Pictures 3-31-09

Sister Bishop in responding to a request from the music teacher at Ndolo Secondary School was able to secure a keyboard from the Harmon Grant Organization based in Provo, Utah. They provide keyboards to members of the church in 3rd world countries for them to first learn to play then support church services. They had agreed that supporting the music program of this school in Kenya, Africa was a worthy consideration. When we delivered it last Thursday the class entertained us with some tribal songs.



Then they opened their new keyboard.



Judith Makiti received her mission call to serve in the Uganda/Kampala Mission yesterday. She is from Kilili but has been helping her Aunt out by working in her shop here in Nairobi while waiting for her mission call. She enters the MTC on 16 July.



This is the taylor shop in Kilili where Sister Bishop had her pretty new red suit made. They really did a great job. There is no power in the market place yet so it was sewn using a foot treddle machine.


Finally this is for anyone who has ever been threatened by their mother with a wooden spoon for misbehaving. It really could have been worse.

Weekly Update 3-29-09

It's 3am on a Monday in Kenya. The rain and thunder woke me and since I went to bed at 9 last evening it is a little tough going back to sleep. We are hoping the rainy season and its' life sustaining moisture is here for a while. There have been indications through this last week that it is coming. The hills had a little storm Friday evening and I drove home through some storms on Saturday and we were pelted with a few drops again yesterday. Unless this storm is hitting Kilili they have still not had rain in the low lands yet. Things are very dry and dusty in our travels but it has amazed us in the past at how fast things go back to being green when the rains do come. It has seemed a little hot here as of late which means upper 80s. Acclimating back to our seasonal weather in Idaho is going to take a while when you get so used to constant temperatures so that the upper 80s seems hot and one gets cold even though it never even gets close to freezing.

Our little missionary force in the hills is certainly staying busy. The branch missionaries awaiting their departure dates for the MTC in Johannesburg are teaching up a storm and we are just trying to keep up with them. In Kyambeke we have 8 sisters that we are trying to prepare for what I call Pres. Taylor's amnesty program. These sweet sisters have been attending for years but are probably not going to ever get sufficient english this side of the veil. President has consented to consider them for baptism as long as a Kamba interpreter can confirm that they understand the intent of the baptismal questions. The danger here is that the branches will revert to their tribal language for services and that would certainly be a step backward President is requiring the branches to commit to providing interpreters for each member that struggles with english that is authorized for baptism under the relaxed standards. We should also have some potential candidates in the other 2 branches but we don't have them started yet as it takes good support from branch missionaries to get them taught. Because those 2 branches have their young people on missions already it is just taking a little longer to get suitable teachers working with us. It is more than just a little evident that this old man will never have enough grasp of the native language to be of any help to them which I am sure seems very unfair that they have to learn our tongue but we don't have to learn theirs. The reality is though that just to go that direction in Kenya alone would require some 10 or so different languages which would really slow things down in providing support material. When you look at the 80 million+ people on the whole continent and factor in the number of different dialects scattered throughout the many tribes it is readily apparent that the best course is being pursued despite how unfair it seems when considered on an individual basis. In addition to those being taught in the amnesty program we are working with 20 others that are at various stages but all solid candidates for conversion. Just up to them and the Holy Ghost. President Mbondo did give us the names of 8 more young people in his branch that are 9 and 10 year olds that they didn't get around to baptizing at age 8. We will try and support them consistent with their personal desires during the upcoming school holidays in April. I keep hoping that we have got everyone over 8 covered but they just keep showing up and I think that has something to do with the fact that they don't feel comfortable telling one something they don't want to hear so just don't bather to mention it if they think it might upset someone. This has certainly been a lot different experience than what I was anticipating when we submitted our mission papers some 2 years ago. I had always envisioned working more in reactivation and strengthening the branch leadership and not so focused on conversion discussions.

I did make a solo trip to Kilili on Saturday as we had to conduct a disciplinary council there. There wouldn't have been much my companion could do so she opted to stay in Nairobi and bring our abode back to her cleaning standards. This was one of those good councils where we were considering the restoration of baptism to an excommunicated member. She and her husband were baptized towards the end of the last century and it wasn't until about 3 years after that it was determined that he had 2 other wives. That required their excommunication as he was not willing to abandon any of his families. He died a year ago which means she was no longer living in a polygamous relationship so eligible to be considered for readmission. She is closer to our age so was married in different circumstances than the majority of today's members. Her father decided who her husband would be and even though she didn't want to be a 3rd wife she could not go against his decision. We didn't have the opportunity of knowing her deceased husband very well as he died shortly after our arrival but he did pay his tithing right up to his demise despite being excommunicated.

It is looking like we will only be able to get 2 more families to the temple before our mission ends and even that is going to take some aggressive effort as Bonface is just now finally getting the final 2 birth certificates for his children to the authorities for their passport applications. Because he and his wife had already applied for theirs we are hoping to be able to accelerate their missing children's applications. Their is one of the families in Kilili that has finally secured all their birth certificates but at this date I don't see them getting travel approval before June.

Well the weather outside has calmed considerably and this old man should probably try to catch a little more sleep before the day begins. We have several errands demanding attention around town today and driving here always requires that one be more than just a little alert. The screams and panicked directions of ones co-driver can be very unsettling to a drowsy driver.

Our love and best wishes to all,
Elder & Sister Bishop

Pictures 3-22-09

Elder Dominic Mambo Makau opening his mission call with his mother Agnes looking on.

The reaction to the mission call.

Weekly Update 3-22-09

The Mission Conference with Elder Kolliker this week was a good experience. He instructed how this is the season for Africa and indicated that there are now more baptisms per missionary each month in Africa than any other country. Sister Bishop was asked to play the organ and agreed as long as she could approve the songs to ensure she was familiar with them. Then as they were waiting for the meeting to begin they sang favorite hymns as nominated from the audience. She did a great job but just played those she was unsure of a little quieter so the singing would negate any strange notes. All the couples that were here for the conference went out to dinner at the China Plate on Friday evening. There were 13 couples which included the Kollikers, Taylors (Mission President) and the Wells (health specialists from the Area Office). The Wells had presented a program on mental health during the conference which I assumed was more for the young guys as most of us couples are either okay or beyond help depending on whose point of view you take. Elder Kolliker then presided at the Nairobi Stake Conference and installed a new presidency but because we interact very little with the saints here in town that meant very little to us.

We delivered Dominic's mission call to him on Thursday and he is going to the Cape Town South Africa Mission on June 4th. Also taught a few investigators. Two of them were from Ilima but because we weren't going there Friday they chose to come down the hill and meet with us a day earlier. A young man name Francis also showed up rather unexpectedly. He runs a little kiosk in Kilome which is some 30+ kms before we get to Kyambeke and we have interacted with him a little as we pass through there each trip to Kyambeke or Ilima. Generally we just wave on our way by but we did purchase a belt from him as he had flagged us down requesting us to promote him which is interpreted to buy something from him. He stocks a lot of items such as pans, lanterns, flip flops and other essentials for their remote existence. Anyway we noted as we passed through Kilome on Thursday that his stand was not open yet and then he showed up at Kyambeke shortly after we did and ended up in the discussion. He participated and seemed interested in what was discussed (we were talking the plan of salvation) and said we would see him again. Not sure if he made it to church yesterday but it will be interesting to see where this goes as that is quite a trek to be made by him to participate in our services. I have been nudging the Kyambeke leadership to identify some potential buildings that could be used to accommodate the new Matini Branch as President Taylor is wanting to move on that the first weekend in April. Not sure we can get it done that fast but I checked on our way through there yesterday and they indicated they would have some potential buildings identified that we could possibly check out on Thursday. If they are there it would just be a matter of getting the church physical facilities guy up there to negotiate. Since he was released as Stake President yesterday his schedule should be a little more accommodating than it has been in the past.

We had another 14 investigators at Ilima yesterday. Six of them we had not worked with before. I keep thinking we will taper off here to a good breaking point before our mission ends in June but it just doesn't seem to be happening. President Taylor is still thinking he will not backfill us as he is trying to open up Kisumu which is the 3rd largest city in Kenya and would certainly qualify as a center of strength. That means our focus still needs to be on making this people as self sufficient as possible. It will be some time before the area makes the leap to being a district so will continue on as independent branches as they just need to be able to function on their own. The returned missionaries should be a big help in that area but that is still some 18 months before they start returning.

The weather has been very warm and dry as of late but we keep hoping that the rainy season will soon arrive. It has been several seasons since they have had a good crop so are rather dependant on church or government welfare. The water projects and other programs help a little but is able to impact only a small portion of the millions of people here.

The final note today is now that we are under 3 months to our departure SLC has processed our return trip. We leave here on 22 June. We fly to London, Los Angeles, then Boise to arrive there after 9pm on the 23rd. We opted for that route as that reduces our actual flying time to around 22 hours and layovers of some 6 hours. Just need to stay focused as we sprint (read that as hobble) to the end which shouldn't be too hard to do as there is plenty that can be accomplished still.

Have a super week.
Elder & Sister Bishop

Pictures 3-18-09

The Kilili Relief Society Choir with their accompanist. My companion had a suit made at one of the little taylor shops in Kilili and the RS Sisters liked it so much that they all had one made out of the same material.

Sister Bishop enjoying the ugali and goat stew that was served at Kilili's RS Birthday Activity. I am sure Andrew will note with some satisfaction that his grandma is eating her food with her hands.

Justus Musembi just opened his mission call.

Weekly Update 3-15-09

It's Monday and time for another update. They sure seem to come a lot more frequently than once a week. Two of the young men in Kyambeke received their mission calls. Justis is going to Johannesburg and Charles to Durbin. They enter the MTC on 14 May. That leaves 3 still waiting for their calls, 1 waiting for passport so she can submit her papers, and 3 just getting started on securing birth certificates so we can initiate the passport submission. We have determined that it is best to wait until they get their birth certificates before we spend much time and effort on the medical as that seems to encourage them a little. For the 3 who are just getting started we are just working with them on the Mission Preparation Class offered by CES.

I did make a solo run to Kilili on Saturday to get the audit finished and help focus President Makiti on a few items that I thought might help he and the branch. We are also working on getting some property purchased there for a chapel and a title deed to allow a borehole to go in to support the water project there. We were back there for Church yesterday and they wanted to watch a few items on the video equipment for a part of their services. We have recently made some changes in the generator system that supports that as we had burned up a cord with a power surge so I integrated a regulator to ensure we didn't fry a TV or DVD player. The new equipment seemed to do everything it was suppose to. There is still an outside chance that we could have electricity at 2 of the branches before June. The market at Kilili has been wired for it since Dec. of 2007 just no juice yet and they are starting to wire buildings in the Kyambeke Market as they are having a district officer assigned there by the government and that event comes with electricity.

Our work at the branches was pretty much the usual. We did take the Randalls to Kyambeke on our way to Ilima as they were doing a follow up on the workshop they presented there in February. They received rather substantial rainfall in Ilima and Kyambeke on Tuesday and Wednesday evening so a lot of the members were getting their Shambas planted. We were able to teach a couple of discussions along with our usual fare. It is still dry and warm down in Kilili though.

This week will have a little variation as Elder Koelliker of the Area Presidency will be here on a mission tour. That means we will have a mission conference on Friday. That negates our trip to Ilima on Friday but we will be there for church on Sunday so they should not feel neglected.
We are still trying to get documents for members desiring to attend the temple in May and it looks like at least 1 family will make it. We are a little concerned with what to do with the others as the President is not sure he will have someone to backfill us by June. So we are just working at building the branches confidence in their own abilities to carry on independently. Sure hope it works as they really do have a lot of potential if we can just ratchet up their self confidence a little and certainly there are other areas in the mission that has need for the missionaries that are coming.

Well that kind of covers our doings for another week so will close with another African Phrase. Not sure if this one is Swahili or Zulu as I picked it from a letter received from Elder Muthoka who is serving in Durbin. It means you are loved.

Nawapenda Nyote,
Elder & Sister Bishop

Pictures 3-7-09

Eleven of the Temple attendees touring the Area Presidency Office. President Parmley is on the back row next to Elder Watson and his wife. Annah is in the red dress, Elizabeth is in the gold dress and the rest is President Mbondo with his wife Bernice and children.

President Musokolo with his wife Lucy and children. She wasn't feeling well so they did not go to the Area Offices with us.

Sister Bishop with her adopted grandkids for the trip. She stayed at the patron housing with this mob and a South African lady we hired so that their mothers could attend 4 more temple sessions.

This is the group from Kyambeke that was baptized on the 28th. Six of the young people were children of record while the other 18 were considered convert baptisms but 2 of those were really children of members that had not been baptized at age 8 so had to be interviewed in English. It took a little work to get them comfortable with that but what a great experience to work with folks that wanted to be baptized so badly.

Four of the 5 converts from Ilima.

Jackline, the last Ilima convert who showed up just a little late.

This is Barbara Wambua. She is really growing. Not sure if her parents will get their birth certificates so that they can go to the temple with us in May.

Weekly Update 3-9-09

Monday morning once again and with no visitors in our extra bedroom I will try and get back on schedule with this update. Last week was rather uneventful which allowed us to cut back just a bit and really eased the pressure of trying to coordinate several different schedules and gave us the chance to catch up on several things we have been letting slide here at the flat. We did add 9 investigators this week. It just blows us away the way that people keep showing up when we are at some of the chapels. Also was able to get 2 of the audits pretty much done but will have to go to Kilili this Saturday to finish up there as Pres. Makiti is tied up teaching school when we are there on Tuesdays. With the 3 young men on missions there it has really cut back on their staffing as each of them were filling several positions. Also Judith and Catherine have both been working in their Aunt's shops in Nairobi which has created a couple more holes there. Pres. Makiti probably could get a few more Kilili members involved but they probably wouldn't do as well as the missing young people so I think he just doesn't bother which really increases the work-load on those assigned and of course cuts down on the potential of nourishing the less active. There are some big things happening there but very slowly as it has been over a year now that that all the shops got wired for electricity but the juice hasn't arrived yet. The church is working on a water project there that will impact both culinary demands while addressing some agriculture potential but it is not moving along very fast either. The little water project we have been helping along hasn't turned any worlds upside down either as it is a bit of a struggle to get them to change their mindset to year round farming now that the water is available rather than the two growing seasons that were supported by mother nature when she felt so inclined. Consequently the shambas are not being utilized anywhere near their full potential which certainly impacts their potential to become self sufficient and they just keep wanting a little more money. Should start receiving mission calls from Salt Lake for the 4 young men at Kyambeke right away. Judith from Kilili is also just waiting on her call and the 3 young people from Ilima are making progress on their mission preparation. Michael at Kyambeke who was baptized last September also approached us and wants to start on his application which would be 12 great missionaries either serving are just waiting for their report date by the time we leave in June. That is up a little from the 1 serving and 2 returned missionaries that were here when we arrived. Great experience to see the seeds planted here by us and others begin to swell and sprout.

Elder & Sister Lewis who were serving as PEF/CES missionaries left for their home in Denver last evening. We had been here a little over a month when they arrived so now we will see a few of the 18 monthers finish their missions. We have grown rather close to all the missionaries living in our little compound here so it is rather bitter sweet to see them departing now. Elder Luke as coordinated some time shares he has so that 8 couples are planning on getting together in Branson next October.

We got our 2008 taxes put to bed this last week which is always a good feeling no matter what the cost. Hope the powers that be do make good use of the little bit we are encouraged to donate to Uncle Sam each year. With the internet and local news paper we do get a glimpse of what is going on back home but find it very distracting to get very immersed in it as there are other things of eternally far more importance that demands our attention here.

Well I hear more activity in the parking lot outside and Sister Bishop and I must get fired up for our Monday morning walk. We have an approximate 2 mile course we try to walk on Mondays and Saturdays when our schedule allows. If I am otherwise involved my companion has an aerobics cd she works with which is pretty much our effort at the exercise missionaries are encouraged to participate in. All other mornings we are already bouncing along in our vehicle once it gets light enough to be out and about. Our schedule does keep us busy enough that the time sure flies by. It does seem like these weekly reports come considerably more frequently than their name implies. May God be with you all this week.

Elder & Sister Bishop

Weekly Update 3-3-09

A little slow with the update this week. We arrived home from the super week at the temple on time Friday evening but had a problem with the ride coordinated from the airport so didn't make it to our flat until 11:00 pm. We were up early Saturday to get up-country for the baptism. We did end up with 23 convert baptisms and 6 children of record so by the time we got everyone dressed in their whites we didn't get the baptism started until almost noon but were able to wrap things up and get home by 5:00. We went out with the other couples for our Saturday evening dining out that happens most weeks but were up early again to make it to church at Ilima. Five of the baptisms were from that branch so that means Kyambeke had 24 confirmations to do so I don't think they had anytime left for Testimonies once they had completed all that branch business. They did tell me when we stopped in to pick up the records that there were 220 people in attendance for their Sacrament Meeting. It is rather timely that President Taylor had called last week to let us know that the branch division request had been approved. Just need to get busy and locate some potential facilities for the local agent to go and negotiate on. We need to be careful and keep our involvement rather covert as any hint of muzungu participation tends to drive up the cost.

We brought Stellamaris home with us from Ilima on Sunday. We are working with her on missionary preparation and had scheduled dentist and doctor visits for Monday. We were able to get most of the dental work, the chest x-ray, lab tests, and initial medical review finished Monday. We do have to take her back to the dentist to finish up there on Wednesday as well as get the final read on her TB test and a yellow fever shot. She was able to get her passport application and apply at the police for her good conduct verification today while we were at Kilili so should be able to ride back with us on Thursday. Then it is just a matter of waiting for her passport before she submits the mission application. She has been staying with us which makes it a little tough to get on the computer of an early morning hence the tardy update.
We have some more photos of "forever families" to send and was even able to get one photo with Elder and Sister Watson and Elder Parmly (Parmly is the area president and Watson his 2nd councilor). With our service at Saint Mary's tomorrow, finishing up Stella's work and trying to get to the Embassy for tax info it will probably be the weekend before I get the pictures up. I was going to try and run up-country to finish up the audit work with Kilili on Saturday but he will not be ready until next week. That is really a good thing as I really haven't had a Saturday for recovery for 2 months now but the joy of the young people I have been teaching on Saturdays more than compensated for any discomfort on my part. I was terribly proud of how well they each did in their interview the previous Saturday and they positively glowed during the baptism service last Saturday.

As a parting thought for this week we have often wondered why we signed on for 23 months when all the other couples are only here for 18. If we had returned home at 18 months which would have been January 30th we would not have been able to attend the Temple with 2 of the Branch Presidents and their families that we have really grown to love, assist Annah in being sealed to her husband George who died 13 months ago, nor been able to witness the joy of the 23 converts this weekend. We know this fun (not sure we have worked this hard as a couple before) will end with out us accomplishing all we want to achieve as it is but we have certainly been blessed to participate in so many great events in these peoples lives. Need to run now so Stella can have her bedroom back.

Karibu Asante,
Elder & Sister Bishop