Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Goat Stew
Pictures of RS Enrichment activity. Making Chapoltas and Goat Stew. That is Branch President and his 1st Councilor George enjoying the finished product with Sister Bishop. Note the lack of eating utensils so yes you do just eat it with your fingers.
Chapel Doors
Kyambeke chapel front, side, baptismal font, and rest room (note the square hole in the floor which is the toilet and that explains why Sister Bishop is a little more uncomfortable with the facilities than Elder Bishop). The last picture is a picture of the Shambas from the front of the chapel. Shambas are the small subsistence farms that each family has. Note how they are terraced up the hill. I think what you see are 6 different shambas.
Mission Home
Picture of the mission home (bottom right), distribution center (the next set of double doors on the bottom), and Upper Hill Road Chapel (all of the upper level). The building also houses the area facilities and finance offices for Uganda, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania. The couples for PEF, Public Affairs, and Employment Services are also housed in this building.
The Assistants to the President: Elder Dimuzio from Pocatelo, ID and Elder Gakaka from Zimbabwe, Africa.
The Assistants to the President: Elder Dimuzio from Pocatelo, ID and Elder Gakaka from Zimbabwe, Africa.
Sunday, August 26, 2007
August 26, 2007
This was definitely a week of ups and downs. We took quite a few informative pictures which I intended to get sent out yesterday but the power went out at 10:00am and was not restored until after midnight. I hope to have time to spend sending them before we leave on the Couples Conference this Thursday. I am thankful that the repairmen stuck with it as it sure made getting ready for church a little easier this morning. We didn't starve during the outage as the couples generally get together for dinner out on Saturday and I cleaned up a little ice cream when we got home so that it wouldn't spoil in case the power didn't come back.
Friday was a conference for all the zones in Kenya under the direction of Elder Koelliker of the Area Authority. Of the 63 missionaries present the native Africans well outnumbered the muzungu (white people) and there was not a thing wrong with their teaching skills or testimonies. Our Heavenly Father certainly has the future well in hand for this land. We just about didn't make it as I was stopped as I followed a line of cars through a red light as two different Senior Elders had advised me to do. The cop jumped in the car and said I was to drive him to the police station so he could arrest me. In answer to his questions as we drove we informed him that we were missionaries from the US who had only been here 2 weeks of our intended 2 years. Upon arriving he informed us that 2 weeks was not very long and that he would forgive me this time. The first thing I wrote in my conference journal was that I will obey all rules and not just mission rules. Some of the others opined that he might have just wanted a ride to the station but he made me a believer.
We just about made our goal of getting to all 3 branches this week. On Tuesday we finally gave up getting someone to ride with us to Kilili and just ventured off with some general directions. We made it but had not coordinated to meet with anyone as we were not sure at what time we would arrive if ever. As we neared the area a Matatu (small 14 passenger van that darts where ever he likes despite surrounding traffic) passed us and a man waved then jumped out and chased us down. Turns out it was the 1st Councilor who had recognized the vehicle and wanted to help however he could. He took us to the president's orchard and we spent some quality time with him and came away with several oranges, tangerines, and 1 papaya that were fresh from his trees.
Thursday we headed back to Kyambeke (pronounced chimbecky) where we had attended services last Sunday. We spent the first hour in an English class they have and are planning on assisting in the instruction beginning the first Thursday in Sep. I then spent some time going over membership and financial records with Pres. Mbondo while Sis. Bishop attended their RS Enrichment Activity. When I emerged an hour later I found her elbow deep in a pan of flour learning to make chipatas ( a thicker doughier version of a taco). They then made some goat stew under conditions that would not pass the muster with the board of health back home. They then offered us some with an overwhelming amount of love and pride. It is a menu that is reserved for special occasions such as Christmas Day. The goat was a little tough but everything had a good flavor.
This morning we arose early so as to make it to Ilima for Sunday Services. The Scotts, the couple serving in Eldoret who were in town for the Zone and Couple's Conference, wanted to go with us as they had heard how spectacular the view was up there. We were within 5 kms of our destination when another one of those Matatus came blasting around a corner in a fairly wide area on our side of the road. I stopped thinking he would swerve back to his side of the road but I don't think he even saw us as he hit us head on without slowing. No one was injured but our little Nissan was pretty well wiped out from the doors forward. He was very apologetic but also smelled of alcohol which did nothing to replace all the radiator fluid that was draining into the road. The Assistants were a few minutes behind us and with their help and Elder Scott's camera we gathered all the pertinent info to defend our situation. He then drove off saying he would meet us at the nearest police station. We thought that was down at Salama on the Mombasa Highway but upon arriving with our vehicle in tow was told that we needed to go back up the mountain to another town. We were able to leave the vehicle there and did finally find the other station. The Mutatu driver had been there and admitted his fault and the Mutatu's owner was also contacted and agreed that his insurance would have to cover the expenses but I still have to get back up there soon with a document that must be purchased in Nairobi but filled out there. In the mean time another Senior Elder had arrived with a contractor he uses that had agreed to hire a tow truck at a much lower rate than a Muzungu could negotiate. Turns out nothing was available so we patched some old ropes together and towed it home with only a few stops for new knots. Tonight our rather crumpled sits at the Nissan dealers and I am going to the local Area finance guru to see if I can't negotiate a little beefier rig for us to make our runs in.
In view of several recent events I feel a need to share my testimony that I know our Heavenly Father is watching over this Bishop clan of ours. There are things that happen in our lives that we don't fully understand but no unhallowed hand will stop God's will. Satan needs to understand that he is just wasting his time and ours because God does keep his promises. We are all alive and struggling through and I am convinced that there are tremendous opportunities for us to help our African brothers and sisters. We love you and pray for your health and development as does our Prophet Gordon B. Hinckley. Little Miss Eden is certainly in our thoughts and prayers and we are grateful that she is able to struggle back to good health.
Friday was a conference for all the zones in Kenya under the direction of Elder Koelliker of the Area Authority. Of the 63 missionaries present the native Africans well outnumbered the muzungu (white people) and there was not a thing wrong with their teaching skills or testimonies. Our Heavenly Father certainly has the future well in hand for this land. We just about didn't make it as I was stopped as I followed a line of cars through a red light as two different Senior Elders had advised me to do. The cop jumped in the car and said I was to drive him to the police station so he could arrest me. In answer to his questions as we drove we informed him that we were missionaries from the US who had only been here 2 weeks of our intended 2 years. Upon arriving he informed us that 2 weeks was not very long and that he would forgive me this time. The first thing I wrote in my conference journal was that I will obey all rules and not just mission rules. Some of the others opined that he might have just wanted a ride to the station but he made me a believer.
We just about made our goal of getting to all 3 branches this week. On Tuesday we finally gave up getting someone to ride with us to Kilili and just ventured off with some general directions. We made it but had not coordinated to meet with anyone as we were not sure at what time we would arrive if ever. As we neared the area a Matatu (small 14 passenger van that darts where ever he likes despite surrounding traffic) passed us and a man waved then jumped out and chased us down. Turns out it was the 1st Councilor who had recognized the vehicle and wanted to help however he could. He took us to the president's orchard and we spent some quality time with him and came away with several oranges, tangerines, and 1 papaya that were fresh from his trees.
Thursday we headed back to Kyambeke (pronounced chimbecky) where we had attended services last Sunday. We spent the first hour in an English class they have and are planning on assisting in the instruction beginning the first Thursday in Sep. I then spent some time going over membership and financial records with Pres. Mbondo while Sis. Bishop attended their RS Enrichment Activity. When I emerged an hour later I found her elbow deep in a pan of flour learning to make chipatas ( a thicker doughier version of a taco). They then made some goat stew under conditions that would not pass the muster with the board of health back home. They then offered us some with an overwhelming amount of love and pride. It is a menu that is reserved for special occasions such as Christmas Day. The goat was a little tough but everything had a good flavor.
This morning we arose early so as to make it to Ilima for Sunday Services. The Scotts, the couple serving in Eldoret who were in town for the Zone and Couple's Conference, wanted to go with us as they had heard how spectacular the view was up there. We were within 5 kms of our destination when another one of those Matatus came blasting around a corner in a fairly wide area on our side of the road. I stopped thinking he would swerve back to his side of the road but I don't think he even saw us as he hit us head on without slowing. No one was injured but our little Nissan was pretty well wiped out from the doors forward. He was very apologetic but also smelled of alcohol which did nothing to replace all the radiator fluid that was draining into the road. The Assistants were a few minutes behind us and with their help and Elder Scott's camera we gathered all the pertinent info to defend our situation. He then drove off saying he would meet us at the nearest police station. We thought that was down at Salama on the Mombasa Highway but upon arriving with our vehicle in tow was told that we needed to go back up the mountain to another town. We were able to leave the vehicle there and did finally find the other station. The Mutatu driver had been there and admitted his fault and the Mutatu's owner was also contacted and agreed that his insurance would have to cover the expenses but I still have to get back up there soon with a document that must be purchased in Nairobi but filled out there. In the mean time another Senior Elder had arrived with a contractor he uses that had agreed to hire a tow truck at a much lower rate than a Muzungu could negotiate. Turns out nothing was available so we patched some old ropes together and towed it home with only a few stops for new knots. Tonight our rather crumpled sits at the Nissan dealers and I am going to the local Area finance guru to see if I can't negotiate a little beefier rig for us to make our runs in.
In view of several recent events I feel a need to share my testimony that I know our Heavenly Father is watching over this Bishop clan of ours. There are things that happen in our lives that we don't fully understand but no unhallowed hand will stop God's will. Satan needs to understand that he is just wasting his time and ours because God does keep his promises. We are all alive and struggling through and I am convinced that there are tremendous opportunities for us to help our African brothers and sisters. We love you and pray for your health and development as does our Prophet Gordon B. Hinckley. Little Miss Eden is certainly in our thoughts and prayers and we are grateful that she is able to struggle back to good health.
Monday, August 20, 2007
Monday August 20 2007
We made it to Kyambeke twice this week. Once with the Assistants so they could teach a discussion and allow us to make a strip map and then we ventured back Sunday on our own and had some great meetings with the saints there. My companion claims that the driving conditions are going to turn her completely grey if it doesn't kill her first. I reminded her today that our call to serve said nothing about us trying to teach the people of Kenya how to make roads or drive. The Elders have a hill at Athi River that they call suicide hill and she is of the opinion that entire length that we drive could aptly be called the suicide highway. We did see some small monkeys or baboons in our travels this week, along with a giraffe and some antelope with some big long curly horns. Friday evening the skies just opened up and bunches of water fell. All the drain ditches in the compound were instantly filled and backing up and the stairs out back looked like Niagara Falls' little brother. Wouldn't be at all surprised if we haven't already seen more rain than Idaho gets in a year and they tell us this is the short rainy season. The storm on Friday took the power out which I am told is a common enough occurrence that we are cautioned against keeping too much stuff in the fridge as there are stretches when the power is off long enough that we will loose those perishables (I can personally guarantee that we will never have any ice cream spoil though). We went to bed in the dark and noticed that our gecko (we have named him Geico) was visiting us again only this time on the wall of our bedroom up by the ceiling. Since my companion had not been aware that they were equipped for wall climbing and not just floor crawlers I had to get back up and move our bed out away from the wall. Our goal this week is to visit all of our branches at least once but we need to create another strip map of the road to Kilili before we venture there on our own as that one had more turn offs than the Kyambeke/Ilima route and the only point of reference is a mountain that seems to move as you meander on the many trails out there.
Sunday, August 19, 2007
School Days
We spent one day this week with Elder Harris who is the senior missionary in charge of humanitarian aid. He showed us what he has stockpiled that we can use for welfare support, introduced us to a Dr. with a couple of hospitals that we can do some community service at, and then let us accompany him to a small private school to deliver some books and school supplies. Here is Elder Harris with the headmaster.
The kids just swarmed around us wanting to shake hands and have their picture taken. They especially like looking at themselves in the picture once it is taken. One little fellow really seemed enamored with my hands. I couldn't tell if it was my fat fingers or their color that captured his attention.
The kids really mobbed Sister Bishop and her camera but then when it came time to leave they all backed up to their buildings and allowed us to turn the truck around and leave.
The little ones are so innocent looking, open, and appreciative. We were at church yesterday and the alarm on the truck went off. When I went to investigate some of the primary children were wiping the dust off the truck so they could see their reflection in the side of the vehicle.
The kids just swarmed around us wanting to shake hands and have their picture taken. They especially like looking at themselves in the picture once it is taken. One little fellow really seemed enamored with my hands. I couldn't tell if it was my fat fingers or their color that captured his attention.
The kids really mobbed Sister Bishop and her camera but then when it came time to leave they all backed up to their buildings and allowed us to turn the truck around and leave.
The little ones are so innocent looking, open, and appreciative. We were at church yesterday and the alarm on the truck went off. When I went to investigate some of the primary children were wiping the dust off the truck so they could see their reflection in the side of the vehicle.
Home Sweet Home
This is our current abode. There are 8 flats on each stairwell and C2 is the bottom on the right. The place is built on a hill so that we actually have kind of a daylight basement.
This one shows our pickup in its assigned space and Elder Bishop climbing in the drivers side. You will note that there are quite a few other residents as the flats are built all around the complex.
This is the good looking half of our companionship doing the Vana White thing in her new kitchen. Two of the burners are gas and two are electric. The white things in the corner are our water purification system for the drinking water.
Sister Bishop with her fridge. Note it is not much bigger than her. The green thing on the counter behind her is an avacado. Now they are big here.
This the dining room. All the lower level units have bars on the windows. The floors are all the small inlaid wood squares you see with the exception of the kitchen and bathrooms which are tile.
This unusual looking tree is just outside our flat.
This one shows our pickup in its assigned space and Elder Bishop climbing in the drivers side. You will note that there are quite a few other residents as the flats are built all around the complex.
This is the good looking half of our companionship doing the Vana White thing in her new kitchen. Two of the burners are gas and two are electric. The white things in the corner are our water purification system for the drinking water.
Sister Bishop with her fridge. Note it is not much bigger than her. The green thing on the counter behind her is an avacado. Now they are big here.
This the dining room. All the lower level units have bars on the windows. The floors are all the small inlaid wood squares you see with the exception of the kitchen and bathrooms which are tile.
This unusual looking tree is just outside our flat.
Sister Dickman purchased this bouquet of flowers. The red hangy down things are real. They have an almost waxy texture to them.
Saturday, August 18, 2007
MTC
Here is the first picture of Elder & Sister Bishop, and we hope to receive many more. They are posing in front of the famous MTC map pointing to their future destination. That sure is a long ways away from here. Don't they look excited! We are so proud of you!
Sunday, August 12, 2007
August 12, 2007
The week in the MTC was great but rather intense as we had to teach the first 3 discussions from "Share My Gospel" to different volunteers playing different roles. Our first discussion was to Kyle Whittingham's mother. We spent a couple of hours manning the phones in the call center and finished getting our shots. We had several training sessions, briefings (it turns out that we should have been taking our malaria pills with food and didn't need to start them until 7 days after what our original directions said), and devotionals (we only sang Called to Serve twice).
We began the day of travel by arising at the MTC 2:30am Monday and finally getting to bed at 12:00pm Tuesday in Africa. In between that was 19 hours of flight time with layovers of 5 and 4 hours in Chicago and London respectively.
We spent Wednesday in the Mission Office here doing inprocessing stuff. Thursday morning was devoted to unpacking and cleaning as Elders had been living in our flat since the Herrs went home in April. That afternoon one of the other couples gave us an orientation tour of the city and allowed me to get my APO set up at the US Embassy.
Friday President Taylor and one of the Assistants took us to the Illima and Chembeke Branches to meet some of the members there. The people are just the greatest and the scenery is amazing but I am not sure I have ever tried to negotiate roads like those before. They are tough to describe so we will have to get pictures in one of our next trips.
Saturday was more cleaning and laundry while one of the other senior elders took me out for some driving experience. It is a little tough to describe driving conditions as all the roads are rather small and rutted. The driving itself is best accomplished by just avoiding eye contact and just force your way where ever you want to go. It would be a challenge even if done from the left side of the car. In the afternoon, Barb and I ventured out on our own to pick up a few things we needed and I only said "You sweet little son-of-a-gun" once which showed a lot of restraint on my part. I do believe that Sister Bishop has already made the decision that she is not driving for the next two years. Our little diesel powered Nissan pickup is a 5 speed standard and shifting with the left hand is definitely a stretch.
Today we rode with President and Sister Taylor and the Assistants to the Kilili Branch for their Branch Conference. They picked us up at 7:00am and returned us at 6:30pm. We were on sight for 5 hours which if you do the math is 6 1/2 hours travel. It looks like for the time being that we will be traveling to each of the 3 branches mentioned once each week and spending one sunday a month at each branch. I don't know if Mombosa has fell off the radar yet because it might be a while before the President finds if he has a replacement coming or not. It will have a priority as there is more potential for English speaking investigators at Mombosa. Already I think it will be hard to leave these 3 branches for an assignment on the coast as the people are so gracious, sincere, needy and loveable. However the travel time and lack of English (there is a lot of Swahili and Tkumba spoken by the older members) does not make it the area of interest the Church desires to focus on establishing churches and temples. It is however one of the first areas here to accept the gospel but that was by people who had left the bush temporarily for jobs but then returned and brought the gospel to their families.
There are 6 other couples currently in Nairobi with us which makes for a lot of great comradeship and they have certainly made every effort to ease our transition and make us feel welcome. Because of proximity they do Family Home Evenings on Mondays and go out to dinner each Saturday evenings for anyone who does not have assignments elsewhere at those times.
We are getting a handle on the local currency. We have 83,000+ schillings to live on after the mission office deducts our flat rent, vehicle rent and couple of other items. Some typical prices are box of cereal 259 schillings, can of tuna 152 schillings, 2 KG of flour 97 schillings, 1 litre cooking oil 119 schillings, and a tank of diesel 5,000- schillings (we only pay for one tank a month and the church reimburses the rest. Our dinner out yesterday for bacon wrapped pork medallions with fresh mango salsa was 1,900 schillings. We have a gecko that lives in our flat with us but Barb says he can stay as he eats a lot of insects. We think the grandkids would have
found the chickens pecking around the open doors during church services and the dog that walked through the front of the building during opening prayer and again during priesthood training very entertaining.
Now that the jet lag and culture shock are subsiding we will start doing a better job of taking our camera with us so we can send pictures as some of this stuff you just have to see to believe.
We began the day of travel by arising at the MTC 2:30am Monday and finally getting to bed at 12:00pm Tuesday in Africa. In between that was 19 hours of flight time with layovers of 5 and 4 hours in Chicago and London respectively.
We spent Wednesday in the Mission Office here doing inprocessing stuff. Thursday morning was devoted to unpacking and cleaning as Elders had been living in our flat since the Herrs went home in April. That afternoon one of the other couples gave us an orientation tour of the city and allowed me to get my APO set up at the US Embassy.
Friday President Taylor and one of the Assistants took us to the Illima and Chembeke Branches to meet some of the members there. The people are just the greatest and the scenery is amazing but I am not sure I have ever tried to negotiate roads like those before. They are tough to describe so we will have to get pictures in one of our next trips.
Saturday was more cleaning and laundry while one of the other senior elders took me out for some driving experience. It is a little tough to describe driving conditions as all the roads are rather small and rutted. The driving itself is best accomplished by just avoiding eye contact and just force your way where ever you want to go. It would be a challenge even if done from the left side of the car. In the afternoon, Barb and I ventured out on our own to pick up a few things we needed and I only said "You sweet little son-of-a-gun" once which showed a lot of restraint on my part. I do believe that Sister Bishop has already made the decision that she is not driving for the next two years. Our little diesel powered Nissan pickup is a 5 speed standard and shifting with the left hand is definitely a stretch.
Today we rode with President and Sister Taylor and the Assistants to the Kilili Branch for their Branch Conference. They picked us up at 7:00am and returned us at 6:30pm. We were on sight for 5 hours which if you do the math is 6 1/2 hours travel. It looks like for the time being that we will be traveling to each of the 3 branches mentioned once each week and spending one sunday a month at each branch. I don't know if Mombosa has fell off the radar yet because it might be a while before the President finds if he has a replacement coming or not. It will have a priority as there is more potential for English speaking investigators at Mombosa. Already I think it will be hard to leave these 3 branches for an assignment on the coast as the people are so gracious, sincere, needy and loveable. However the travel time and lack of English (there is a lot of Swahili and Tkumba spoken by the older members) does not make it the area of interest the Church desires to focus on establishing churches and temples. It is however one of the first areas here to accept the gospel but that was by people who had left the bush temporarily for jobs but then returned and brought the gospel to their families.
There are 6 other couples currently in Nairobi with us which makes for a lot of great comradeship and they have certainly made every effort to ease our transition and make us feel welcome. Because of proximity they do Family Home Evenings on Mondays and go out to dinner each Saturday evenings for anyone who does not have assignments elsewhere at those times.
We are getting a handle on the local currency. We have 83,000+ schillings to live on after the mission office deducts our flat rent, vehicle rent and couple of other items. Some typical prices are box of cereal 259 schillings, can of tuna 152 schillings, 2 KG of flour 97 schillings, 1 litre cooking oil 119 schillings, and a tank of diesel 5,000- schillings (we only pay for one tank a month and the church reimburses the rest. Our dinner out yesterday for bacon wrapped pork medallions with fresh mango salsa was 1,900 schillings. We have a gecko that lives in our flat with us but Barb says he can stay as he eats a lot of insects. We think the grandkids would have
found the chickens pecking around the open doors during church services and the dog that walked through the front of the building during opening prayer and again during priesthood training very entertaining.
Now that the jet lag and culture shock are subsiding we will start doing a better job of taking our camera with us so we can send pictures as some of this stuff you just have to see to believe.
Thursday, August 9, 2007
From Elder & Sister Bishop
We are here and still alive but haven't got our e-mail fixed yet. Not sure
of the solution but we wont be back in town until Saturday as we are headed
to the Kililli Branch with the President and one of the Assistants tomorrow.
Not sure what we can get done on Saturday but Elder Bishop is having
driving lessons in our Nissan pickup Saturday. President hasn't decided
where we will land just yet. Present considerations are either 3 branches
100 miles south of Nairobi (we would still live in Nairobi and commute) or
Mombasa on the coast which would entail moving there. Please don't hold us
responsible for the spelling as we are still guessing at the town names.
of the solution but we wont be back in town until Saturday as we are headed
to the Kililli Branch with the President and one of the Assistants tomorrow.
Not sure what we can get done on Saturday but Elder Bishop is having
driving lessons in our Nissan pickup Saturday. President hasn't decided
where we will land just yet. Present considerations are either 3 branches
100 miles south of Nairobi (we would still live in Nairobi and commute) or
Mombasa on the coast which would entail moving there. Please don't hold us
responsible for the spelling as we are still guessing at the town names.
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