, so they have a small makeshift theatre connected to their home. This being so, it’s normally pretty loud in there with the noise from the movie in the background. Just a interesting fact, when a movie is brand new in theaters in the USA, it is already able to be seen here in Kenya for only 20 - 30ksh ($.25-.35). The people here are masters of counterfeit and piracy, a lot of it comes from the Chinese businesses that have the dominant market here in Africa, especially the northern countries due to close proximity with China. We didn’t stay long there. They gave us some Uji (like porridge) that tasted super strange to me, but my companion loved it because it had a type of sourness to it. After seeing them for a bit, we went and visited Mama Hassan. She is such a funny woman. She is always upbeat and enthusiastic about everything, especially the gospel. She gave us a demonstration of how she shares the gospel by reading Liahonas (a church magazine) on the Bus, she looks out the window while reading and moves the Liahona in front of the person next to her so that they will start reading it too. It was a really funny demonstration she gave, but when she stood up we realized my sunglasses were under where she sat next to me to demonstrate, and she had obliterated them... woops haha, not a big deal though, because nice sunglasses "RayPin" are only 200ksh ($2.30). Her son Benedict was also there. He has some sort of nasty, like by nasty I mean like straight up nasty foot infection that turned his whole foot yellow and the underpart has narly gashes in it. They think it may be tetanus or something. We left shortly after leaving with a prayer and then went to the chapel to leave a note for one of investigators who doesn’t have a phone. Just as we finished doing that, we realized Elder Nyirenda had left his bag at Mama Hassans, so we had to go back "over the trash covered hills, across the foul smelling river, to mama Hassan's we go!"
After retrieving his bag, we headed to town and met the Kisumu and Kitale elders at the Jerusalem Chapel to play some soccer. We played for a good two hours before we all got tired and had to leave to go to Bakers Point to order 15 pizzas for the MLC the next day. As we were leaving, it began raining, so we really hurried to get there so that we wouldn’t be drenched. When we arrived, we discovered they had closed early due to the rain and needing to get home to beat traffic and such. So we ended up ordering them by Text, the Indian lady who owns it is way nice and super helpful to us in trying to get everything right. We got some snacks and stuff before heading back to the flat. (I was just wondering, but is it normal for there to be cooking oil in Icecream...? Like I’ve said, everything has cooking oil in it here.) So that was the jist of Tuesday, just lots of talking and joking that night prior to MLC. It’s way fun to be with all the ZLs because everyone is serious about the work and able to have fun at the same time.
So on Wednesday, we faced an unexpected turn of events, as we were all getting ready around 7:00am, we received a call from the AP's (Assistants to the President) informing us that they had missed their flight and would not be able to come to Eldoret for MLC. They told us they would call us back and inform us of what was going to happen. They soon called back and informed us that we needed to come to Nairobi... Huh.. an 8 hour bus ride last minute. I totally thought they were joking, because yesterday was April Fool’s day and everyone was tricking one another in various ways. He corrected me and told me "there is a time to joke and there is a time to be serious, now is a time to be serious." That’s all that needed said, so we quickly changed our plans and got ready for our trip to Nairobi. We had to cancel the pizza order which was a bummer, but we all missed Nairobi, so we were looking forward to a trip there. We let the sisters know and they too thought we were joking. We all met up in town and then spent the next thirty minutes looking for a bus direct to nairobi. We found one for 800ksh ($9.25) per ticket, so we had to use our entire working fund to cover the 8 of us. (2 kitale ZLs, 2 Eldoret, 2 Kisumu, 2 Sisters from Eldoret Sister Training Leadership). The bus ride took close to 8 hours because our Bus driver was incredibly slow. All the buses and matatus now have to be governed to 80kph (49.6mph) so it makes travel incredibly slow... I sure miss the 80mph roads in Utah and Idaho.. We arrived in Nairobi around 5:30 pm. I was the only one with a directional knowledge of Nairobi, so I got us around from place to place. It seems I am able to remember places and directions really well. We got Pizza Inn that night which was so nice to switch things up. Once again we all joked around and had fun in anticipation for MLC the next day.
Thursday, MLC (Mission Leadership Conference) day. Let me just say first off that MLC is seriously so awesome! We all got to the office early and at 9:00 went to the conference room to have MLC. MLC pretty much consists of all the ZLs from that particular District (area of Kenya) in a Board room sitting and collaborating on issues and ways to improve the missionary work here in Kenya. I felt like we were all like business executives while sitting there. Really had a different feeling compared to Zone conference, because this was entirely based on collaboration to determine how we can better serve those in our zones and building obedience and diligence mission wide. We discussed only five topics this time, safety and curfew, study journals, using Preach My Gospel, becoming a consecrated missionary, and how to deal with difficult situations. In regards to safety, we were updated on the fact that in the last week there have been many terrorist attacks throughout Kenya. "The world is currently unstable and will not improve, it will only get worse. It will only get worse here in Kenya, so we must be doing what we ought to and seek protection from the lord in all that we do." Things are really speeding up, as we prepare for the second coming of our Lord. The world will continue to be in Turmoil, many countries across the globe are already involved in it. So yeah, that was pretty intense, President Hicken being a former police chief knows what’s up and knows how to keep us safe, so all is well. We were really inspired on the topic of creating study journals to use and a really resourceful way to do it. Also because many here in African missions do not see a need to use PMG (Preach My Gospel manual), we created a mission challenge to read the entire PMG next transfer, so that we will all see the importance of it, its use, and build a testimony of using it. Near the end of MLC, we did a bunch of role plays to learn how to deal with tough situations. I usually despise roleplays, but these ones were really cool as President Hicken orchestrated them. They really made us think of what to do in the situation and the best way to handle everything. I now see just how important doing roleplays is. I will definitely use them later in the mission. So all in all, MLC was really a great experience, intense learning, and much spiritual edification. I feel so privileged to be able to attend such a meeting and learn how I can become a better leader and lead the zone in a christ like manner.
After MLC, we had interviews. I was so happy to interview with President Hicken. I really love our interviews because it really allows me to learn one on one and have all my concerns and or questions answered. I love President Hicken, he is such a great leader, and is truly called of God to lead this mission and bring it into alignment with what God would have it be.
After Interviews we all headed to Java House to get milk shakes. You can’t just go to Nairobi and not get milkshakes. There are no milkshakes on the Western side, or as far as we have found. We got some delicious milkshakes 350ksh each... and then went and relaxed at the Assistants flat making Spaghetti.
Friday was Elder Nyirendas (Rushton's companion) birthday and another travel day back to our areas. Nice thing about this time was we got to use EasyCoach bus which is comfortable. It was a nice ride back, we saw lots of animals, especially Zebras and Antelopes, they are all over Western Kenya. I did see a buffalo, but only the horns of it because the hill it was standing on was too high for me to see any more.. if I count that, that means I have seen 3 out of 5 of the Big Five. When we were about 2 hours outside of Eldoret, we got stuck in a major traffic jam, we sat there and sat there until an hour and a half passed.. I guess someone had filled the road with massive piles of dirt and rocks to protest the death of a small child that had been killed recently by a car on the road. After an hour and a half of waiting, the GSV military sector shows up with a big convoy and some land rover military vehicles filled with military personal with guns and big sticks. They all jump out and start chasing people and beating those who were protesting (there was a massive crowd gathered all over from people being curious and other stubborn people. We watched these military guys and then all of a sudden we hear gun shots fired, probably 20 gun shots were fired, and tear gas thrown to spread the crowds. It was super intense! They weren’t shooting anyone, but they were spreading the crowd to clear the road. That was probably the highlight of the day. It being Elder Nyirendas birthday, I wanted to take him to eat somewhere of his choice, but the Chinese restaurant he chose was closed, so I bought him a big whole chicken at the super market, and we went home and ate that.
Saturday was the day of Sister Diana and Boaz's wedding. Sister Diana was the new Relief Society president (Relief Society is the women’s organization at church) in my last area, Huruma. Both are return missionaries, so they were having a civil marriage celebration for the families to attend and such, and then they are going today to South Africa to be sealed in the temple. The wedding took up the entire day, but it was nice to meet many new people and have a strong member and missionary presence to be examples and supportive. The wedding was totally different than the last one I went to in Ukambani. It had a total South African feel to it with a very modern yet traditional flare to it. It was really funny to watch the entering of the bridesmaids and Best men. They all walked in a funny way toward each other totally set up for the cameras. When people say Africa is really far behind, I beg to differ, almost everyone I see here has a phone and most of them are smart phones. It’s just like in the states where every teenager has an Iphone or other smart phone. The wedding was filled with dancing. They say its not a wedding unless there is dancing, so I totally busted out all my Kamba dance moves and learned some western dance moves too. It’s rare for me to dance, but I have spurts of dancing where I rock the dance floor haha.. That was pretty much all of Saturday, the weddings here are long.
Sunday was a great day. We had 13 investigators at church for sacrament meeting, and it being Fast and Testimony meeting was really cool because even some of our investigators stood up and bore their testimonies. We have 10 progressing investigators right now, and they are all super strong in their faith of the gospel. I absolutely love it when I see our investigators taking notes during Sacrament meeting or during the classes. It just shows they really want to learn more of the gospel. After church, we taught Joshua and Benson, both progressing investigators. We taught them again the first half of the Restoration, both of them really understood, and Joshua asked really good questions. I have learned that the best way to answer questions is to use scriptures, they are powerful and to the point. They do much better than words alone. We committed both of them to baptism, they eagerly want to be baptized. Joshua will be baptized May 11th because we can only teach him on Sundays, and Benson on April 20th. Its really amazing how all the work is coming together here. In my interview with President Hicken, he told me that about 50% of the people baptized find the church themselves, while 50% we as missionaries find. I think its more like 75/25% here. The church is growing rapidly here in Kenya, as we align our will with that of the Lord, it will continue to push forward and someday as prophesied by President Gordon B. Hinckley, there will be a temple here in Kenya. What a great day that will be.
So that was the crazy week this week, not so filled with teaching, but none the less spiritually edifying and a great mix up to go to Nairobi.
Well I love you all, Kanisani hii ni Kweli! (This church is true!)
Elder Rushton Jay Hiltbrand
After retrieving his bag, we headed to town and met the Kisumu and Kitale elders at the Jerusalem Chapel to play some soccer. We played for a good two hours before we all got tired and had to leave to go to Bakers Point to order 15 pizzas for the MLC the next day. As we were leaving, it began raining, so we really hurried to get there so that we wouldn’t be drenched. When we arrived, we discovered they had closed early due to the rain and needing to get home to beat traffic and such. So we ended up ordering them by Text, the Indian lady who owns it is way nice and super helpful to us in trying to get everything right. We got some snacks and stuff before heading back to the flat. (I was just wondering, but is it normal for there to be cooking oil in Icecream...? Like I’ve said, everything has cooking oil in it here.) So that was the jist of Tuesday, just lots of talking and joking that night prior to MLC. It’s way fun to be with all the ZLs because everyone is serious about the work and able to have fun at the same time.
So on Wednesday, we faced an unexpected turn of events, as we were all getting ready around 7:00am, we received a call from the AP's (Assistants to the President) informing us that they had missed their flight and would not be able to come to Eldoret for MLC. They told us they would call us back and inform us of what was going to happen. They soon called back and informed us that we needed to come to Nairobi... Huh.. an 8 hour bus ride last minute. I totally thought they were joking, because yesterday was April Fool’s day and everyone was tricking one another in various ways. He corrected me and told me "there is a time to joke and there is a time to be serious, now is a time to be serious." That’s all that needed said, so we quickly changed our plans and got ready for our trip to Nairobi. We had to cancel the pizza order which was a bummer, but we all missed Nairobi, so we were looking forward to a trip there. We let the sisters know and they too thought we were joking. We all met up in town and then spent the next thirty minutes looking for a bus direct to nairobi. We found one for 800ksh ($9.25) per ticket, so we had to use our entire working fund to cover the 8 of us. (2 kitale ZLs, 2 Eldoret, 2 Kisumu, 2 Sisters from Eldoret Sister Training Leadership). The bus ride took close to 8 hours because our Bus driver was incredibly slow. All the buses and matatus now have to be governed to 80kph (49.6mph) so it makes travel incredibly slow... I sure miss the 80mph roads in Utah and Idaho.. We arrived in Nairobi around 5:30 pm. I was the only one with a directional knowledge of Nairobi, so I got us around from place to place. It seems I am able to remember places and directions really well. We got Pizza Inn that night which was so nice to switch things up. Once again we all joked around and had fun in anticipation for MLC the next day.
Thursday, MLC (Mission Leadership Conference) day. Let me just say first off that MLC is seriously so awesome! We all got to the office early and at 9:00 went to the conference room to have MLC. MLC pretty much consists of all the ZLs from that particular District (area of Kenya) in a Board room sitting and collaborating on issues and ways to improve the missionary work here in Kenya. I felt like we were all like business executives while sitting there. Really had a different feeling compared to Zone conference, because this was entirely based on collaboration to determine how we can better serve those in our zones and building obedience and diligence mission wide. We discussed only five topics this time, safety and curfew, study journals, using Preach My Gospel, becoming a consecrated missionary, and how to deal with difficult situations. In regards to safety, we were updated on the fact that in the last week there have been many terrorist attacks throughout Kenya. "The world is currently unstable and will not improve, it will only get worse. It will only get worse here in Kenya, so we must be doing what we ought to and seek protection from the lord in all that we do." Things are really speeding up, as we prepare for the second coming of our Lord. The world will continue to be in Turmoil, many countries across the globe are already involved in it. So yeah, that was pretty intense, President Hicken being a former police chief knows what’s up and knows how to keep us safe, so all is well. We were really inspired on the topic of creating study journals to use and a really resourceful way to do it. Also because many here in African missions do not see a need to use PMG (Preach My Gospel manual), we created a mission challenge to read the entire PMG next transfer, so that we will all see the importance of it, its use, and build a testimony of using it. Near the end of MLC, we did a bunch of role plays to learn how to deal with tough situations. I usually despise roleplays, but these ones were really cool as President Hicken orchestrated them. They really made us think of what to do in the situation and the best way to handle everything. I now see just how important doing roleplays is. I will definitely use them later in the mission. So all in all, MLC was really a great experience, intense learning, and much spiritual edification. I feel so privileged to be able to attend such a meeting and learn how I can become a better leader and lead the zone in a christ like manner.
After MLC, we had interviews. I was so happy to interview with President Hicken. I really love our interviews because it really allows me to learn one on one and have all my concerns and or questions answered. I love President Hicken, he is such a great leader, and is truly called of God to lead this mission and bring it into alignment with what God would have it be.
After Interviews we all headed to Java House to get milk shakes. You can’t just go to Nairobi and not get milkshakes. There are no milkshakes on the Western side, or as far as we have found. We got some delicious milkshakes 350ksh each... and then went and relaxed at the Assistants flat making Spaghetti.
Friday was Elder Nyirendas (Rushton's companion) birthday and another travel day back to our areas. Nice thing about this time was we got to use EasyCoach bus which is comfortable. It was a nice ride back, we saw lots of animals, especially Zebras and Antelopes, they are all over Western Kenya. I did see a buffalo, but only the horns of it because the hill it was standing on was too high for me to see any more.. if I count that, that means I have seen 3 out of 5 of the Big Five. When we were about 2 hours outside of Eldoret, we got stuck in a major traffic jam, we sat there and sat there until an hour and a half passed.. I guess someone had filled the road with massive piles of dirt and rocks to protest the death of a small child that had been killed recently by a car on the road. After an hour and a half of waiting, the GSV military sector shows up with a big convoy and some land rover military vehicles filled with military personal with guns and big sticks. They all jump out and start chasing people and beating those who were protesting (there was a massive crowd gathered all over from people being curious and other stubborn people. We watched these military guys and then all of a sudden we hear gun shots fired, probably 20 gun shots were fired, and tear gas thrown to spread the crowds. It was super intense! They weren’t shooting anyone, but they were spreading the crowd to clear the road. That was probably the highlight of the day. It being Elder Nyirendas birthday, I wanted to take him to eat somewhere of his choice, but the Chinese restaurant he chose was closed, so I bought him a big whole chicken at the super market, and we went home and ate that.
Saturday was the day of Sister Diana and Boaz's wedding. Sister Diana was the new Relief Society president (Relief Society is the women’s organization at church) in my last area, Huruma. Both are return missionaries, so they were having a civil marriage celebration for the families to attend and such, and then they are going today to South Africa to be sealed in the temple. The wedding took up the entire day, but it was nice to meet many new people and have a strong member and missionary presence to be examples and supportive. The wedding was totally different than the last one I went to in Ukambani. It had a total South African feel to it with a very modern yet traditional flare to it. It was really funny to watch the entering of the bridesmaids and Best men. They all walked in a funny way toward each other totally set up for the cameras. When people say Africa is really far behind, I beg to differ, almost everyone I see here has a phone and most of them are smart phones. It’s just like in the states where every teenager has an Iphone or other smart phone. The wedding was filled with dancing. They say its not a wedding unless there is dancing, so I totally busted out all my Kamba dance moves and learned some western dance moves too. It’s rare for me to dance, but I have spurts of dancing where I rock the dance floor haha.. That was pretty much all of Saturday, the weddings here are long.
Sunday was a great day. We had 13 investigators at church for sacrament meeting, and it being Fast and Testimony meeting was really cool because even some of our investigators stood up and bore their testimonies. We have 10 progressing investigators right now, and they are all super strong in their faith of the gospel. I absolutely love it when I see our investigators taking notes during Sacrament meeting or during the classes. It just shows they really want to learn more of the gospel. After church, we taught Joshua and Benson, both progressing investigators. We taught them again the first half of the Restoration, both of them really understood, and Joshua asked really good questions. I have learned that the best way to answer questions is to use scriptures, they are powerful and to the point. They do much better than words alone. We committed both of them to baptism, they eagerly want to be baptized. Joshua will be baptized May 11th because we can only teach him on Sundays, and Benson on April 20th. Its really amazing how all the work is coming together here. In my interview with President Hicken, he told me that about 50% of the people baptized find the church themselves, while 50% we as missionaries find. I think its more like 75/25% here. The church is growing rapidly here in Kenya, as we align our will with that of the Lord, it will continue to push forward and someday as prophesied by President Gordon B. Hinckley, there will be a temple here in Kenya. What a great day that will be.
So that was the crazy week this week, not so filled with teaching, but none the less spiritually edifying and a great mix up to go to Nairobi.
Well I love you all, Kanisani hii ni Kweli! (This church is true!)
Elder Rushton Jay Hiltbrand
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