Hello All,
Imagine, this week is already over, and really, the transfer is pretty much over aswell! Crazy how fast time is going now days, especially now that today is officially 14 months on mission, with 10 months left, its absolutely madness. To be totally honest, it's quite scary to think that I will be going home soon. I feel that I am finally at that point where mission life is my life, where that is who I am and how I think now.
So now this week, well just so all you know, there is a great epidemic of Ebola soaring throughout West Africa, We received 15 missionaries this past week from Liberia and Sierra Leone, so for now we are living some precautions, but it's nothing to be super worried about. I believe the Lord is watching over us and works his purposes in everything.
Tuesday was a busy day. We were rushing around to appointments and helping the couples as well. We met with a new investigator named Steve, he was a referral from a non member, and when we met with him, he was really excited and eager to learn. He is a Seventh Day Adventist by the way he was raised, but he said that he is always eager to learn more so that he can know the truth. I really like Steve, really an upbeat guy who is honestly seeking the truth. After our appointment, we rushed over to a cyber and put a bunch of photos on a CD for a member. She wanted us to print all the pictures for her, but we decided that it is much better for us to just give her a cd with all the pictures. Many members, and in fact everyone that you take a picture of wants a print out of the picture, but the last time we checked, they quoted us at 50ksh per photo and considering Doreen had 96, there was no way we could print all those for her, so we give them to her so she can print as time goes on and so that she can view them on her TV. We also happened to be on the same matatu as brother Wafula as we were going out to his area, he is such a nice guy, paid for our bus out there, and then we went and taught him and his nephew a lesson from the Book of Mormon regarding Enos and the great wrestle he had in prayer with the Lord. It was definitely a productive day, really busy, but that's how we wanted it considering we would be going to Eldoret later in the week.
On Wednesday, we were really preparing for our trip to Eldoret, so we worked really hard to prepare the baptismal font for the baptisms that were to be held on Sunday. We had scheduled to do splits for the day, but our Branch Mission Leader was sick and unable to join us, so we went with Steve Boaz. He is a really funny guy, super stoked to share the gospel and has just a good happy spirit about him which really makes him a nice guy to be around. He is for sure a contacting machine, when we were walking, he was awesome at talking to everyone and he really gets people to laugh which is good. He especially loves to greet whites, and he is pro at it... one of the strange things here in Africa is when it comes to greeting whites, whites don't greet one another, I don't know why, but it feels so awkward to do so and it's a bit scary to talk to them. There have been a few times where I have tried, but I get some foreign language response... good thing I know my greetings in French, German, dutch, and Spanish! They get super confused when I am able to respond back.. so yeah whites kinda avoid each other... We had an awesome lesson with a woman named Dorkus who was a referral from the couples. They give tons of referrals, it's awesome! They are so hyped on the work and it's inspiring how excited they are to share the gospel with everyone. Here in Kisumu we do a lot of teaching at the church as we did in Langas, the only problem is, is that when we get bounced, it's not as productive in Kisumu as it was in Langas, people don't come to the church seeking a church tour, but rather it's very rare for people to come. We had some time to run to Tuskys (department store) and buy some things for the repair of our flat. We took boda Bodas there and back, somehow Steve Boaz couldn't find one, so he left us at Tuskys, so we taught Steve Baraka at the church. We wrapped up all the lessons with him, he really sees us as his friends and loves to consider us his brothers from another mother, and then jokingly he will look at Ndaba and say" ahh he has the same father, can't you see the resemblance?" (because they are both dark in color) Steve was talking about wanting to FLY us to Nairobi with him to go and visit his pumpkin patch there. He really likes us, but we made him aware that we are unable to leave our proselyting area, especially fly to nairobi haha.
Thursday was our adventurous trip to Eldoret. So the trip is meant to be a 3 hour trip in which its a direct route, but some how we took this crazy round about way and when we got to this intersection, it said that we were supposed to go through this town on the map, so we went the direction to go through it, and then we kept going and going... I started to notice that the matatus that were coming at us said Eldoret and the ones going with us said Kisumu... by the time we realized we had gone the wrong way we were 30min from Kisumu and we had already previously driven 2 hours to get to that intersection, so it was sure the adventure.. instead of 3 hours it took 6... but hey I'm glad everyone was able to hold their patience, so it was a learning experience and I'm sure we will never make that mistake again! When we arrived in Eldoret we had planned to play soccer as usual, but the other guys had already been playing for two hours, so they were finished and also it was about to rain, so we left to avoid the rain. My comp was a bit upset because he really was looking forward to playing with the other zones. When we were discussing which flat to go to, there was a bit of an arguement. It had previously been established who would go where, but my comp refused to go with certain elders, so we changed to stay at the other flat but in doing so we had to convince another set of missionaries to switch with us. It turned out okay, but its obvious how grudges never result in anything good. The Lord has commanded us to forgive, that is something I really have learned on mission and I find it a great blessing that I am not very prone to holding grudges, forgiving and forgetting comes pretty easy to me these days. I have really been trying to work on that Christ like love for others, and Christ didn't hold grudges to anyone but rather loved everyone, even those who hated him. It turned out fine staying at the flat with the others, Elder Ndlovu and Molosankwe are able to do really cool card tricks, so that kept us really entertained.
Friday, Zone Conference. So zone conference turned out great, it was good to see everyone, and it was a bit different to greet eveyone with knuckle bumps, but that is what we have been asked to do for the next 21 days. We covered some great topics at the conference, Christ-Like Attributes, Accountability, Gratitude, Teaching with power and Authority, and Warning of Opposition. In the Christ like attributes section, all the zone leaders were asked as companionships to work together and study a Christ like attribute that was most needed in the zone. There wasn't much unity in doing this between my companion and I as I ended up having to do it all alone, and it showed. I chose to do it on humility, and related it to the story of David and Goliath how we each have our own Goliaths, but David humbly trusted in the lord and exercised faith and for doing so was able to withstand the great trial that stood before him. Each of us in Life have our own Goliaths to face, whether they be trials or tribulation, or even keeping a commandment, we all have something, but as we learn from the story of David, he was able to rise above what stood ahead as he trusted in the lord, that is what each of us must do in life. In the conference we discussed how each of us must have an overall spirit of Gratitude, this is the best way to get through the trials of life and the difficulty of mission, as we show gratitude to the Lord, it is easier for us to recognize his hand in all things. What I really like most was something that President Hicken mentioned, he said that it's not so hard to give the Lord a cup of flour when our barrel is full, but the real test comes giving the Lord our last cup of flour." This one really hit me and made me really feel that I can do more and give my last cup. Everything that I have been holding back I can offer to the Lord and become one with what he would have me be. Another thing that I really liked was how it's so important for us to warn our investigators of the persecution that they will face. The adversary will always bring opposition whenever we are making a crucial step forward to God such as in preparing to make covenants through baptism. The Zone conference was really wonderful and I really learned much from it. After the conference, I was able to talk to the missionaries from Sierra Leone, the language they learn over there is really cool. It's total broken English which they call Pigeon English but sounds pretty awesome. They are really bummed to be back in their own country, but are ready to do as the Lord would have them do. One of the new things that President Hicken wants us to focus on is being Kingdom Builders, not just normal missionaries, but rather those building the kingdom of God.
Saturday we headed back to Kisumu, it was a much faster ride back because we actually took the right path. On the way back, the Horners had "comp study" with us and discussed about our favorite things from zone conference and what really impacted us most. It was a nice car ride, the other elders fell asleep, its really hard for me to sleep on a road trip, so I was wide awake the entire time. When we got back we quickly changed into our service clothes and went over to brother Cyprians to build his mud hut but found that no one was there to assist, and the materials were not there yet, so when some of the leaders showed up, we went with them and made an assessment of what was needed and went and bought it so that the mudding could be done this coming week. We then hurried home and changed to proselyting clothes so that we could hurry to the church and have Steve's baptismal interview. the interview went well, My companion and I hurried back to Cyprians to see if we could be of any assistance, but there wasn't anything, so we went and visited his sister who had a friend present, we then ran home because the Busia Elders were unable to go home due to lateness of time and the departure of the bus, so we met them at the flat then my comp and I literally ran to Tusky's in the pouring rain. We were entirely drenched when we arrived, head to toe soaked. People looked at us as though we were crazy running in the rain.. I felt bad for leaving water tracks throughout the store, but hey gotta do what you gotta do and we needed food!
Sunday was the Baptism of brother Steve and Sister Doreen, the two we have been working with this past transfer. It was a great meeting at church, the schools are closed now, so the attendance numbers were really high and we have tons of new investigators that we will be teaching these next two weeks. After church, we had the baptisms, it was great, there were 3 children of record and 2 convert baptisms. I was assigned to give a talk on the Holy Ghost and it went well, after which the baptisms were performed. My companion baptized Steve, and Doreen's husband her. It was great to see them be baptized, they were so happy for it! It's always such a wonderful experience to see the fulfillment of our purpose as missionaries as we see the children of our Heavenly Father enter into the waters of baptisms and make covenants. These were my first baptisms here in Kisumu and I know there will be many more, the work is great and harvest is ready for the reaping!
To all those back home or where ever you may be, trust in the Lord and he shall guide your paths, be faithful in keeping the commandments and know that great happiness comes from doing so. The Lord has promised to stand by us when we keep his commandments, so now matter how hard life gets or may seem, know that your never alone. I just felt the need to write that, so hopefully it helps someone who reads this.
I love you all and am continually grateful for your love, prayers and friendship.
Love always, Elder Rushton Jay Hiltbrand
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