Weekly Update 1-25-09

No big new items on our events list for this last week but the little nuances with our regular schedule sure seemed to consume the week. The school teachers went on strike last week so there were little dudes everywhere we went. We didn't alter our schedule though as it is so hard to get the word of a change out once we publish our monthly calendar and post it on the branch bulletin board and even then we are not sure that it is read and they just do what they did the previous week. We hosted the FHE last Monday. We got a new couple, the Randles, from a place out by Manti (I think it was called Fairview) to introduce themselves and then feasted on Mango Crunch with Ice Cream. Tuesday was our day and I kicked off another Temple Prep class while Sister Bishop worked with the English Students. I then presented a first discussion to our English students while my companion worked with the RS to prep for some mango preservation training that Boyd & Loa Anderson were going to present at 12:00. They needed to round up some mangos and firewood so I just gave her the keys to the vehicle and went about my business and she hers. Now if anyone asks her if she drove while in Africa she can truthfully answer "some". We left the village about 1:30 and they were heavily engrossed in bottling mangos and learning how to dry them. Wednesday was devoted to getting the final information to the Temple for the 23 Feb. trip. We will confirm with travel at the Area Office today to make sure everything is good to go for that event. Thursday we were back at Kyambeke with most of the usual activities although we did start another Temple Prep class there also. There were 2 new brethren who showed for the investigator class. The Andersons arrived at noon for similar training with the saints there and we again took that opportunity to head for home but they were all heavily involved with the mango preservation training. The Andersons are scheduled to repeat that activity at both those locations again this week. Friday at Ilima I was able to teach Jackson (in his mid 30s) and Joseph (13 year old son of members) the second discussion and it went very well. After finishing our other regular events there we headed home and then the fun began. Our vehicle had developed some injection problems or something with the fuel. It would run fine then begin to choke out and really lose power. We would stop every so often for a few minutes and it would improve a little as we started up again but then would begin to stutter and buck again with the occasional belch of heavy white smoke. Took us almost twice as long but we did limp home and I took the vehicle to the mission office and picked up the only spare available which is a long bed Nissan 2 wheel drive with highway tread tires. Saturday I traveled back to Kyambeke for my gospel discussion with the school age investigators which had swelled to 12 instead of the 8 I was expecting. Sister Bishop stayed home and did the preparation stuff that missionaries everywhere do on their P-Day. An important aside here is that the preparation is something that is more important to couples than what I regarded it as a young missionary. I mean the male of the species is just willing to wear a jacket or sort through the dirty clothes for the cleanest shirt if events overcome the required laundry or other cleaning chores. I must admit though that my companions efforts does seem to keep us much healthier and less odoriferous than the younger dudes so maybe the mission mom's efforts are not just for aesthetic reasons. We were still in the loaner truck for our travels to Kyambeke yesterday and were able to make it work for us although I do have to get a little faster run at some of the sandy grades and we get a lot of the folks walking along the road that seem to take offense at our unwillingness to allow them to ride in the open bed of this vehicle. It was to discourage this very attitude that we pushed so hard to have the mission purchase us a shell for our regular ride. We will probably be in this vehicle for a couple more days as ours hasn't gone to the shop yet as we made it home after hours on Friday and haven't done the required coordination with the vehicle coordinator yet. We had the same problem with the truck last November 9th and I forget what the diagnosis was but the coordinator doesn't like us to buy our fuel from some of the unbranded stations along the Mombasa Highway and I am not very diligent in following his guidance so it could be something as simple as contaminated fuel but I am not so sure of that diagnosis because of the way it would perk up whenever I would shut it down for a while. Whatever the reason our trip home last Friday was just about twice as long as normal and definitely a lot more stressful. Last time we just finally gave up and called the tow truck but stuck with it this time. Not sure if that was ego driven or if I really was saving the church a few dollars. I am not sure I want to ask my companion her opinion as she does know me too well. Well the day dawn is breaking and the sounds of nights darkness or fleeing away which means I need to un-seat this chair so will check out for another week. Sure love and miss everyone back on the other side of the world.

Elder & Sister Bishop