Christmas Update 12-25-07

It is 11:00 AM Christmas Day and I just finished washing the vehicle as David, who normally does it, is up country visiting his wife and kids for the holidays. Six of the Nairobi couples got together for FHE last night. We sang a few carols and read an open theater type version of all the people involved in that first Christmas. A bunch of us (last count I heard was 22) are getting together for dinner at 2:00 today. I stayed up and watched a dvd of Mr. Bean I borrowed from one of the couples last evening. Ma and I went for a walk this morning and admired those flowers and lush green flora that are not covered with campaign posters. Just not the same kind of Christmas I am used to. We are in the middle of getting a land line (phone) put in our flat and the tech at Telkom assured me it would be in by the 25th so we could call home but silly me forgot to ensure that he meant 2007 and not 2008. With Boxing Day and Elections, I don't think there is another work day here until Friday so our calls will have to wait as we have given up trying to communicate out of country on our cell phone.

Elections are very interesting to say the least and these next few days should be very enlightening. This is only their 9th election since gaining independence so they are still trying to figure out how to conduct them fairly and equitably. Balloting is Thursday and yesterday (Monday) was the last day they could legally campaign. There continues to be a few deaths by machete of opposing party members, car burnings, and several other forceful expressions of opinions. The whole area is literally covered in posters with them glued to trees, roads, rocks and anything else at hand. Not sure who is going to win but the majority seems to think that if the incumbent does it is because of rigging so I really wonder how peaceful things will be these next few days. We have stocked up enough provisions to just stay in our secure compound until we get an all clear.

No dramatic changes in our schedule this last week except we did run into some mud and traffic problems enroute to Ilima on Friday so turned around and came back. President Taylor had scheduled some training for the 3 Branch Presidents at the Kyambeke building on Saturday so I still got to make the usual 4 trips despite the aborted effort on Friday. I ran President Makiti back to Kilili afterwards and loaded up with 300+ Apple Mangos from his Shamba as everyone had said how I needed to bring them some when they ripened. Turns out the potential market had pretty much left for the holidays or it just wasn't convenient at this time. We donated a bunch to an orphanage and have been giving them as presents but still have quite a few left. They are just now getting ripe enough to eat. Next time I only take orders though.

We are still working with an active investigator pool of 22 but are hoping to be able to shift our emphasis to a Temple Preparation Program in the coming year. There are only 2 endowed members in the Kilunga Hills and they are returned missionaries who went through in South Africa while at the MTC there. Because of the high crime in South Africa all the Sister Missionaries there were transferred to other Missions this last week. Four of them ended up here in Kenya, Nairobi. One is a Sister Essma from Twin Falls. There was an earth tremor here Sunday afternoon. We didn't feel anything and I don't know if it was because we are in a daylight basement type flat or were still vibrating from our trip home on the bumpy roads but the others all felt it.Need to get cleaned up for the festivities so will close for now and try and send a few pictures later. Hope all are having a safe and happy holiday.

Weekly Update 12-18-07

Here it is Tuesday evening already and I am just getting around to the weekly update. Internet support has been terrible lately. Not sure why unless it is because all the kids are on break from school or just the Christmas crunch. The number of investigators in the Kyambeke group grew to 11 but as I was reading in the Book of Mormon with them it is evident that it could be a few months before we get them all comfortable with the English familiarity. The Ilima group has grown to 8 but there are two of them who will not be ready for a couple of months and I am struggling with whether to try and keep them as a group. I sure don't want those two older sisters to get discouraged and give up.

Sister Bishop's 10 additional keyboards arrived last week and I am not sure who was more excited, her or her students. She is getting them placed so those who desire to put forth the effort have the opportunity to practice which has not been possible too much with just 1 available in each location on a permanent basis. She is having a positive impact on the music quality in each branch but it does continue to surprise us from time to time to hear some versions of the hymns that they have developed on their own. We are trying to teach them that it is important for them to be able to go to any church unit in the world and feel comfortable singing with them. Yes I know for those who are familiar with the quality of my singing voice, or lack there of, it is inconceivable to think I could teach them anything and I don't even try. These people do have beautiful voices and are not bashful at singing but there grasp of tempo and timing has been self taught for the most part which makes for some very interesting music at times. One of my more interesting events is the several times the brethren have sang the last hymn in the LDS song book for a priesthood selection. Remember they have not been an English Colony for over 34 years now. When we were ferrying the prospective Missionaries last week we had some Christmas Carols playing in the vehicle and I don't think they recognized any of them.

We spent Saturday procuring enough crayons and plain paper notebooks for the 150 primary kids in the 3 branches to get at their respective Branch Parties but because of the elections on the 27th and President Taylor's desire for us to be inconspicuous we will not be there to party with any of them but maybe next year. We are delivering the gifts along with a little candy on our visits this week.All the missionary couples were invited for a pre-Christmas dinner courtesy of the Bestors and Gundersons at the Embassy Housing last Saturday and 8 of the couples were able to make it. It was pretty close to what we have at home and was sure appreciated. Both those families rotate to other assignments this next year and their willingness to bring a little bit of America to us displaced oldies will sure be missed.

Hope this short report finds all well with our support group there. Remember to keep Christ in Christmas but do have a great holiday season. Elder & Sister Bishop

Pictures 12-16-07

This first picture is an example of the way the trucks we play tag with each day are loaded down. This load is not very heavy however as it is a load of mattresses. The majority of the ones they sale here are just these 3 & 6 inch thick foam pads covered with material.

These next 2 are of the flat now that we have finished fixing a few things. We first had the floor patched and refinished. Then since we had everything stacked in the other room we had the walls patched and added a little color. I assumed when they did the floor that they would do the hall in stages because they knew we were still living in the flat but imagin our chgrin and surprise when we came home to find the floor completely painted and still some 10 hours from drying. There are a few footprints in the hall now where they need to re-sand and varnish. Because we are on the ground floor in a rather high moisture area and I surmise there is no vapor barrier between our cement walls and the ground, there are several places above the baseboard where the cement blisters. I am not sure if these will diminish when the rainy season subsides. We do however feel a lot more comfortable in our little flat here now.

This picture shows our efforts at Christmas decorations this year. The few trees we have seen are fake although we did we see what appeared to be 2 fir shaped trees being offered by the street vendors that wander between the vehicles stopped in traffic jams. With the temperatures ranging between 80 to 58 each day it is tough to get the same thrill from the few decorations we see so we are relying heavily on pictures and memories this year.

We ran across one of Santa's Helpers in the local Nakumatt (Kenyan version of a Wal Mart) and he was pleased to pose with us.

Weekly Update 12-11-07

Our report is a little late this week because we have had 3 prospective missionaries with us since last Sunday and when we have had a few minutes for other things the internet server was down. We brought the elders home from our visit to the Kilili Branch on Sunday. They are great young men and it has been fun to assist them with their medical, dental and passport work. They thought it was great to have more than one item on the menu for a meal (we kind of take that for granted don't we). They weren't too sure about the ice cream after they found how cold it was (these guys don't have electricity in their village so a fridge is unheard of) but I think Grandpa Ice Cream has them liking it now. It was their first time ever to a dentist and they only had 7 cavities between the 3 of them but the dentist did give a strong lecture on brushing their teeth after she spent the time giving them their first cleaning ever. In Africa prospective missionaries have to have their passports before they can send their paperwork to Salt Lake as that turns into a considerable challenge sometimes. We are hoping to have all the preliminary stuff done by next Wednesday (one of them has to come back for 2 more cavities to be filled) and then are just waiting on the government to make a determination on travel authorizations. The branch has just over 200 members and these 3 will make 4 missionaries currently serving from their unit. There is a young woman currently serving at Temple Square from their village. Those of you who subscribe to the Church News and still have the October Conference edition will find a picture of Sister Faith Joseph with her companion from Brazil in that issue.The Super Activity for the young people from Ilima didn't come off all that well as their bus got stuck as they were leaving the hills and then traffic jams really slowed them down so they were unable to spend more than just a few hours here in Nairobi. They had already requested that we not worry about assisting them with their noon meal as even the name pizza had some of them concerned and they weren't sure they wanted to try it.We were able to teach the first discussion to 9 young people in Kyambeke last week and are expecting good results from that experience. I am in the process of getting a generator so that we can make use of some of the published media material in our work there. We have a TV and DVD player in our flat that we will haul with us and I located an old VCR player in the mission storage that appears to be functional as many of the available materials are somewhat dated. We do have a CD player in our truck that sees a lot of use during our 25 to 30 hours of travel each week. We are continuing our discussions with the 6 people in Ilima and have another 1st scheduled with a man in Kyambeke that is neighbor to a fellow that has just returned to activity.We finally got the new beds all set up for the dispensary in Kyambeke and are helping them reactivate their electrical support system and build up a lab of sorts. We spent a couple of hours at the Catholic hospital in Kikoko last week and identified quite a few items that we can hopefully get the LDS charities folk to assist with. That hospital provides support to some 80,000 plus people and it is amazing to see what little they have available to do it with. The mortality rate among both mothers and children is not very good.Well the sun is coming up and we have a bunch of items that need attention before nightfall so will sign off for now. Thanks for all the pictures we have received via the internet lately they are really appreciated

Pictures 12-4-07

The first picture is the washout that tried to eat our truck last Friday. The rain was pouring down most of the time we were working to jack it up and get rocks under the tires so we could back out. Once we got it out and the rain quit we were entertaining a bunch of the young children that lived near by while we were waiting for the members to bring Mwende down. We had some Dr. Seus books someone had sent over to help in the English classes and we gave them to the kids as we have found that some of the language used in his books is a little hard to explain to someone who is struggling to make sense of our strange language (what is this who that Horton hears and how come cats wear hats?). You can see the librarian near our truck with her newest patrons.

The next three are for those who have been worried about Mwende's new home. They took her right in and gave her a bath and put ointment on her feet then carried her around for everyone else to see their newest friend. They tucked her in bed with the pink blanket we had given her then covered her with another quilt and I swear she looked almost like she was smiling. There is a rose garden just outside the room that she sleeps in and we tried to show that in the last picture.

The next two pictures were at the funeral. You can see the 'goodtime Gospel Singers' in the first one. The second shows the modified vault before it was covered. Note how the flowers go in with the casket and not on top of the grave.

The last is at Joseph's baptism and yes all the rain in the hills has made their drinking water a little muddy but they did put some chlorine in it just in case there were any bugs that can live in water that muddy. I was wondering if I keep getting in water like that if it might be like coloring easter eggs and I could get as dark as these folks.

Weekly Update 12-3-07

Just a few quick notes this morning as we have a rather large list of things we need to get done here in Nairobi in the next two days before we go back on the road in support of the folks in Kilungu Hills.We are making progress with Julius' Mission Prep. as he spent Tue & Wed evenings in our spare bedroom. I don't think he ever really got in the bed but just rolled up in some quilts on top. It is quite a bit cooler here in Nairobi than in the hills. We got him to the doc & and dentist and have follow up appointments on the 11th. We have everything to submit for his passport which he needs to have before he can submit his paperwork to the church. They are somewhat restrictive on letting their folks even travel to other providences/countries here in Africa so the passport thing is a major hurdle.We were able to get Mwende to her new home on Friday which was no small task as it started raining fairly hard as we were making the final approach to Ilima and we ended up sliding into a washout. Some of the local folks helped us jack up the rig and get some rocks under the wheels so we could back out and a good share of this was done in a fairly healthy down pour. The members brought Mwende down to us and we headed back here to town. She traveled rather well in the back seat with Sister Bishop. She ate most of Sister Bishop's sandwich and entertained herself with a plastic wrapper from a breakfast bar and we even heard her humming along with some of the christmas carols that were playing on the cd. The sisters at Mother Theresa's home were very welcoming and had her bathed and tucked in bed before we left. Good chance she could blossom somewhat in that new environment where she could have interaction with others on a steady basis.We spent Saturday at a funeral for President Makiti's father. It was our first and very informative. Sister Bishop accompanied the local members for several hymns and I was called on to say a few words during the LDS portion of the service. Of the several 100 people there only approximately 30 were members. The deceased had been baptized but then was excommunicated when they found he had 3 wives (polygamy is rather common in some of the tribes here). Although most of his families were raised by the time of his conversion he chose not to abandon any of his wives so hence the church discipline. He continued to pay his tithing and asked his son how the branch was doing on a regular basis. Two of his 17 children are members at Kilili but most live in other areas. Not sure if any other are members. Most of eulogies were either in Swahili or Kumba and I am not good enough to tell the difference but a fair portion of the folks did understand English. The event began 11:00 and we left at 4:30 so it was an all day affair complete with food and tribal dancing. We had some goat stew and rice and I tried some of the fried intestines (tastes like liver and I would have enjoyed it with some ketchup). Sister Bishop just picked out a potato to have with her rice as the goat did look pretty tough. I think I want to have some of those dancers at my funeral as they lent a rather entertaining atmosphere. He was buried there on the family Shamba and the vault they had prepared was too small so some emergency expansion was being done on it by a local mason and was ready by the time the burial took place. I don't think they embalm them here so the casket has a plastic seal to allow the viewing but not let any smells out. It is critical that they have them buried within 9 days of death but I assume that there is a refrigeration process involved in the care of the corpse pending the funeral.Sunday we were back at Kyambeke for Joseph's baptism. Because of the recent heavy rains the water was very muddy but he is going to be a very devout member. With the schools being out for the month we are going to try and get a few of the young people taught and baptized that were not done as 8 year olds. There are 13 of them from 9 to 15 at Kyambeke and not sure how many others might show at the other branches.We did get our flat put back together with a few exceptions and it does look considerably better. We are hosting the weekly Home Evening tonight. The youth from Ilima are coming to Nairobi for a super activity tomorrow and we are not sure of the numbers or their agenda yet but are expecting to help them with their noon meal. There is a local place that offers two for one pizza on Tuesdays and it doesn't taste to bad so that will probably be the menu and it will be a first for most of the kids. Not sure on the adults.This months schedule is packed pretty full up to the 23rd but our calendar is blank for the balance of the month with the exception of a wedding on the 29th. President Simon and his wife are having the civil ceremony required by the church before they can go to the temple. We have been asked to help with the cake and it is proving to be another one of those learning experiences. President Taylor (the Mission President) has asked all the missionaries to lay low the last week of December untill it is determined what kind of fall out there is from the general election on the 27th. I will get a few pictures to Bethany for the blog site in the next few days. We love you all and wouldn't mind seeing some pictures of kids in snow as the weather here is just not very christmasy. Elder & Sister Bishop

Weekly Update 11-25-07

We finished teaching Joseph this week and he passed his baptismal interview with the Assistants yesterday so will be getting baptized next Sunday after church. We had a tentative appointment to teach two "Mamas" (a term of respect used in addressing any married woman similar to Mrs.) at the Ilima Branch yesterday and ended up teaching three Mamas and their three 15 year old daughters. They have been coming to church there for about two years and their English appears to be sufficient (although it is hard to tell when the group is that big and diverse) that they will be able to go all the way if they desire. We will meet with the Mamas again Friday but the girls are in school for one more week before they get their December break. Because of the distances most of the young people are required to walk to get to school their days are very lengthy and it is hard to schedule anything with them except on Saturdays. They have 30+ day breaks in December, April, and August so we need to spend time teaching those who were not baptized before age 9 during their down months. The last two years of their secondary school (Forms 3 & 4 which is 16 & 17 year olds) it is required that they board at the school only coming home during breaks and some weekends. For those who are praying for our investigators by name they are Pauline Kilungya and her twin daughters Leah and Rachel, Miriam Mutuku and her daughter Renae, and Joyce Kinini.Julius, the prospective Missionary from Kilili, did not finish up his physical until Wednesday of last week and will be coming back with us again Tuesday for some more blood work and his dental exam. I bought some motion sickness pills for him so hopefully the trip will not be as traumatic for him this time.We delivered 4 bed frames, 4 rubber covered mattresses, 10 pillows, 10 wool blankets, 12 quilts (the kind made by Relief Society for Humanitarian Aid), 20 sets of sheets, and 24 pillow cases to the Dispensary in Kyambeke. They already had 6 other beds and mattresses but only had sufficient bedding for two of them so that is all they were using. They should be able to house 10 patients in fairly sanitary conditions now. The next closest medical facility is 2 hours away by foot. We are trying to do some LDS charities support with that facility also in the hope that the thousands of people in that area will have a little better chance of sustaining life. We have some 400 hundred members that live in that impact zone.We think we have everything coordinated to deliver Mwende to her new home in Nairobi this coming Friday. We made another trip to it and delivered 4 more wheel chairs and 58 wool blankets this last Saturday. We coordinated for the proper paperwork from the village chief while there and they are expecting us to deliver her on Friday evening. I am not sure what her little handicapped mind will think of the bumpy ride strapped in the back seat of our pickup but hope that it will all come together to make the balance of her time here in mortality a little better.Our keyboard and English classes at each branch seem to be progressing with fits and starts but definitely forward. The Keyboard classes have leveled off with only the truly interested making the effort to attend now. Barb has coordinated with Salt Lake for the delivery of some more instruments so the availability for practice will be greatly enhanced. One young man came up to Sister Bishop several weeks ago and said that she was an answer to their prayers. We are starting to try and sound out words with different vowels in English now as a fair portion of the students can recognize the letters of the alphabet now. One tends to forget how truly confusing the rules for our language are until you struggle to share it with people in this situation. I find it some what amusing as I struggle to say the right things and they parrot them back. I sometimes forget and say okay now as I transition from one letter or word to another and they of course just repeat it back to me thinking it has some relevance. As I finished up discussing with Joseph in preparation for his baptismal interview he said he really appreciated when I tried to act out some of the words that he did not understand and were not in the bible dictionary. We spent 8 weeks just reading the Book of Mormon and I guess my antics to illustrate what amazed and dumbfounded meant were somewhat memorable to him. I think I am going to buy him a dictionary this week as I was really at a loss to help him understand what abortion, parole or probation, or homosexual meant as we discussed the baptismal questions.All the Senior Couples in Nairobi got together at the Mission Home for Thanksgiving Dinner on Thursday. Not many butterball specials here so we feasted on roast beef, mashed potatoes & gravy, green salad, fruit salad, rolls, apple pie with ice cream, and popcorn balls. Barb did the fruit salad and it consisted of fresh pineapple, mango, papya, banana, watermellon, sweet mellon (kind of like cantalope), and strawberries. We then had some training conducted by President & Sister Taylor. The aftermath of Kenya's district run-offs (like our primaries) continues to yield deaths and injuries on a fairly regular basis. There is a chance we will be spending a good portion of December confined to quarters but are waiting on more definitive guidance from church security and the local US Embassy. As we were coming home from Ilima on Friday we got to the town of Kilome and its one street was just a solid mass of people that extended for several hundred meters. Not wanting to create anykind of situation we just turned around and went down out of the hills another way.On one of our trips out of town last week we passed an accident scene where there appeared to be at least one fatality. There was a matatu on its side in a construction zone and what appeared to be a pedestrian on the other side of the road. It was a rather sobering site and did nothing to ease my frustration with the matatu drivers that literaly dart everywhere regardless of the surrounding traffic. Remember these are vans that they are suppose to only put 14 people in but in the paper the other day there was an item where a matatu had run head on into a lorrie (truck) and there werre 8 deaths and 8 injuries in the matatu. It was a matatu that hit us head on up in the hills and require that we now bounce from one loaner vehicle to another pending the repair of our vehicle which they have been working at for some 3 months now.The upheaval in our flat continues as it was not until the weekend that the work was completed that was to be accomplished early last week. They will have to come back and finish a few bad spots before we part with any money. We did decide though that we would go ahead and get the walls fixed and painted rather than go through this turmoil of moving furniture and eating standing up again in the not too distant future. The guy working on our walls assured us he would finish up here today but I have learned not to hold my breath. The veteran visitors here have a saying of TIA (This is Africa) whenever one of the locals shows up hours after they were scheduled.Hope all who read this had a satisfactory Thanksgiving. We are truly thankful for all that we have and realize even more each day just how blessed we are to live where we do and enjoy the bounties of life that we too often take for granted. It truly baffles me as to why I was placed in the surroundings I was for this mortal sojourn as I have meant many more who seem to be much more worthy of such blessings than I. I read in D&C 130: 20-21 and can't believe myself capable of doing any better than some of the valiant souls I see struggling with life here and wonder if the "Big Guy" just knew I couldn't have made it anywhere else than where he placed me. Certainly we have some tremendous obligations since he tells us that where much is given much is expected. I had better get back trying to supply my meger offerings in the much is expected department. We love you all.

Weekly Update 11-17-07

Well we are kind of sitting here in a frustrated state of turmoil in our flat today. We tried to take advantage of our reduced workload last week and make our apartment a little more comfortable for us. We were missing several pieces of wood in the parquet flooring and there were numerous deep marks in the floor from the years of missionaries living here. The apartment manager had a guy come in and replace the obvious tile discrepancies then we hired a member to come in and sand and varnish it. When he sanded it revealed a lot of damaged tile and a rather healthy termite population. The apartment management brought their guy back but because they are refusing to pay him any additional money he is less than enthusiastic to really solve the problem. Apparently the parquet they sell now days is of smaller dimensions so he has to try and scrounge used stuff that is big enough to replace our damaged tiles. The individual entrepreneurs such as are being used here have no vehicles so are at the mercy of the matatus and buses to transport themselves and equipment. The result is that scheduled appointments are only an estimate that can vary as much as by a whole day. I guess you have to admire their desire to sustain themselves but one has to really struggle to curb your impatience and frustration and as some of you might have observed over the years those are not my areas of strength. In the mean time we sit here with furniture stacked in our bedrooms, kitchen, and entry way hoping to accomplish a reasonable resolution without compromising our real reason for being here. It kind of brings back memories of working the way out of the fun we had trying to put the place in Meridian back together after the water line burst while we were away to Alabama seeing Bruce's family.The dust is still settling here in Kenya from last weeks run offs in preparation for the general election on 27 Dec. There was some disturbances, some suspected related deaths, and they still don't have solid tickets for some of the parties. Some of the losing candidates immediately transferred to different parties and are trying to get on their tickets. We have identified some 6 different political parties that all seem to have some relevance. We drove through some rallies coming out of Kalunga Hills the day previous to the elections that seemed aggressive enough that I was a little uncomfortable.We are trying to get back on schedule this week. We attended church services in Kilili then brought Julius back to Nairobi with us for a pre-mission doctor's physical we had scheduled with the mission approved doctor. I am sure he was a bundle of nerves, probably had not ridden in many vehicles in his life, we gave him something to eat and read and the roads are a mess so we traveled our new route which is full of curves. The end result is that we had one sick little feller in the back seat and left several plastic containers full of the used lunch I had made him along side the road between here and there. I am going to try and find some dramamine at the local chemist before we take him back tomorrow. Because our place is buried in displaced furniture we left Julius with the Assistants for his 2 night stay. The Mission President's wife has scheduled Thanksgiving at the Mission Home for Thursday so we moved our Kyambeke visit ahead to Wednesday for this week and will go out to Saint Mary's Hospital to assist there in the Pharmacy on Thursday. Because Thanksgiving is an American event it has no significance to the locals but they do show some interest when we tell them of all the food that is available.Well we must get moving with the hope that we can develop a reasonable solution to our self imposed turmoil in our living quarters here today. We miss not being there to share Thanksgiving with friends and family but do take solace in the people and events we are involved in here. We are thankful for all of you and your love and support. We especially appreciate the pictures all the grandkids dressed for Halloween that we received. God Bless, Elder and Sister Bishop

Weekly Update 11-12-07

I think we are beginning to understand what is meant by rainy season. It has become very obvious in the last 48 hours that we have only been flirting with moisture up till now. We did some major mud bogging in traveling to Kyambeke for their Branch Conference yesterday. The deviations were snarled with big rigs that just could not negotiate in all the mud but our smaller outfits were able to maneuver around with some effort and get through. Fortunately for the guy who washes our truck for us our vehicle was not the dirtiest one in the parking lot here this morning. I drove the Pococks rig yesterday as they are the new charities couple and wanted to become familiar with the country there as they have some projects kicking off there soon. We then rode home with President Taylor after conference. The members sure made an effort to welcome him as it was the first time he had been able to visit since his arrival last July. We had the baptism for Francis & Sarah after the conference sessions and before the training. The branch has had a failure in their potable water system recently so we filled the font from the rain water storage. Although the water in the font was less than 3 feet deep the bottom was not visible because it was rather murky but they did throw a little chlorine in to reduce the threat of bugs. It was obvious from the excitement of the converts that the water was sufficient to do what it needed to. They are going to be a real asset to the branch there. Another investigator we are working with was there for the baptism and it looks like we will be having similar event in 3 more weeks.
We have been pestering the apartment manager for several months now to come and replace some missing wood tiles in our floor. He finally sent some guys over Saturday to do that. They found that termites were what was causing the problem so treated for them then returned today to replace the damaged tiles. Since this is an all cement structure the termites must have been in the original tile that was put in. Hope it solves the problem and that not too many of my remaining brain cells were destroyed by fumes as we stayed here during the process. We have contracted for another guy to come and refinish the floors this week in the entry hall and sitting area as they have been somewhat abused by the missionary tenants over the years. It should make our living conditions here a lot more tolerable but then when we visit with our members in their mud huts I realize how spoiled we are.
We think we have found a home for the little crippled girl we talked of several weeks back. There is a Mother Teresa Sisters of
Charity home for handicapped children that we found through our volunteer work at St Mary's. The branch in Ilima needs to do some paper work with the Village Chief to verify the death of her parents and the expected disposition of remains upon her death and then it should be a go. We visited last week and were impressed with the work they are doing. They currently have 54 residents of which only 7 are ambulatory. We left them a new wheelchair and the promise of some crib sheets, quilts and a few more wheelchairs on our return. The grandfather will be able to visit whenever he is able but at 84 years of age they don't expect that will be for very much longer.
The branch president at Kilili called today to cancel our weekly trip there tomorrow. It has been raining fairly steady so the roads are very bad plus the majority of the members are busy planting their shambas now that the moisture has arrived. We have also canceled our trip to Ilima this Friday as they are doing a run off of candidates there in preparation for their National Elections scheduled for 27 December. The branch president doesn't think it would be good for a couple of Mazungus to be near during the rather volatile environment of their electoral process. All the missionaries have been advised to avoid all the political rallies that are organized here in the Nairobi area for the next month as it is not uncommon for opposing parties to have some rather violent clashes at these events.
The Christmas decorations are starting to be evident in the shopping areas here but the weather is certainly warm enough that it sure don't feel like Christmas. We were able to add zebras to the list of animals we have spotted while traveling the Mombasa Highway en route to our branches this week. Saw a bunch of them feeding with some gazelles this last Thursday.

Pictures 11-12-07

These first two pictures show the traffic we negotiate to get to our area.



Here are the APs finishing up the Baptismal interview at our investigators house.

The baptism (note the pristine color of the water).

Elder & Sister Bishop with Francis & Sarah the newest members of the Kyambeke Branch

Weekly Update 11-5-07

This was not a real good week for generating new news. Our schedule is full enough now that the week really goes by fast. We took the Assistants to Kyambeke with us on Thursday and stopped off in Mitini to interview Francis and Sarah for baptism. It is scheduled for next Sunday after Branch Conference. This is probably a good time to try and explain how they do their names here. The husbands name is Francis Kimeu Wambua. When Sarah married him her name became Sarah Francis (his christian name) and then the children take his middle name for their last name so his children are Kikoko Kimeu and Evelyn Kimeu. How is that for a family history nightmare? Just to increase the challenge most of the births and marriages are not recorded. I am helping a young man get his mission application in and he has to have a passport in hand before he can send them in. His ID card lists his birthday as 00/00/1988. He thinks he was born in April but his mother, who was a single mom, died when he was young so he is applying for a birth certificate after the fact and it will be for the same date as his ID card. The branch president at Ilima and his wife are having a wedding the 29th of December. Even though they have 3 children and were married in a tribal ceremony some 7 years ago. The temple requires they have a civil certificate before being sealed and so these guys turn it into a pretty big bash. We committed to help with the cake and have come to understand that there is suppose to be one layer for the couple, one layer for the immediate family, and then one layer for the other guests (they are expecting about 400). We will let you know how that turns out next year. We taught a first discussion to Joseph (he is 60 years old) whom I have been reading the Book of Mormon with in our English class there in Kyambeke. He is pretty sharp and our reading together has helped us both understand each others accents a lot better. He is very desirous to be baptized so it should happen before too long. His wife is in our intermediate English class so will not be baptized right away but it will really help her English once we get Joseph reading the BOM with her.
We spent all last Monday in the Immigration Building and after some six hours we are now official residents of Kenya. The guy who was helping us joked that we were turning into real Africans when they completed our finger print process. For those who missed the humor there remember that we were standing there with very black fingers because of the finger printing process. There was a new CES couple that arrived in the mission Friday evening. They are staying with us in our extra bedroom until they finish their CES training at the Mission Home this Thursday. They will then depart for Kitale, which is NW of Nairobi. They are Gary and Judy Stutz from the Seattle area. Rowan was his father. He is the older brother to Ron, Doug, Linda and Laurel. For those who never lived in the Uintah Basin with the Lee Bishop Family, Rowan was the Superintendant in the Duchesne School District who hired my father to teach there and us Bishop kids used to ride the school bus with all his brothers and sisters. If the truth be known, I was a little partial to Linda as a member of the opposite sex and Mike got in a fight with Doug on the bus one night. It sure is a small world sometimes. They do not celebrate Halloween here. It was great to receive pictures of some of the grandkids in their costumes. We are still hoping to see shots of Bridger, Charlee, Anson, Eden, Bo, and Ian. We did see 17 giraffes, one ostrich and 3 monkeys on Friday this last week as we traveled the Mombasa Highway and the road to Ilima in the Kilunga Hills. The rainy season has not fully arrived yet but we have seen a bunch of it. There were a couple of days when the vehicle was pretty dirty. I am sure glad that David shows up to wash it a couple of times a week.

Weekly Update 10-28-07

Well the rainy season is starting here in our little branches. That means they are busy planting and we are busy avoiding all the new ruts in the roads. Our shortcut works real well for Kilili but it has some grades with switch backs for the other two. Our route decision each day is made based on the time available, weather and Sister Bishops desire to visit the last station with a porcelain commode on the Mombasa highway. We generally try to get on the road by 6:45 on the days we head up country but can still get hung up in outbound traffic on some days that really throws a wrench in our schedule. On Thursday we saw a higher than usual number of big rigs that had rolled over in the night and ended up waiting in a couple of long lines while they came up with a work-around. Then Sunday they appeared to be having some kind of marathon or walkathon and just shut down the big highway heading out of town. We probed it in several different accesses but were turned back each time and spent over an hour just wandering back roads before we were able to get out of the city. We still made it to Ilima in time for their Primary program and they did a super job. We have gotten a little involved in helping some of the folks procure seed and it is very interesting to see some of their farming practices. We were watching a film on the restoration that showed Joseph Smith using a stick to plant corn seeds. President whispered that we farmed just like they do but then I reminded him that the film was depicting a time 180 years ago and that it was a little different now days. Because the majority of the Shambas are on terraced hillsides and the austere means available, just about everything is done manually either with a pinga (big hoe) or panga (machete). I apologize to anyone reading this that speaks Kikumba if I have mixed up the terms or spelled it wrong.
The week ahead looks interesting as it appears that our paperwork is finally ready for the issuing of our resident cards. This paves the way for our receiving a resident drivers license and also receiving a break on some of the tolls and taxes we run into. Unfortunately we will also be getting some new CES missionaries in which means a decision will have to be made on our vehicle. I have purposely avoided following up on the status of the little green Nissan since the accident so I am not sure what we will be driving by next weekend but it will most likely not be the CES truck we are currently using. That is a decision that is made a pay grade or two above my level so all I can do is snivel like some little private. Well must run as we have to be down at immigration shortly.

Pictures 10-28-07

Sister Bishop, Sister Nicrette, and Silas at the pharmacy at St. Mary's. Our last name really confuses these folks but we get along great and enjoy the 3 hours we try to spend there each Wednesday.

I thought Brett and Boyd would be interested in this scaffolding at a construction site. It is just trees bound together and if you note the ladder in the bottom of the picture I think the boys at OSHA would have a coniption.

Sister Bishop has turned into a real camera bug lately to fill in all the time she spends as a passenger. The first is traffic on a two lane deviation (note that some impatient driver is trying to make it 3 Lane). The second is us last Thursday stopped in a traffic jam changing from one deviation to another. The cause of the back log was an overturned bus. We saw 4 other overturned vehicles that morning which is a record even for here.


These were all taken at Kilili. The first is their Primary getting ready for the Sacrament Program. The next two were taken at their enrichment activity where they were making yarn doilies with the last being their nursery.

Weekly Update 10-21-07

This weeks report will be quick as we spent most of Saturday, our normal preparation day for personal matters, with the YM in Kyambeke. We are sandwiching those chores in with the other things we do to prepare to support our branches today (Monday) and Wednesday. It is surprising the myriad of items that seem to consume our efforts on those days. We copy lesson materials to support all the classes we are teaching plus all the material needed to support the primaries. In addition there are always several requests for items that we try to run down for them. Pres. Simon wants us to find out the cost of a hearing aid for his wife's sister and that consists of a little more than just picking up the phone like we would do back home. With the exception of the items picked up at the large stores there are always the Mazunga's price and the natives price and our accents seem to always demand the higher price which is very prohibitive for the native's spendable income. Consequently we end up either doing a lot of comparative shopping are just hire someone to make the purchases for us. Victor, a former native missionary here, has developed a business for himself procuring items for the couples and mission home. We are using him more all the time and find him very trustworthy.
We had a couple of firsts this week. We began helping out at St. Mary's hospital for a few hours on Wednesday mornings. This week we spent 3 hours in their pharmacy. We were filling and labeling small bottles with anti-acid medicine (It looked and smelled like pepto bismol) for issue to patients from the six liter jugs that they come in. We prepared 175 bottles and were told that it would provide about half of what they required for the day. Our other first grew out of our frustration and discomfort with the deteriation of the deviations that we travel each day. We heard of a back road that was all paved but mountainous enough to discourage the big rigs from using it. We decided to try it out on our way home last Tuesday and it was pretty much what we were hoping for except that because of some construction in Machakos we got on the wrong road and I know my companion was sure we were going to end up in Somalia. I did stop and ask a couple of folks but my English and their Swahili just didn't mix. We did make it home okay but it was way after dark. We have since been able to determine the right route and have used it several times.
As I indicated earlier we did support the YM at Kyambeke for an activity on Saturday. Because of school demands that is the only time they can get together. We borrowed a generator then loaded up the TV and DVD player in our truck and showed them several clips from a church history set we purchased at the distribution center. For treats we had found the makings for what we were able to pass off as smores. The marshmallows and BBQ briquettes were a whole new experience for them and they were very tentative at first but really got with it after a while and not surprisingly there were no left overs.
Because of power outages and internet disruptions we were not able to view the pictures of little Andrew until Sunday evening on our return from services in Kilili but it is obvious to us that he has many of the same genes as JJ. It is comforting to us to see the many things that you each do for one another in our absence. May God bless you each in your activities.

Pictures 10-15-07

This is the Kyambeke Primary just after they completed their program.


Picture number two is of our vehicle when we got home last Thursday. We have a fellow who teaches school here who will come and wash our car on demand during non-school hours for 200 or 300 schillings depending on whether we have him do the interior or not. That converts to $3 and $4.50 at the current exchange rate. When it gets this dirty however I get feeling a little guilty and will throw water on it to at least get rid of the mud before it dries. We have no hose or spigot so I carry the water up the stairs from our washroom area.


3 & 4 are snapshots of the road to Ilima. Sister Bishop is getting used to it somewhat so took these hanging out the window as we drove along. Her kids would be both proud and impressed of her.

Weekly Update 10-15-07

Well this has certainly been another week. Sometimes we get the feeling that we appear like a big meal ticket to the Africans, both members and non-members alike. We have to be so careful as the goal is to develop self-reliance not dependency. We are working with the branch in the low-lands to procure a little food until harvest time as they had a rather dry season last year. Their requested regimen is 10 kg of maize, 5 kg beans, and 100 grams of fat per month per member until the next harvest in January. Seems like pretty meager rations but is it a solution that fosters reliance or dependency? Maybe when the harvest comes in this year if we can figure a way to preserve the stuff we can get them to put those kinds of quantities away for next year. Wish there was a dry pack canner and supply of cans nearby. We are unsure as to whether there is a Bishop's Storehouse anywhere on this Continent. Another branch wants us to help them procure seeds and fertilizer for the impending rainy season, which seems like a better solution but since both us and the mission president are in our first season we have to wonder why there seems such a dearth of seeds in an area that has been devoted to subsistence farming for so many years. I tell myself that hopefully we are equipping them with a heartier variety of plant that will benefit them but then wonder if a portion of what we provide wont just end up for sale on the local market. You might accuse me of becoming jaded but until you live in the conditions here that accusation would be unfair. Even in relief efforts one must be so careful to use trusted African Agents as the price can escalate rapidly if the system detects that there are Wazungus (plural for white people) involved. After church services yesterday we were immediately challenged with a couple of situations of need. One was the 1st Councilor's wife that felt she needed to get to the clinic in Kikoko and wanted us to transport her. We have grown quite fond of this sister but our mission rules strictly forbid the use of the vehicle for non-missionary transport and we would have to have passed some of the members on the road who are aware of the rules we have to abide by. It is really tough to drive by faithful sisters with their children knowing that some walk up to 10kms one way whenever they come to church. The other situation was a sister who is a great support in our English Classes who needed to get to the doctor for some medication. She is HIV positive, thanks to her husband who died several years ago, and last year lost one of her 14 year old twin daughters to birth related HIV. The other twin is fortunately negative.
On the upside the Primary Program presented in the branch we attended went off pretty well thanks to the efforts of Sister Bishop who was called on to extemporaneously provide the closing remarks as the councilor was home with his sick wife. We had another potential investigator show up on his own and requested a Book of Mormon. He is a minister for another church but seemed very sincere in his desire to learn more about us. LDS charities has done some work in the area with some boreholes (wells) and are investigating a support need for a local school so hopefully our supposed kinship with the devil is being questioned somewhat. Francis and Sarah were at church again and we will make a decision on Thursday as to whether they are ready for baptism in the next few weeks. Francis thinks our message is important enough that he is of the opinion we need to go door to door to tell people about it (the lesson on missionary work is part of the new member discussions).
They have had a few light showers in the Kalunga Hills so they are expecting their rainy season to start any time now. Depending on the amount of moisture that could impact our access to that area thanks to the roads we have to use but only time will tell. Their weather patterns are different from what we experience here in Nairobi due to the difference in altitude. We continue to have several brief storms a week so the rainy season is going to be interesting to us when it arrives. As we were coming home on the Mombasa Highway last Thursday there had been a storm through that left one of the deviations we negotiate impassable to the heavy truck traffic as the hills were too slick for them to go up or down. We dodged around them and when we traveled the same road Friday morning it had already become a dust bowl again.
We rode out to the Kitengela Glass Factory here in Nairobi with another couple on our P-Day Saturday. Typical of us we forgot and left our camera home but if you what to see some weird whimsical stuff you might google that name on the internet. They even have some animals penned up around the grounds (they quit raising goats because the Leopords would come and eat them at night and they wouldn't make enough noise to alert the herdsman to scare them away). Elder Bishop was feeding some leaves to one of the ostriches when the big bird decided he wanted to see what the Elder's pointy finger tasted like. They have a really big beak!
Well that is it for another week. If any of you should get the urge to send us a quick e-mail please yield to the prompting. Your short thoughts are much appreciated. It is 6:30am Monday morning here and time to go to work (that makes it 9:30pm Sunday evening back in the Mountain Time Zone of Meridian). God bless you all.

Pictures

We found that Mwende is about 23 years old. Her parents died of aids so her granpa has custody when he is able. The RS sisters are currently caring for her but need to do it at her place as they don't have a place for her in their mud homes. She does have a wheel chair but it is not very practical in her rugged surroundings. We are still struggling for a good solution for her future.


Here is Sister Bishop and her keyboard class at Kilili.

We finally snapped this one of Gieco the gecko in one of her less bashful moments.

Weekly Update 10-9-07

Okay we are a little late this week. We did get some portions of conference on the computer but not without some time and effort. With the 9 hours difference of our time and Mountain Time the sessions were available here 7-9pm & 11pm-1am on Saturday and Sunday. Because all of the couples here in our apartment compound work through the charities router and the generally reduced capabilities of the internet available here we listened to the first session until it cut out in the middle of Elder Uchtdorf's talk. I stayed up and was able to get all of the Saturday afternoon session. Sunday was a bust though as none of us were able to get any of the morning session and I was not able link up to the afternoon session until Elder Nelson's talk and did get President Hinckley's thoughts at the close. It is not broadcast in any of the chapels here so to all appearances it was just a normal Sabbath to the East African Saints. That meant that we did travel up to Ilima for services there. Sister Bishop was concerned that I might fall to sleep after staying up so late the previous evening but I assured her that my adrenaline level necessitated by the driving conditions was not going to let that happen. We did stop and pick up Mwende, the little crippled girl we mentioned previously, on our way up the final mountain so she could be at church with us. Not sure what her little spirit gets out of it but the saints there will surely be blessed for all they struggle to do for her. The couple serving in Eldoret was here for the weekend and rode up with us to see what it was like. They are the Scott's from Ogden, Utah and have been here for 16 months so were able to share some information on successes they have had. Two of the couples here have changed out over the last few weeks. The PEF couple, the Bushes of Ogden and Washington, Utah, were replaced by the Lewis's from the Denver area. The LDS Charities couple, Ann and Morgan Harris of Las Vegas were replaced by the Pococks from Northern Virginia. We are no longer the newest couple here but as their respective calls were just for 18 months we will still have the privilege of seeing them off on their return home. Our schedule is fairly established now with Tuesdays being in Kilili, Thursdays are at Kyambeke, and Fridays at Ilima. Our Sundays are spent at the branches on a rotating basis so that we visit each on every third Sunday. We will continue to spend a couple of Saturdays to support special activities and meet with Pres. Makiti, the school teacher. Because of the time and effort spent by the young people to attend school (several of them actually live in dormitory situations in other locations through the week) most of their activities or confined to Saturdays and then only once a month. The upside of this is that the next generation is a lot more familiar with English. Our current English students generally range from their mid 30s to mid 70s and it is a challenge to feel like we are really making progress with them but we do see some positive things happening in their lives. I know you are wondering why the church just doesn't include them in their translation efforts but there are so many variations of their language that the decision was made to just use what ever their colonial language was prior to their liberation and for here that is English. I am aware that a review of the above schedule does seem like we have a lot of down time on our non-travel days but the preparation required to provide them with the support materials they need (remember there is no electricity) takes up most of the time here in Nairobi. We are going to be spending a few hours at St. Mary's Hospital helping in their pharmacy section starting next Wednesday and we will tell you more about that once we know what it entails. We did host the family home evening for the couples this week and I was able to down load an MP3 version of President Hinckley's Sunday morning address off of LDS.org so we listened to that then had brownies and ice cream. I will close this week with some facts from the Mission's monthly newsletter. There are currently 51 young missionaries (4 sisters & 47 Elders). They were blessed with 45 baptisms last month. They currently have a teaching pool of 646 progressing investigators with 280 with baptismal dates. We are the only couple that really has an opportunity to do any teaching of investigators as all the others work in areas where there are young missionaries assigned. Almost all the teaching is done in a chapel so that the investigators can see that there are no 'black magic' areas. One of Satan's tools in this area is to spread the rumor that the LDS are devil worshipers. How ironic is that? One young member in a rural area was expelled from his primary school recently because he would not renounce his Book of Mormon. Well that is it for this week. Please remember the missionaries everywhere in your prayers.

Weekly Update 9/30/07

Well I guess the big news that impacted our lives this week was traffic snarls. Thursday and Friday evening it took us over 90 minutes to cover a distance that can be traversed in 15 minutes normally. With all the truck traffic on the Mombasa Highway, dodging around overturned or stalled vehicles that they are fixing on the spot is pretty common but I think this week we were victims of the upcoming elections. Whenever the President moves around they virtually shut down all traffic and since we live on Statehouse Crescent only a short distance from his home we are subject to those events. Once they back up traffic like that what is normally a real zoo becomes utter chaos. A small van cut in front of us Friday evening and his bumper hooked our wheel well which messed up a little of the fender trim. I bought a roll of duct tape and have it secured until our next service date which will be the second week of October. Anyway their elections are over in December and hopefully all the rallies and etc. will be a thing of history for the balance of our time here. Especially as we are instructed to avoid areas where heated rallies such as they have here are taking place. Apparently white people make great targets when people get their feelings stirred up. It is amazing to Sister Bishop and I at how soon we have forgotten that we really do have a different color of skin from the people we see everyday. The young people we pass on the roads in Kilunga Hills do serve as a barometer. Barb has divided them into three categories. There are the ones who smile and return our waves, those who run and hide then peek around to stare, and a small minority who will yell something to the amusement of their companions (don't know what they are saying as it is in KiKamba). We did start teaching Francis and Sarah in the Kyambeke Branch this week and if we don't mess things up they should be baptized by the end of the month. He knows his bible real well, loves the Book of Mormon and is anxious to be baptized but we still need to get through the Word of Wisdom and Tithing but they sure are a great couple to work with. Sister Bishop's keyboarding classes are a big hit and we have picked up another keyboard from the office to support them (she has 3 available for each class now). It will be interesting to see how many stick with it as the novelty wears down. We delivered some more humanitarian aid supplies to a couple of the branches this week and was able to get some things for a small crippled girl who can't talk but seems to have some cognitive skills. She is very small and we thought she might be in her early teens but it turns out she is 23. Her parents have passed away and her aged grandpa normally cares for her but is currently at a hospital in Nairobi so the RS Sisters stop by to help her out. She spends most of her days just lying on the floor of her mud hut or laying in her crib sized bed now that we have gotten her a plastic covered mattress to replace the blankets over wood that she was using. We are trying to find a permanent solution at a nursery or orphanage here in Nairobi since Elder Bishop is not Matthew Cowley and lacks the faith needed to heal her. My co-driver continues to find an occasional giraffe as we travel the Mombasa Highway and we spotted several monkeys on the roads in Kilunga hills this week which immediately made us think of several grandkids. As we were driving up the last stretch of road to Kilili I was mentioned how great it would be to have Bridgette here as I was remembering how she used to hate the road dropping into the Snake River at Wendell. Barrett will be interested to know that there have been a couple of days this last two weeks when it was clear enough for us to see Mt. Kilimanjaro as we traveled south out of Nairobi. It is easy to identify as it is the only one with snow on it in this warm climate.

Elder & Sister Bishop

Pictures

These are a few pictures of the meeting hall at Kilili. It is a rented facility that sits right in the middle of town. The doors have to be left open during services to keep some degree of ventilation which allows for anyone or anything (dogs, birds or bats) to wander in during the meetings. There is a bicycle shop next door and a bar and cafe with a rather loud sound system just a few doors down that really get noisy some Sundays.

It has a U-shaped compound in back with several rooms on either side that are used for classes, library, and Presidents Office.

In this last picture you can see the portable font (the light blue metal tub), some banana trees and in the far upper right corner are the outdoor latrines. These are some of Sister Bishop's favorite facilities as she almost dropped her glasses down the little hole this week. If that happens and she is on her own.

On vacation

I apologize to all those who were waiting for the weekly update. Matthew is out of school this week and so we flew to Denver to see if we would like to end up here some day. I return home tomorrow evening and will get the pictures up that they sent as soon as I can. Thanks for your patience.

Weekly Update 9/23/07

We traveled 5 days this week and used Mon. & Wed. as prep days to maintain the pad, lay in a few supplies, and prepare the variety of different training and lessons for the week. Tue. we were at Kilili and while Sis. Bishop was working with the YW and RS I was teaching some new member discussions with 3 recent converts and then reviewing the building that the church rents there to see what could be done to keep the birds out of the meeting/classrooms and Presidents Office. Thur. in Kyambeke Sis. B started with some English students while I studied in the BOM with an investigator and member. These people want to participate so badly in the church meetings but the language barrier is tough to overcome. Especially for the adults who are not involved in the school system. I appreciate their frustration as we are trying to become sufficiently familiar with their Kkumba (local language that is really not Swahili) to assist in the English course work. I thought we could just write their words next to ours but illiteracy is also a factor so that they can't read their own language. Friday we were at Ilima and I spent time in Mission Prep with Joshua then worked with the Elder's Quorum Pres. Sis B met with the RS and Primary. Before we left Pres. Simon took us to see a crippled girl who is retarded enough that she can't talk. Her parents have died and she is living with her aged grandpa who is currently at hospital in Nairobi. The RS goes in to help her each day but they just leave her on the floor through the day so she wont soil her bed. Quite an effort as many of these ladies live some kms away and have to walk wherever they go. There are none of the people in the area that have anything more than a bike and most just walk. Some live more than 10 kms from the chapel and are walking on winding hill (almost mountainous) roads. Saturday we were back to Kilili as that is the only day that we can spend much time with Pres. Makiti as he is a school teacher. I finally completed their financial audit and then spent time reviewing their special needs and how we could help. Sis B was helping the Primary Pres with some final preparations for their Sacrament Program. We got back to Nairobi a little earlier as all the couples were having dinner with the John Bestor Family over by the US Embassy. He is the brother to Curt Bestor (pianist/composer) and is with the FBI assigned to the Embassy. They had A&W Rootbeer to go with the barbecue which was a real treat. Sunday was back to Kyambeke for services. Pres. Mbondo had invited a non-member couple and they were there. Because of his respect for the pres. he wanted to be baptized right then but I convinced him there were a few things we needed to talk about first. We will be teaching them this Thurs. Sis B will be starting keyboarding classes at all the branches as early as this week and I will be working with another English class so our plate is really filling up. We could certainly be more effective if we didn't have to spend 6+ hours traveling each day but because of several concerns, not the least of which is security, that just can't happen right now. We try to get away by 0645 before the traffic snarls up and return by 1800 as that is when it is starting to get dark here.

Lori asked about our transportation

All the couples drive extra cab pickups. They are either Nissan or Isuzu. The vehicle we had our accident in was a Nissan but the one we are currently driving is an Isuzu. This one actually belongs to The Church Education System but they are currently short two couples so this was available. The only young Elders with a vehicle are the Assistants and it is another pickup. There is a van assigned to the to the Mission Office. The President drives a stripped down version of a Durango and his wife has a car but she is no more anxious to drive than Sister Bishop so I have never seen it.

The Isuzu is the better pickup as it has a power torque engine and a lower gear ratio which is much more conducive to the driving conditions we encounter. Those conditions are really beyond description although the ones we witnessed in Brazil are close. We are averaging about 2,000 kms each week. We are hoping that if and when the Nissan is repaired that it finds a new home. I have been dropping hints but who knows?

Weekly Update 9/16/07

Well this the week of our 38th wedding anniversary ended with a lot of traveling. On Monday there was a Nairobi Zone training seminar at the Mission Office at Upper Hill. We were invited as we kind of fall in the crack with our assignment since our branches are not assigned to any district but report directly to President Taylor. We spent the next couple of days preparing lessons, getting the truck serviced, dividing a bundle of clothes from LDS Charities for the 3 branches, and picking up some cleaning and medical supplies that they needed us to bring. On Thursday we took the Assistants (they are a threesome until the next transfers) with us to Kyambeke. They did Angie's baptismal interview and taught discussions to the folks that had showed up to the English class wanting to be baptized the previous week. Sis. Bishop and I spent time evaluating the more advanced English Students that showed up trying to decide where we go with them next. Several young people showed up who had not been baptized at the age of 8 even though their parents are active. It was a downer day for us as we had to inform them that once they turn 9 they have to understand English well enough to receive the discussions. If left to the school system their English will probably not be sufficient until about age 15. Hopefully we can get their parents to start speaking english at home and reading the Book of Mormon with them to accelerate the process. One little fellow was 12 years and should be a deacon now and I could tell he was very disappointed that he was going to have to continue to wait. I did give him a copy of Book of Mormon Stories for children and his father thanked us today and said he himself enjoyed reading it. We hope he spends time reading it with his son. I am working with the 3 Branch Presidents to interview all the active 8 year olds so they can be baptized as children of record and not have to wait for the other system. I had wondered why there were always older boys that passed the Sacrament and it turns out the parents were waiting for the missionaries to teach their children. Friday we made the trek to Ilima where Sis Bishop worked with the Primary President on their Sacrament Meeting presentation while I taught a Missionary Prep class to a young man who hopes to get on a mission in the next year. I have started helping him get his documents together for the passport application. Turns out that a lot of these people have no birth or marriage certificates as they just do the tribal thing but these need to be certified before they can get documents are go to the Temple. Saturday we were at Kilili where Sis Bishop spent time with another Primary President on their Sacrament Program while I stocked the buildings cleaning supplies. Special thanks to Bridgette who sent us a copy of the script she had just got her Bishop to approve for her ward's Sacrament Program. These 3 units all have their programs scheduled in October and hadn't decided what they were going to do yet. The church music we hear here is very interesting as a lot of the songs were learned without the benifit of knowing what the music sounds like and they don't have that great a grasp of what all the notes and stuff are for. Since none of the areas we work in have the distraction of electricity we don't have a good solution yet as to how to expose them to the way it should be done. Sis Bishop played a battery operated keyboard one week and it just seemed to confuse them from the way they normally sang so it is going to take a little more effort to get them to conform. They do love to sing and have beautiful voices but it borders more on a tribal chant sometimes. Today we made our first visit to Sunday Services in Ilima as that was where we were headed the day of the wreck 3 weeks ago. We left there a little early so as be to Angie's baptism at Kyambeke. The missionaries rode with us again. Our schedule is probably going to be like this for the next few weeks with the addition of a Kilili trip every other Tuesday at least until the Primary programs are over. Primaries are probably a good place to focus however as that is where the future of Africa is at. We appreciate the messages we receive from many of our friends and family back home as to what is going on in your lives and certainly appreciate your prayers for the missionaries. Elder Kolliker from the area authority counseled us that if we could get the investigators to pray for the missionaries success that the number of baptisms here would double.

Pictures 9/16/06

This first photo is a picture of where we turn off the bad road to the very bad road on our way to the Ilima chapel. We make a left turn here and then another left around the rock you see and from here on it is 4 wheel drive in low.


Next is a picture of the shambas in the valley as seen from the Ilima building. It is like we are sitting on top of the world when we get up there.


This is a picture of some Safari Ants moving out. They are very small but there are so many of them it looks like a 3/4" black rope laying on the ground that just winds its way along to where ever they are going. What we could see of this particular group was about 15' long and then it disappeared into the hillside.


Several have wanted to see what Geico our Gecko looks like but he is very shy. We have decided that he is maybe a she as we found this little feller in our kitchen sink area the other night. He was only about 1 & 1/2" long compared to Geico's 5 ". I said was as Sister had me encourage this little feller to live somewhere else so I caught him and put him in a flower bed outside that I had seen another one in earlier this week.