So hello everyone, this week feels as though it was really long! I’m not sure why, but it just feels as though it has been a really slow week. Now I am over the hump, I have officially been out over a year, and it blows my mind just thinking about it. This week I also had some interesting experiences that I’ll kinda highlight on because there were also a ton of appointments that fell through, throughout the course of the week.
So last Monday, we had a dinner appointment with the District President. On Preparation days I really feel more comfortable wearing proselyting clothes, because first off it’s a rule, and second if I don’t everyone looks at me as though I am some european tourist or something and it’s just not something I feel comfortable with. So I asked my companion in the morning as to what he wanted to wear and I suggested we wear proselyting considering our dinner appointment with the DP and such. He really prefers casual clothes on Preparation days, so he just stated "It’s P-Day Bwana" so in order for us to be unified, I informed the Sosiani Elders whom we usually meet up with on Preparation days. They were in shock and the texts weren’t going through, so they didn’t think we were serious at first. Well fast forward to that evening after cybering, we arrive at the DP's home and the first thing he says is "Oh so your not missionaries today?" That line right there pierced me to the soul. I sat there not feeling comfortable at all during the Dinner appointment. It just kept racing through my mind. The dinner appointment went well, it was Family Home evening and dinner with all the misisonaries in the zone and the District Presidents family. After we returned home we were reading the White Handbook together for Companionship Study and we went over the part about wearing proselyting clothes on preparation days. After I told my comp there was something I wanted to discuss, and explained how I did not feel comfortable at the DA and what our District President had said had really pierced me. I really felt the spirit speaking through me, and I talked with him about as Zone Leaders we need to be exactly obedient, because we need to set the example, but also more importantly, we are direct representatives of Jesus Christ. If Jesus Christ were on splits with us, what would he think of what we are and have been doing in his place. I committed him to pray to know if the what handbook is true, just as you would commit someone to pray about the Book of Mormon. It was interesting, but it went well and today we are both in Proselyting clothes, so that is a big bonus.
So Tuesday was a really slow day of teaching, it seems that people are really busy now days looking for money, because the schools are coming to a close, and it costs money for them to take exams, so a lot of our appointments fall through. We took the time to try and visit less active members, but all those whom we tried to visit were not around, so we did some finding. We walked to the very far side of the slums and then it turned into these beautiful farms and not such crowded homes and such. It was really nice there, really green, the animals looked healthier, and not so many mystery rivers. We talked to some people down that way, then were walking back to the church and came across two guys who had escavated this particular land, they were insisting people to walk around rather than through, and we were following some guys and they just waked right through, my companion didn’t notice at first, but I walked around and in doing so stopped to talk to the two guys. Turns out they are pastors and they were excavating the land to build a new church. We talked to them about the doctrines of our church and about the restoration. They were really excited about our message. The issue we face when teaching pastors is that yes it’s true that we believe in the same God, but without the fullness of the gospel we can not return back to him. Also its really hard for them to accept the message because its their job to be a pastor and they make a lot of money from it. After talking with them, we returned to the church and were expecting to have three appointments, but with the oncoming appearance of rain clouds, all but one bounced us. Rain is frightening to the people here, it’s like it'll melt them or something. We taught Benson, and then that was it for the day.
Wednesday marked officially one year since I got on the airplane and left home. It’s really a strange feeling to look back and see that it’s already been a full year. It really feels as though it has been so much shorter. But now its over the hump for me. Now everyday is my last on mission, my last June 15, Last June 16, etc. Really goes to show that you must make the best of it while your still there, give it your all and leave nothing that you regret. In regards to my celebration, it was with Sparkling White Grape Cider and a bag of Brookside Dark Chocolate Acai Berries that I have preserved for that very day since the beginning of my mission. This week I have also just really been feeling down, my mind is playing with me and my short term memory seems to be fading and the ability to recall things that I just read, heard, or saw is tough. I have tried everything that I know, drinking tons of water, medicine, fasting, etc. So I knew that in order to fully have the Lord’s help, I needed a blessing, so we headed over to Sosiani building early and met with the Sosiani Elders who gave me a wonderful blessing. It really made me feel better, for it’s just tough because going through stuff like this and never having done so before is scary to the mind and body and it makes you convinced that it will never go away. I have trust that it will though, for in my Patriarchal Blessing it gives me promises that I can hold on to. So after the Blessing, we had DDM, It was a good meeting.. In the beginning we got blasted by one of the sisters in her spiritual thought for no reason, and then another of the sisters was supposed to train, but was not notified by her companions, so I volunteered to take her place. The training went well. It was about Goal setting, Planning, and Accountability and how we need to apply that pattern to each day, each week, each month, each transfer, and each Mission. All went well and then after it was even cooler, because Elder Harding gave all of us packs of Oreos. Later in the evening we were discussing about how to deal with some difficulties in the zone. It’s interesting how my companion and I have entirely different leadership styles. He is very hands off, while I on the other hand am more Hands on.
Thursday was another day of service at the hospital. In the morning I began my 2nd study of Jesus the Christ by Talmage. The first time I jumped around a lot and read what applied to what I was thinking about at the time, but now I am just reading it start to finish. It is seriously one of the best resources about Jesus Christ that is available to us. It really opens your eyes to things that you never thought about prior. At the hospital, we had a good time. They did ‘Just Dance’ and they really wanted the sister missionaries to compete, but they refused so that was interesting. While we were playing games with the kids, they had us do math with them. One of the staff came up and gave me a paper that a kid had done and wanted me to grade. I marked all the wrongs and then she was like "can you tick some of the ones he did get right so he feels like he accomplished something?" "Right...." I was close to destroying the self esteem of a little kid.. that could have been bad, glad she informed me. In the outside part of playing with the kids, we did jump rope with them and then bumped it up to Double Dutch... I never realized how hard that is... no one was able to do it, but all the movies I used to see always have the little black girls doing it like its nobodies business, major props to them. After service we went and bought mosquito nets for the sisters, wow wow wow sisters are demanding, everything must be perfect otherwise they are not satisfied. So we finally got them the new nets that they needed, then had lunch. Everyone here goes crazy for the World Cup, and it’s funny because the world cup is at 7:00pm, 11:00pm, 2:00am, and 5:00am so everyone walks around entirely exhausted during the day because they are all out watching it through the night. Soccer is really big here so the World Cup is huge throughout Africa. After lunch, we returned to Langas and found that we now have guards again at the church. I guess some people jumped over the walls and were stealing the mud wiping mats that were kept outside. So that was good, so we taught them, there is one during the day and three at night now.
Friday was really full of bounces, but we were able to teach the guard and his friend, then as we were waiting for our appointments we met with Geoffrey who had been away for the last 6 weeks. He had just finished school and was really not sure what to do because his financial situation has tanked. The break for school is a year long, so he has a lot of time. We discussed with him and advised him that he should return home to his parents in the up country where he can think of a plan and establish what he will do to improve his financial situation. By being there, he doesn’t have to worry about expenses for food and shelter, so all the money he makes he will be able to save and start a small enterprise there so that he can save enough money for his schooling. We then taught Johnson who is scheduled for baptism next week. In the evening we headed to town and began exchanges. I was to be with Elder Harding in Langas. Whenever we are together, we always talk alot, so we talked and talked until 1:30, time just flies by. It’s really nice to have someone to talk openly to, to be able to laugh and joke and just conversation flows. It’s a bit different with my companion, we get along well and talk a lot, but it’s just different when able to relate with someone from the states.
Saturday was the day of exchanges and it turned out to be awesome, Elder Harding and I had a really full day of teaching and the spirit was really strong in leading and directing us throughout the day. We began the day with our studies as usual, then went and saw Sister Ruth whom we taught about FHE. It turned out to be the perfect lesson and we shared tons of scriptures that were really helpful and it was just overall a great lesson, we then hurried out and taught Paris and Lucy about the Resurrection, then they brought out food and we scarfed it down and then literally ran to the matatu stage so that we could be on time for a baptismal interview for the sisters’ investigators. after which we returned to langas and taught two more lessons. It was really funny because everyone was staring at us two white guys walking through the slums, a bunch of kids would run up to us and ask for money, but for the most part, the adults stayed away. I guess two white guys running or walking with confidence are intimidating. It was amazing, the fact that we had no bounces throughout the course of the day, that’s the first time in weeks.
At church we began the meeting with only 16 people present, our Branch President claimed the World Cup as the reason... so everything was a bit last minute, speakers and such, but they did a really good job with the talks and such. I passed the sacrament with Benson who just received the priesthood last week. I gave him a brief training as to what to do, and everything went well. During the third hour Benson was to teach in Young Mens because he was just called to be the new Young Mens President. He gave a good teaching, but we will need to help him a lot so that things go smooth and that he understands. He was just recently baptized so its quite a bit for him to go through. After church we did splits and taught 3 of our investigators, two of which are children but over the age of eight, so we need to teach them as investigators. After we had a nice lunch and the Sosiani Elders came over to pick up some things that Elder Harding had left, so we talked for a while until they left.
So there’s the week for you, pretty slow, but its showing progression, so thats good. It’s still crazy to think I have hit over a year on mission, Next week, it will have been one year since arriving here in Kenya. Time flies when in the service of the lord. Thats for sure.
Well, I love all of you and am grateful for you constant support and prayers, thank you so much for all that you do!
Love, Elder Rushton Jay Hiltbrand
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