Oct 6 The Beginning of Autumn

Good Morning everyone, 

Well this week sure has been a great one, one of the best in a while. To start off it was transfer week, in which we received the news on Monday, the whole zone stayed the same except for Elder Ndaba was transferred to Kitale and as a new companion I received Elder Griffiths who is coming from serving in Westlands, Nairobi.

So for a update on my companion, Elder Griffiths is from Centerville, Utah. He came on mission a little over a year ago with my trainee. He served for 9 months in Kitale and then since then has been in Nairobi, so he was able to experience both the city life and the bush life because Kitale is pretty bush. He is a really awesome mission, tons of fun to be with and has a great sense of humor and desire to work hard, so it should be a very fun and effective time together.

My new companion Elder Griffiths

This week was filled with cool experiences and a lot of fun, so that was really nice. On Tuesday we were preparing Elder Ndaba to leave, and there were some things that he wanted to do before taking off the next day, One of which was going to the lake, he was here a long time but never had gone to the lake before, so we made our way to the lake by tuk tuk. The lake is massive, seriously so big! totally filled with fish too, so that was really awesome to see the life of the fishermen. There are tons of mama's selling fish there too and because there is tons of it, its really pretty cheap, so we decided to buy 15 small fish for 150ksh all together. We also saw a Hippo! actually two Hippos! they look like massive black spots in the water and then they pop their heads up and look around and wiggle their ears, then they go back under water. Thats as close as I will probably get to a hippo out here in the wild so it was pretty awesome. The little fishing boats that they use here really reminded me of the biblical stories, they are very small and have a single mast and swing bar, really cool though, then they drag their net behind them, they dont allow line fishing here in Lake Victoria, so its only nets, there was a problem at one point where people would use their sleeping nets to fish but it was hurting the eco system by getting all the small fish, so they outlawed that big time. There were no more tuk tuks at the beach by the time we were finished, so we had to walk a long way back towards town until I guess the guy that is used for taxi'ing elders to the airport somehow showed up and offered us a ride to town. The fish tasted great that night, but I learned an important thing, you cannot eat fish bones if the fish is not deep fried.. So we all were picking out the bones of the Talapia and that particular kind of fish has a lot of brittle small bones so it was a pain. In the future we will totally just get small fried ones or get large fish so that the bones are easier to pull out. Busia Elders came the next evening so that I would have someone to be with When Elder Ndaba left.

Elder Ndaba and I at Lake Victoria

Hippos in the Lake!!

Fishing Boats 

Fish for Sale!

Now that is one big Catfish!!

On Wednesday was goodbye to my companion Elder Ndaba, we put him on the earliest bus to Nairobi so that he could get his teeth fixed there ( he was supposed to get a crown but it would take two weeks). So we sent him there so that he could be in his area in Kitale by the end of the week. It was kind of a bitter sweet goodbye. The couples were there so that I wouldn't be alone after and we were able to talk together on the way back to the flat about the vision of the area and work in the zone this transfer. Then upon reaching back to the flat, I was with the Busia Elders. We prepared for DDM and I did some last study for the topic I was to train on. In DDM I really witnessed how this transfer was going to be much much different, I could just feel a very strong spirit during the DDM, everyone participated and afterwards everyone said that they could really feel the spirit and that they really learned something. This isn't to say that previous DDM's weren't good, there was just a much different feel to them. Afterwards we had some things to do in the zone such as buying new couch cushions for the sisters and fixing some of the electrical in their flat that they have been asking us to do and we also had to do some major cleaning, so that took up most of the remainder of the day.

Saying Goodbye to Elder Ndaba

Thursday was the arrival of my new companion, but before that we attended a small wedding that was held at the church. It was probably the most simple wedding I have been to, but the spirit was strong and everyone was very happy. It was the marriage of two recently returned missionaries in the branch, they didn't want a huge  wedding, so they kept it really small and there were only like 25 people in attendance. Us missionaries are really looked up to in Kenya, we are a lot of support to the people and they feel things are not the same if we are not there. So we are almost always invited to these sorts of things. This couple will really add great strength to the branch. They will set an example to those who are also looking to get married and serving missions. It was a special time for them and showed that you don't need big flashy weddings to celebrate the marriage and beauty of it. Their goal though and what they are most looking forward to is the temple which they will be sealed in within the next few months. That is what it's all about, not just till life do you part, but rather for time and all eternity. That's what's important. After the wedding Elder Griffiths arrived at the EasyCoach Stage so we rushed over there to get him and took him home. We hit it off well from the beginning. We have met prior on mission and had a lot of fun together when we were all together during Zone  Conferences and such, so it was pretty exciting. We got him settled and I showed him a little around the town before we went and loaded up on food at Nakumatt City the massive mall in Kisumu.

Friday we sent the Busia Elders out early in the morning and then after our normal studies had our weekly planning. We went really in depth and really discussed the focus we desire to have in the zone and the vision that we want the zone to have for the work. I really feel that Kisumu has a ton of potential for growth, but rather than sharing spiritual thoughts all the time, it's important for us to start teaching lessons, to everyone. To the investigators so that they may learn and come to a knowledge of the truth of the restoration, the recent converts to remind them of the things that they recently learned and what they must have faith in as they go through the tough time that comes immediately after baptism, The active members to help them to see what their testimony is built upon rather than just having grown accustomed to going to church each sunday, and the less active to teach them the blessings that come and the love that their Father in Heaven has for them. I feel that as we do this and really focus on obedience to the mission rules which we have been give, that by doing so the Lord will open up the work here in kisumu and we will be able to have the guidance needed to bring his children back to him. We really came together and unity and gave it great thought and prayer as to what to do for the zone, and I really feel that things will pick up here, for the last few weeks, things have felt to be very slow. After our weekly planning we had to take the sisters to the hospital, one of them was feeling pain in the ribs, so we were there at the hospital with them helping them. When they see us, they take us very seriously and it allows us to get in and out quicker than what it would be, so that was really good. I had no clue that at Hospitals there is an operation theatre open to people to come and view a surgery being done... I had no idea!

Saturday was our first actual proselyting day for the week and we did our best to use it to the fullest. We had 7 lessons that day and each turned out to be really awesome. We taught the restoration a lot, the spirit was really strong in each of our lessons. It was overall really awesome. A powerful day for sure. We gave a blessing to Sister Nancy who has been really sick lately, the spirit was super strong as we gave the blessing and after we just kind of sat there and enjoyed the spirit that could be felt and she broke into tears, saying thank you, thank you. A really sweet experience. We had some more appointments after and then our last one for the day was with Sister Catherine the less active member who has really been showing great progress in the last month. Her husband was there for the lesson and we felt that rather than sharing a spiritual thought or reading from the Book of Mormon as we usually do we needed to begin teaching the Restoration. We taught the first half about the nature of our Heavenly Father, prophets, Jesus Christ and the Apostasy. It was a powerful lesson and Brother Wafula and Catherine were asking good questions. As we were wrapping up the lesson we challenged them to come to church the following day, the hesitated a bit, then Brother Wafula really opened up to us and told us the reason he has not yet been baptized, his family is Anglican so he feels he must stick with them. He says it's very hard for the husband to come over to the wife's religion, usually it's the wife who joins the husbands. He said that he knows its true, he has read the Book of Mormon cover to cover and the Doctrine and Covenants and explained that they are truly "Pure Gospel" we were really excited to hear that, he said that it will just take some time for him and that he will come one day, but for now he is not ready. We respected this. He is really a wonderful man and will be a great blessing in his home as he continues to come closer to the gospel.

Sunday was a testimony that God really does protect his servants, he is continuously watching over us and protecting us from the potential harm that comes our way. We had a wonderful time at church, it was Fast and Testimony meeting. I always love hearing the testimonies of the members because they really do know the gospel and they trust in the lord with great faith. I felt prompted to share my testimony and shared about how General Conference was occuring in Salt Lake, and soon we will have it brought to us, just as is said in Mosiah 2. Also about how throughout time the prophets have always taught us to keep the commandments. That is all we are asked to do, keep the commandments. That is the great thing that we must do and as we do so the Lord blesses us. After the second hour of church we went with the couples up to Nyabondo to hold a sacrament meeting there for the people. It was a great experience being there and hearing the saints there bear their testimonies. They really seek after becoming a branch, they are not yet an established group, but they are some truly wonderful people. Then on our way home we are traveling on a two lane highway and we saw the biggest snake in the road so we decided to turn around and go take pictures of it, well we signaled and then while turning I see out of the corner of my eye a matatu coming at us with high speed, and I can hear the tires skidding across the newly laid asphalt and then BOOM! Impact. They hit the back right corner of the car swinging us around slightly as all the bags on top of their matatu flew off and blew all over the place. We Jumped out in total shock that we had just been hit and people started flooding to the scene. Surprisingly there was no yelling or anything. We were able to keep it together pretty well. The front of the Matatu was smashed and the front wind shield broken. On our vehicle the back right panel was pretty bent, the bumper smashed and the tail lights destroyed, but everyone was okay, no one got hurt. I felt bad for the people in the matatu, they hit their legs and ankles pretty hard against the metal bars on the impact. So we stood there waiting for officers to arrive as my companion and I took pictures for insurance and talked to the driver (interesting thing is I actually knew the driver. He is from Kisumu Ndogo in Langas and used to drive me around.) Then a member from church showed up and she was truly an answer to prayers. She is a big world politician and has tons of connections with people throughout the world and Kenya, so once the officer arrived she helped us to get everything worked out. We all went down to the police station and made a report and then we received a call from Nairobi telling us that we needed not worry about the matatu driver paying the repairs the mission would cover it fully. Wow.. I saw at that moment that God was answering prayers on both sides, God really does love all his children and answers their prayers. If that driver would have had to pay the repairs it would have made a hard hit to him and his life. It would be taken out of his salary by his employer to be used for the repairs, but the Lord made ways possible so that everything worked out pretty good. There was a good spirit and no fighting so I would say things went well. I saw that the Lord really did protect us because the matatu damage did not add up to the damage on the truck, it was as though the impact spot was changed or something. It was very strange because it showed on the matatu that it hit us full front, but the damage to the truck was only on the corner. If it had been any closer to the wheel or the door who knows what could have happened. God is watching over his children.

So there we have it for the week. The reason that I called it the beginning of Autumn is because it is the beginning of seeing big changes in the area and companionship kind of like the trees turning colors in the winters.

Thanks for all your love and support,
Love,  Elder Rushton Jay Hiltbrand