Weekly update 7-28-08

Jane passed away early last Sunday morning but we didn't find out about it until Monday. I spent most of Monday helping get the hospital satisfied so they would release the body. Then had the privelige of witnessing first hand the local version of embalming (it is the custom to watch to ensure that they get get what they pay for and the morgue attendents don't just pocket the money). Don't wish to share the details but it was pretty crude and I am trying to avoid the opportunity of transporting the body next Saturday as I don't think it will do very well on the bumpy roads with what I witnessed in the way of preparation after sitting in their refer for 2 weeks. The challange is trying to keep Edward upbeat and away from his old non Word of Wisdom habits to combat his grief. I met his youngest son on Friday and he appears to be about 11 years old.

On a more positive note we put Stephen on the plane to the MTC in Johannesburg early Thursday. We had brought him back from Kilili with us on Tuesday and went to the Dr.s for 5 immunizations on Wednesday (he will have to finish up the Hep A & B series while in the mission field). We will try and get the other guys here a little earlier now that we know the requirements. Stephen was then set apart Wednesday evening. It was his first plane ride ever and even though we had briefed him pretty well on boarding procedures we watched him through the window after our seperation at the security check point and he was a little lost. Fortunately he was not at all reluctant to ask someone when ever he was confused. We heard that he made it to the MTC okay.

We taught the plan of salvation to Justus and the restoration to Bernard at Kyambeke on Thursday. Had a baptismal service at Ilima yesterday with Benson and Joseph finally making it along with 3 children of record. The new Assistants traveled with us to conduct the interview with Joseph and he did great. Joshua, our future missionary from Ilima, came back with us Friday to serve as a missionary here in Nairobi for 6 weeks because an Elder had been sent back to the states for health reasons. Joshua will finish up 2 Aug. and will then have 3 weeks before he leaves for the MTC on the 25th. He is a great young man and did not hesitate at all to accept the opportunity to help the local missionaries out when we asked him.

The Demars, a couple from Spokaane, finish their mission today which means that there is now only one other couple that has been here longer than us. However, since most of them are only here for 18 months we will still see most of them depart before us.

Weather continues to be a little cold for this area but is still shirt sleave weather for me and Sister Bishop is getting by with a sweater. The locals are sporting coats, scarves and wool hats. A little moisture this week but the roads are still very dusty up country. There was another deviation opened on our route this week but we did get a small chunk of new road back. General Motors kept our vehicle all week so we have been getting by with a gas eating two wheel drive. It is rather gutless and struggles to pull itself up a few of the trickier stretches. I should have known better than to ask them to fix a few of parts that were falling off as it takes them 2 days just to do a normal service. Not sure when we will see our vehicle again. Toying with the idea of just not even having it serviced for these next 11 months so that we don't have to wait on them to do something that Jiffy-Lube would knock out in a few minutes back home but unfortunately reason will probably win out over frustration and we will just endure.

We wish everyone well back home as they enjoy their last few weeks of summer before the new school year. Wish we could be there to party with everyone but we do love spending time with the people here and are trying to reach all the goals we have helped them set before our time here expires.

Elder & Sister Bishop

Weekly Update 7-21-08

Well last week went about like we planned so we were rather busy all the time. Justus got his dental work done but Onesmus still has a little more to accomplish but we will not bring them back to town until they have their birth certificates so we can have them finalize their passport applications at that time. The couple we were expecting to teach in Kyambeke didn't show but another gentleman did so we taught the lesson on the restoration as planned. The 2nd councilor had us stop off and visit some non-members who are in rather desperate straights as we were coming up the hill Thursday. Not sure what we can do for them beyond encouraging the members near them to help out. In one situation there are 5 children and their father living with a grandma who can't walk so just crawls around or is carried. A wheelchair is of little use on those narrow mountain trails. The village sub-chief is trying to get the kids in a better situation which will kind of leave the grandma stranded. In the other hut was a young man who has been blind from birth and pretty much just spends his day sitting on the side of the hill. He has made a 1 string guitar out of a stick, plastic jug, and a strand of wire. It was rather ingenious and he did a good job of strumming it and singing some kind of tribal chant. Edward called early Saturday and Jane was not doing well at all so I made another trip back into the slums. I got a local member to go with me to keep and eye on the vehicle while I went and carried Jane the 100 yds. or so to the vehicle. It took almost an hour of driving to get in and out. She is back in the hospital now which is just not a good situation but I know they (the hospital) are doing the best they can given the circumstances. Health funding appears to be non-existent so if you need x-rays or lab work it must be paid for before it happens even if you are admitted to the hospital and I already mentioned how they are fed while there in my last update.

We did have a good time with the people at Kilili yesterday as it was Stephen's last Sunday before entering the MTC this week. After the normal 3 hour block they invited everyone back and had the branch presidency, a young lady, Stephen and his parents all say a few words then had the traditional bottle of pop with a chipati. We will bring Stephen back with us Tuesday. He has a plethora of shots he will need to get Wednesday and then be set apart by President Taylor. We will turn him over to the assistants in the evening and they will get him to the airport Thursday morning as we will be headed back up-country. He will spend 3 weeks at the MTC in Johannesburg then on to his mission in Durban.

Today is going to be a little busy again as we try to get everything ready for another week. Have to get the truck in for a little work as these roads continue to rattle a few things loose each week. Also need to spend some time getting some branch membership rosters corrected in preparation for making a recommendation for a new branch. We finally got some video support equipment for the branches but only one set as the facilities folks are uneasy about the ability of each of the branches to secure their own set but I need to get some repair work done on the generator then I will just leave it with each branch for a week at a time. Edward called and wants to meet with me so that means there will probably be something that we need to pick up for Jane. We are trying to support the branches with a joint youth activity during the school break in August but the time is drawing near and plans are still very iffy. We are trying to force them to take charge so that they can continue on if we are not replaced with another couple in 11 months. We are on the hook for FHE this evening but it looks like everyone is going to take the Demars out to dinner as they complete their mission on Thursday so that should be rather painless. The President did say he had received word that there are two more couples coming which will help in the next 3 months but he could use more.

Well I must sign off and get going hope this finds all well with friends and family on the other side of the world. Wished we could have made the Bushman Reunion but we should be ther for the next one. We trust a good time was had by all and that all are safely back home.

Elder & Sister Bishop

Weekly Update 7-14-08

It's Sunday evening here but tomorrow looks to be a little hectic so I am going to get an update off now. We brought Onesmus and Justus (the 2 pre-missionaries from Kyambeke) back with us again today as they still have quite a bit of dental work that needs done. The assistants are in Mombasa for the weekend so we will spend a little time ferrying our boys around before we turn them over to the assistants tomorrow evening. We also need to spend some time with Edward chasing some medicine for his wife tomorrow and getting her back to the hospital for a check-up. We will fill in the extra minutes making deposits for the branches and picking up supplies at the service center. It is so prohibitive for these folks from up country to try and make matatu connections especially as Jane is still wheel chair bound that we have to bend the rules a little to help them with our transport capabilities. We try to keep the President apprised of what we are doing to ease our guilt complex some. Once you help convert them you tend to get close enough that it is near impossible to ignore the special challenges they have. I am trying to avoid another trip in the slum though as that just plain wasn't much fun. Just going to the discount chemist in down town Nairobi is enough fun. There were about 15 pharmacists lined up on the other side of this big counter with huge iron bars and all the natives swarming to get their prescriptions filled. Jane's meds cost almost as much as her 6 week stay in the hospital. The only meal provided by the hospital is breakfast and it is up to the relatives to get some grub there to cover the other meals. Riding the elevator to the 8th floor was another special thrill. We were in the front of the line when the doors opened but then the folks just swarmed and we just barely made it on. It was posted for a max capacity of 21 but there were at least 40 occupants and another rather stout lady tried to squeeze in but the doors couldn't close so the others encouraged her to get off. She backed up two steps then just threw herself at the throng so she wedged in far enough to allow the doors to close. By this time my companion was packed somewhere in the middle of the group with a rather panicked look on her face and I was just crammed in the other area trying not to become too familiar with all the folks crushed in their. When we had to go back up Sis. Bishop opted to stay in the car and I just hobbled up the stairs.

I took 6 of the 47 white shirts everyone had sent over with the folks to Kyambeke today for some of the men and they were very appreciative. I have a list of 10 young men in that branch that also need shirts but because we were packed for the trip with our pre-missionaries I will have to take them another time. The roads are so dusty up there right now that we have to keep anything that needs to stay clean in the cab with us as the shell is not dust tight.

We were introduced to another new investigator today and are scheduled to teach she and her husband next Thursday. These folks just keep showing up with some very special people that they have prepared to be taught. We have given up on the government approving our purchase of an aerial map in the immediate future and are just trying to prepare the info that Salt Lake requires to consider making another branch using field expedient methods. Hope it all comes together positively as there seems to be a real potential to just keep adding to the membership there if we can reduce the time required to walk to the existing chapels.

I do have to admit that the nights are feeling a little cool here now but I did print off pictures of our grandkids playing in the snow to show anyone that complains about how cool it is so that they can see what real cold is like. Well I need to sign off so the boys can come in our computer room here and go to bed.

Elder & Sister Bishop

Pictures 7-9-08

The elephants at the orphanage. The guy in the red blanket is only 8 weeks old.

This is a young rhino at the orphanage who is being prepared to go back to the wild.

Grandpa feeding a giraffe at the park.

Grandma feeding a giraffe at the park. Obviously he was more excited about grandma than grandpa.

My companion asked me what I wanted for my birthday and I suggested maybe just a kiss and a long kneck. Look what it got me.

These were some of the water hole visitors that came in while we were eating Sunday evening.

Grandma & Grandpa in the dining room at the Kilaguni Lodge. Those are carved elephants behind them and we commented several times about how our grandkids would probably be all over them if they were here.

This is one of our meal time visitors who was not adverse to just eating right off your plate if you dropped your guard. Knowing Grandma's dislike for birds I am sure it made her just a little uncomfortable but she was a good sport about it.

We took the folks out to look at the container where the new born kits etc. are stored. These crib blankets said they were made in Rexburg.

This is the folks with little Barbara up in Kyambeke. Grandma had made a quilt and we dropped it off on our

Weekly Update 7-7-08

Well We have had connection problems with the internet every time I have tried since Saturday but it finally let me connect tonight (Monday) so I will try to get something off. It was sure great to have my folks here for a week. We got out and did a few things that we have been meaning to check out since our arrival. They arrived late Wednesday the 25th and we dropped them at the airport Thursday the 3rd as we came back from Kyambeke. A week is not very long to see all the sights here especially when you are trying to adjust to a radically different time zone but they were great sports about it all. We visited the elephant orphanage, Bomas of Kenya Africa Dancers and acrobats (a dude actually limboed under a flaming spear propped on 2 coke bottles), the Giraffe Park to pet and kiss the animals, Kazuri Beads where they provide employment for some 300 single mothers to manufacture beads which are shipped world wide, did a little bartering at the Masai Market and then drove through the Nairobi game park. Sunday we went to church in Kilili where the folks both spoke and then were invited to one of the members to see the avocados and citrus trees in his shamba. We then drove up to the Tzavo Game Park and stayed at the Kilaguni Lodge for two nights and did a couple of game drives but actually saw more animals from the dining hall that overlooks a watering hole there. Thursday the folks went up country with us and we stopped so Grandma could give a quilt she had made to Barb's namesake before we went to do our classes at Kyambeke. I guess we will call those 7 days of diversion from our normal duties our hump day celebration. It is just a little early as it is not until the 15th of July that we hit the half way mark and start down hill. Already I am seeing that we will be hard pressed to finish all our goals but we are progressing it is just that time goes by so fast when we stay so busy. We were thinking that today would give us a chance to organize a few things for training opportunities this week but then got a call early this morning that one of the guys we had baptized was picking up his wife from the Kenyatta Hospital and wanted us to come and help him. We meant him at 1:00 and didn't get back here until 6:00 which was just enough time to warm up some left overs and then go to FHE at the Pococks. During the process we had the privilege of driving through the Kibera Slums which at over 1,000,000 people is the largest on the continent. We had just about got clear through it when we found a bridge was out so had to turn around and retrace our route. The road we were on was never big enough for two vehicles and would just barely accommodate one in many places and there were pedestrians everywhere and many seemed unwilling to share the road with us. Several hundred of the young people wanted to share their English with us which generally consisted of them yelling how are you as we drove by. Not sure why were lucky enough to be born where we were but I am definitely convinced that much is truly expected of us who were so privileged.

Fortunately the members here were very understanding of our desire to spend a week with our folks and we are picking right back up where we were a week ago. Another young man in Kyambeke showed up last Thursday wanting to start on his missionary application (that will make 7 from our 3 branches). Taught another 1st discussion to a young man in Ilima Sunday and there is a young married woman who we hope to begin teaching in Kilili as early as tomorrow. We brought 2 of the pre-missionaries back with us Sunday and they are working with the Dr., the DDS, and then finishing up their document prep before we take them back up country later this week.

Saw some interesting road kill on the Mombasa Highway yesterday. It had been run over enough that I couldn't get a positive ID but the way it was spotted it was either leopard or cheetah. It reminded me of a short article I had seen in the paper the previous week that warned motorists in one of the northern areas that elephants were grazing along side the road after dark each evening so to be extra alert. Can you imagine what it would be like to hit one of those animals with the small cars that are driven here? I think even the big things we drive in the states would not fair too well in such an encounter.

I have still not gotten used to seeing the locals wrapped up in their coats, scarfs, and wool hats to combat the 50+ degree weather we are having here but then they don't have quite as much personal insulation as I. I did print off pictures of the grandkids playing in the snow in Idaho and Utah this winter to show them when they bemoan just how cold it is here. One did point out to me today that I also have considerable more hair covering my body also which is true as these folks have no hair on their arms and even their scalps are generaly trimmed very close. I still find it rather uncomfortable to wear a suit jacket so only do so on Sundays.

I think I will call it quits for this update and try to get a few pictures off yet tonight. Barb and I want to thank all who sent remembrances of some kind during June. Your considerations made our transitions to the 60s a little easier.

Elder & Sister Bishop

Weekly Update 7-2-08

Thought I had better drop a quick note to assure everyone that yes we are still just fine. My folks got in Wednesday last week and we have been on the go a lot since then. We went to church at Kilili and then on to the Kilaguni Lodge at Tsavo for two nights. When we got back to Nairobi yesterday the internet connection was down so this is just a quick hi and goodbye. The folks are going to Kyambeke with us tomorrow and then will get on the plane tomorrow evening headed back to Vegas. As big as their luggage is I am going to have to check to make sure my companion doesn't stow away when we drop them at the airport. I will try and get a good update in by the weekend and send a few pictures. It has sure been great to have them here for the week.

Elder and Sister Bishop