Pictures 3-30-08

Pictures 1 & 2 are the converts on the 16th and the baptismal group on the 23rd.

Picture 3 is the Kamba Mamas shaking their bootie. Do you recognize the mazunga?

Weekly Update 3-24-08

Well this week was a little intense. Trying to get the audits done before the end of the month required that we be in Kilili on Saturday besides our usual number of forays up country for the week. We were back at Kyambeke on Sunday for church and a baptismal service. We had 4 converts and 2 children of record that took the plunge. We sure have some great people that have joined lately. Several have been struggling with the language thing for several years and we were just fortunate to be here when they finally overcame that obstacle. I am sure a big part of it was that the Lord finally answered a bunch of prayers.

The long rainy season seems to be here as the truck was pretty much a moving mound of mud when we got David to wash it today. Of course it didn't help when I went "mud bogging" to get home last evening. We ran into a major snarl of vehicles at about the Athi River junction coming home and although there were buses and Matautus stuck in the bush everywhere I told Sister Bishop I was sure our 4 wheel drive would get us through my proposed shortcut. She was very doubtful and was rather vocally questioning my sanity as we slogged through the bush but if nothing else she has a lot more respect for the truck today as we did just fine. The bumpy roads are taking their toll on our little Isuzu though as I had to take the front bumper guard off today as the repair we had done on it 5000 kms ago gave out again and it was fixing to start dragging. I will see if the fleet manager wont get me a new one Wednesday. If not we will just fix it and have them attach our front plate directly to the bumper. I am going to invest in a D-handle shovel and tow strap as they are looking like they would be great accessories to keep in our vehicle. We came across a stuck Matautu full of members on our way into Kilili Saturday and I stopped to help. All I had was a long nylon rope and although we did get them on the road again I now have 2 short nylon ropes.

We spent some time reviewing the baptismal questions with some of our investigators in Kilili while there and it looks like we could have 8 more converts this Sunday. The Assistants are going with us to do interviews and we will have the service for the successful applicants right after church.

Attended RS Birthday Celebrations at Kilili and Kyambeke this last week and Ilima is having theirs this Friday. I have several shots of Sister Bishop shaking her "bootie" in traditional Kamba style that will get sent soon. One branch had also made up a song about our missionary efforts. Three of the missionary packets left here for South Africa last Thursday so I am assuming they will have their calls soon. Joshua's 23 year old brother has caught his little brother's missionary spirit so we might have another applicant from Ilima very soon. He is living in Nairobi but I got the feeling his current Bishop would rather we helped him through all the hurdles required to get his packet together.

Well I hope everyone had a great Easter weekend. They celebrated with a 4 day weekend here with Friday being Good Friday and today was just called Easter Monday. There were a lot of people left to go up country to their ancestral homes as the post election violence did not allow some to make their usual trips at Christmas time. The Peace efforts had very solid results this week when the peace initiative required constitutional amendments sailed through parliament. The President and Prime Minister designate are beginning the implementation process now.

Weekly Update 4-16-08

I know it has just been a few days since my last update but yesterday was a pretty good day. The Assistants traveled with us to Ilima and we were able to baptize 3 more of our investigators along with 5 eight year old children of record. We stopped and visited at Kyambeke also and 4 of our investigators there were cleared to be baptized on Easter Sunday next week. Two of them were young mothers who have been really working on their English skills and we were very concerned that it wasn't sufficient to pass the test but they did great and they are very excited about their pending baptism as are we. That will leave us with only a couple of investigators at those 2 branches but we scheduled the Assistants to go to Kilili with us on the 30th and have a baptism scheduled for that day for those there who they approve.

It does feel great to have a large degree of peace return to this land although there is still some ethnic violence continuing in the Mt. Elgon area to the north of us. The military is deploying troops there in an effort to diminish the raids and retaliation between the tribes there. There is still some major posturing among the local politicians and parliament on the power sharing deal between the President and the new Prime Minister but on the whole things are definitely much calmer. The sad part is that the economy is really going to struggle to get back to where it was last December and it is the average citizen who is going to feel the effects of that struggle. The tourist industry is probably suffering the most as all the major safari camps have dwindled to almost nothing.

Life is pretty stable for us as we find that our consistent visits with the branches of the Kalunga Hills seems to yield the best results. Sis. Bishop has finished up the 'New Beginnings' with the Young Women and has the primaries working on this years Sacrament program. The branches have scheduled their Relief Society Birthday Parties over the next couple of weeks and want us to bring guests with us to witness what they have done. We are hoping to be able to encourage some of the couples based in Nairobi to travel with us to those events as they have practiced some dances and songs that they would like to showcase. I should get the year end audits finished this week then we are planning on kicking off Temple Prep in April. Previous couples have worked on these classes with no results but we are hoping by focusing on document preparation (passports, visas, etc.) and family history up front that we can get a little better results with a trip to the Johannesburg Temple during the school break in December. One of the branches is developing a little insurrection of sorts as some of the members feel like their president is not allowing them to get what they think is their slice of the welfare pie. He has asked me to teach an appropriate Sunday School Lesson of my choosing to counter that. We did have a career work shop there last week and I am hoping that we can get the drive for self sufficiency to counter the feelings being exhibited.

The weather is a little warmer with the highs in the upper 80s and lows in the lower 60s but they tell us that it is a harbinger of the onset of the long rainy season. We are hoping that the wet seasons impact on our travels will be minimal as long as we can keep our 4 wheel drive on the road. Elder Embakazie, one of the Assistants who is a native from South Africa, commented, as we were negotiating the final climb to Ilima yesterday, what a super lady my companion was to endure those roads on a regular basis and I definitely agree with him. Her children would definitely be impressed to see the adjustments she has has made to compensate for the rigors of our assignment. Well I hope that Easter is memorable for all our friends and loved ones on the other side of the world. He does live and is concerned for all of us.

Elder & Sister Bishop

Pictures 3-14-08

The giraffes Sister Bishop spotted along side the road last Friday.

The trees here are amazing for some of their blooms. About the time one species looses it blossoms for the year a different one catches our fancy. This one with the clumps of yellow flowers is currently in bloom and one of the natives tells us it is called a bavaria or something like that.

We have always been intrigued by the bright blue body and yellow head but they are so fast and bashful that we haven't been able to get close for a good picture. Can you see it on the pile of bricks?

We really enjoy seeing how the little ones here enjoy life. These guys are part of a group that shows up each Friday at Ilima to see if we have any sweets. How do you tell them no?

Weekly Update 3-14-08

I am afraid we lost a week. The Stutz showed up last Saturday and stayed through Thursday so we were a little occupied and it just wasn't convenient to get at the internet. We had a Mission Conference with all but the Tanzania folks attending on Tuesday. Rather than cancel out on the Kalili folks we made the trip there on Monday. Elder Parmley of the Area Presidency visited for our conference and the Parmleys and Taylors gave some inspiring council. That evening Elder Parmley and his wife hosted all the couples for a dinner at the Serena Hotel. He expressed gratitude for everyones willingness to serve. He gave us an assignment to talk up missions to other couples when we returned home. He also dispelled a rumor that some 60% of the couples called to Africa turned down their calls. He stated that with the exception of a few who had to decline for health reasons that all accepted this opportunity. We had heard this rumor several times both here and in the MTC and were quite frankly relieved to hear the truth. He did say that the church is only able to fill about half of the requirements they have for senior couples world wide hence the assignment to convince others to submit their mission applications.

Thursday when we were preparing for our trip to Kyambeke the truck refused to start. However the Lukes who are doing Public Affairs were out of town and I was able to borrow their truck for Thursday and Friday. James, the fleet manager, from the Church Service Office brought someone to look at it today and it turns out that the security system had blown a fuse so would not unlock to allow the vehicle to start. It is back in our hands this evening and ready to transport us once more. We will be taking the Assistants with us to Kyambeke and Ilima for baptismal interviews again this Sunday. We are having a bit of a challange in the Kyambeke Branch right now as several members are upset with the Branch President thinking he doesn't do all he can to ensure that they get a steady stream of welfare support. Whenever they approach me for relief I refer tham back to the President but he has requested that I spend some time in Sunday School explaining just how Welfare Funds are used and explaining that there is not a cash reward that is the right of all members. We worked with Elder and Sister Dickman, the Employment Specialists Couple, to present a career workshop there Thursday and Friday and are hoping to see some more efforts at self-reliance there.

Just had a loud clap of thunder and it is starting to rain again. We are seeing more of that each day as we are starting into the long rainy season which is to last through May if the weather is consistent with past performances. Hope we are able to continue our trips up country on a regular basis. Well it is getting late and I need to get some sack time to sustain me in the stress of spending so much time in these traffic conditions. I had to bore a new hole in my belt this week to tighten my pants up but I think it is more a case of my belt stretching rather than a loss of weight. We love the support we receive from all who read these ramblings and remember us in their communcications with the man upstairs. We do encourage any who are able to give positive consideration to submitting their mission papers. There are a multitude of opportunities to serve throughout the world.

Sister and Elder Bishop

Weekly Update 3-4-08

Okay we will try this again. I did send an update Monday evening just before we hosted the weekly FHE but after hitting send the internet disconnected and I wasn't able to confirm it hadn't been sent untill last evening and then the internet booted us again so I couldn't do it then either. The big news here is the signing last Thursday of the peace accord. Now parliment just needs to change the constitution to accomodate the agreement. Odinga, the opposition candidate, is now the first Prime Minister and has some executive responsibilities and cannot be fired by the President. What this means is that things are once again calm in Nairobi and there were only 12 people killed in the name of ethnic violence in the Rift Valley area over the weekend. There are also shootouts between the police and cattle rustlers or gangsters in that area on a regular basis but the government claims they are going to get that under control. I don't think I have ever mentioned the number of people that are regularly lynched here by their fellow citizens. I noted in the paper yesterday that there were 5 different individuals that bit the big one vigilante style because they were caught stealing. Generally they are kicked, hacked, or stoned to death. Being a student of the old west I asked one of the locals why they called it lynching if they were never strung up to a nearby tree. His reply was that here lynching is being set on fire which I guess happens after the kicking, hacking, and stoning. Kind of strengthens my resolve to try real hard to keep the 10 Commandments while here and I probably shouldn't come boiling out of the vehicle with fire in my eyes after a run in with the idiot drivers here.

Our work up country in the Kilunga Hills continues to progress with some gratification. Several of the keyboard students are doing rather well. Several of the English students amaze us with their reading skills but we are not sure they understand everything they read but it is a great start. Our investigator pool just keeps expanding with us never leaving the building. I taught the baptism class (their terminology) at Kilili and there were 5 Mamas that had joined the group of 11 young people. We conducted it during Sunday School and there were no available classrooms so we conducted it in the courtyard area and I taped the visual aids to the big black fiberglass water tank that holds the rainwater in the middle of the area. With a group that size it is a little tough to work on personal commitments or confirm their complete understanding of the concepts but we are just going to keep pushing on and hope that the fast burners inspire the others.

When we submitted the month end reports this Monday I noted that we traveled 5,200 kms while consuming 39,700 shillings of diesel. I think a conversion would indicate we traveled across the US in February. Our blessed truck continues to get us there and back each trip but I am amazed it holds together so well as these roads are really terrible. I did have a bus that tried to occupy our space on the road coming through Mlolongo a week ago Sunday and ended up stripping the side mirror on Sister Bishop's side of the vehicle. We got that replaced last Wednesday and had the side windows tinted at the same time. Since the highs have climbed from 80 clear up to 87 it gets a little warm motoring down the road and the tinting has helped. We have not stopped running the air conditioning in the vehicle since we got here. Often the weather is nice enough we could just roll the windows down but you wouldn't believe how much dust that invites in and my ever vigilant security officer (Sister Bishop) will not tolerate that breach of security. Well we are do at the Pharmacy at St. Mary's here shortly so must run. I will try and get a few more photos out before bedtime if the internet will allow. Thanks for the news we get in return, it is all so much appreciated and the ziplock baggies with spices and Easter Candy we picked at the Embassy Monday are a special treat. We love and miss everyone of you. Thanks for the prayers because the "Big Guy" really does bless us accordingly.

Don't you just love Africa