Dec 8 Zone Fast, Kakamega with Couples, and Indian Food

Well hello there everyone,

Today marks the day in which 6 months from today I will be on a plane back to the states... It's amazing how fast things have gone by, and very frightening at the same time.

This week was one of those weeks that just vanishes in the blink of an eye. We were super busy this week, each day was packed so it was incredibly exhausting.  On Tuesday, we had some really great lessons, we met with Joseph, one of our new investigators at the sports ground and discussed more about the Book of Mormon and Baptism. He has already read up till the middle of Alma in the Book of Mormon that we just recently gave him a few weeks ago, he said that he really wants to finish it, then discuss it thoroughly with us and have the other lessons taught. This is pretty common, here, many desire to read the Book of Mormon cover to cover first, then discuss, because they want to better understand the whole thing. Its okay though because as they read they come to know the truthfulness of it. We had some good lessons in Manyatta and ended the day teaching Fred and Agnus at the church. We had contacted Fred in the Park and he decided to bring his friend Agnus with him to learn more. Agnus really has a lot of potential. She is a very religious lady, but we taught the Restoration and she wanted to know more. She is seeking to know the truth and feels there is so much more to learn from what she previously knew. 

Wednesday we had a powerful DDM about how to study effectively, this is a very frequent problem among missionaries, a good study really makes a difference throughout the day, but that includes both personal study and companionship study. So we discussed how to improve them. After DDM we had dentist appointments scheduled for some of the missionaries in the zone, including my companion, so we took them to the Dentist and that took up a good chunk of time, but afterwards we had scheduled for two appointments at the church and then had dinner with the Horners.

Thursday  we had some awesome contacts throughout the day, we got out early so that we could teach a couple lessons further away prior to coming back to teach at the church. We met with Jehu and taught about 1 Nephi 8 Lehi's dream and the 4 different types of people that are made mention of in it. Each of us falls into one of those categories, we must discover who we are and then who we desire to be. It was a good lesson, its funny because during the lesson he doesnt seem super interested, but after you can ask him questions and he learned a lot. We then met with Christine, we had an interesting lesson with her, she is one of those people who loves to know whats going on in the world and has opinions and theories about everything. It really prevents her from progressing because it causes her to focus on the things that dont even matter. We shared about how these things are prophecied, how the adversary so badly desires to pull us away from the important focuses in life and desires that we focus on that which matters least. We shared a lot of scriptures and we could see that it was the exact lesson that she needed, she admitted that she had been decieved and pulled away from the things that matter most. It was interesting how the lesson played out, but the Lord was in control and He worked miracles with the spirit.  In the Afternoon we met with David and had Elder Horner present with us. We continued to clarify his questions about the Godhead, nothing seemed to satisfy it, but then my companion opened up to God in the Bible Dictionary and it worked perfectly to answer his question. It was a big help having Elder Horner there with us. In the evening we went contacting and had Davis lead the contacts, he did an awesome job and we found some powerful new investigators who are true kingdom builders. We met a woman named Gladis who is actually studying Religion, and Akukus who is a teacher but happened to be in the park just relaxing, he wanted to set up an appointment on the spot.

Friday we went with the couples to the home of our branch President who lives 34km away. We had a great time there, they showed us around the place, its much more rural than Kisumu, very much like it was in Kilungu hills. While walking around there some Mama's were digging and jokingly asked us for help, but we came over and helped them dig, they were so excited that we were digging with them and amazed to see Wazungu dig! We had a wonderful lunch with the Okilas and some friend sthat had come over and then returned to Kisumu. Upon reaching home we had some more appointments and were to meet them in the park, but they didn't show, but we were able to contact some more. I had a great conversation with a man named Peter, really friendly guy, older man who had come to the park just to relax, but we were able to talk together about religion, food, and all sorts of things, he was very grateful for the conversation, he said that it really helped to take worries and problems off his mind that he had come to the park to ponder. I was able to feel great love for him and a desire for him to receive the gospel and receive the blessings of it. We met with some less actives and had a great lesson with them. For dinner we had bought mudfish to eat and boiled it as we did our nightly accounting, well as it was finishing boiling, we get a text inviting us to come over for dinner at our landlords house... We said we were unable because we had already cooked, but that we could do so another night. Well after having fully cooked our meal, we get a knock at the door and its Ayush our friend whos the son of the landlord and he's holding a plate with two veggie burgers! He also invited us over for dinner on Sunday. So we put the food we had made in the refrigerator and ate the burgers, they were so nice!

Saturday was a packed day, we were teaching people from 9:30am till 8:00pm... It was a super productive day and really spirit led. I won't detail all of it but a few I will. We met with brother Akukus the one who we had set an appointment with while at the park, he came to the church and we gave him a tour and then taught him the restoration, he is powerful, lives a bit far, but if he gains a testimony, he will be so strong. We also had some mission call openings for Davis and Samuel. Davis has been called to serve in the West Indies mission assigned to the Tobago area!! totally unexpected, he is the first African that I have heard of going that side, I'm so excited for him.. Then Samuel opened his and has been called to serve in the Leeds England mission! Two totally unexpected calls, but they are perfect for them. It will be of much strength to them serving in those places. In the afternoon, we met with Agnus again and she brought her friend John with her, a referral giving us a referral, couldn't ask for a more prime situation. Referrals are huge for missionaries, they have a high acceptance rate compared to some other finding methods. We then went out to Mamboleo and taught there

 

Sunday was fast sunday and we had arranged to do a zone fast for the progression of the work. We went to Kakamega with the couples to visit the small group of saints that live there and do the sacrament there with them. It was a nice time going there and a great meeting, then we returned home and broke our fast with the couples over some delicious beef and vegetable stew with homemade rolls. The couples treat us so nice, they are so awesome to us! That evening we went over to our landlord's for dinner, wow Indian food is so nice. They had a guest come over who was a bank manager and his family, they were all super nice and we had a great evening together. They love to talk haha, but their food is superb and they always have us try new things.

 

Well it's been exhausting this week. I almost fell asleep writing this because I'm so tired. We went down and bought some big fish and will be eating those with the Horners this evening. 

 

Well I love you all and am so grateful for you constant support.

Love Always,

Elder RUshton Jay Hiltbrand