Yes I know it is just Saturday but because we are bringing Onesmus and Dominic back to finish up physicals and their passport we will be a little pressed early next week. We are at church in Ilima tomorrow so will pick those two at Kyambeke as we come off the hill. Onesmus just needs to finish some dental work but Dominic is starting at ground zero so Monday could be a long one. I had told them we weren't going any further on their mission papers until they got their birth certificates. Hope this will inspire Charles and Justus to get their certificates now also. We put Kennedy and Julius on the plane for the MTC in Johannesburg early Thursday (we had to get up at 4 a.m. to make their flight). They e-mailed us that they had arrived safely but I sure wondered as I was banging on the window to let them know they had dropped their passports under the x-ray machine while going through security. They are brave little troopers though as they have never flown before, in fact I had to load Julius up with motion sickness pills the first few times we hauled him to Nairobi in the truck. Still haven't made it out to the embassy since the Labor Day closure as little things just kept popping up while we were in Nairobi this last week. We ended up bringing a 3rd passenger with the two missionaries from Kilili last week as there was a young man who was at University in Eldoret last week when the other potential temple patrons were in town. He was able to get his shots and passport while we were shuttling the missionaries so he can be sealed to his parents in Dec. I also ran the boys out the other side of Nairobi to visit a non-member uncle who will probably expire from stomach cancer before they return in 2010. No matter how much I do it the driving here just doesn't get any fun. It is doable but most days I just dread having to get back out in the traffic and once back home I have to really push myself to get back on the road. It is not a bit more fun for my co-driver either as she has already informed me that she will not ride with me for at least 3 months after we get home until she is certain I have overcome the many little habits required to function in the traffic here. I am hoping the lure of grandkids will temper that attitude a little but I must admit that I would probably be banned from the US highways if I don't leave a few of the things I do to survive here in Africa.
Not much change in our other activities. All 4 of the investigators at Kyambeke want to be interviewed for baptism on the 14th so I hope they are all keeping their Word of Wisdom commitments. There are 3 of our sisters in the English classes that I sure hope we will be able to baptize before next June. I really empathize with their struggle to master this new language as I firmly resist their efforts to teach me Kikamba or Kiswahilli. We did finally get another date from the Temple in Johannesburg for the potential patrons from the other two branches. We will be going with that group on 23 Feb. so will need to get them into town for the passport routine here shortly.
The weather continues to warm up a little more each day. We can really feel the heat coming through the windscreen as we drive home each day. I did notice on our MSN homepage that last weeks highs here were almost identical to those in Meridian but the lows were about 10 degrees warmer than there. This climate is pretty ideal if the rain was just a little more dependable. Two of our branch presidents have submitted requests for Fast Offering help for food as the drought in the low lands is starting to have an impact. They still don't ask for much though as the requests are just for a little maize, beans, and fat. We are working with a group of people in Kilili (it is a combination of members and non-members) to dig a well next to a river bed and use a petrol driven pump to move water to some tanks and then gravity feed water to their shambas. With that arrangement they could grow three crops a year and it would do much for their self sufficiency.
Well that is enough rambling for another week. We are going with several other couples to a chinese restraunt for dinner tonight and will be leaving shortly. These things always turn into a long event as things just don't move very fast here. Not like the rush we get back home. Some times just the wait for the bill seems to go on forever.
Elder & Sister Bishop
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