Weekly Update 1-5-09

Well it is Monday afternoon and the internet has not been doing too well today so I am going to record a few notes in Microsoft Word and will send it out if and when we come back on-line. Because of the New Year Holiday our week was a little different than usual. Our Tuesday at Kilili was about the same although we did spend a little time with Davis and Mirriam’s family to finish up a few items to expedite the South African Visas and encourage them to finish up some family group sheets in preparation for the Temple trip on the 12^th. Wednesday we got to St. Mary’s in the morning and then spent the afternoon in downtown Nairobi securing some irrigation equipment we are helping a group in Kilili get. I had ordered the pump from an outfit here and they kept telling me it was backordered so I finally just got the money back then had Victor help me locate the equipment. Driving in downtown Nairobi is something I really try to avoid. The traffic and crowds there are beyond description so I really have to be desperate to venture there. We had purchased some tanks and pipe with LDS Charities funds to help set up an irrigation system using a shallow hand dug well. I had those delivered in early December and they had gotten them set up and started some plants in a nursery using hand carried water. It had reached a critical period where the plants needed to be transplanted to the Shamba and they were starting to do that but it was no longer feasible to hand carry the water and I had promised delivery of the gas driven pump based on what I had been promised. It worked out well as Victor located a pump at a cheaper rate and we were able to get some collapsible pipe to accommodate the delivery system. Since we had canceled our trips up-country for Thursday and Friday I got a native Elder to go with me and we delivered the equipment on Thursday morning. Since it was just up and back I thought my companion deserved a break from the tedious trek. We had stayed up until midnight doing a progressive dinner and playing Rook with the other couples on New Years Eve so I got David Odiombo to go with me and keep me awake. His ancestral home is up near Kisumu and he has been bugging me to see what the Kulungu Hills look like. He and I made the trip safely but got hung up with some unforeseeable problems getting the pump running so we didn’t get back in time for the brunch that the couples had on New Years Day. My companion did bring me some goodies home to eat upon my return and also made the Mango smoothies that I had committed to provide for the brunch. Saturday we traveled to Kyambeke for the baptism of the 8 people we had got cleared just before Christmas. When we arrived at 10 there was no water in the font and the tanks were almost empty. President Mbondo had been working the issue with a local the church hires to pump the water for Kyambeke and Ilima since 7 or so. They kept finding places in the supply line where local folks had cut the pipe so they could try and salvage their shambas with a little borrowed water. They continued to work on that while we went up to Ilima and picked up the video equipment and generator that we rotate through the branches. When we returned there was still not much water coming but they had it resolved so we finally started the baptism around 1. Because the rainy season has come and gone the water was not its usual rusty brown. I will include a picture to show what I mean. Sunday we were back to Kyambeke for church and the confirmations. I slipped into the Gospel Principles Class and saw 5 more investigators that we have not started to teach yet. We are going to start going there on Saturdays to work with the kids that had to start back to school today and we had not got prepared for their interviews yet. We also finalized things with Onesimus and Angie as they and their little son Hyrum are also included in the 12 Jan Temple Group. We spent this morning at the Mission Office preparing the Visa applications for next Monday and then hunted up some couplers needed for the Shamba Project. I had to do a little searching but was finally able to procure them without venturing back into that melee that exists downtown. With the holidays officially over it is back to our usual routine this week with the extra trip on Saturday plugged in for the balance of this month at least. We are kind of developing our instruction for this effort as we go on this but if we reach our goal I am thinking we can maybe use the same concept to help teach a couple of the little Mamas that we have committed to try and get baptized before our release. A couple are doing a fair job of reading now but their comprehension isn’t very high but we are hoping by focusing on a few key concepts we can help them achieve what they so dearly desire. There is the outside chance that if we get them there that they can then help the others who are in the same boat but have not been as diligent in pursuing the reading program with us. President Simon also identified a young man and woman in his branch that desire to go on a mission so we will be doing some more mission prep up in Ilima. Well I’ll save this now and hope that we get connected on line before bedtime this evening. I do want to thank everyone who sent Christmas remembrances or messages to us. We think we got the last of them on our visit to the Embassy last Friday. Although we are still hoping to get some online pictures of some of the holiday happenings that we heard of but haven’t seen yet. Thanks for thinking of us on the other side of the world.

Elder & Sister Bishop