Out of Africa

LAST Weekly Update 6-22-09

2009-06-22T07:44:00.000-07:00

Well one last time it is early morning in Nairobi and I am trying to put to words some very special experiences. This last week has been a whirl wind of bitter/sweet experiences. Each of our visits up-country were a memorable experience this week. Tuesday in Kilili we spent a little time with our LDS English and keyboard and were then to support one last RS Enrichment Activity which in reality became a farewell party. President Makiti took some time off from his school and several of the other priesthood brethren appeared. There were a few short thoughts, some great gifts, a bite (chipatas and soda pop) then we struggled through some final farewells. Thursday at Kyambeke was a joint activity with the new Mitini Branch. Each auxillary presented a few thoughts, testimonies from 3 super converts, gifts and a traditional dance outside, and then some refreshments. President Onesmus had asked us to bring some fruit cordial, paloney, bread with peanut butter and jam (I guess we have corrupted them with the introduction of those last items). We brought Michael back with us so he could work on passport documents and security clearance as he wants to leave for the Mission Field in September which is his first anniversary of church membership. Friday we stopped in Mitini to leave a few needed supplies for the new branch and then bounced on up to Ilima. Sister Bishop worked with her keyboard class while I had a few priesthood brethren come in to assist with a disciplinary council so we could meet the desires of a great mama who had been excommunicated several years ago. We were back to Ilima for Branch Conference yesterday which saw a couple of the new converts there called as a branch councilor, clerk, and councilors in the RS, YW, and Primary. They asked us both to share a few thoughts during the course of the meeting and it was a struggle to contain the emotions. There were a few more gifts and farewells after that then the President Taylor (we rode up and back with them) wanted to see the other side of the Ilima Hill to assess the potential for splitting that branch. It was fairly late when we got home last evening but what a great day.

Since today is our final wakeup in Nairobi we are both up a little early this morning. The President conducted our exit interviews enroute home from Ilima but we still have a full day ahead of us. We did a lot of sorting whenever we were home last week but there is a bunch of packing to accomplish yet. We also need to get to the embassy to close out the mail service there and then clear a bunch of items up at the service center. The Flinders have invited us for supper this evening. We will then have our final FHE and then bum a ride to the airport to begin our journey home. We are scheduled to touch down in Boise at 9:15 pm Tuesday but that still computes to over 30 hours of air travel as we chase the sun west over a date line and through several time zones. We have short lay over's in London and Los Angeles. Our kids tell us they will all meet us at the airport so that could be a bit of a crowd but we are sure looking forward to seeing all our descendents (not the least of which are those 4 grandchildren that have been born since our departure). We have a 10:00 am appointment on Wednesday to meet with President Harrison for our Mission Release. Bishop McDonald has agreed to let us report our mission this Sunday which will take place in the chapel at 1985 N. Blackcat Rd. with the service beginning at 10:20 am. The reality of these impending events have not really hit home yet as we struggled with the numerous goodbyes here.

Even with the hectic pace this week the travel hours have afforded the opportunity to reflect a little over the last 23 months and there is a plethora of life enriching experiences to consider. Initial musings have been attempts to quantify in some way the last 2 years and I will close with a few of those today.
Drove in excess of 100,000 kms with the majority done in very trying conditions.
Several scrapes and minor repairs to our vehicle with only 1 major collision. We got stuck once and only 2 flat tires.
I made over 800 sandwiches to support our travel and consumed half of those. Mine were usually ham & cheese with avocado while my companion opted for ham & avocado.
Our gifts this last week include 1 Muzee Stick (that's a cane for wise old men) and woven carrying bag for me, 6 different woven shopping bags and 5 kangas for Sis. B, and 1 live chicken (we graciously returned the bird and asked them to think of us as they dined on it).
We were involved in 4 funerals and one wedding.
We got to help create 1 new branch and each of the buildings are over flowing. They reported 185 in attendance at the new Mitini Branch yesterday.
Eleven missionaries are now serving or awaiting their report date to the MTC. Four others are actively preparing to submit their missionary papers.
There have been 4 trips to the Johannesburg Temple with 58 people.
We have been blessed to support and participate in 163 convert baptisms and there are 5 more cleared to enter the waters on 4 July.
We have associated with countless fellow missionaries that have strengthened us with support, encouragement, and examples. We hope to maintain our association with each of them in some way.
There are several hundred new African friends who are indelibly imprinted in our memories that we might not see again in this life but look forward to visiting with in the next.

God be with You till we meet again,
Elder & Sister Bishop

Pictures 6-16-09

2009-06-16T19:58:00.000-07:00

The new converts from Mitini.

The new converts from Kyambeke. Two of these are 8 year olds and President Mbondo is on the back at the far left. He did some of the baptizing for this group.

The new converts from Ilima. The Chuvi brothers (Jerald & Chris) are the tall guys in back and they are preparing to go on missions. They did most of the work with the younger folks in front and did all the baptizing for this group.

Two late additions to the Mitini group. The girl on the left is 15. We baptized their mother Jane in May. A lot of what was done in this group was finishing up some family groups so there are considerably less one member families in all the branches.

This special lady is Virginia and we had her ready for baptism in May but due to some special little challenges weren't able to do it until June.

This is the building that has been rented for the Mitini Branch. The facilities folks need to get busy on the proposed work to expand it as we had over 100 people in it last Sunday.

Weekly Update 6-14-09

2009-06-14T21:27:00.000-07:00

It's 4:20am here but after a few hours sleep I kept thinking of all that we needed to do today so finally gave up trying to stay in bed. We only have the usual 4 trips scheduled this week but there are a bunch of things that need to be done here in town also to accommodate our return to Idaho in 7 days. We need to get to the Saret Center for TB tests and haircuts as that is probably our last chance for those until we get back from the reunion in Texas. That might seem like a strange thing to be worried about while in the Mission Field but it is hard to shake the habit of backward planning after 30 years in the military. That has often clashed with the easy going attitude of the Kenyans here so I have done a lot of pacing and cultivated a bunch more grey hair. President Mbondo recently was demonstrating to his congregation how he could tell that I wasn't happy when my plans were falling apart by mimicking my pacing. Have to admit it was rather humorous to see a short African mimicking some long Mazunga strides especially when he nailed it so well. We host FHE this evening so I need to get my companion back to the flat so she can make sure it meets her standards before the event. That means I will solo to the service center to pick and drop then make some deposits at the bank for the branches. Not sure what all our visits up-country will entail this week but we would like to spend most of our time saying goodbyes but will probably spend some time with keyboard and what I refer to as LDS English. Me and the mamas sing along with some of the LDS Hymns on CDs and review simple prayers in English. I have also recently got a branch missionary to help me translate the Sacrament Prayers into Kikamba which I have laminated and given to the students so they can follow along when the priesthood read it in English. I am hoping it will add to their Sunday experience by attacking a little of the language barrier.

As I indicated last update our little truck only missed one day going up-country this week. Tuesday in Kilili was rather uneventful except we did get all the paperwork finished for the baptisms the previous weekend and they had even gotten Erastus finished up as well. He is the young man whose family was involved in a medical emergency so had missed his baptism on Saturday. Wednesday the Assistants and I were in the Kulunga hills to interview the English speaking candidates there. Thursday in Kyambeke Sister Bishop taught keyboard while I worked with the Branch President to finalize the applications for baptism there. The English students there have quit making the long trek to class now that they have been baptized. Friday at Ilima saw Sister Bishop working with her keyboard students while I spent some time working with Anastacia. She had avoided the interviews on Wednesday because she was fearful of not being able to communicate her feelings in English. She does understand okay and I am hopeful of buoying her courage enough to get her to interview with President Taylor while he is visiting Ilima for Branch Conference on the 21st. Jennifer will also visit with him then as she was still struggling with Tea at the Wednesday interviews. President is planning to baptize them on the 27th along with some 8 year olds from the Branch. We did have a few ready for the joint baptism for the 3 Kulunga Branches on Saturday. There were 2 eight year olds and 37 convert baptisms. It really stretched the limit on the availability of white clothes for baptisms. A couple of the young men were in size 16 shirts whose short sleeves reached to their wrists. These guys aren't too used to getting the best anyway and their desire to be baptized certainly overcame any concern to be seen in clothes that were so obviously too large for them and they didn't mind sharing towels as we were a little short on those also. Peter, an older gentleman we were working with at Kyambeke, did not show up even though he had passed the interview requirements on Wednesday so we left some clothes and are hoping he had just misunderstood the time and date and that they were able baptize him yesterday.

We were in Mitini for the inaugural service there yesterday. I had hauled 15 loaner chairs from Nairobi up each of the 4 days we had passed through there last week. We then borrowed a table, another 10 big chairs and 20 youth chairs from Kyambeke after the baptismal service that we dropped on our way home Saturday. Still there were more people than sitting accommodations for the service yesterday. According to President Kaseve there was close to 200% attendance and after our last baptism their numbers were up to 80 members. I taught an investigator class about the Restoration with 22 attendees. The members had resurrected 4 benches from what the previous tenet to the facilities had left and the group was crowded together on those. I will get some materials to the young men serving as branch missionaries there and they will have to continue teaching and make contact with the Mission Office when the investigators are ready for baptism. The lead missionary in that group is Macarius, who we just baptized in mid May. He is excited for the opportunity to share his testimony with his fellow villagers. We can't help but be a little concerned as to the future of the church there with us not being backfilled right away if at all but then we remember that this is not our program and just trust that we have come close to accomplishing what was needed to equip these good people to carry out the Lord's plan on their own.

Well, will sign off and get started on the rest of my "to do list" for today. My companion has a plethora of items that have to be done before our departure in 7 days. My list is not quite as big as hers but I try to help out to alleviate her fears that we just can't get everything to fit the constraints we are working with. To that end I finished off the ice cream on hand making our last mango smoothies last week and I am trying to make sure all the cookies are gone too so that any food left-overs we have to haul to the other couples is at a minimum. A scout is helpful right.

We do have 4 more trips up-country this week which means just 8 more trips through the deviation mess at Athi River. The light at the end of the tunnel is getting much bigger. Looking forward to visiting with everyone on the other side of the world shortly.

Love ya,
Elder & Sister Bishop

Pictures 6-8-09

2009-06-08T14:47:00.000-07:00

Sister Bishop with her "namesake" Barbara Wykalia Muthiani and Barbara's mother Jacinta Muthiani.

Our latest group of Temple Patrons. President Fredrick Kaseve of the new Mitini Branch is on the right with his family. His wife is the RS President. The Bonface Maukau family is on the left. He is the 1st Councilor and she is the YW President.

Elder Dominic Mambo Makau is having his Missionary Badge pinned on by his younger brother Peter before his departure to the MTC. Does he look excited?

The Baptismal group at the Kilili Branch on 6 June 2009.

Weekly Update 6-8-09

2009-06-08T14:33:00.000-07:00

We are back from the Temple but what a great trip. We were able to attend 6 sessions (Sis. Bishop made it to 3 and spent the rest of the time riding herd on the little ones). Besides their own sealing's we were able to do some baptisms and then seal a few of their ancestors also. That kept us pretty busy as the temple doesn't open until 3:00 each day with the exception of Friday and Saturday. We were able to visit with Elders Mutuku and Musembi (we sent them to the MTC 3 weeks ago) who were making one last visit to the Temple before moving to their respective mission assignments. On Thursday Elder Mambo Makau left us to go to the MTC. The trip home was uneventful except a couple of the little ones wanted to hide rather than leave Patron Housing. The beds and environment there are definitely a step or two above what they are used to.

We got linked up with our newly serviced vehicle enroute from the airport and we were back in it Saturday for a baptism at Kilili. We had 21 who were baptized with 3 of them being 8 year olds. There was one other candidate but his family had a medical emergency so we left some clothes and President Makiti was going to take care of it sometime during their church services yesterday. I don't imagine they had much time for testimonies in their meeting yesterday with 22 confirmations to conduct. We were back to Kyambeke for services yesterday. Today will be our only non-travel day this week as I am taking the Assistants up Wednesday to interview the English speaking candidates for the baptism we have scheduled this Saturday. With the 6 trips this week we should be able to just do 4 the next week before getting on the plane home 2 weeks from tonight.

We got word while in Johannesburg that approval had been granted for the Mitini lease so hope to get enough things up to them this week so we can hold services their Sunday. Other than that there are only about 100 other little ankle biters that we need to deal with today. With that thought I must sign off and be about our missionary business. I didn't arise as early this morning so am already a little behind schedule. Not sure if my tardiness was the result of trying to catch up on some missing sleep or if I just need a little more now that I am 61. Thank you for the birthday remembrances. I will try and get a few pictures out before FHE tonight.

Elder & Sister Bishop

Weekly Update 5-31-09

2009-06-05T00:01:00.000-07:00

It is Sunday evening but we head to the Temple in Johannesburg at 0-dark-30 in the morning and it would be mid-week before we get at a computer so it is update time. It seems like this trip has been a bit more of a challenge than the other three but it is finally a go. We ended up making a rush trip to the hills last Monday to collect signatures to satisfy a seemingly new requirement with the South Africa Embassy. Wednesday ended up being the only day we didn't travel up country this week. Even though the stress of helping the patrons make all their appointments and dealing with housekeeping chores when it is an alien environment to them it is going to be restful not having to do any driving next week. We will pick it right back up again on our return to Nairobi as we have a baptism in Kilili on the 6th.

Our time on station at each of our regular visits this week were rather uneventful but we had some satisfying experiences. Sister Bishop was able to give another of her students their own instrument as they had met all the requirements of the people at the Harmon Grant who provide these keyboards to qualified people around the world. We have several more adults ready for their baptismal interviews in English when we get back. On our way home Friday Jacinta meant us along the road to show us her new daughter. Jacinta was one of our earlier baptisms and her husband is now the 1st Councilor in Kyambeke. They had a new baby a little over a month ago but it is not unusual for mother and baby to just stay at home for 6 weeks or so after birth. Anyway their little daughter is just adorable and her name is Barbara. These folks just keep making it harder and harder to bid farewell in just 3 weeks time now.

Thursday evening we ferried the Lukes to the airport for their triumphant return to Green River, Utah. They were the Public Affairs couple and had arrived here in Nairobi about 5 months after us. They are the last ones that are scheduled to leave before our departure.

Had quite a bit of rain in Nairobi this week with a minimal amount in the Hills and none down at Kilili. Just muddied up the commute a lot with the biggest impact being on the deviation through Athi River. Got to do a little mud bogging on unauthorized deviations. Our 4 wheel drive has sure been much appreciated on numerous occasions and we have certainly tested its' mettle numerous times. The odometer was at 88,600+ when I filled out the monthly report tonight so I am sure it will be glad for the week of rest this week also. It is needing a new clutch, inspection sticker, and service while we are in Johannesburg. Normally they recycle the vehicles at around 90,000 but because this vehicle is only 2 years old they are going to keep it around until 100,000 but it wont have far to go to reach that milestone when we depart but it will probably be used as an extra for a while as it is still looking like we will not be replaced.

Well, must bid goodnight as we need to meet the patrons at the office at Upper Hill by 5 in the morning. Here's hoping for a safe journey to all till we check in next week.

Elder & Sister Bishop

Weekly Update 5-26-09

2009-05-26T06:59:00.000-07:00

Well the sprint to the finish line is picking up speed as we try to finish off a few last items before our departure in 4 weeks time. We are ready to finish up all the paperwork for our Temple Group today and just hope that Victor is able to gather all the visas at the South Africa Embassy this week. In an effort to stem the flow of immigrants from each country here, the more established South Africa imposes some rather stringent restrictions on other Africans visiting there. The Church is required to ensure via a monetary deposit that the people will only be there for the specified time but the money is credited back once the terms of the visa is satisfied. This is even the case with the young people who fulfill missions there or attend the MTC enroute to another country. We are still waiting on approval from the Physical Facilities folks to begin occupation of the proposed building in Mitini. Also this week we received word from the Dr. who reviews mission applications for the Area that he wants to wait a month on Stellamaris' application. In and of themselves these little ankle biters aren't much but as this race nears its' finish they do raise my anxiety just a little. I realize that a portion of this anxiety is the result of rather low tolerance for any who would disagree or fail to have the same view of the situation that I do (I'll try to work on being a little more tolerant but please don't hold me to that commitment). Just to add to the stress level it appears that the last baptisms we are trying to accomplish is swelling to a number of around 60 people and the few available dates combined with a deficiency of the number of white clothes is more than just a little worrying. In our visits up-country more of the members are trying to get us to visit their home before our departure and as much as we would love to do that just to show our feelings and respect time just doesn't allow us to accommodate all the requests and we are struggling to keep from offending anyone.

Our Tuesday visit to Kilili was held in conjunction with a RS Enrichment event as they wanted to teach my companion how to weave bags and blankets before she left. Whenever our visits coincide with enrichment we can count on a disproportionate number of attendees at our English Class so we just worked on singing some hymns. It is amazing how well that medium seems to bridge the language barrier somewhat and they seemed to enjoy themselves but I hope in our last few visits there the number of attendees becomes a little more manageable.

Our Thursday and Friday visits to the Kilungu Hills were pretty much the same although our English classes there have pretty well dried up with the baptism of Mamas who were struggling with the language. However there are at least 10 solid investigators that we are trying to prepare for their English based baptismal interviews so we are still staying rather busy there and our time on site is not decreasing as we thought it might. We did visit President Simon's mother in Ilima for a few minutes on Friday as she lives very near the chapel there. We scored some cups of warm milk (no refrigeration in the hills) a bag of grapefruit sized avocados and a stalk of bananas. More than we can possibly eat by ourselves so we share with the other couples here but it is touching to see their willingness to share from their meager resources and the last thing we want to do is offend by refusing their offer even though they certainly have a greater need than this fat mazungu.

Saturday I drove back to Mitini with Victor and a couple of medical folks to administer the required yellow fever shots to the temple attendees. It was their first ever immunizations and not at all appreciated by the younger ones. I was afraid my young friends would never come near me again. However I was able to illicit shy smiles from them at church yesterday so think maybe they have forgiven me already. Sure looking forward to the trip to Johannesburg and the creation of 2 more "forever families" next week. A note on the Saturday trip was when I returned the medical folks to their pick up point they asked if my immunizations were current and upon being assured that they were he offered to secure me a matatu drivers license which I think was a good natured statement on my aggressive driving habits. I will certainly have to work to ensure that those habits stay here as they would get me in a lot of trouble state-side.

Well once again the sun is up on a Monday morning in Kenya and I must cease my ramblings as we want to get the plethora of travel documents to the service center the first thing today so we can be sure all is ready for next Monday. We were then going to check the mail box at the embassy but realized that it is Memorial Day on your side of the world which means the local embassy employees are on holiday also. That does remind me that with the time required for mail to get from there to here I would encourage all to not post any letters to us after June 1st as I doubt that we would receive it. We will visit the APO one last time and leave a forwarding address on the 22nd as we finish up here but it would probably be months before any mail caught up with us as we do have a few plans elsewhere upon our return.

Sowa Sowa. Elder & Sister Bishop

Weekly Update 5-18-09

2009-05-18T10:38:00.001-07:00

It's 5:30 Monday morning here and not wanting to get behind again like last week I will get this out before the sun is up. Have a lot of things we need to get done here in Nairobi before the day is over. Somehow South Africa hasn't gotten the information recognizing the new Mitini Branch so they are not being very prompt in issuing the contract for the building rental there. I guess bureaucracy is a human frailty that we manage to inject where ever we human beings set our hand. It is not exclusive to the military or government as I have thought for so many years. We got 7 more passports last Friday evening so need to finalize with patron assistance for our June 1-5 Temple trip. Our group to Johannesburg will be 17 plus ourselves which is 2 families. There was one 19 year old boy that was still missing some ID info so his family is going without him but he finishes up his schooling at years end so can take out his own endowments enroute to the mission field. Being sealed to his family will just be on the back burner for now and maybe by the time he returns from his mission there will be a closer temple. I'm sure a loving Heavenly Father will understand if his time schedule overrides that event. One positive highlight though is that Dominic enters the MTC on the 4th so he will go with us and get sealed to his family and then just report to the MTC on Thursday.

We continue to get small rain showers on a regular basis here in Nairobi and a few drops up-country. If that sustains itself through May it should ensure a good maize harvest and the bean harvest is probably good to go already. We have people assisting with the Kikumba based discussions in all the branches so we did not travel up-country this Saturday which was a welcome break but it appears that the balance of our weekends here will all require both Saturday and Sunday trips. The lone exception could be our last Saturday on 20 June and my companion is indicating that we will be involved in cleaning up the flat one last time. It is a different experience from my last mission when I worked in some fairly unkempt conditions but for the most part my companion for this mission has been a lot more enjoyable.

Charles and Justus left for the MTC on Thursday so we took them to lunch and bid them farewell after their trips into town on Wednesday. I mentioned the Kikamba discussions for the young people and it is fluctuating at around 40 so that should make for some very busy Saturday baptismal services after we return from the Temple. We also have another 10 English speaking adults that will be ready for baptism if we can schedule interviews with the Assistants okay. Could be a bit of a challenge getting the baptismal clothes ready between services. We do have a washer and dryer in the flat here but they are quite a bit smaller than what we have back home and there is no hot water available in the laundry area.

We were able to stop and see Mwendwe at Sister's of Charity after our service at St. Mary's last Wednesday and she sure looked good. The Sister in charge there even thinks she will start to talk one day. I hope all the things we have been involved in have the same positive potential after our departure. With that thought I will close for this week as it is getting lighter outside and we must be about what we think is our Father's business.

Elder & Sister Bishop

Pictures 5-16-09

2009-05-18T09:28:00.000-07:00

Macarius' baptism. Note that the water was below my knees so that my underclothes did not even get wet but the water was such that you could not see the bottom of the font.

Monica and her grandaughter Faith at her kiosk in Kilili. We generally get some vegetables and bananas from her each Tuesday when we visit there. She is the wife to the 2nd councilor in the Branch Presidency and one of our most regular English students. They are raising their grandaughter as her mom is single and lives in Nairobi.

We stopped to see Mwendwe one last time after working at St. Mary's this week. The Sisters there say she is doing great and would not be surprised if she didn't start talking one day. She sure looks a lot happier and healthier. We dropped her grandfather off at the hospital in Kioko as we came home Friday. His health seems to be failing.

Pictures 5-13-09

2009-05-13T13:41:00.000-07:00

The new members from Mitini.

The new members from Kyambeke.

The new members from Ilima.

These 2 were also from Ilima but because of the distance they had to walk did not get
there while we were taking pictures. The 16 year old dressed in green was a delight to
teach. She is not at all timid and could answer all the questions. After this picture
she turned to me and said God bless you.

The new members from Kilili.

The Mission Prep Class from Ilima after our graduation ceremony. I made no bake
chocolate cookies and then they helped us fill out baptismal records. Stella submitted
her papers yesterday and the Chuvi brothers are still waiting on their IDs so we
can initiate passport submission.

They started drilling for water on the Kilili Project on Monday.

Weekly Update 5-13-09

2009-05-13T08:58:00.000-07:00

Yeah you're right this late in the mission is not a good time to start a habit of missing updates. We have stayed busy since last Monday and were even terribly busy this Monday but nothing particularly noteworthy. I thought we might be able to cut our visits up-country a little shorter but everyday was just a little longer than normal last week.

On our Tuesday visit to Kilili we changed our activities for English a little and are trying to teach a few hymns, simple prayers and testimonies, and translate the Sacrament Prayers to Kikamba so that our new converts under the amnesty program will have a few more building blocks to assist in their assimilation. The majority of them have logged several years of attendance without understanding the English portion of the service and we just want to help them possibly get a little more for their efforts.

On Thursday their was a young man from Mitini who we didn't have the final clearance for baptism when we held our service on the 2nd but had since been approved and he wanted to wait no longer. I kind of had a feeling he was going to be pushing for it so had thrown in a few white clothes on our way to Kyambeke. He had celebrated his 23rd birthday on Wednesday and just didn't want to get any older as a non-member. It had rained again there on Wednesday so the water supply was a little clogged with mud and very red but we managed to get a little water in the font and went ahead with the service. I had him sit down and hold his hands tight against his chest and was able to get him totally immersed. The water was several inches below my knees so my underclothes were still dry after getting him under.

We finished teaching Martha at Ilima on Friday but since they haven't gotten a new font since the remodel we have convinced her to wait for the service we have scheduled at Kyambeke the first saturday of June. That is when we are doing the first group of young people that the President has authorized to be interviewed in their mother tongue. We wanted to work with them to ensure that they understand everything so have a group going in each branch on the week-end so as not to conflict with school. Preliminary figures look like it will be somewhere around 30 in that group. It's a little tough to get our arms around the exact number as there are quite a few of the children who were never blessed so they weren't picked up as children of record so don't show on the membership lists. It becomes a matter of pushing the leadership and members and dates really don't mean that much to them. Not sure if I mentioned when we were working with the Kilili Mamas we just baptized but when we were filling out the records she indicated she had 12 children but when we got done there were only 11 names she had given me. When I quizzed her on the shortfall and then mentioned the name of one of her sons I had met who wasn't listed we got reviewing them and it ended up she really had 14 children. I think that is a testament to just how hard these people have to work just to subsist. I can't imagine an American Mother who works so long and hard that she would forget the effort required for 2 additional pregnancies and deliveries.

Saturday we started out in Kilili helping Judith with the young people we are teaching there and then hustled back to Kyambeke for a funeral there. Dorcas Kitumbu was a lady in her mid 40s and had been a big help in getting us started with several programs in the branch there. She had previously lost her husband and one daughter to Aids and was HIV positive herself. We had helped her get going on an anti-viral program at the Kikoko hospital and things seemed to be going great, but she got pregnant and died during the delivery. Besides the healthy new born son, she leaves Janet, a 14 year old daughter, and 2 older sons whom we had never met previous to the funeral. The local chief decreed that Fredrick and Agnes Kaseve were to take the new born orphan into their home. Agnes was a sister to Dorcas and is the new RS President of the Mitini Branch and Fredrick is the Branch President at Mitini. They are one of the families we hope to take to the Temple in June and already have 7 children of their own still living at home ranging in age from 19 to 3 besides 2 married daughters.

Sunday was our day to visit in Ilima and we met 2 more ladies who want to start missionary discussions this next Friday so it is looking more and more like we will be teaching and hopefully baptizing right up until we get on the plane to come home. Want to get as much done as we can as the President is still thinking that he is not going to assign any more missionaries to replace us. Not sure just how to interpret that. Is he trying to lay a guilt trip on us so we will stay or return soon, was this just something he assigned us because he didn't know what else to do with us, or does he think that these folks are ready to care for themselves? There probably will one day be a district and then a stake in the Kilungu Hills as I am convinced that the growth potential there has not really been tapped yet even with all the folks we have seen come into the church. Self sufficiency is probably the biggest hurdle in developing a future in all of Africa and certainly in the branches up-country. One of the real bright spots in these branches future is the missionaries that they are sending out now and will begin returning in 18 months. We picked up the luggage for Charles and Justus on Sunday and then they traveled in today by matatu and will leave for the MTC in Johannesburg tomorrow. Three more have calls and will be leaving by mid July. Stella's missionary papers went to the Area Office on Friday and there are 3 others waiting on Kenya documents so they can submit their applications. Thirteen is certainly a goodly number for these 4 branches and will really add strength to the future of the Church here.

Enough ramblings for now.
Love Elder & Sister Bishop

Weekly Update 5-4-09

2009-05-04T13:27:00.000-07:00

Busy week and it didn't slow down any today. Just got back from FHE at the Elam's. It was a game night with Mormon Pictionary and I was reminded again of what a terrible artist I am.

Tuesday of this week we worked baptismal interviews while at Kilili. President Makiti and I spent 5 hours doing 13 candidates. This was the Kamba speaking group and so I understood very little of the responses that the Pres. was getting. Filling out the record was another challenge as the older Mamas have no idea on the majority of the dates in their lives so we did a lot of estimating. The long hours their put us back to Nairobi a little late with us missing most of the training session for senior couples at Pres. and Sis. Taylor's. We did clean out a few of the dishes left from the pot-luck supper that was held in conjunction with the training.

The rest of the couples left for a Safari in the Mara the next morning and we dropped of one couple and a bunch of luggage at the Wilson Airport on our way to the weekly service at St. Mary's. We left there a little early as I developed a terrible pain in my chest, started sweating and shaking a lot more than normal, and had a BP of 200 over 100. We have been encouraged to use the Agha Kahn Hospital should the need arise and since all the other couples were gone we decided to get across town while I still felt like driving. We spent a big chunk of the rest of the day there doing EKG, ECG, blood test and treadmill but the pain suddenly left and they assured me that whatever it was it was not heart related. My companion muttered something about substantiating my being heartless and we left.

Thursday was spent with preparing baptismal records along with our usual stuff while at Kyambeke. Then the Assistants went with us Friday and conducted interviews at Kyambeke and Ilima. We returned to Kyambeke for the baptisms on Saturday with the final count being 8 from Mitini, 7 from Kyambeke, and 11 from Ilima. Sunday was church at Kilili and then we held the baptism after in place of Priesthood and Relief Society. We had 12 convert baptisms there and one readmission baptism. Got to see some very excited happy people over those two days as many of these new members had figured they would just need to wait for the next life for this event to happen. We still have 5 good people we are working with but they all understand English pretty well. We hope to get the amnesty program for children of record initiated in all branches with culminating baptisms scheduled for the first 2 Saturdays in June.

We drove back to Kyambeke from Ilima using the river bottom route as we needed to get 4 young men from there into Nairobi to work on documents for Visas and a passport. We had several good rain showers through the week so the river bottom route was a real treat as I didn't see tire tracks that would indicate anyone else had been as foolhardy as us. A couple of the mud holes were of sufficient size to probably be hiding a vehicle or two. My companion did not enjoy the "mud bogging" nearly as much as I. Despite the lateness of the season there have been some real good rains this week so the hope is starting to rise of at least a reasonable harvest this season.

Due to the number of baptisms and our limited supply of clothes and towels my companion spent some time Saturday afternoon and evening laundering clothes to get us through the Sunday event. Then she stayed involved in the same activity all day today while I did business at the service center, paid bills at the hospital, and then assisted Stella in completing her mission paper submission. She is staying with us this evening and we will drop her at the Matatu Stand in Salama on our way to Kilili tomorrow.

Our trips up-country will not last as long this week but I will probably being doing the extra Saturday trip for the balance of the month to support the children of record who are in school once again during our weekday visits. Hope to get them up to speed so they can pass their interviews in their mother tongue before the June baptisms.

We had to cancel our 18 May Temple Trip but were able to stand up a 1 June one in its' place so are still hoping to get these two great families to Johannesburg before they send us packing. We still have 3 outstanding passports but the Area folks have agreed to consider our request for patron support with out the passport numbers but will not procure tickets without them which gives us a few weeks breathing room. Sure hard to believe that just 7 weeks from this very moment we will be winging our way to London on the first leg of our return to Idaho.

On that note I had best close for another week as I think Stella is wanting her bedroom back and I hear my bed calling me.

May the Good Lord bless and keep you. Elder & Sister Bishop

Weekly Update 4-27-09

2009-04-27T12:49:00.000-07:00

It is Monday evening and we just finished hosting FHE. We had Neil Maxwell talk to us (it was a recording from a BYU Devotional) on the doctrine of foreordination which is something I have frequently pondered as I see the disparity between my life and that of the good people here. When I consider my own inadequacies it is a bit of a struggle to know why I have been so blessed. It is enough to know that at some time our creator found me worthy of whatever it is we are suppose to accomplish while here. It is encouraging to know that this calling was probably not a last minute add on.

We have had a little more rain this week with a whole bunch falling last night and through the day. We wont know until we get to Kilili tomorrow how the moisture is up there. They aren't expecting the season to be long enough but I keep asking them where is their faith.

Still uncertain as to the status of our Temple Trip on the 18th but tomorrow is the drop dead date so will check with Victor to see if he has a handle on the outstanding passports. If it is a problem we are hoping to trade into some slots for the 1st of June. When I see the anticipation in the eyes of the potential attendees it would just crush me not to be able to help these last two families before we go.

Onesmus Maele got his mission call this week and is going to the Uganda/Kampala Mission on 16 July which means he will be traveling with Judith Makiti as that is identical to her call. No more waiting on calls now but Stellamaris Munee did get her passport this week so is scheduled to visit with President Taylor to finalize her paperwork this coming Sunday. His schedule is a little tight so he has agreed to travel to Ilima to facilitate the interview. He will have Elder Watson from the Area Presidency with him so it will be an opportunity for them to see what we have experienced for the last 21 months. The truth is that with all the rain that has fallen lately the roads are about as bad as they have ever been as the run-off from the hills really puts some major gulleys in the steep mountain roads that we traverse for the last few kms getting to that branch.

Kyambeke and Mitini are still re-staffing after their split but it is great to see people stepping up and accepting new callings. There is a good bunch of the new leadership that are people we have had the opportunity to participate in their conversion. We have baptisms scheduled for Saturday and Sunday but not sure what the count will be just yet. Will have a better feel for that as the weekend approaches but it will be another 20+ group and we will have a few more to work with once the dust of this event settles. The President has given us the green light for working with the overage children of record who weren't baptized at age 8 to teach and interview in their mother tongue which will help complete a few more families. So we will probably have at least one more day of baptisms before we depart. Eight weeks is sure not very long when we compare it with our "to do list". It is kind of a fun reality check though to realize that some of the events we accomplish can be counted on one finger. We will only host 1 more FHE and there will be no more Priesthood training with the President and the branches. We will have our last couples training with President & Sister Taylor tomorrow. The rest of the couples are leaving Wednesday for a Safari Retreat in the Mara but with our young people out of school and us still funding one more temple trip we requested to be excused from this event. We will miss the opportunity for that special association for a few days but really feel obligated to follow through on some commitments we have made with the Branch Members and regardless of how inspired we would get our plate is about as full as we can deal with right now. With that thought I am going to head to bed so as to be somewhat alert for tomorrows activities.

God Bless,
Elder & Sister Bishop

Weekly Update 4-19-09

2009-04-19T22:16:00.000-07:00

It's Monday morning again and time for a little update before the day gets started. We had a couple of short days this week as some rain arrived so many stayed home to work their shambas. Unfortunately it is late enough in the season that some are of the opinion that this will be another unproductive one. We try to encourage them that the weather man is not the one that makes it rain so to have faith and pay their tithing but not sure they have the vision of what we are trying to help them understand. The odometer on the Isuzu rolled over 80,000 this week so we do continue to rack up the kilometers. One of the new couples opted to attend church with us in Ilima yesterday which does provide a little variety to our schedule. They are the Flinders and serving as the new PEF couple. They both grew up in Layton, Utah and spent the majority of their working life with the city of North Las Vegas and Wendover but have settled in Ohio to be near some children there. Each couple we get to know sure brings different talents with them but it is evident the Lord has a hand in placing them where they are at as each assignment seems to prosper as they serve. With 7 couples living in the compound here it is often reminiscent of living in married housing back in the days of our university years but sure provides us with the diversion we so often need to recover from the stress of travel we experience each trip up country.

This week promises to be a little different as we have our last training session for the Branch Presidents with the Mission President on Tuesday which means no travel to Kilili that day. Trying real hard to get the branches connected with those who will help them succeed in their efforts without a senior couple to shepherd them. President Taylor is fairly certain that the next proselyting/leadership couple will be placed in Kisumu to facilitate establishing the church there. It is the 3rd largest City in Kenya after Nairobi and Mombasa so is well deserving of the interest but I often think of Alma and Amuleck's work among the Zoramites when I ponder how the people in the Kilunga Hills will fare on their own. They are capable of doing it on their own if they can just get the right support when needed.

Got a few of our investigators ready for their baptismal interviews which we are currently planning for the end of the month. Because of the number involved it again will be a flock shot at the group and we will try to pump up those who need a little more help once we get the number thinned out a little. I was working with a group of 11 while in Ilima yesterday and it sure is tough to give individual help in that kind of setting. Because the conversion process is a personal thing that we only assist with it is pretty tough to assess preparedness in a group that size. It was some what gratifying to witness their Sacrament Meeting and see that we might have been of some help during our assignment here. Two of the talks were from recent converts and one of Sister Bishop's keyboard students accompanied all four hymns that were sung.

With just 9 weeks left before our departure the anticipation of being reunited with friends and loved ones and the dread of leaving these dear folks is starting to roil the emotions. The thought of be still and know that I am God has come to mind several times as of late so we are determined to just do what we can with the time left. It certainly is comforting to know that God is there and he loves all of us. I am glad he is in charge but know that we have to do all that we can to keep up our end of this commitment we call earth life.
We pray for his choicest blessings on all we know.
Elder & Sister Bishop

Picture 4-19-09

2009-04-18T08:17:00.000-07:00

Sister Mary Agatha at the Kikoko Hospital showing us the new oxygenator and suction machine that LDS Charities had delivered.

The new baby scales.

Demonstrating one of the new blood pressure cuffs. They assured me that Sister Bishop was normal and who am I to disagree with medical science.

The balance of the pictures are some of the flora that grow in our compound here.

Weekly Update 4-13-09

2009-04-16T10:33:00.000-07:00

It is getting on to Monday evening here. Today is a state holiday (Easter) as was Friday (Good Friday) so the road traffic is light but the internet is terribly slow. We spent a little time at the Mission Office this morning then a quick run to try and find some kitchen devices (measuring cups, graters, etc.) as Sister Bishop's cooking class was a big hit so a couple of the RS organizations want to get some items they can loan out to members when they try their baking. The stores we wanted to visit were observing the holiday so the balance of the day was just here in the flat getting a few items ready for our up-country travel.

We have quite a few investigators again. There are 11 in Kilili, 7 in Kyambeke, 13 in Ilima, and even 1 in the new branch at Mitini. There are several real strong candidates in the group and maybe a few who are somewhat more interested in the consistent welfare support but I am not sure how to separate the sheep from the goats if that is the case. The young man from Mitini is super and was referred to us by his father who we had taught several lessons to previously. They were raised rather strong Catholic but he feels that they are not able to answer some major questions he had so has been looking for a few years. He is around 20 and his father said he wants him to join but I warned him that the danger would be that his son would probably keep pestering him until the rest of the family was baptized. The father did give us a referral on a daughter who is here in Nairobi so we alerted the Sisters in that area to go see her. Not sure how active they have been in the Catholic Church as of late but I became concerned that maybe the locals were out to save them from the "Devil Worshipers" (that's us) when we approached Mitini Friday and they had the road blocked. We finally decided that it was just their Good Friday observances which includes a parade with a cross etc. and were able to pass by after waiting for a few minutes. We had to negotiate through 3 more such observances as we came down the hills that day.

The Kikoko Hospital finally got their first shipment of supplies that we have been working with LDS Charities to provide for some months now. Sister Mary Agatha who is in charge there was rather pleased when we stopped to confirm its' arrival. We still have about .8 million shillings to spend there and they are wanting a bigger generator and to replace 46 mattresses. However their version of a generator has taken on a little bigger proportions so the bedding might go away. She was visiting a sister hospital in Nairobi when the power went out and their generator automatically kicked on. Now she wants the same capability rather than having to run and hand start them as the power anywhere in Kenya is rather consistently unreliable and I imagine that those hamlets up-country that do have power are probably decidedly more unreliable. Her desires are probably very valid and do fall within the parameters that the folks in Salt Lake approved. It will just take a little more leg work on our part to find what she wants at the cost consistent with our resources.

As our time in Kenya is winding down these extra little wrinkles just chew away at our established schedule but then what are we here for anyway if not to try and get a few good things done. We have pretty well settled in our own minds that we will count ourselves lucky if we can get just 2 more families to the Temple. We have their applications sitting at immigration and praying they will all get accomplished in a timely manner. There are others still working on earlier stages of the program but we will just have to turn those to someone else to shepherd them through. We are not giving up on any of our current programs but time will be the judge of just what we do get accomplished.

We have had more rain here in Nairobi with little smatterings up-country and we just keep hoping there is more on the way. Well it is time for FHE so I will send this off with our love and fond hopes for a joyful reunion soon.
Elder & Sister Bishop

Weekly Update 4-6-09

2009-04-06T21:47:00.000-07:00

This will be a short one this week. The Stutz are in our spare bedroom again as they came down Saturday in preparation for their departure for the USA this evening. That is another couple that we have seen come and go. They went out with the Public Affairs folks this morning so that allows me to get at the computer long enough to get this update out. We continued to muddle along this week with not much different until the weekend. I went with President Taylor on Saturday to Kyambeke to interview Priesthood brothers and extend calls to 2 new Branch Presidencies in preparation to splitting the branch their yesterday. It made for two rather long trips up country but the Mitini Branch is now something more than just a number on paper now. We still don't have a facility there and it could be May before the facilities folks get a contract etc. but Pres. decided that he wanted to maximize the time we could spend in helping the 2 impacted branches get organized. They will continue to meet together until the meeting place is secured but just take turns officiating which hopefully will reduce the hectic confusion that comes with a major reorganization.

We did get the opportunity to listen to the 2 live morning sessions of conference which start at 7pm here. One of the new couples did stay up and catch the Saturday afternoon session so we are aware of the calls of Elder Anderson to the 12, Elder Saitoti to the 70s, and Elder Ussi to the Area 70s (those last 2 are both Kenyans). We will just have to read the other talks when we receive the April Liahona which will probably be late in the month.

The weather was dry again all last week but it did rain through the night and early morning today. That does not always equate to rain up-country but we are sure praying for them as the Savannah and hills are currently very dry as we negotiate them. My concern is for the welfare of the people and their shambas more than the choking/blinding dust we travel in on the unpaved stretches.

The April school break began last week so our schedule could be a little different as we work with the young people and the older investigators are busy with families and shambas. Sister Bishop is scheduled to teach the Kyambeke folks how to make brownies and zucchini bread this week which she hopes turns out okay as we are not very well versed on temperature control of that kind of cooking device. Even the folks up-country do very little baking as most of their culinary preparations are done over an open flame or a Jiko which is a cross between a wok and a griddle. Most can probably count on one hand the number of times they have eaten a baked good other than bread and the bread is generally trucked in and sold at the local shops or kiosks. Not sure I have mentioned before that it is not at all unusual to partake of broken biscuits (unflavored cookies) rather than bread for sacrament on a Sunday. Well need to get going on this week so will sign off for now. Wish we could be there for all the fun Easter activities this week and to help welcome little Dax. We enjoyed the many blog updates this week. We love you all.

Elder & Sister Bishop

Pictures 3-31-09

2009-03-31T14:12:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-29T21:32:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-26T23:37:00.001-07:00

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

2009-03-26T23:24:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-18T08:37:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-16T07:14:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-11T10:39:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-09T08:20:00.001-07:00

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

2009-03-03T14:59:00.000-08:00

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

Weekly Update 2-22-09

2009-02-22T17:52:00.001-08:00

It's Sunday evening but we leave for another trip to the Johannesburg Temple in the AM so a quick update is in order. Logged a lot of hours and miles this week. Had some good experiences along the way. The Kilili trip on Tuesday was the usual. Got to the embassy for a bunch of valentine treats via the APO on Wednesday plus finished up a few missing items on the last two missionary applications. Still have one hanging fire waiting on a school leaving certificate. Thursday's and Friday's trips up-country were a little protracted as the Randalls (the new employment missionaries) did a workshop in Kyambeke and traveled with us both days. Our events list was a little abbreviated so that many could attend the workshop. I took the assistants with me Saturday to do baptismal interviews and we didn't get back until 7:30 and they were working all the time. We got 22 converts cleared for the baptism we will be holding next Saturday. The branch is also having seven 8 year old children of record so hope we can come up with enough whites and towels to support the event. The young people from the Saturday group I have been working with did great and it was very moving to see their excitement. There are also 15 adults from age 55 on down included in the group and they were just as excited as the teenagers just a little less animated. Unfortunately there were several that need to be a little more diligent in their preparation. There were a couple of the ladies from our English classes that showed up so we need to shift the focus of those English Lessons to some gospel centered topics now. There are 4 of those dear ladies that have been working very hard on the English and I hope we can get them through the interview before the next 4 months are up. We have 2 more weeks of temple prep after our return from Johannesburg so it is pretty much up to the aspirants now to complete their travel documents and we have told them first come first served as far as slots for the 18 May trip. Had another young man from Ilima approach us about assisting him with his mission application so that makes three from that branch we hope to complete before our departure. Stellamaris has her birth certificate so we have Dr./DDS. appointments scheduled for 2 March and will complete her Passport application before taking her back up-country. Working with the young people so closely as of late has sure stirred the desire to spend some time with our own grandchildren. We spend a few minutes each day checking the blogs and e-mail hoping to see a new update. The weather has been warm and dry but all are hoping for a good rainy season to begin here shortly. The country once we leave Nairobi is very brown but there are a lot of wildlife making the most of it. It has increased the number of zebra and wildebeest sightings as we travel but our favorite continues to be those big graceful giraffes. We saw 8 of them and 15 monkeys as we traveled to Kilili for church this morning. Well must throw a few more items in the suitcase and then toss myself in bed. Safe journey. (That is a Kenyan departure wish we get whenever we leave from up-country)

Elder & Sister Bishop

Weekly Update 2-16-09

2009-02-17T08:12:00.000-08:00

Just a lot of traveling again this week. Felt like we did accomplish a little with each visit we had with our branches. Got another Young man in Kilili started on his mission papers but will probably not be able to have them submitted before our departure in June. Just another one of those seeds that the next people assigned there will have to nourish. Had some more folks show to begin discussions at Kyambeke on Sunday. It is a bit of a challenge to have more than 10 folks in a discussion and they are all at different stages. The young men who are waiting for their mission calls are a great help there and we hope to get several of our potential candidates interviewed for baptism this Saturday. The folks going to the Temple on next Monday are getting very excited as they speculate what it is like to fly and all the other new experiences they will have. With the extra trip we make up-country on Saturdays now we sure seem to have very little extra time to work the tasks that can only be done here in Nairobi which just seems to make the week fly by. We are hoping with the upcoming interviews and baptisms that we can start spending our Saturdays in the recovery mode although I will have to do a Saturday visit to Kilili as the teachers have settled their strike which means President Makiti is back in school when we visit there on Tuesdays and I haven't completed that branch's audit yet. They are suppose to be accomplished in February but events have overcome me and it will have to be early March instead. Well I know this is a little short and disjointed but that is just kind of how the whole week has been with our arrivals back here at the flat being a little later each day. The trip to Johannesburg is going to be a much appreciated respite for a few days. Hope all are doing well and that Valentines Day was enjoyed by all. My treat to Sister Bishop was getting a branch missionary to accompany me Saturday so she could catch up on some things here at the apartment (read that as not having to endure my driving the bumpy route).

Elder & Sister Bishop

Weekly Update 2-10-09

2009-02-11T15:42:00.000-08:00

It is 4:30 Tuesday morning. The internet devoured my update when I tried to send it last evening and it wont allow me to access it this morning so I am typing this into the Word Program with the hope that I can send it upon our return home this evening. There were no big new and startling events this week just a lot of the same work we have been involved in all along. If I can figure out how to do it I hope to send a copy of the February calendar before the week is out to document what our time was like while here. In case the readers of these weekly updates haven’t stumbled to my methods here I am for the first time in my life trying to keep a journal as we are so often counseled to do. This procrastinator is hoping that the “Big Guy” will allow me to check the block for that assignment with these efforts.

I continue to make the additional Saturday trip to work with the kids tied up in school on the weekdays. Sister Bishop gave up the joys of laundry and house cleaning to accompany me this week but has determined that she will stay and enjoy the drudgery of house hold chores rather than the rigors of the trip for the balance of the month. One of the Branch Missionaries will accompany me this Saturday and the Assistants will go for baptismal interviews the following week. We keep having more people show up for the missionary lessons each week so hope to be able to have a baptismal service on the 28^th upon our return from Johannesburg and the Temple that week.

We finished up all the paperwork for Visas which is the last hurdle for the Temple trip. Now we just spend time trying to calm nerves and fears. When the biggest event in your life to date is a matatu ride to Nairobi, an international flight to a foreign country can be somewhat intimidating. It is more than just a little humbling to see these folks react to the housing and in-door kitchen with amenities such as a microwave that is provided at the patron housing in Johannesburg. It keeps reminding me that where much is given much is expected. I hope our efforts here somewhat balance the scale for all the blessings I have received in my life.

Our FHE this week was a viewing of “A Giant Among Men” the Gordon B Hinckley movie that one of the couples had received for Christmas. For treats we had root beer floats which can only be made with extract from home laced with club soda. Just 4 ½ months and we can go back to drinking the real stuff again. Root Beer is only available in the commissary at the embassy here and that is only available to embassy employees and their families which just makes it another one of those American Amenities that we do with out for a short while. I wonder if it is available on the other side of the vail?

We had a little rain again this week which besides making for a very dirty vehicle gives hope of a good rainy season which is the best solution to the drought and famine that is somewhat prevalent at present. A few more bodies were found in the clean up process of the Naukamatt fire here in Nairobi and several more of the injured from the tanker fire up-country passed so that the fatality count has now surpassed 150. Several countries are sending in plastic surgeons to assist in the care of the living fire casualties.

Well that is pretty much a recap of life here this past week so I will close once again and finish my preparations for another day on this side of the world. Hope all is well there and that everyone has an enjoyable Valentine’s Day. Just know that I love “My Special Valentine” and appreciate being here with her now. I love her for putting up with me and the rest of this mob we call a family and know that none of us would be much without her.

Have a great week!

Weekly Update 2-1-09

2009-02-02T08:26:00.000-08:00

It's Monday afternoon and time to crank out another update. We got out and about a little earlier than our average Monday as we were hoping to find a good resolution to our vehicle dilemma. We are still getting around in the 2 wheel drive long bed as they worked on ours at General Motors all week and finally released it Saturday evening except it was still doing the same thing so I just left it at the Mission Office so the fleet manager could deal with it this morning. He called General Motors and said he was fixing to replace several of the fleet's vehicles but if they didn't come up with a loaner while they figured out what is troubling our vehicle that he would not be ordering them from GM. Not sure if that will generate a resolution for us. As we haven't had any rain since Monday of last week we were able to make it to all our destinations with the 2 wheel drive last week but the uncovered bed requires we haul everything in the cab with us. Rather crowded in the single cab and we are only able to drag a small portion of our usual load with us at that. Sister B's keyboard stayed home all last week and I had to put off transporting the video equipment until my Saturday solo journey to Kyambeke. Also to make some of the grades we pull I have to keep the RPMs up which makes for an even rougher ride than usual.

Had 2 new investigators show up at Ilima Friday so we are staying pretty busy as we visit each of our branches. We are not working with any investigators at Kilili but have enough at the other two so that we struggle to meet everyone's needs. The time spent with the school students on Saturday is both rewarding and frustrating. They all read pretty well but only a few have the understanding part down very well so not sure how many of them will pass their interview and I hate to see them have a disappointing experience. We have scheduled the Assistants with us on the 21st to give them all an opportunity to meet their goal but not sure what the end results will be. Right now there are 9 young folks and 13 adults in our teaching pool and a couple of others that are still working on some Word of Wisdom issues.

I bumped the Temple for a May/June date for our current batch of Temple Prep aspirants and they have indicated the potential number of children identified can not be accommodated in one group. I guess we will just see which ones demonstrate their desire by the effort they put into obtaining their documents. Maybe that will reduce the anticipated group size but if not we will just find another solution. I certainly do not want to discourage any of them but their desire does need to be manifest in some reasonable effort on their part.

I would assume the two fire tragedies experienced here in Kenya last week made the international news. We certainly heard a lot on the BBC Africa channel that we frequently monitor on our road trips. The store that burned is less than a mile from our flat and we got stuck in a traffic jam for close to 2 hours as we were returning from the embassy at the time of the fire. Currently they have found 27 bodies but the number of potential victims is 52. There are still 25 folks that are unaccounted for. The overturned fuel tanker up north is at 101 deaths with another 127 burn victims. You might wonder how so many got involved but we have witnessed 2 over turned tankers ourselves and the people just pour out of the hills dragging anything that might hold liquid. They swarm over the hapless vehicle and often are down on their hands and knees scooping the stuff into the containers. It would really be quite pointless if not life threatening to try and deter them in their quest. We saw a semi full of cooking fat overturned on one trip and there were a few policemen trying to protect the contents but they were severely outnumbered and I think their club swinging arms just got so tired that they retired to the other side of the road and watched the mob action. It kind of reverts to the same premise as my road carnage ramblings of several weeks ago. Life is pretty cheap here and the challenges of sustaining it often cause people to do things that we back home would think rather pointless or senseless. They did settle the teachers strike so that schools resumed today after 2 weeks of demonstrations and wrangling.

Well that is this week's slice from Kenya. I did mention to my companion as we traveled home from church services at Kilili yesterday that we have only 4 more Fast Sundays before we will be attending the Ten Mile Ward again. So I guess I had better get busy if we hope to meet our goals before they send us home.

May the Good Lord Bless and Keep You All,
Elder & Sister Bishop

Weekly Update 1-25-09

2009-01-26T08:47:00.000-08:00

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

Pictures 1-19-09

2009-01-19T10:49:00.001-08:00

This is the old latrine at the Ndolo School.

This is the dignitaries standing in front of the new latrine. President Mbondo is in the white polo shirt on the left, Elder Pocock with the tan safari hat, his contractor Charles Matuku is next, the MP (member of parliment) is next in the red shirt, the man with the microphone is Frederick Kaseve who is the Sunday School Superintendant and PTA President, Bishop Lanagwa is next and he is head of the Church Public Affairs in Nairobi, and the guy on the far right is the school's Headmaster.

The students entertained us with a native song and dance. Naomi, a member girl, is on the drum.

This is Davis and Mirriam Makiti with their children in front of the Johannesburg Temple. The children from oldest to youngest are Tom, Catherine, Monson, Kelvin, and Sharon. They are members of the Kilili Branch.

This is Onesimus and Angie with their year old son Hyrum just after being sealed together forever.

This is the young singles from Nairobi. Their names are Doreen and Elias.

Weekly Update 1-18-09

2009-01-18T21:18:00.000-08:00

We are back in Nairobi after a very hectic but enjoyable few days at the temple. There are now two more "forever families" in the Kulunga Hills. We did end up with the 10 people from our branches, a young family of 4 from Kitale, and then 2 young single people from the Nairobi Stake. Because the Temple Presidency is trying to make that experience more accessible to its' patrons they have shortened the stay by one day but added a session each day so that we were still able to attend 5 endowment sessions, 2 sealing sessions, and 1 baptismal session. Because of the dynamics of our composite group it was a bit more of a challenge to keep them all on target so consequently not everyone made it to every session that they could and we were not able to get all the names cleared that our folks wanted to try and do while there. The 2 single people were really a great help and definitely did more than their share of supporting the physical needs of the group. They are in love and want to get married but her mom, who is an inactive member, seems to think she can find a wealthier groom who is willing to pay more for his bride so has forbidden them to marry. The obvious solution is for them to just move out and do what they want but the consequences of thumbing your nose at tribal customs can sometimes be life threatening and the church is careful to encourage the acceptance of the community. I guess another solution would be to get the mom active and help her realize that her daughter is not chattel. Onesimus, who had the visa challenge, did arrive in Johannesburg at 10:00pm on Monday so was unable to get to the Family History Center and get names temple ready before we got involved but he did get his wife and son sealed to him and now their child due in March or April will be the first in the Hills to be born in the covenant.

Although we did get back in Nairobi Thursday evening we were so far behind on our personal preparation that we still did not go up country Friday but spent the day addressing requirements at the Mission Home, Service Center, and around town. Sister Bishop also stayed and worked on clothes and the apartment on Saturday while I got a young member to go with me to work with the young people in Kyambeke who can only come on the weekend because of school. Because we hadn't been able to make it to Kyambeke on Thursday all the adult investigators also showed up. So I got Michael, one of the recent converts, to read in Book of Mormon Stories with the young folks while I taught the 6 adults. We should be back on schedule with them now and hopefully we will have them cleared for baptism before we disrupt the schedule again when we take the next group to Johannesburg on 23 Feb. We did identify a couple of potential dates in late May and early June with Sister Futter, the Temple Recorder, when we might be able to get one last group there before we finish up here but we need to do a little checking before we lock in a date. The Feb. trip is starting to loom large on the horizon as the temple is closed for the first 2 weeks of February so we need to get the final request for patron support in this week so it can be approved by the Area Presidency and the temple can lock down travel requirements. We need to review the passport status of potential patrons today but it looks like we probably have 16 of our people that have the documents to make it this time. I need to explain why the review of the required documents is such a challenge. These good people are so concerned that they not disappoint us that they often tell us what we want to hear which is not always what one would call the truth. Hence it is better for us to see the actual documents before we lock in any obligations.

We were back on schedule yesterday with church attendance in Ilima but the ride was a little rougher than usual as it had finally rained. This seasons crops had already withered but the potential is there to grow a few quick garden items that will ease the lack of food a little maybe. The road was intact but just had a lot more ruts washed into it and the climb up the hill to Ilima is no walk in the park on good days. I was able to teach a first discussion to a man who has been coming to church the last 3 weeks. His wife and 5 children attend with the Salvation Army but he is excited to get baptized and then share this new church with his family.

We did see another pedestrian fatality on our trip yesterday and because it has been much on my mind I am going to talk a little of it here. If memory serves me right we have now observed 7 corpses from accidents and these are so memorable because life seems to have a lot less value here. Tribal superstitions cause these folks to do anything they can to avoid any kind of interaction with these situations or their resulting trauma so that a corpse is generally lying unattended and any whose curiosity is such that it blunts the bad juju of death are generally huddled a short distance from the victim. Our first exposure to this was a car that had rolled along the road as we were driving the Mombasa Highway headed up-country. The damaged vehicle was receiving considerable attention but the corpse was lying uncovered some distance away. We next saw a bike rider who had been tagged by a matatu driver and he was still in the throws of exiting this mortal existence but he was unattended as the onlookers were huddled some distance away. We next saw a pedestrian who had got in front of a speeding bus and his remains were still in the road while they waited for the ambulance to come and pick them up. Just shortly before Christmas this year we were returning home on the Mombasa Road and I observed a motorcycle laying in the middle of the road. Upon swerving around it we then saw two mortal remains askew in the road along with the items they were carrying with them. About 40 yards away there was a huddle of people staring at the scene and just beyond that what was apparently the vehicle that had hit them with its' driver standing next to it but not even a marker of any kind to keep unobservant speeding vehicles from running over the scene. The victim yesterday was laying spread eagle at the side of the road in a pool of blood but there was no one around him. I was recently reminded just how deep the superstition and fear of anything associated with death is. We had agreed to haul the casket for James Mativo up to the hospital in Kikoko for his funeral 2 weeks ago. It was delivered to the flat here and as we had the 3 missionary applicants here preparing them for their interview with the president I asked them to come and help me transfer it to our truck. They were rather reluctant but I managed to cajole them in to assisting me but immediately after completing the task my companion noted that they very carefully and thoroughly washed their hands. I guess the thing that is so unsettling to me is that the powers that be seem to give so little regard to preserving life here and once something fatal does happen, which is quite frequently, the victims are on their own. Not sure I feel any better after venting here and I know that is not what you were expecting to read but I needed to put my thoughts down for my own benefit. It is certainly not one of the things we will miss when we leave but will certainly always be with us. As we read the news paper each day there seems to be gun battles between the police and gangsters and lynchings by the local populace on a regular basis. Life is just so cheap here that it is very unsettling.

Well I need to bounce myself out of this morose mood and get about today's tasks. I must first add this disclaimer that we are careful to avoid adding our own names to the list of victims and do not feel threatened especially to the everyday fatal incidents that come to people via all the modern conveniences such as speeding transport systems. In other words don't worry about us we are careful to avoid danger of any kind.

I will try and get some pictures added later today but we are hosting FHE this evening so my companion could have me on task most of the day. I do love her and want her to know that by trying to support her, but I know I don't always meet her expectations because I am after all a man and probably do come from Mars.

May you each have a safe day and week.
Elder & Sister Bishop

Weekly Update 1-11-08

2009-01-11T12:20:00.000-08:00

It's Sunday evening here and we just finished packing for another trip to Johannesburg and the temple. If I don't get an update off now it probably won't happen this week so I'll list a few things then get to bed. The whole week was a little hectic. The extra trip up-country on Saturday to work with the kids in school got extended as we stuck around for James Mativo's funeral. We had got involved transporting him to the hospital and home a few times and thought he was doing a lot better. We had even seen him out walking to get his strength back a couple of times but he passed quite suddenly last Monday. I guess a good brother was needed that could speak Kikamba on the other side and although he will be missed he lived a pretty full life before his passing. I think he was in his mid 60s. He would visit our english class occasionally and could do a fair job of reading but not sure where he was on the comprehension. We were going to try and leave the funeral by 2 but Sis. Bishop got roped into playing the keyboard so we weren't able to sneak out until 3:30 which put us back to Nairobi at 6:30. Seems like the whole week was filled with little ankle biters that would just extend our days. We found out Friday there was a Visa problem with Onesimus getting into South Africa which meant he had to cancel off the early flight for tomorrow but we have assurance that they will issue permission tomorrow. We are still going to take his pregnant wife and 2 year old son with us in the morning and he will follow on a later flight. So we will have 19 of us in this group. Only 10 of them are from our branches but we are glad to be a part of this experience no matter what our background with the new patrons is. We were at Kilili today and had several ask us when we will take them so we are going to try and schedule one more trip in late May or early June. We still have the one scheduled for 23 Feb and the jury is still out on who will have their passports in time. We are pretty sure that there will at least be 12 of our folks documented by then. Started another Mission Prep Class in Ilima Friday with a 21 year old girl named Stellamaris. If the documents work she could be leaving about when we do. Got 3 of the young men from Kyambeke into to see Pres. Taylor for their culminating interview so their papers should head to the Area Office in Johannesburg this week. Because of the need to obtain financial assistance for the majority of the African Applicants their paperwork has this extra stop before it gets to the missionary committee. We had a closing ceremony for a pit latrine at the Ndolo Secondary School in Kyambeke which provided a little more variety to our week. The Head Girl at that school (who is chosen by the faculty for their studies and citizenship) is a member as is the gal that accompanied the choir on the drum.
Had an interesting discussion with Pres. Taylor tonight as we were coordinating his temple recommend interviews with several of the temple attendees. They are going to ease off on some of the English requirements for some of the faithful ladies that have been attending for years but are probably illiterate in any language. That has been one of the frustrations for us to see these sweet ladies that are at everything the branch does but just can't make any progress with the English. It seems a little unfair that there is a functioning Swahili Ward in Salt Lake where one can be interviewed for baptism in Swahili but it has to be done in English here. I do understand though that the growth will come a lot faster here if we follow the English requirement but it is painful to see this group that doesn't quite fit into any of the programs provided. One of the English students told me that she wants to go to the temple and right now she can't even qualify for membership. It would really be a royal cap for our mission if we could get her over this first hurdle before we leave.

I guess the needed rains are not going to get here. The corn and beans are looking like they are a write off for this season. The government declared a national emergency this week claiming that the lack of water and last years post election violence is creating life threatening hunger for 10 million people. Makes someone like me that should loose a kg or so of weight feel a little guilty. Well the alarm is set for 4am so I had better join my companion in lullaby land so will sign off. Hope to be able to get a good report off by the 19th.

Elder & Sister Bishop

Pictures 1-5-09

2009-01-06T09:56:00.000-08:00

A picture of the baptismal group at Kyambeke on Saturday. The 3 young men surrounding me are all in their 17th year as is Hassan who is the young man in the middle of the 3 up front. Kennedy who is the other young man on the back row is 15 and we baptized his brother Michael 2 months ago. Jackson, who is 14, is the young man on the left of the 3 up front. Agnes is the wife of Francis who we baptized 6 weeks ago. Brother Fredrick Kaseve is the tall guy on the back row and he baptized his 12 year old son who is the one with the shaved head up front.

See I told you the water was not a rusty brown this time. It is also only 3 tiles deep so it took a lot of cooperation from each candidate to ensure they were completely immersed.

This is the tree that Brett's kids sent us to make sure we would have one this year for our Christmas. Thanks!

These last 3 photos are the three youngest attendees at the Relief Society Christmas Party at Kilili. What cute innocent kids.

Weekly Update 1-5-09

2009-01-05T12:36:00.000-08:00

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

Weekly Update 12-29-08

2008-12-29T11:33:00.000-08:00

This was our first normal Christmas in Kenya so weren't sure what to really expect. You will remember that last years election was on the 27th and it erupted into post election violence that saw over 1,100 people killed and 300,000+ displaced from their homes. We were subsequently confined to our compound for a couple of weeks and now a year later there are still camps of internally displaced people that are trying to find a home where they feel safe and vindicated for what they lost. The people talked last year of how most people return to their roots up-country during Christmas but that wasn't evident last year as a lot of folks stayed put so they could vote. Well we witnessed the migration of people this year. We spent 6 of the 7 days traveling ourselves. We did our normal things to Kyambeke and Ilima on Thursday and Friday and then were back to Kyambeke for their party that I reported on in the last update. Sunday we were at Kilili for church but then spent Monday here in Nairobi and it was rather hectic as we were trying to get a few things we needed for the branches plus make a run across town to check our APO box at the embassy. The crowds brought memories of the pre-christmas throngs back home. We did get some welcome remembrances at the post office though along with our replacement battery charger for our camera. Tuesday we were back to Kilili but spent most of our time supporting their Relief Society Christmas Celebration which they wanted a movie of. Not sure we will be able to load that on our blog site but we will bring a disc home with us. It was very entertaining. They love seeing themselves on camera and some are real hams when given the opportunity. Wednesday we took the Assistants with us to Kyambeke and worked them rather hard doing baptismal interviews. We did get 8 people approved and now have our investigator pool there whittled down to where it is a little more manageable. Still have some great people there with a strong desire to become members but their understanding of the english language is a bit of a challenge. Although they can read it rather haltingly their comprehension is not the best so we are going to begin spending some time there with just them and try to teach a single principle each visit. That might use up a bunch of our Saturdays as several of them are primary school students and we certainly can ill afford to interfere with their parochial education. It will also give us a chance to integrate a couple of these older sisters who have been studying English with us for some time now. Not sure it will be our most successful attempt while here but it will fulfill a promise we made to them and ourselves early on. If it works it might be another seed that we can leave with these good people for others to nourish and harvest.

Christmas itself was very uneventful for us. We got together with the other couples for a pot-luck dinner and watched a few specials on the television. Friday was spent here in Nairobi also and we took advantage of that day to go to the Masai Market to procure a few African mementos we want to bring home with us. The natives take over the upper parking lot at the Village Market out by the embassy each Friday to sell their home made wares to any who are interested. Since we are normally in Ilima on Fridays it was an opportunity for us to go and barter with the locals. Saturday we didn't even leave the compound except when I ventured out to fill the truck with diesel which required stopping at 5 different stations before I was able to fill up as the human migration had impacted the supply and demand to the point that there just wasn't much fuel to be had. We also went with several other couples for our traditional weekly Saturday evening out to dinner but I was solo as Sister Bishop had what she thought was a bit of a reaction to our required semi-annual dose of worm medicine. She was back on her feet Sunday and I purchased a take home portion of cashew nut chicken for her Sunday dinner.

Yesterday we were at Ilima for church and we got to see the receiving end of the Christmas migration up-country as there were people everywhere. The little towns were pretty well packed with families home for the holidays and the roads in the hills had significant numbers of walkers and would be riders. Mission rules pretty well limit our ability to support riders so we just generally waved back and kept on trucking. The traffic on Mombasa highway had a few more vehicles on it and they were rather impatient in their habits but the traffic in Nairobi has been significantly reduced which sure has reduced the stress here locally. Well must get going here as our week looks to be a little different again this week and we need to get prepared for the changes but will report back next Monday. Hope you all get a good start on your new year. One last note here is that with a release date of 22 June we are experiencing our slump day some time this week. Not sure when exactly and it makes my head hurt to try and figure it out so we are content to know that the completion of our time here is drawing nigh. This is definitely a mixed bag of blessings so we will just not dwell on it much untill we are back in Meridian and near our family and friends again. We miss you each so much but already know that we are going to miss these folks here also.

Love ya all,
Elder & Sister Bishop

Weekly Update 12-21-08

2008-12-21T22:58:00.000-08:00

Well the week before Christmas was just as busy as I have always remembered them to be but the activities were a little different from the ones I have enjoyed all these years. Besides our normal travels up-country we had training for the Branch Presidents with President Taylor on Wednesday. That meant no time at St. Mary's this week and we brought President Makiti back with us from Kilili on Tuesday. He stayed with us overnight as it is almost impossible for him to get transportation that will get him here by the 10:00 start time. Presidents Simon and Mbondo were here right on schedule which is not a common occurrence so the training was over by a little after 2:00. That allowed my companion just a little shopping time etc. to finish our prep for the week. Thursday and Friday's trips up country were rather normal but then we went back to Kyambeke for their Christmas Party. They had 280 plus people there (their membership is 180). We showed some Videos (Mr. Kreuger's Christmas, Nora's Gift, The Other Wiseman, and the Nativity) then they had the Institute and Seminary Students give some memorized scriptures from the Bible and Book of Mormon on the birth and life of the Savior along with several choir numbers. The highlight for me was their portrayal of the nativity. I have seen none better. Their home made costumes were great and they covered everything from Gabriel's first visits to Mary and Joseph through King Herod's activities that necessitated the flight into Egypt. Of special note was Herod's self styled crown that was about 2 feet high and some sheep that sounded just like the real animals. Our camera's charger went out while we were in Johannesburg and although we have purchased another on-line it has not arrived yet so we were only able to document these activities in our minds and hearts. Then it was time for the goat stew and chipatas and they demanded that we eat first. It makes one feel a little awkward to see the fattest ones there chowing down first. We did eat our token amounts but had to leave shortly thereafter so as to be back home by dark. We weren't going to travel at all this Christmas week but Kilili pushed their Relief Society Party to this Tuesday and wanted us there to document it with a loaner camera. I have also scheduled a trip to Kyambeke on Wednesday as we had promised several school students to help them get prepared for baptism during the school break and the time is getting short. Because the investigators we have been working with there range from adults down to 9 year olds it is very tough to give the individual personalized attention that each might require. I have scheduled to take the Assistants with us on Wednesday to kind of sort out those who are ready to pass the interview and had hoped to have them be able to concentrate on a few that needed a little more help with some of the concepts they need to know for baptism. That might have been in vain though as Pres. Mbondo announced to the big crowd on Saturday that we would be there then and that generally encourages those who are hoping that the English requirements have been relaxed to come and try again. Pretty tough to tell someone they need to wait until another time when they want membership so badly, but I can appreciate what a struggle it is for some of the older folks to master another language as I have given up trying to learn any more than just a real light smattering of Kikamba myself. I do figure if we can both make it to heaven though that we will be able to sit down and have some great discussions on what we were trying to tell each other during our mission to Kenya.

It is going to be a little quiet around here for the next few days as the other couples left on a short Safari to Samburu. They will be back Wednesday. Because of our commitments up-country and our desire to save for a couple more trips to the Temple we opted out of this adventure. We need to pick up a few items here in Nairobi today and hope to be able to pick up some mail at the Embassy but that little joint is just as over run as any post office back home this time of year so not sure how that will work out. Our plan is to stay here in town for Thursday and Friday this week and then venture back up-country to Ilima for church on Sunday.

The 12 Jan Temple Trip is pretty much organized with the exception of securing the South Africa Visas but we wont be able to work on those until after the 1st. We will have the 10 folks from our branches, a family of 4 from Kitale (not one of our branches) and then 3 singles from here in Nairobi. Looking forward to that special opportunity again and hope that now we have a little experience we can make it more special for these first time attendees.

Well the sun is up so I need to get busy doing other things.
Merry CHRISTmas to all. We love and miss you everyone.
Sister & Elder Bishop

Weekly Update 12-15-08

2008-12-15T11:31:00.000-08:00

Got up early this morning and did the weekly update but when I hit send the screen went blank and that was just kind of how the whole week went. Just a bunch of little ankle biters thrown in with the normal activities. We were home late last Sunday as we had to stop in Kyambeke to resolve some issues with a vendor who was providing some relief food purchased with Church Welfare money. The beans were acceptable but the maize smelled moldy and there was a concern for toxin. The vendor agreed to replace the maize which happened Monday okay. We spent Monday pulling together the documents and patron assistance application for the 12 Jan. temple trip. We stopped in Machakos on our way to Kilili on Tuesday to help spring Christine and her new son Enoch from the hospital. She is the gal that we hauled out of the hills for the c-section 2 weeks ago. We brought Catherine and Judith back with us from Kilili as they are working for their aunt in a couple of shops on the outskirts of Nairobi. We kept Judith with us thru Wednesday so she could finish up her dental and security clearance in preparation for her mission application. Also picked up new front tires and an alignment job for the front end of our vehicle. I wasn't being very observant as to what these roads were doing to the truck and the cords were starting to show on the inside of the front tires we had. We were scheduled to teach a couple of young people in Kyambeke on Thursday so we tried to get there early enough that I could get some pictures out of the library to assist in the presentation. We arrived 30 minutes early and I went to leave my materials in the classroom before hitting the library and there were 12 people sitting there waiting. Pretty tough to teach a group that size and ensure that they are all understanding but I'm sure any returned missionaries who spent lots of time knocking on doors will have very little sympathy for us. We weren't able to dawdle much as we had a discussion scheduled with a man and his daughter in Mitini on our way home. We were about an hour into our schedule at Ilima on Friday when President Simon asked if I could teach a discussion to a young mother who lives near the branch there. She was waiting on the lawn. Then we came home a new way going through Sultan Hamad as one of the bags of maize delivered on Monday was still unacceptable. We took it back to the vendor and traded for a good one. Then we left early Sunday so we could run it up to Ilima before going to church at Kyambeke. It had come untied bouncing on the roads enroute so there were portions of the 90kg of maize scattered in the back of the truck. My suit was more than a little dusty by the time we got it bagged again. We did arrive back in Nairobi in good time Sunday to compensate somewhat for all the late arrivals through the week. When the computer erased my efforts this morning I just shut it down as I had an early appointment to get the truck serviced and new shocks installed. So here it is 10:00pm and I'm just finally getting back where I was at 7:00 this morning. We did have a gift exchange for FHE after watching Mr. Krueger's Christmas. Sis. Bishop ended up with a box of chocolates and I got a Christmas CD. Well we are back on the road to Kilili tomorrow so I am going to call it a night. Hard to believe that Christmas is just 10 days away as the weather certainly doesn't put us in mind of the kind of holidays we are used to. Hope this finds everyone safe and enjoying this special joyous time of year. God Bless You Everyone.
Elder & Sister Bishop

Temple Trip Pictures 12-13-08

2008-12-15T11:19:00.000-08:00

Members leaving the chapel in Kilili after 2nd hour of the Sunday Block so they could catch a Matatu for Narobi and complete the first leg of their journey before dark.

Our group next to the manger scene outside the Johannesburg on Tuesday evening after completeing all their personal ordinances and being sealed together as families.

We went back to the temple for some photo opportunities while we were waiting for the temple to open on Wednesday.

Our group at the side of the temple. As you can see it was built from the same plans as the Boise Temple but on a little smaller scale. The rooms will only seat 22 people.

A picture showing some of the African foilage surrounding the temple grounds.

We had some great cooks. This is a picture of them at work in the common cooking area that is part of the patron housing.

We had really planned to do a little better job of documenting everything that happened while in Johannesburg but the charger to our camera went bad on us. We have ordered a new one to come to our APO box and are hoping it will arrive before we travel with the next group on January 12th.

Weekly Update 12-08-08

2008-12-08T09:16:00.000-08:00

Well the Temple experience was as just as great as we had hoped for. The two families left Kilili after the 2nd hour of the block last Sunday so they would make it to Nairobi before dark. This stirred several of the other families to ask when we would be starting another Temple Prep class now that it was obvious that they really could go to the temple. We met the young people at the Mission Office after we arrived back to Nairobi. They still needed President Taylor's signature on their limited use recommends. It was a short night as we met the folks on the bus back at the Office at 5 the next morning and were to the airport by 5:30. The check in went well although it was their first ever experience with all the security requirements that have to be met for today's travel. There was a bit of a hiccup with the transportation at the Joburg Airport but me moved through that and got settled at the patron housing. Kennedy and his companion arrived early Tuesday and they helped get some names temple ready at the Family History Center. We were at the Temple when it opened at 3:30 that afternoon and finished up with the family sealings by about 9:00 that evening. We started Wednesday afternoon off with some baptisms. I acted as recorder with the two fathers doing all the baptizing. Sis. Bishop stayed with the 2 boys that were under 12 and then met us for the 6:00 session. We were able to get 2 sessions in Thursday and then did sealings for all 4 grandparents that we were working on for each individual. The temple had a special 6am session on Friday that we were able to attend before we had to check out and get to the airport. When we arrived home that evening our vehicle wouldn't start so we got a ride home then I went back and put a new battery in it Saturday. We were back in the saddle with Church at Ilima yesterday.

The time in South Africa was a good break from our schedule here although it was not restful as we spent a lot of energy making sure everyone was productive in what we had went there to do. The Patron Housing folks had procured groceries and our group then prepared our own meals in the dining area there but also had to work around the other groups that were in attendance. It was interesting to eat with them as we let them drive the menu as it was easier for us two to adjust rather than have them trying to eat our preferences. We ate rice and beef stew with sechumawiki (not sure if that is spelled right) which is kind of a mixture of chopped spinach type greens with a little tomato, peppers, and onions mixed in. Sister Bishop fried chicken one evening and baked it another and I convinced them to all have an ice cream bar. Apples and carrots seemed to be a real novelty to them but they would eat them when we sliced them up. I think we might have gotten a couple of them hooked on peanut butter sandwiches as I wasn't really too excited about their baloney type meat. They still can't believe that we drink our milk cold. Life is sure different when you don't have electricity. It wasn't until the last day that I was able to get them to let us wash their clothes in the washers and dryers provided as their preference was to just wash them in the sink and hang them on the balcony to dry.

For those who were wondering why we flew rather than used ground transportation it is a 4+ hour flight. There are more than just a few different countries and I am sure that the roads aren't a whole lot better than what we see here. Since it takes us around 3 hours to travel the 150 kms we do each trip I cannot imagine how many days would be spent on a bus or whatever we could get to travel to the temple and back.

We have decided that we will probably need to accompany each group that goes which could mean 3 more trips before we finish up. I'm sure they would eventually get where they need to go if unaccompanied but the time there is so short that it would be much better if we can save them the frustration of trying to figure out how everything works.

I failed to report in the last update that we had the opportunity of picking up the newest couple at the airport. It was Boyd and Loa Anderson who live out on Cloverdale Road there in Kuna. They had been in Johannesburg for a month but because they were pulling some couples out of D R Congo there was some shuffling happened and they ended up assigned to this mission. Because of our schedule we weren't able to spend much time with them last week and they have been up country since our return.

Well we have a bunch of things that need our attention since we missed a week so we will sign off for now and try to get some pictures loaded before bed time this evening. We are starting to see more evidences of Christmas here which makes us really miss home when we stop to think about it but the weather is warm enough that our thoughts don't drift that way often.

God Bless,
Elder & Sister Bishop

Pictures 11-16-08

2008-12-08T09:07:00.000-08:00

Martin's baptism. It's the rainy season so the water is brown again.

President Simon and his wife Lucy keep us abundantly supplied with avocados when they are in season. These are the ones they gave us last week. The egg is a point of reference to indicate the size of the ones they give us. Some of them approach the size of a small cantalope.

Weekly Update 11-29-08

2008-11-30T20:01:00.000-08:00

Yes I am just a little late this week but it is really not because we are lazy or in trouble just a lot going that prohibited us from spending the few minutes it takes to report. To start with it is now official we are the senior couple in the Kenya/Nairobi Mission as the Dickmans returned to San Diego on the 17th. However because the majority of the couples are only here for 18 months we are not the next to go home but our release date did make it on the last calendar that we received from the Mission Home. It is June 30th give or take a week or two. The President can work within that window without needing approval from the Area Presidency. Is there anything that we need to be home for? We know our kids are planning a family reunion. Do you have any dates set yet? We are also aware of the Bushman Couples Activity and I think that Nancy and Gary are hosting a Bishop Reunion in July? Any input would be helpful.

Now as to what we have been up to. The previous was pretty much like many of the others we have enjoyed while here so nothing terribly memorable. Our extra minutes were occupied with finalizing visa applications and tickets for the temple trip and securing some prices on some equipment we have gotten approval on to install some irrigation equipment on a joint shamba of several members in Kilili. The highlight for last week had to be the Branch Conference at Kyambeke last Sunday. Elder and Sister Watson were there along with the Taylors so they got to experience the driving conditions we endure each trip. They even saw some of the wilder areas we get to enjoy as the road was blocked on our return so it was either sit for hours or drive through the bush. The Branch was there in force and were very impressive with their efforts to conform to church guidelines for staffing etc. President Taylor commented that this is the first conference he has attended where they actually had Aaronic Priesthood Presidencies.

We picked up Judith from her aunt's home on Outer Ring Road enroute home as we had scheduled Dr. and DDS appointments for Monday. She turns 21 in May of 2009 so her mission papers can go in by February. We returned her to her aunt's Monday and picked up Sister Joseph who had been serving a temporary mission here in Nairobi as they had an odd number of Sisters for 6 weeks. She stayed with us Monday evening and presented our FHE for us (it was our week to host). She returned to Kilili with us on Tuesday. Because of a couples conference at the Presidents home on Thursday (Thanksgiving) we had not scheduled anything in Kyambeke for this week but we have 7 investigators we are working with so I went up Wednesday to talk about the "Plan of Salvation" and return Elder Charles Mutuku, who had been serving a mini-mission during the same time period as Sister Joseph. After the discussion there I picked up Elder Dominic Mukau, who is going to serve a mini-mission in Chyulu, so he could come back to Nairobi. We got about half way home when I got a call from the 1st Councilor in Kyambeke that one of the sisters there had been to the Hospital in Kikoko and they had referred her to a hospital in Machakos. Charles and I turned around and loaded Pius, his wife Christine, (who we baptized about a year ago) and a Mid-wife in the back seat of our vehicle and headed off the back of the mountain. She had been in labor since 7:30 that morning and had pains pretty regular during the hour and a half drive to Machakos. Pius was nervous about being alone so we stayed around while the baby was delivered via c-section. It was a boy and I am sure he will be spoiled rotten as his next sibling is a 15 year old sister. In Kenya these are referred to as baby's of luck as they are blessed to have another child.

Charles and I finally got back to Nairobi at 9:00 and we went by Outer Ring to pick up Judith again as her TB test had to be read to finish up her medical. We then took her for a chest x-ray. I dropped Sister Bishop off at the apartment as she still had to prepare the mashed potatoes for our meal at the Presidents and I returned Judith to her aunt's. We barely made it to the President's for the 1:00 meeting. Friday was a regular day back at Ilima but we left just a little early as we still had to pick up visas etc. for our trip on Monday. We were able to get back in time so now we have everyone's tickets, passports, and visas for our 7:30 flight to Johannesburg on Monday (Victor is picking us up at 5:00 so we can get to the airport on time). The 11 folks from Kilili who we are escorting to the temple are traveling here after church tomorrow and the young people need to meet with President Taylor tomorrow evening for his endorsement on their limited use recommends. This might sound a little hectic and chaotic but it is really rather organized when compared to the last few groups that have went from the mission here. These people just don't get too excited and are not very timely in their responses so that means tha sis. Bishop has to do all the worrying for them. I love my companion!

Well Sister Bishop has a perm appointment and my hair needs trimmed before our trip (we don't want to go looking like people from the bush or what others might call Bushman) so I need to sign off. Besides we need to run a check to Machakos for the irrigation project and pick up Judith one more time as she is going to the temple with us on Monday. We will be attending church in Kilili tomorrow and she wants to go home so she can ride in with her folks tomorrow evening. Because we will be in Johannesburg until late Friday it will probably be Saturday before our next update. Thanks for the prayers as we can sure see that the Lord blesses us as we struggle with our assignment here.

Elder & Sister Bishop

Weekly Update 11-16-08

2008-11-16T21:23:00.000-08:00

Well I am going to try and get this out before the rest of Kenya wakes up and the internet is overtaken by its' Monday Morning Hiccups. This wasn't too bad of a week as we were able to make it to all our scheduled visits despite the vehicle challenges that last week left us. Our truck came out of the shop by Wednesday evening before we had to climb the Kilungu Hills. The replacement we were using, although only 2 wheel drive, got us into Kilili okay on Tuesday but only because President called and warned us that the road was broken (washed out) in 3 places so we took a different route and still arrived close to schedule. We did have a flat in the traffic jam coming home that day but we were just a little over a mile from the Mission Office so we just rode it to there and then changed it. That turned out to be the best decision as the last assigned driver on our loaner vehicle had put a weird lock on the spare hanging underneath. That was probably a good idea at the time but the lock was so full of African dust that I was unable to open it. It was after hours so that no one but the security guards were available to help resolve the issue. I did finally find a hammer and proceeded to vent my frustration on the offending lock which did finally yield the desired results. However, the lock is now non-functional but I do feel somewhat vindicated. That will teach that hunk of metal not to willingly comply with the desires of a retired Colonel.

The Johannesburg Temple called us Thursday somewhat concerned that we had not sent any paperwork yet to support our scheduled Dec. 1-6 trip. We had finally received some of the passports on Wednesday and Victor was supposedly pursuing some of the deficiencies as we spoke. We coordinated with the Public Affairs couple to scan passports and the patron assistance form while we were in Ilima Friday. So I think we are good to go except there will only be 13 of us on this first trip as one of the families was still short passports for 2 children. We have since tracked down one of the missing documents and hope to have the other this week but they will have to go in February as the window of opportunity for Dec. is now firmly closed. The time lag in securing documents might put some of the projected February participants in jeopardy as well as we are still struggling with the submission of a few of those. We will still hopefully have some seeds of desire planted that will yet yield some good fruit.

Martin Muthenya Kioko became the newest convert in Kyambeke yesterday. He is a 36 year old bachelor who had previously spent some time proselytizing for his old religion in the village. The branch had over 160 attendants yesterday which is pretty good since there are only 181 members. There were several non-members in attendance and we will be starting some new discussions there Thursday. There are several family members and friends of recent converts that want to receive some instruction during the December School Holidays. Sister Bishop obtained a solid referral on a man who lives here in Nairobi and was visiting in his ancestral home and desired to come and worship with the members there. It was Kyambeke's week to have the generator and video equipment so they opted to view church history films in place of Priesthood and auxiliary meetings yesterday. After he saw "The First Vision", "The Three Witnesses", "Wilford Woodruffs Search for Truth", "The Windows of Heaven", and then witnessed Martin's baptism he was wanting to take the plunge himself. Hopefully this will result in a baptism for the Cassarani Elders here shortly.

Well I am starting to hear wake up noises in the other flats in our compound now so will close for another week but I will leave an observation which has been much on my mind lately. We have really grown close to some of these people and find the majority of the Kenyans to be very open people uncluttered with so many vices of the world that plague our own society. However it is my opinion that once they sit behind the steering wheel of a vehicle (especially the public service type) or occupy an office chair in some government ministries (especially immigration) their brain cells are reduced to "0" or lower and their propensity for ignorant acts, otherwise foreign to them, is inversely related to their mental capacity. Having got that off my chest I do feel better and am ready for another week. May God Bless you all!

Elder & Sister Bishop

Pictures 11-15-08

2008-11-16T08:52:00.001-08:00

This is the newest member of the Ilima Branch. Jacinta is holding her daughter Hilda. I had the privilege of giving a name and a blessing to Hilda before we started teaching Jacinta. I guess that makes up for missing out on the blessings of our own grandkids during these 23 months.

In our many trips up country there has only been about 6 days that the clouds and haze around Mt. Kilmanjaro has allowed us to see it. This is one of those days. The mountain is an extinct volcano with 2 peaks. We can generally see snow on one of the peaks when we do see it.

Theses are pictures of 2 goats that Sister Bishop took for JJ's edification. Because they get around so well and can live on about anything and go great in their stews there are a lot of them. We will see some tethered to bushes along the roads in the hills, some just running loose feeding wherever they want, or herds being shepherded in the low country. Some herds we see probably number close to a hundred or more.

This a picture of Mawenda about 1 year after we first took her to Mother Teresa's Sisters of Charity. She really seems to be enjoying it there and seems to have gained a little weight.

These are pictures of some of Mwenda's fellow residents in their new roll around beds and wheelchairs. LDS Charities contracted their construction here in Kenya. It might not be evident in the pictures but in person it was very easy to tell that each of them was thrilled with their new transportation. For those that are bed ridden they can now roll them out to enjoy the sunshine and outdoors.

Weekly Update 11-10-08

2008-11-10T13:15:00.000-08:00

Well this week was a little different than our last few. There was a lot of rain all over Kenya almost all week. We were unable to get all the way to Ilima on Friday so left the material we were taking to them at President Mbondo's shop in Kyambeke. We left there at a little after 10:00 and did not arrive home until 5:00. We did make it all the way to Ilima for church yesterday and it rained while we were there but were able to 4 wheel through the muddy spots coming home. I must have got some bad diesel on our last fill up though as the vehicle started sputtering but we nursed it along to Athi River and finally called a tow truck and contacted another couple to come and give us a ride home. It was pass time to service the vehicle and there were a couple of other things that needed attention so we will be in a different rig for a few days. We will need our 4 wheel drive back before we head up country on Thursday. The General Motors shop we deal with is not particularly speedy though so here is hoping they get it done. It is probably contingent on whether it was bad fuel or another problem.

All 3 branches are excited for the good rain they have received and the crops in Kyambeke and Ilima have all pretty well germinated but because Kilili is a little lower they are just planting most of theirs now.

We were able to confirm Jacinta on Sunday and Martin was cleared in his interview for baptism last Thursday. However, because he asked that I perform the ordinance it wont happen until this Sunday then we will confirm him the following Sunday as we will be back there for their branch conference.

I made a quick trip back to Kilili on Saturday to secure IDs so we can try and pick up their passports this week. Sister Bishop wasn't too excited about another trip on the bumpy roads so Elder Pocock went along to keep me company. He is a retired Navy Chaplain and they are serving as the charities couple. He shared several humorous stories with me. "A man died and went to Heaven but said he had a couple of questions before he was judged. What are they? How come you made women so pretty? So men would want to marry them. How come you made women so dumb? So they would be willing to marry men." His next touch of humor has something to do with the fact that he graduated from Utah State. Did you ever think what would have happened if Orson Pratt had been the second President of the church. It would be OPU instead of BYU. We wont know until tomorrow whether we can get the passports without bringing all the folks back into Nairobi.

Wednesday afternoon we spent some time at the Mother Teresa's Sisters of Charity where we left Mwende a year ago. We had coordinated with the Charities couple to have some special wheel chairs made for some special needs children there and they were delivered then. Only 2 were chairs and the other 4 were roll around beds adapted for some kids whose lower limbs were so deformed that they cannot sit. Until now they just spent their days in a big bed in the covered courtyard but now they will be able to roll them outside when they take the other children. I have some pictures and will get them out soon. We are having a real struggle with the internet again today but I will forward them once this thing gets up and running again.

The Kenyans are very excited about the new president elected in the US. They declared last Monday a National Holiday in honor of Obama's victory and some are even thinking that they need to permanently declare Nov. 4th as Obama Day. They immediately ran power to his Father's Mother's village and have began upgrading the runway at the Kisumu Airport so that Air Force 1 can land there if the need should arise.

Well that is my ramblings for another week.

God Bless,
Elder & Sister Bishop

Weekly Update 11-2-08

2008-11-03T18:59:00.000-08:00

Well here it is Monday evening again and I am just getting around to the weekly update. Had a lot of errands here in Nairobi today. Sister Bishops medicine arrived at the embassy so we made a trip there after turning in month end reports at the mission office and getting reimbursed for some stuff we had paid for out of our funds. Also, was working on a bit of an issue with the passports as they have a bunch ready to pick up but the new director of immigration or someone down there has decided to require the members to travel back to Nairobi to pick them up. This is a new requirement as Victor has been able to just pick them using a receipt in the past. There is some speculation among the missionaries as to what is driving this as the Minister of Immigration has seemed to give our efforts a fair consideration in the past. Am told that someone at immigration indicated that the Muzungus should just go home and the church can send the money to Kenya and they will hire local divinity graduates to preach the gospel for us. They find it hard to believe that we are here on our own dime and they want to take the money they think the church is paying us and use it to employ local Kenyans. That is just a little frustrating, especially when we think of the good people we work with up country that these people and their wrong deductions just make life harder for. It just seems wrong to make these people each spend a day and 1,000 shillings a piece to satisfy some bureaucrat's weird whim with some new requirement.

The folks in Kilili finally got a good rain last Saturday evening and we drove through a lot of puddles going to church there Sunday. Hope it keeps coming and that the Kyambeke and Ilima areas are getting more moisture also.

We also picked up a couple of mattresses today that we are taking to a family of orphans that the Kilili folks want to help out. Don't know the particulars yet other than that there are six children who sleep in two beds measuring 3 1/2 by 6 feet and are just currently sleeping on some old sacks. Hope these new additions to their sleeping arrangements will help out. We will take a couple of tied quilts from LDS Charities (those ones you Relief Society sisters work on) and some wool blankets that they have contracted to be made here locally. This is one of those fun feel good things to augment what I am sure are very austere conditions.

Halloween is not much of an event here as we didn't see any hype or promos in the stores. There are Christmas decorations starting to appear but I guess that is somewhat understandable as Thanksgiving is an American thing. President and Sister Taylor are hosting a thanksgiving meal at their home on the 27th for the local couples. The meal will be followed by some training. We were also informed at FHE this evening that the Madsen Family who works at the embassy here wants to invite all the couples to a Turkey dinner on the last Sunday of November. They are starting at 3:00 and we generally have a hard time getting back before 4:00 from up country so the jury is still out as to whether Sister B and I will make it. I mentioned to my companion on our drive home yesterday how nice it will be to one day do away with these 6 hour trips we currently wrap around our Sunday Service attendance.

We are watching with interest tomorrows elections wondering where this world is currently taking us and what kind of situations we will return to in another 8 months. It does seem like a lot of hope and assurance was offered in the recent General Conference if we each just try to follow the Savior's example and teachings. Let's all focus on that as we deal with the challenges we are called on to face here in the immediate future. God lives and loves each of us. We miss each of you and look forward to our happy reunion in 8 months. A special note to our children is thanks for your notes and pictures and we are anxiously awaiting those pictures of grandchildren in their costumes that haven't made it yet.

Elder & Sister Bishop

Pictures 10-28-08

2008-10-29T08:39:00.000-07:00

These are the Primary Children in Kyambeke getting ready for their program.

Francis is on the left and Joseph on the right. I don't remember the name of the fat Mzunga in the middle.

On one stretch of the Mombassa Highway coming into Nairobi there is a atretch of trees just filled with storks. Not sure if you can make out the nest in the middle of this group but there were several young storks in it and the group seems to be gathered around watching the mother tend her young. Okay I have a question. Who do you think delivers baby storks? They sure are big ugly birds.

Weekly update 10-28-08

2008-10-29T08:34:00.000-07:00

I know this update is a little late but we had some major connectivity problems yesterday. We can get on line tonight though so here goes. After 15 months of these I wonder what we can send each week that is not just a lot of the same. This was a pretty good week though. Because of the funeral in Kilili on Tuesday I let my companion spend the day in the flat with her primary lesson material work that she gets ready each month and I took the Assistants to Kyambeke for baptismal interviews. Jacinta from up at Ilima came down and did great as did Francis and Joseph from Kyambeke. Martin also from Kyambeke showed up a little late and I think got a little flustered so will try again in a few weeks. Because some of them live in situations where they speak nothing but Kikamba I think their understanding of the English words is very tough even though they read it very well. I constantly have to remind myself to slow down when talking with people that we aren't around that much. It strikes me as a little unfair to demand that these people must understand the English language in order to be baptized but then it would really create problems to try and provide materials in all the different dialects and provide church services in the same different languages so we just keep doing the best we can and encourage them. I really have a tender spot in my heart for those natives in my age group that really want to join the church but suffer from the same hardening of the brain cells that all us senior citizens have. The young people learn Swahili and English in the schools but even that does not guarantee that they understand all the words they learn to read.

We attended our final Primary Program in Sacrament Meeting at Kyambeke and it was just as great as the other two. They even had the primary children act as choristers for each song to include the ones that the rest of the congregation joined with them on. What brave little troopers and they did their parts so well. After the block meetings we held the baptisms for Francis and Joseph. Michael, the young man we baptized 3 weeks ago, provided the talk for the service and did a very impressive job. He has also accepted a call as second councilor in the YM Presidency and really has the young men fired up. They restructured all the auxiliary organizations and the branch is really responding well. Two weeks ago they had 156 people in attendance for Sacrament Meeting and this week it was 167. The church records show them with 181 members which is a pretty impressive percentage of attendance. There are quite a few non-members in that count. There are several of those who just don't understand English well enough but continue to faithfully show up each week. There are also several other investigators of which we are teaching several and others who just want to check out the church and we soon hope to be able to teach. Michael had two of his brothers with him and a neighbor. Not sure where the request to split the branch is at in the system but the little stone cut out with no hands does seem to be gaining a little momentum there in the Kulungu Hills.

We have some 20 or so people from Ilima and Kyambeke in Nairobi this week working on their passports for travel to the temple scheduled for February. I am starting to be a little concerned about the Kilili folks as their passports aren't back yet and their trip is only 4 weeks away now but Victor tells me they should be coming right away. The folks in Kyambeke have gotten enough moisture to sprout their maize so they are putting the beans in the ground. Ilima is a little short yet and there has been no rain in Kilili. We have had a bunch of moisture here in Nairobi so things are very green here now. The people up country are just now saying it is time to start raining there so I hope it does.

May God bless everyone for another week.
Elder & Sister Bishop

Pictures 10-24-08

2008-10-25T10:15:00.000-07:00

A picture of us planting trees at the Kyambeke Chapel. The Elders' started these seedlings and now that the rainy season is coming they are transplanting them around the perimeter of the church grounds at 1 meter intervals. They wanted us to plant these two so they can show them to our grandsons when they come here on their missions.

This is Sister Bishop's most advanced keyboard student. Her name is Greta and she has played in the Ilima Branch services several times now.

This is a picture of some of the Ilima Primary Members before their Sacrament Meeting Program last week. In the right side you can see Greta playing some prelude music with the keyboard on her lap (she is the one with the stocking cap). The young lady on the bottom right is Jacinta who passed her baptismal interview this last Tuesday and will be baptized soon. She is 18 years old and has a cute little 3 month old daughter. Her husband is a member but not very active right now as he works in Nairobi and doesn't get home some weekends.

Weekly Update 10-20-08

2008-10-21T12:34:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the Primary Program at Ilima. What a treat! I spent Sacrament Meeting with a little feller on my lap who finally drifted off to sleep just as the meeting was about to end. He is not two yet and my companion thought maybe he was looking for a piece of candy. I have quit giving them out though as there was actually one boy that would stay home from school on the days he knew we were coming just so he could get a sweet. Don't want something like that to deprive a young Kenyan of an education as many need all the help they can get to improve their lot in life. I have since slipped some to the Branch President or Primary President at times so they can give it out after we leave. There has been some rain in the lower areas and those members tell me their maize is starting to germinate. Hope those further up and over the big hill get the same blessing soon. It started raining in Nairobi as we arrived home and the guards told me this morning that it rained most of the night. Had some more and even thunder this afternoon. Today was pretty low key as Kenya was celebrating Kenyatta Day so wasn't much going on except in the Uhuru Park in our neck of the woods. President Makiti buried his brother today so told us they would still be involved elsewhere tomorrow and wanted us to not visit Kilili. We have a few investigators ready for their baptismal interviews in Kyambeke so I am going to take the Assistants up there to conduct those interviews tomorrow. Since it is just up and back Sis. Bishop is going to stay and work on some projects here tomorrow. Victor tells me we should start to see some of the passports for the temple patrons this week. Justus is still waiting on his birth certificate. We thought we had everything ready to go on it but the folks that issue them have decided they want another 2,000 shillings which appears to me to just be outright graft. I am having to spend a little time on my attitude lately as the system here lacks a lot of order which to my way of thinking is a result of the prevalent me attitude. It is very refreshing to deal with so many of the church members who really buy into the brotherhood of all God's children. There really are a lot of good native people here doing really good things. I just need to remember that when I run into the negative things that come along.

All the rain has brought out some slugs that we hadn't seen in the previous 14 months. Sister Bishop was cleaning the flat for our hosting of FHE this evening when I heard one of those funny noises she makes when unpleasantly startled. I went into the other room to find her staring at a 2 inch long black slug oozing up the dining room wall. Then as the couples were coming tonight they complimented us on our early Halloween decorations on the door. There was a 5 inch long white slug adorning our doorframe. Not sure if either of them could swim or hold their breath very long but I gave them both the opportunity to do both of those activities as I flushed them down the facilities. I did not do it in her bathroom though on the off chance that they can do both and decide to come back and haunt us. I guess there are a few advantages to the hole in the floor latrines up country.

After the post election violence of the first of the year the new coalition government appointed a chief Justice by the name of Waiki to look into the causes and that commission finished their report this week. Be interesting to see where this goes as some are even claiming they will file with the folks in the Hague if nothing is done with the named culprits which are still not being revealed to the public.

Well that is a brief review of our life in Kenya for another week. Congratulations on the winning pinewood derby car Max. Your mother has probably told you how much I personally dreaded that particular Pack Meeting each year so not many of my sons creations made it into the record books for speed.

Elder & Sister Bishop

Weekly Update 10-13-08

2008-10-13T13:53:00.000-07:00

Monday evening and I need to get an update out before hitting the rack. Had Elder & Sister Taylor, who are the auditors for the area, come and give some special training today for auditors. Strangely enough most of what I had taught myself for the last 3 times I've done them wasn't too far off the mark. Only one more audit cycle to accomplish and then it is someone else's concern. The branches have done a good job with what they have to work with and are honest in their dealings but all 3 of them are needing new clerks now as we have sent 2 of them on missions and the 3rd is just waiting for his passport and he will send in his mission papers. The one new clerk that has been called is a 16 year old who has only been a member for 4 months. Doesn't quite meet the requirement to be a Melchizdec Priesthood holder but he is very willing and has a good grasp of english.

Wasn't much new in our travels this week except I did have to fill out a traffic accident report today. Last Friday as we were negotiating the traffic on Mombasa Highway a little sedan decided it wanted to take over our lane. I wasn't too keen on the idea but did finally stop when I could see he was rather determined. It knocked a little trim off the left front wheel well on our vehicle but left a rather healthy scratch from the drivers door back before loosening his rear bumper. He was wanting to wait for the police to come and investigate but the construction crew that was working in the area told us both that it wasn't my fault so he agreed we should probably just both see to our own vehicles and left. We scheduled in a trip to the embassy today in the hopes of getting some mail and needing to mail off driver's license extensions to the state of Idaho. When we arrived the other side of town we were reminded that today is Columbus Day. These embassy employees really make out here. They get both US and Kenyan Holidays off. Last Friday was Moi Day. Today was Columbus Day and next Monday is Kenyatta Day. The interesting item this week from the local news was the deportation of Dr. Corsi. He is the author of Obama Nation which I guess is not very flattering of the Democratic Presidential Candidate. He was purportedly in town for a safari and was attempting to launch his book locally while here. He was arrested, taken to immigration for some time and then put on the late night flight out of town. Not much question there who the Kenyans would vote for if given the opportunity.

We attended our first Primary Program for 2008 this last Sunday in Kilili. The kids did great. I love to hear them sing and listen to their recitations. Some of them even threw in some rather demonstrative visual hand signals to emphasize their parts. The Branch President thanked Sister Bishop for her special support of their efforts. She will spend hours each month to ensure that each Branch Primary has all the lesson support materials as there is no electricity or copiers for them to accomplish it on their own.

It is hard to believe that it is snowing already in parts of Utah and Idaho. The weather here is just really great each day with some of them boardering on rather warm. A few more signs of rain this week as we drove through a lot of wet spots on Sunday but it is still very dry in the critical areas. Sure hope they get a bunch soon but they aren't too concerned yet as it is still a little early.

Well the bed is beckoning. I can't believe how much time I sleep now but I force myself to hit the hay early so that I will be alert as possible as we travel each day.

Weekly Update 10-6-08

2008-10-06T15:06:00.001-07:00

It's Monday evening and we just finished watching the last session of conference for FHE. Because of the time difference the morning sessions start at 7:00 pm here. We tried watching the Saturday Morning session on Saturday evening and because it was a live feed it kept cutting in and out so that there was a lot that was hard to follow. We then watched the Saturday afternoon session after we got home from church at Kyambeke yesterday and because someone (stateside) had recorded it then the Lukes just accessed it using a program called slingbox so that worked well. We then watched the Sunday morning session right after that using the live feed and was able to have a reasonable connection so got to see and hear most of it. Rather than try to stay up from 11:00 pm to 1:00 am we just used the slingbox and watched the last session this evening accessing someone else's recording. Church at Kyambeke was great. All the pre-missionaries bore their testimonies as well as Michael, the 2 week convert. We had taught a 1st discussion to another investigator there (Martin Kioko) and he showed up for the block meetings and promised he would be back for a discussion on the Plan of Salvation this Thursday. One of our other investigators said he was ready to be baptized now and another asked for a priesthood blessing to help him overcome his craving for cigarettes.

Charles did get all his passport work done and we think we have resolution on all the medical examinations. He had an impacted wisdom tooth so the dentist took it out Tuesday as well as filling 4 cavities. Parliament declared Wednesday a holiday (last day of Ramadan) so I had to get Victor to help us shuffle him to appointments on Thursday and Friday then put him on a bus for home that afternoon. He stayed in Sultan Haumad that night and caught a matatu home Saturday morning. We will know Wednesday if he passed with the Dr. or not. With the surprise holiday and other requirements he did not get back to the lab to have his TB test read until 48 hrs. late and the tech there did not like the reading he got so they took some more blood. I guess 4 cavities is not too bad as that was his first dentist visit in his 20 years of life.

When we had the vehicle serviced a week ago the gas gauge was not working when we got it back so I had to take it to the office early this morning to have them check it out. They need it until tomorrow so we are driving a loaner for now and will trade back on Wednesday. It does get a little un-nerving driving up country and not knowing the true status of the fuel level. Our cell phone also went out on us last week. It started resetting every time we tried to call with it last Tuesday so we came back to Nairobi and traded for one that had worked well when last used but it also had developed a problem. I reported that to James and he graciously made a trip from Athi River on the holiday to buy a new phone and bring it to us. Because it is new it has a lot of "bells and whistles" that will never be used as long as we have it but it is very reassuring to know we can make contact with someone if problems develop while we are traveling.

We received our absentee ballots last week so took them to the embassy today to be mailed back to the Ada County Registrar. Sure seems to be a lot of turmoil back home right now with bank problems and the presidential campaign. Also had to make several deposits for the branches at a Nairobi Bank. No services like that available in their communities. Also got the final paperwork on the new branch request to President Taylor. Had a fair amount of rain here in Nairobi on Saturday and saw patches of it all the way to Nunguni on Sunday so it look like it is coming. I have been hauling some seed and fertilizer to several of the branches so they can start planting when they are sure the rainy season is here. They tell me that should happen maybe by the 15th. Hope it is a good season as the last was light enough that the Welfare Program has been helping out a little to tide them over to the next harvest. Well I need to quit rambling and get to bed so I will be alert for the drive again tomorrow.

Elder & Sister Bishop

Weekly Update 9-28-08

2008-09-28T16:29:00.001-07:00

Sunday evening and we made it through another rather busy week. Finally got all of Joshua's tests and visa so he left for the MTC in Johannesburg on Thursday. We picked up President Makiti's daughters, Judith and Catherine, last Tuesday and brought them into Nairobi to finish up their passport applications so they can be sealed with the rest of their family in December. Judith turns 21 in May so we can have her Mission Application in by February and it should go very fast as she will have her travel documents already. We picked up Charles Mutuku at Kyambeke as we came back from Ilima and will be visiting the Doc and Dentist tomorrow with him and should have all his paperwork put to bed when we return him on Thursday. That means we will have 3 prospective missionaries just waiting on their passports. Justus has finished all his medical as well but is still trying to get a birth certificate then all 4 will just be marking time before they can submit their applications. We taught a first discussion to Jacinta in Ilima on Friday. She is only 18 but has a cute little 2 month old daughter that I gave a name and blessing to at Fast Meeting on the 7th. Her husband is an inactive member but she has been coming to church for a year and it was just a great experience to teach her. Several of the members today were very excited that she had finally decided to take the discussions and are anxious to fellowship her. Michael at Kyambeke has been a real pleasure to work with on the new member discussions with some very insightful questions. We will continue to work with the other 3 investigators there but it will probably be at least a month before we make any more progress with them. We will give our last Teacher Development Lesson at Kyambeke this week but they are doing some restructuring so will probably fill that void with some auxillary training so we just keep on keeping on. A major milestone occurred at Ilima as Greta, one of Sister Bishop's keyboard students, played the opening and closing songs with both hands and did very well.

Another missionary couple is due in this evening. Their name is Littlefield and they are scheduled to go up to Eldoret as that assignment has been vacant since the Scott's went home last April. The Dickmans are the next ones to leave and that is mid November which will then elevate us to the status of the most senior couple but since we are only one of two 23 monthers we will still see several more couples depart before we do. It is amazing how fast each week goes by and we are still worrying that we will not get all done that we desire before our departure time arrives. The Temple trips in December and February should tie up a couple of loose ends and hopefully build a bit of a fire for the next couple to work with. Another goal is to get the new branch approved for Mitini and President Simon sketched an excellent map this week so we should be able to submit the final papers for that request within another week. Just a matter on getting approval up and down the line then and I guess it could go either way but it would sure make me happy to not have to pass our sisters and their young families on these rather steep mountain trails as we drive to church on Sundays.

Well that kind of tells you what this week was like for us. Still no rain so there is lots of dust. Saw a whole lot more of migrating animals mixed in with the more permanent locals again this week. Even saw a zebra road kill on the Mombassa Highway today.

Almost forgot to mention that Amram Musungu put on a fireside at the Upper Hill Chapel this last Wednesday that we were able to attend with Judith and Catherine. He is the Kenyan who is a member of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and was in town for his father's funeral. He is a real missionary force among Africans in the Salt Lake area with some 200 baptisms to his credit there. There was an article in the Church News on him about 6 months ago.

Elder & Sister Bishop

Weekly Update 9-21-08

2008-09-22T14:10:00.000-07:00

It is Monday evening and we just returned from FHE. I was on the computer this morning but was struggling to come up with an update as there wasn't much new that came along this last week. Fortunately there was nothing in our traveling this week that was a whole lot different with the exception that the Mlolongo stretch was back on the old deviation this week as they lay one final coat of pavement on the new road. Kind of disappointing after driving on the new stretch for a month but it appears that they should finish it this week but then they will probably throw several speed bumps in just to make it interesting.

We did come home from Kyambeke a little early this week as it was determined that we needed to get another blood test for Joshua so he can secure his South Africa visa. We brought he and Dominic into the lab before it closed and then returned them on our way to Ilima on Friday. Joshua is scheduled to leave for the Johannesburg MTC this Thursday so I hope we have everything ready now. A few more of the Temple Prep folks secured birth certificates this week so we will keep scheduling small groups to come into Nairobi and work with Victor when ever they clear that hurdle.

There was no rain at all this week but they really don't expect it up country until mid October. They do expect it a little earlier here in Nairobi each season though so the first question we are asked on our arrival up country each trip is "How's Nairobi". We did haul some seeds to one of the branches so they can plant it as soon as the moisture comes.

The unpaved roads though are really getting dusty. Some of the deviations they attempt to water down and reduce the dust hazard but it is pretty tough to stay on top of all of it.

The annual migration of animals from the Serengeti to the Masai Mara is in full swing which even impacts those we see along the road as we travel. Besides the usual giraffes and gazelles this week we also saw some wildebeests, hartebeests and zebra.

We did get to the embassy for mail today and were happily blessed with several letters. Also took my companion into the lab at Dr. Dogras today so they could check her cholesterol level to send back to the states and she can get her prescription renewed. In our travels we stopped at several stores looking for Doritos type chips as the avocados are on up country and the members give us a few to bring home each week. They taste real good and make excellent guacamole dip. Didn't find any Doritos but I did find some double stuffed Oreos and bought 4 packages as we have become converted to if you find it buy a bunch as it is hard to anticipate when you might see them again. My companion did make a lemon meringue pie this week as an anniversary gift. Tasted great but just looked a little dingy as the sugar here is a light brown which definitely gives the lemon filling a color considerably darker than the bright yellow we are used to.

Well I think that covers our life for another week.

Elder & Sister Bishop

PIctures 9-16-08

2008-09-16T22:32:00.000-07:00

This is a picture of Michael who was baptized at Kyambeke last weekend.

Weekly Update 9-14-08

2008-09-14T20:43:00.000-07:00

Last week was even a little more hectic than what we thought it might be. Besides helping Onesmus and Dominic with their mission prep we had a little weather to contend with. Each day we traveled up country we had rain at different locations along the Mombasa Highway but nothing up in the hills yet. Our trip home on Tuesday took 7 1/2 hours as compared to the usual 3. There were several trucks slid off in locations where we were unable to 4 wheel around them and when we did finally make it to Nairobi it was just one big jam. Little things like water puddles become a big problem when buses and matatus just try to blow around everyone and you end up with vehicles 4 abreast on two lane roads.

We did get the boys through all their hurdles for passport application which is the final step before submitting their papers. Dominic had some enlarged glands that required a cat scan and just when we thought we had him all through they called us up country just as we were dropping him at his home and said they needed a couple more tests. After finishing at Ilima we picked him up again and brought him back with us and I spent Saturday morning back at the lab with him. After finishing up there I put him on a bus headed home as we had already made arrangements to take the Assistants to Kyambeke with us on Sunday so would have a truck full. He made it back home by 3 pm and was at church yesterday. I will need to check with the Doc today but I think he is good to go now. Charles obtained his birth certificate last week and Justus got his court affidavit to District HQs so should have his by the 23rd when we have scheduled to bring them in to finish up their passport applications. Once we get them done Judith will be the only other potential missionary before our time expires in June. We do still have a lot of work that needs to be done to prepare the potential temple patrons and that is becoming a major priority now as the December and February dates are fast approaching. They can only get visas to enter South Africa once the temple issues an invitation and that only happens upon our verification that they have both a passport and a recommend and each of those come with their own little stumbling blocks depending on the individuals.

We did have one baptism at Kyambeke yesterday. Michael made it through the interviews but I need to spend a little more time with Joseph and Bonface Makau has volunteered to help him with his confidence of English. Justus and Francis both want to work on a couple of their personal challenges but are anxious to do that within the next month. Michael bore his testimony at the baptism and what a super asset he is going to be. He is 20 years old and is expressing a desire to serve a mission in a years time. He is the young man that heard me say a few words at Jane's funeral and decided we weren't devil worshipers as so many of the natives have been let to believe. He showed up when we came the next Thursday and was just totally blown away that we truly focus on God and his son.

I did get out to the embassy for mail last Monday in between doctor and dentist appointments and was well rewarded with notes from grandchildren and some spice packets that allowed us to enjoy some Taco Soup that evening. We also paused for just a moment on Saturday to note our 39 years of marriage. I brought a bouquet of roses home and we went out with the other couples for dinner that evening. My companion said my lemon meringue pie would have to wait. The kitchen facilities and pantry provisions here are a little more austere than what she is used to but she does a great job of keeping us fed with a rather varied menu.

While in Ilima Friday I did go with John, the Elders Quorum President, to visit his home. He is an hour's walk away on the other side of the hill. There is probably good reason to consider splitting that branch also if we could identify sufficient Melchezdic Priesthood. The Relief Society President lives just near him and there are several other members in the area that just don't make the hike each week. The more I see of the Kulungu Hills the more amazed I become at the population that is packed in on those hillsides. There are numerous small markets located within walking distance of the residents located throughout the hills. They seemingly go on forever and would fall in between the Boise Foothills and their surrounding mountains as far as comparable terrain for height and grade. I am impressed with the effort that must be spent on their part to walk from location to location over the span of their lives. The soil has a lot of clay in it so one can imagine just how slippery the hilly trails become during the rainy seasons. It seems it would be especially troublesome for the many who go barefoot.

Well the day dawn is breaking so I need to get about today's tasks. We do have few of our regular activities that were a little neglected last week that need to be caught up on today.

God bless you all, Elder & Sister Bishop

Weekly Update 9-6-08

2008-09-06T22:47:00.000-07:00

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

Weekly Update 9-1-08

2008-09-02T09:03:00.000-07:00

It is Monday evening so I will try and get this update off before calling it a day. The internet has not been too friendly today but we seem to finally have a good connection this evening. I guess it is Labor Day back home today. Didn't have any impact on us until we tried to stop at the embassy for mail and the gates were locked up tight so will make that run again Wednesday after we finish at St. Mary's. We have several letters we need to post plus a few from the other couples. A new couple arrived last evening. They are the Esplins from Bountiful, Utah and they have been assigned to work in Chuylu. They attended FHE and introduced themselves this evening. I am sure they will do okay but everyone was careful not to mention road conditions as their situation requires they travel conditions similar to ours. They do have a flat up country with 4 young Elders so only make the trip once a week.

We got 17 people from Kilili in to complete their passport applications and receive yellow fever shots. Just need to wait on immigration now to give them their passports. That has not gone real smooth for many of the others going to the temple in the past but we hope we are early enough that they will all have them in the next 6 weeks. The 3 branch presidents came to Nairobi for training with President Taylor on last Friday so we did not travel to Ilima that day. My companion stayed here in the flat working on some projects while I participated in the training. I made some sandwiches and brownies and we had kind of a working lunch to maximize the training time. Because of the uncertainty of travel conditions we were about 90 minutes late getting started but there were some good things accomplished. Put our Sep. calendar together over the weekend and we have scheduled a baptism at Kyambeke for the 14th and hopefully 4 of our investigators will be ready by then.

I finally got the facilities folks to purchase a TV and DVD player for supporting the branches. Each branch should have their own but because some are concerned that they can't be secured it hasn't happened in the past. Each branch does receive DVDs of conference and world wide training as they happen so they have quite a stack of un-opened discs. Of course there is also the issue of no electricity but I had got the mission to buy me a generator some time ago so now I am just leaving the video equipment and generator at each branch for a week each month and they can do with it what they will. Be interesting to see how they use it. We had purchased our own Church History DVD at the Service Center and will leave that with it. Ilima is the only folks so far who have wanted me to hunt up some other movies so I borrowed a couple of Disney type from one of the other couples. We did have BeckyAnn send over our VCR version of The Other Side of Heaven and I found an old VCR player at the Mission Office that I include with the equipment I leave. DVDs are one of the things that the street vendors hawk and they seem to be of the opinion that all us Mazungus just can't wait to get our hands on their latest offerings. I am sure most of them are pirated and they are probably quite reasonable but it has been no great effort to resist their persistent salesmanship as that is not what we are here for.

This is the week that Julius and Kennedy go to the MTC in Johannesburg so we will bring them back from Kilili with us tomorrow. They will get set apart on Wednesday and we will put them on the plane early Thursday. We are still on track with the 4 young men from Kyambeke and we should have their passport applications in by early October so hope to have their mission papers in before years end.

Well my eye lids are getting heavy so I am going to sign off.

Elder & Sister Bishop

Pictures 8-31-08

2008-09-02T08:58:00.000-07:00

This is the young lady we took the wheel chair up to. The chair is not much use in the hills but she is just home on break from school and hopefully the chair will be of use when school starts again. She can only stand in this picture because her father and Sis. Bishop are supporting her. Her parents carried her the 2kms. from the matatu stop to their home on their back. She is one of nine children.

This is the Joseph family with their newly returned missionary. The parents (Joseph and Lois) are seated then the back row from left to right is Kennedy Morris (one of the young men leaving on his mission next week who is just a friend of the family), Purity (a little sister), Edwin (little brother), Faith (Sis. Joseph who just returned from the Salt Lake Temple Square Mission), and Winston (younger brother). Missing from the picture is an older brother Victor who is away at University.

The rooster that is in the process of becoming the main attraction on the homecoming feast.

These are some of the white shirts and ties that the folks brought over. Thanks to all who contributed.

Weekly Update 8-25-08

2008-08-25T09:00:00.000-07:00

Well last week was just as hectic as we thought it might be and it sure went by fast. There were a couple of bumps in what we had planned but we still feel like we accomplished a fair amount. I should be able to complete the documents from the medical folks today for Kennedy's visa application which is none to soon as he and Julius leave for the MTC on the 4th. I have been to the Dr. several times for information and we had to have him come in last Friday for another blood test but they assured me it would be complete by noon today.

We watched Presidents and Prophets for FHE and then had pineapple upside down cake by special request for a treat. We helped the other couples get registered for absentee ballots via our APO box a couple of weeks ago so this little Kenya contingent is set to support the candidate of our choice for the November election.

President Makiti called late Monday to tell us that we should not come there Tuesday so we took another day in town here to get those million little things wrapped up that just keep falling off our schedule because of time constraints. Wednesday was fairly normal except we did run out to the embassy to pick up mail (that generally takes a little over an hour but is well worth it when we can pick up notes from home as we did then). Thursday at Kyambeke was another full day as we had another new investigator show up. He is another neighbor of Julius (an active prospective elder who has brought several of his neighbors to church lately). I asked what had sparked his interest and he indicated that he had heard my few thoughts at Jane's funeral several weeks ago and just felt a different spirit. He asked at church yesterday when he could be baptized. We should have two of the 5 ready for interviews within two weeks and just need to spend a little more time on the laws and commandments with the others. I know it sounds just too easy for some of you other returned missionaries but because of the commute wrapped around our visits there it is the only way that the Lord can accomplish what he and the members have prepared these people for.

We picked up Sister Faith Joseph at the airport Thursday evening at about 2200 hours as she returned from her mission to SLC Temple Square. She attended the Mission Conference with us Friday and received her release from President Taylor during the noon break. Kennedy showed up after conference was over and we spent a little time at the Lab at the Saret Center getting his blood test accomplished. The couples were all invited to dinner with the Taylors and the Watsons that evening. Kennedy spent the night on our floor atop the sofa cushions as Faith was in our spare bedroom. We loaded our two guests and took them back to Kilili on Saturday. It was a real delight to see Faith welcomed home and it turns out that we were expected to attend the small family gathering at her parents home so our day was much longer than we anticipated.

I was able to finish the mid-year audit with President Makiti before leaving and we finalized their plans for coming to Nairobi on Wednesday for their passports, yellow fever shots, interviews with the President on their recommends, and even to get one of the couples married (the church requires that those who have been married by tribal conditions have a Kenyan marriage certificate to ensure that they are not doing anything that the country doesn't endorse). Several of the brothers working at the Service Center are also Bishops and are certified to perform civil ceremonies so we can accomplish that while the people are here. It was after 1900 hours when we got home Saturday so it was a rather long day and we did not get any of our normal preparation day activities accomplished. Thankfully we are in Nairobi on Mondays so can pick up the slack on these occasions as my companion does not like it much when I start looking through the laundry bag to find a clean shirt for the day.

Yesterday we were at Kyambeke for church. One of Sister Bishop's keyboard students accompanied the music on her keyboard and did a reasonable job. She lost her confidence so just did it with one hand but it was a great start and is indicative of the impact for good my companion is having. President Mbondo wants to bring the young people from that branch into Nairobi for an outing before there school break is over next week so they will probably be here Thursday. We should probably be here when they come but really feel obligated to be there for our investigators and the multitude of classes we are conducting there so we are thinking that is what will happen. We will try to coordinate for the Bomas Village Show and any other acitivities they are planning today or Wednesday after our shift at St. Marys.

Well the daydawn is breaking and the world awaking so I need to get about a few of the activities on todays schedule. I had David come early to wash our car as it did rain a little yesterday the other side of Kyumbi while we were on one of the deviations so our vehicle looks like a rolling mud ball. Since Sister Bishop requires that I wear clean shirts I figured I had better make the truck some what presentable also. I will try and catch up with a few pictures of recent activities before the week is out. Thanks again for your notes and prayers.

Sister & Elder Bishop

Weekly Update 8-19-08

2008-08-19T11:49:00.000-07:00

This one will be quick as we have a lot to accomplish today. Have to coordinate for the accommodations for the Kilili temple patrons visit to Nairobi for next week, get some prices on a pump and tanks for a joint shamba venture up-country, grocery shopping (we just veged in our flat on Saturday), pick up supplies at the Service Center for our branches, and get ready to host FHE this evening. No major changes in our visits to the branches this last week except we delivered a wheel chair to a little non-member crippled girl one of the members informed us of and there was another investigator showed up for a discussion at Kyambekke.
The scenery for our drives through the country is getting drier each week as we wait for the next rainy season to arrive but the animals are used to this and take advantage of the yellow grass or green trees. The people are prepping their shambas for the next season. This is all done with a big hoe and they try to get down about 12 inches as they turn the soil over for the new seeds. It sure looks like a lot of hard work. I am thinking that a roto-tiller would really be a big hit on these hill side plots but it is probably money that keeps that from happening. We do see a few farm sized tractors in the flat low lands but they are often used as much for transportation as field work. I often see a rig picking up liter sized bottles of milk left along the road. Refrigeration is not an issue as there is no electricity in those areas anyway. When the young men come to town with us they prefer Sister Bishops warm shelf life milk to my cold 3% and ice cream is a real novelty.

Love ya all,
Elder & Sister Bishop

Weekly Update 8-13-08

2008-08-13T14:52:00.000-07:00

It's Wednesday afternoon and I am just finally getting around to an update so it will be quick. Kennedy and Julius came back from Kilili with us Sunday and we spent Monday working on shots and Visas as they leave for the MTC 4 Sep. We took them back to Kilili yesterday so was finally able to get at the computer after spending the morning at the St. Mary's pharmacy and restocking our cupboards. Our time up country with each branch is still the big part of our week but our Thursdays at Kyambeke have been our busiest as of late. Besides our English and Keyboard classes, we are working on a "Teacher Development Class", Missionary Prep. (there are 4 potential candidates in Kyambeke that want to serve now) and we have the 3 investigators there also. Because school is out right now there will probably be a few extras show for keyboard at each location. Doesn't look like the youth activity is going to happen this month but they have committed to try and have something planned for the break in December. This month will still be plenty busy though as we have an Mission Conference here in Nairobi with President Watson from the Area Presidency (he was the secretary to several of the prophets), assisting Sister Joseph getting back to Kilili (she completes her 18 months at the Salt Lake Visitors Center Mission on the 21st), and then having training/PPIs for the Branch Presidents here on the 28th. We are bringing the prospective Temple Patrons from Kilili to Nairobi to finalize their passport applications and complete their recommend interviews with President Taylor that last week of August and then their Branch Conference is the 30th.

I think it must be warming up again as I noticed my companion is back in her summer pjs of an evening now. We are looking forward to the rainy season which starts in September as the roads are so dusty now that the truck is covered with red powder as are we if we touch any part of the exterior. It's a little tough to unload the vehicle without touching it so I am just rather dirty most of the time up country. We did get our vehicle back after having it in for service and repairs. I had asked them to check out a couple rattles and loose panels and they took 3 weeks just to tighten and re-weld everything. General Motors of Nairobi is claiming they have never found so many loose and missing parts on a vehicle they have serviced before which I guess makes us a little infamous in their eyes or they figure the church is just an easy mark. I am sure glad that God is our co-pilot as we travel each day.

Well must sign off as I have several lessons that I need to finish up for tomorrow. Elder & Sister Bishop

Weekly Update 8-4-08

2008-08-04T08:07:00.001-07:00

Seems like I just did last weeks update but looking at the calendar it has been a week. Because of Jane's funeral on Saturday we made an extra trip up-country so have to get a little shopping and other errands done today. The funeral was fairly similar to the other two we have been to with the exception that it was a Catholic version. Edward is the only one in the church so far. The whole family and even the community get pretty heavily involved in that final earthly event here. We were just planning on being there to let the family know that we cared but a couple of mazungus are hard to hide and they felt a need to have us say something. I was the last to talk, right after a couple of local officials had made a political speech, and the only one to naught use the native Kikamba tongue. I kept it very short and I guess the MC did a little translation of what I said but one of the members told me his translation didn't follow real well. Because they were a little late getting started we had to leave once they took the body to the grave and it is terribly hard to be at all inconspicuous with a 4 wheel drive when everyone else is on foot. We did get back to town before it got too dark though which was our concern. Not sure I will ever get totally comfortable at not being back in our secured compound when the sun goes down. Their are murders and car jacking just about everyday in the paper and I just don't what to make it too hard for the "Big Guy" to keep us safe while here. The latest wrinkle of unrest is the burning of schools by disgruntled students. It is country wide and damage is in the millions of shillings but only one death so far. The media is making much of the lack of parental control or involvement and the banning of caning of misbehaving academians. My theory though is that since there has really not been any major prosecution of those guilty of murder and other atrocities during the post-election violence that it is just another sector testing their limits no matter how frivolous the stated reason which in this case is supposedly the national testing system they endure as they finish up their current level of schooling.

We had another investigator show up at Kyambeke last Thursday so have 3 good brethren we are working with there. Justus and Joseph were both at church yesterday and promised to be there this coming Thursday. Bernard is still a solid investigator but because he drives a Citti Hoppa bus here in Nairobi we will only be able to work with him when he is home to see his wife. If that drags out too long we will try and get him linked up with some missionaries here in town. We are making good progress on the request for a new branch and should have that in soon with the major hang up now being a map that we think the committee in Salt Lake might be comfortable with.

The schools should start taking their August break by the end of this week and we hope to have a joint Youth Camp of sorts for the combined branches shortly there after. We are trying to get the branches to run with it so that if we are not replaced as a couple next year they will still feel they can carry on with these type of activities. We are also trying to get the potential Temple patrons from Kilili in for passport applications while President Makiti is out on break from his teaching duties this month. We still have not been given an alternate date at the temple for the other two branches but hope to have that by week's end.

Distributed a bunch more of the white shirts that were sent with the folks this last week and they promised they would be available for a group picture when we attend church with them in 3 weeks. Thanks so much for those who helped with this as it really makes a difference to them besides really adding to the sacredness of the sacrament.

Well must run as it has been over a month since I sat in a barber's chair and these non-military curls around the ears still make me very uncomfortable. Also need to get some visa applications in for our soon to be missionaries as two of them need to go to the South African Embassy for interviews. We love and miss you all and anxiously look forward to any bits of info we can glean from blog sites, letters or e-mails. God Bless, Elder & Sister Bishop

Weekly update 7-28-08

2008-07-29T08:04:00.000-07:00

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

2008-07-21T07:55:00.000-07:00

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

2008-07-14T14:45:00.000-07:00

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

2008-07-09T19:58:00.001-07:00

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

2008-07-08T08:05:00.000-07:00

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

2008-07-02T08:57:00.000-07:00

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

Weekly Update 6-23-08

2008-06-23T19:11:00.001-07:00

It is Monday evening here now and I have let the day slip by without an update so will repent before retiring for the evening. For FHE tonight it was our first opportunity for all 7 couples to be together in June so we spent the evening telling stories of our relationships with our fathers. The other couples are impressed that my Dad and Mom are coming to spend a week and Barb and I are really looking forward with great anticipation to their arrival in 48 hours. Since we didn't take a break with the other couples during the conference in early May we have a few diversions planned for the week they will be here but we are also planning on getting them up country with us a few times. Hope the weather cooperates as it has been rather unpredictable as of late. The long rainy season is suppose to be over now but it did rain fairly good early this morning. Not sure if they got any moisture up country but they sure need it to salvage any beans or maize out of this growing season. I will admit by local standards it is turning a little chilly but then that just means lower 50s and we can see our breath on our early morning walks once we have worked up our body temperatures. I remind myself and my companion that despite what the locals say that since there is no snow its not really cold. The Kulunga Hills are quite often shrouded in a pretty heavy fog when we arrive in the mornings lately but it is pretty well burnt off when we leave each afternoon. The moisture present in those fog banks is insufficient to do the crops much good but it does keep the road dust down some what.

Not much changed in our programs up country with the exception of starting a "Teacher Development Course" with 5 members in the Kyambeke Branch and another young man approached us seeking help to submit paperwork for a mission application. That will make 6 missionaries in the field from our 3 little branches when we leave here in 12 months. That will be a big boost in branch leadership potential 2 years down the road once these 6 all return home. We are still trying to prepare the paperwork for a new branch in the Matini area but have had a hard time locating maps to support the application request. Thought we had solved that when I sent a letter to the Ministry of Lands but it turns out that the minister himself has to approve my request before any one can sell us the map sections we need. Not sure if the feet dragging is a way of seeking a bribe but have decided that if we don't have positive results by the time the folks leave on 3 July that I am just going to trot out my cartography skills and draw a sketch map of my own design. How do you think the brethren in Salt Lake will respond if I identify slow and no go areas with likely avenues of approach covered with overlapping fields of fire?

They have opened a couple of new sections of road lately which would seem to ease the strain of our road trips each day but not so as they have just created some longer deviations in other areas of our travels. I have pretty well convinced myself that most of the roadwork going on in the areas we traverse will not be completed during our stay in Africa. Well I need to sign off so I will be alert for tomorrows travels. Not sure when I will get a report off next week as we will be at the Kilaguni Lodge in Tsavo (the T is silent) next Monday. If any of you have seen the movie of the 2 killer lions that devoured a goodly number of people while they were constructing the railroad from Mombasa to Uganda well that really happened and it was in Tsavo. If I remember the story right those two stuffed beasts are on display now either in the Smithsonian or a museum in Chicago so we should be relatively safe and it will give the folks a chance to see more elephants and lions than are in the game park here in Nairobi.

Elder & Sister Bishop

Weekly Update 6-15-08

2008-06-15T23:02:00.000-07:00

It is 6:00 Monday morning and sense I had a rather restless night I am going to jot down a few of my thoughts before our work day begins. We got together for a Father's Day Feast with 4 of the other couples after attending church in Kilili yesterday. Because the majority of cows here are descendants of the Zebu cattle they don't tend to do much marbling in their meat which makes it a little tougher than what I have devoured for so many years. This means whenever I gorge myself as I did yesterday that my 60 year old stomach then spends most of the night digesting the meat for me. It was so good though.

We were able to get another sister cleared for baptism yesterday while in Kilili. All of our baptisms have been referrals of sorts since our schedule does not allow us to spend anytime looking for investigators. Many of them have been coming to church for several years and have just struggled to understand the questions for baptism in English. This sisters name was Beatrice and she is a 29 year old widow with 4 children. She had been through the interview process several times before and was devastated when unable to answer the questions to the satisfaction of those conducting the interview. We took her through the discussions again, reviewed the pamphlets with her, made some reading assignments in True to the Faith and then spent time reading in Book of Mormon Stories. We relied heavily on the 3 young men waiting for mission calls to assist us in all this. Just to make sure we had all the help we could get we also fasted for her yesterday. She did great and will be baptized next Sunday. She wanted her 10 year old daughter Mumbua to be baptized with her but her english is still pretty shaky so rather than have her discouraged with a failed interview is going to assist us in working with her to prepare for her own baptism. That should really help both of them to discuss the gospel topics in english. Because of Mumbua's requirement to attend school we can only meet with her during the 3 vacation months (April, August & December) and the Sundays we attend at Kilili.

We got the word from the Johannesburg Temple this week that they will accommodate all our Kilili group at the temple in December and promised to get us a January date to support the folks from the other 2 branches shortly. So now it is just working on documents which is no sure thing. One young man we have been working with finally got his ID card this week which is the first step towards a passport. The ID card application fee is only 150 shillings but by the time he finally got it he had paid another 750 in bribes. We have one dear sister that has been waiting since last Aug. and still no card yet. Unfortunately many of the officials once they suppose they have a little authority think they have the right to demand extra favors. There is much lip service given to fighting graft and corruption here but there are also a lot of deaths that result from offended neighbors wielding sharp pangas. (There was an item in the paper this week of a community that hacked up 4 of their neighbors and then buried them alive because they suspected them of witchcraft.) So I appreciate the frustration of people who struggle to ensure there is sufficient food to eat each day, who just continue on with life according to tribal traditions and avoid getting hung up in government bureaucracy. Unfortunately that does not meet the requirements for a passport and they can't leave home without it.

Not many more new things to report on this week so I will close with a few musings that over came me as I sat in Priesthood Meeting yesterday and heard the sweet little Primary Children singing outside "I am a Child of God" in their cute little African accents. Pres. Mckay had it right when he taught that the home and family are one of our greatest joys. I appreciate what a rare privilege it is to work with him (Heavenly Father) in this joint venture as an earthly father and develop this special relationship with spirit brothers and sisters. To expand that a little more the appreciation I have for family and friends for all they have done to help me along here on planet earth is significant. Yes I should have tried a little harder myself at times and been a little less gruff and more outgoing but that is water under the bridge. It is true that as we try to live like our Father in Heaven wants we certainly gain a love and appreciation for our fellow beings.

Thanks to all and God Bless.
Elder & Sister Bishop

Pictures 6-12-08

2008-06-12T15:12:00.000-07:00

The Elams went to church at Ilima with us Sunday and found these shots of me trying to pay off our parking lot attendants rather entertaining. I have a hard time telling who I have given a sweet to already. They don't understand English enough for me to get them lined up and they would really prefer that I get confused and give them more than one which I think happened several times this week.

Weekly Update 6-7-08

2008-06-09T12:29:00.000-07:00

It is Monday evening and I want to connect with the rest of the world before retiring for another day. Weekly events returned somewhat to our pre Temple Prep status. We have added a couple of new wrinkles. I have started working with Justus at Kyambeke to finish his CES requirements for a certificate of completion for the Missionary Preparation course. He had previously attended 8 of the 18 lessons and although I am comfortable he is ready to serve now having several course completion certificates for Seminary/Institute courses is helpful for obtaining Visas as a missionary in most of the African Nations. We are scheduling his medical and dental exams here in Nairobi for mid July and hope to be able to apply for his passport by then. In addition we are starting a teacher development class for several new teachers at Kyambeke.

Ilima had their Branch Conference yesterday which was under the direction of President Taylor and extra meetings kept us there until about 3:30 which meant it was dark by the time we arrived home last night. Elder and Sister Elam who are currently serving as the office couple wanted to ride up with us and see what the area was like so we did have some company for the long trip/hours yesterday.

As many of you know I marked my 60th year on planet earth last Thursday. Sister Bishop made a cake and we had the other couples over for cake and ice cream that evening. I do appreciate the remembrances of folks back home in the way of phone calls, e-mails, and I even scored a couple of goodies at our APO box at the Embassy today. Funny how 60 years of age is not near as old as I used to think it was. Also 60 marks that magical period when the government can no longer involuntarily call me back to active service. I had never worried that something like that might happen but it is somewhat comforting to know that this retirement is definitely permanent now.

Things are certainly getting drier here each day. We had driven in dust clouds so much this week that the vehicle had taken on a reddish hue before David washed it today. They try and keep water on the deviations but it sure don't take long for the earth around the flat areas to suck up the moisture.

Well that is pretty much it for another week. Besides it is now 10:00pm and I don't stay up much later than that and often retire earlier so that I will be alert for the 6+ hours of driving most days. I am usually pretty well beat when we arrive home as these driving conditions are pretty trying. I am glad for a divine co-pilot to get me through that portion of each day we spend on the roads or their substitutes here.

Elder & Sister Bishop

Weekly Update 6-2-08

2008-06-02T08:02:00.000-07:00

Well yesterday was Madaraka Day (celebrating 45 years of self rule and coincidently it marked 45 days of peace under the new coalition government) so today is a holiday. I figured those kind of things didn't have much effect on the folks up in the hills but church attendance at Kyambeke was rather sparse yesterday. For the most part things are pretty calm here in Kenya by local standards. The current big row is whether to grant amnesty to those arrested for violence during the problems in Dec/Jan. One side is saying what other recourse do the wananchi (I think that is Swahili for populace) have when an election is stolen while others counter that violent crimes are never excusable. Be interesting to see where this one settles out as life is pretty cheap here. Lynchings by the wananchi are pretty common. One that I found rather interesting lately was some guy got in an argument at a card game and stabbed his opponent to death before fleeing. The locals hunted him down and frog marched him back to the scene of the crime where they beat him to death and then put a tire around his neck and started it on fire. What kind of atmosphere would that make for our hand and foot games back home? I guess the thing that really is different is that the only repercussion for the vigilantes is the police will take the victims away if they get to them in time and if not they encourage the folks to let them handle it next time. I had thought from reading the news paper that the court system was pretty quick to hand down death sentences but there was an article this week bemoaning the number of folks on death row as it has been some years since an actual hanging of a convicted criminal by legal system. I guess they are not quite as quick to impose sentences as the folks north of us in Iraq and Iran but there are a good number done in by the vigilante style lynchings each week.

We officially held our last Temple Prep class this last week and came up with a final tally of 27 adults and 15 children who are planning to make the trip. Several of the adults are planning on having the children sealed at another time. It is still a good number more than what we were able to reserve rooms for in December so need to try and get an additional date scheduled with the Temple this week. We just need to keep pushing for their documents as only one of the group has a passport at present.

Our days with the branches will now shift back to a major focus on keyboard and English with a rotating focus on training with the different auxiliaries. When we arrived last Aug the branches were wondering about a youth conference of sorts so we are trying to lean a little forward in the saddle and plan with them for this Aug when the kids are out for their next month break from school. Still trying to come up with a map and information for a proposed split of the Kyambeke Branch for Pres. Taylor's review. We are not suppose to baptize folks that have to walk more than 40 minutes to church and there were people well in excess of that when we arrived. Google Earth does not get close enough in that area to give us what we need so I have been trying to get someone to check with the water resource board or a similar agency for something that would make sense to the folks in Salt Lake.

Well must run so we can get a few things done at Upper Hill before it shuts down for the day. The natives are taking the day off for celebrating their holiday so the wazungas are planning an event of their own in the early afternoon which will impact us as we are the FHE hosts this week. We also are trying to make some adjustments in our personal life styles as it appears that we will both be living with a couple of 60 year olds by the 24th of this month. Never thought I would live that long but I am kind of glad that it appears we will make that and beyond now.

Elder & Sister Bishop

Pictures 5-31-08

2008-05-31T08:43:00.000-07:00

These are the old latrines next to one of the new ones. One of the old ones had collapsed into itself so all you see is the hole in the ground.

Forming up for the official photograph between the two new latrines. (Paul had our camera and his cell phone rang so he hurried and snapped the picture before everyone was in place.

The community group from right to left: President Simon of the Ilima Branch (he is on the school board and got us to look at the project), the Headmaster of the school, some guy representing the community, Onesmus the onsite LDS Charities watchdog (he is a returned missionarry and the 2nd Councelor from Kyambeke), Paul Mweto the finance director from our service center in Nairobi (he grew up in this area and was quite excited to see us doing something that so positively impacted so many member kids), one of the teachers (he is holding the scissors that will be used to cut the blue tape on the facility in the background). The rest are just local parents and citizens (not many of them are in this picture). There were no kids at the school that day as they were having some sports competition (trackmeet of sorts) with several other schools so had walked the mile or so up the hill to Kikoko.

Weekly Update 5-27-08

2008-05-27T06:43:00.000-07:00

Here it is another Monday. We decided to try and get our other chores/errands done early today as we often bump into the Kenyan Lunch hour if we don't get out early. They generally take their noon break between 1 & 2 which can be planned around but sometimes they forget to return to work so it is just best to try and finish anything that needs someone else's attention before the break starts. One of the tires has been loosing a little air lately so I was able to convince the car tsar to just let me get new ones. So we started out at the mission office dropping off branch reports and requests prior to going to tyremasters for new treads. We walked over to the Mega Naukamat while they were working on our rig because one of the other couples mentioned they had gotten a new supply of Betty Crocker mixes in. We have found that they are not very consistent in keeping their shelves stocked with the same items so take advantage of any new shipments when they arrive as there is no telling when those items will be in again. We only purchased 8 mixes most of which were brownies of different flavors. Then we stopped at a bank to make deposits for the branches then thought we would run out to the Embassy as we hadn't checked the mail for about 10 days. Upon our arrival at the deserted embassy is when we remembered that it is Memorial Day back in the states. The Embassy employees get the best of both worlds as they don't work on all US and Kenyan holidays which gives them a good variety of down time.

We finished up Temple Prep this week by working on Family Group Sheets which turned into much more of an exercise than what I was expecting. Some have no idea when they were born and even have several different dates floating around on different documents. Explaining just what a maiden name is took much more effort than what I was anticipating as they kind of pick and choose their names as they go along. In reviewing our branch rosters it is not unusual to see families with every member having a different last name. We figure we are doing well if we can remember their christian names as we still have not mastered all the tribal stuff. Elder Lewis (one of the very entertaining senior missionaries) figures that there will come a day during the millennium when the man in charge will say okay now it is time to do the African work and there will be big lines forming up both sides of the veil and nothing else will be done for awhile.

Last Thursday we attended a closing ceremony at the Kysuni Primary School for LDS Charities. Whenever they finish a project they have a formal ceremony wherein the completed work is physically handed over to whomever is the beneficiary. That kind of makes them responsible to maintain whatever has been done for them. In this case it was some slit latrines for the school. I tried to get my companion to let me take a picture of her initiating the project but she wasn't too keen on the idea. This particular project is one we had worked with Pres. Simon at Ilima to recommend as a lot of member youth attend there. We are still trying to get the hospital project at Kikoko put together as so many of their needs are things that the charities do not routinely get involved in. A medical specialist from Salt Lake is visiting the area in late June as there are several projects here in the mission that fall into that grey area. We also have a new request from the Ndolo Secondary School that has just surfaced for more latrines. They are across the valley from Kysuni and I guess they think the ones constructed there are pretty spiffy and would definitely aid their learning environment. It is a real eye opener to see the amount of money spent here for humanitarian projects and it all comes from that donated by church members in the Humanitarian Services category of donation slips in church units throughout the world.

The weather is still not quite as wet as what we were led to believe it would be for this rainy season but I think it might be unusually dry as the paper is starting to talk of water rationing. Kyambeke and Ilima seem to be getting enough to ensure some reasonable crops for them but Kilili is starting to look a little on the dry side. Davis Makiti is into watermelons fairly heavyily and he tells me they are history now. Fortunately he and his brothers are diversified enough that I think it is not life threatening to them. Their oranges and nectarines will be harvested in Aug. and the apple mangos in Nov. They have quite a few of those. I have developed a real fondnes for the apple mangos and hope I can convince my father while he is here to try and grow some of them. I have been saving up some I froze last Jan. to make a shake with sometime during he and mom's visit. The problem might be finding the seed stock as they are a grafted plant because of a real weak root system.

Will close for now and try to get a few pictures loaded before FHE. Love you guys.

Elder & Sister Bishop

Pictures 5-21-08

2008-05-21T08:14:00.000-07:00

Pictures taken at the Elephant Orphanage in Nairobi. Abandoned/orphaned babies throughout the region are sent here until they are old enough to be returned to the wild. The baby with the blue blanket is 6 months old while the one with the bottle is about 18 months. The second group (2nd picture) were all over 2 years old.

While the elephants were showing off a wart hog came wandering through as the orphanage is located in a wild life park.

This is soon to be Elder Stephen Ndolo with his parents. He leaves for the Durban, South Africa Mission on July 24th. He baptized his mother and little brother 2 months ago and his Dad has gotten pretty active now.

Weekly Update 5-19-08

2008-05-19T08:20:00.000-07:00

Have a very narrow window of opportunity to get this off this morning so I am going to send a quick update. The other couples got back from their Safari late Saturday. Their return had got messed up so they phoned ahead and we ordered in pizza for them and they all looked a little worse for wear as they straggled off the bus. It sure made for a quiet week for us with no one to interact with once we got home each evening. Kind of felt good and restful but we would probably soon go stir crazy if they weren't here to bring us back to our world occasionally. The Stutz will be with us until Tuesday morning so we have a few things we will help them chase down today as they pack up to leave. The other two couples in their area went home over the last 60 days with no replacements yet so they are there with 10 young elders and sisters. That is a bit of a challenge I am sure. Kind of glad that we haven't been able to find alternate digs closer to our area yet but we are still looking as the President has asked to. We would be out there without the benefit of young missionaries even.

Finished up the course work in our temple prep classes and gearing up to work family group sheets for the next couple of weeks. One of our class members was showing me his pedigree chart yesterday and was pretty proud of what he had been able to get from some of his family elders. I complimented him on his work but asked if he really thought that his grandparents were really married at the ripe ole age of 13 & 10 respectively and only lived for 156 & 157 years each. I am sure everyone is comforted to know that I have really lost my sarcastic edge over the last few months. Anyway I am sure this will be a fun week as we prepare personal and ancestral group sheets. Things really are coming together and we are looking forward to the trip to Johannesburg in December and it definitely looks like there will be enough successful applicants to require another trip sometime before we leave in June.

We have a closing ceremony scheduled for Thursday of two pit latrines that we were able to get LDS Charities to put in for a school just out of Kyambeke. This is a first for us but they tell us these events are quite the celebration. I think there are several hundred students in this school and their old latrines collapsed on them so this should have a definite impact on the quality of environment for their learning situation. We should have some pictures for next week and maybe a little more info.

Still no appreciable amounts of rain but still not critical yet. The adjustment back to Idaho weather one day will take some effort as hot temperatures here are in the lower 80s and cool ones register in the upper 50s. I run the vehicle's air conditioner just about non-stop as the moisture will build up on the wind screen if I don't. Sister Bishop keeps a lap rug and sweater available at all times and yes she does start just about everyday out with hot chocolate.

Well must run as I have to make a couple of deposits for the branches and do a little shopping before FHE this evening.

Elder & Sister Bishop

Weekly Update 5-12-08

2008-05-13T09:07:00.000-07:00

Well now this was a pretty good week. Two of the young men in Kilili got their mission calls. Stephen is going to Durban South Africa July 24th and Julius is going to the same mission but not until Sep. 4th. They were very excited when we delivered their calls to them last Tuesday. Kennedy's papers were still in Salt Lake and we haven't received anything yet so assume it will be at least another week although we do go there for Church this Sunday if they should happen to show up here before then. Because of the couples conference we stayed in Nairobi this weekend which shortened our Sunday activities as there was no 6 hour trip wrapped around church attendance. We did get together at President and Sister Taylor's home for a Mother's Day Dinner before receiving instruction from them yesterday. All the other couples left for the Tanzania Safari today but some of the Sisters were a little down as they hadn't received their Mother's Day calls from the other side of the world yet. That is probably what really made this week special because we received calls from all 7 of our children. We were planning on calling our own mothers last evening but found that our pre-paid phone card had expired so will give them a jingle before we go to bed this evening.

They didn't get our vehicle fixed until Friday. They initially thought it was some bad fuel but as they were doing their road check last Wednesday found that it was still cutting out like we had reported. Turns out that a fuel line had become kinked. They replaced the clutch, pressure plate and through-out bearing and completed the 30,000 service while it was in the shop which should put us in pretty good shape until the end of the month. We will have logged another 5,000kms by then so will need serviced again and probably new tires.

The Stutz took over our spare bedroom last Thursday as they came to town for the conference then left on the Safari this morning. Although it limits our access to the computer when someone is in the spare bedroom it is great to have company and we borrowed their 4 wheel drive to get us up the hill to Ilima on Friday.

With all the couples here in Nairobi over the weekend we got together to visit the Elephant Orphanage on Saturday and then did our traditional Saturday Evening Meal on the Town.

We continue to make progress on securing documents for our Temple Bound Members and will complete lesson 6 in the Temple Prep Course this week. The next lesson is to be given after they visit the temple so we will spend the next couple of weeks preparing their own family group sheets and those for any ancestors they plan on doing the work for while there.

They have had a slight hiccup in their rainy season but nothing is dry enough that it appears critical yet. Sure can get tough sometime when they are so critically dependant on Mother Nature to ensure meals for the next few months.

Sure glad our children called as that made what would have otherwise been a rather lack luster Mother's Day for my companion rather special. We did stop at the Langatta Women's Prison Nursery last Wednesday and got a Jade Plant to replace the Poinsetta which had given up the ghost and then bought a few red roses from a street hawker on our way home from dinner on Saturday.

We love you all.
Elder and Sister Bishop

Pictures 5-6-08

2008-05-07T13:22:00.001-07:00

This is a current picture of Mwende at the home we helped move her to. Doesn't she look happy. Besides the smiles Sister Bishop was able to get her to humm to her.

I am amazed at some of the things I see piled on bikes. They really take advantage of them as equipment for transport. Often when you see them loaded up like this the rider is walking along pushing it as I am sure the weight limit before it breaks down is being severely tested.

Weekly Update 5-6-08

2008-05-06T21:33:00.000-07:00

A little late again this week. The car quit on us coming home last Friday so we needed towed in. Any of the extra fleet vehicles were tied up as there were visitors from other missions here for some area training of some kind (it was above our pay grade so I am not sure what all it entailed). We had already coordinated for the Assistants to go to church with us to conduct a baptismal interview so we used their vehicle Sunday then I spent Monday morning securing alternate transportation for ourselves. I was going to send the update Monday evening after FHE but then "the kidney stone fairy" paid me a visit and I just didn't get it done. Thanks to a loving nurse/companion and a blessing from two other Elders in the compound with us here we were still able to make it to Kilili yesterday. The ole plumbing was back in operation but just a little tender. It was a good learning moment for me as I came to understand that just being here serving does not mean I don't have to follow the program if I want the blessings. I had went to the Lord on my own but the relief from pain didn't come until I shucked the macho attitude and had Sister Bishop call the other couples for a blessing. Relief came rather rapidly after that and we got enough rest so that we were able to still spend the 6 hours on the road to support those great saints in Kilili on Tuesday.

The interview in Ilima went well so we will be seeing another new member there. His name is Benson and he is 14 years old. His father is dead and he lives with his grandmother while his mom works here in Nairobi. He was out of school for their April break so we were able to meet with him on weekdays and Sundays to complete the lessons. His mother had encouraged him to listen to us but I am still not sure if she is a member or not so we are waiting to see if she wants to come home to witness his baptism. His grandmother is not a member but his aunt is a real stalwart in the branch there.

We were able to make it to Mother Teresa's Sisters of Charity and visit Mwende after working at St, Mary's last week and what a difference they have made in her life. She even hummed a song for us and they had put a frilly dress on her and she really looked great. She might have even put on a little weight but it is obvious that being around other people all the time has certainly added a new dimension to her life.

President Taylor has a "couples conference" scheduled for this weekend and then the other couples are heading to Tanzania for a week long safari. We have opted not to go on the safari as we have pretty well seen most of the animals they will be seeing and we don't want to spend the money or take the time away from our temple classes as they all have to walk so far and the change of schedule doesn't always compute even though we announce it. Sure don't want them to show up and wonder where we are and then try and get their trust so they will make the walk again next week. I am sure that any animals they see in Tanzania will not be any different from what we saw in the Masai Mara last August. We do want to make the trip to the Johannesburg Temple with the Kilunga saints when they go so am hoping our show of dedication will be considered when we request permission to travel out of our mission for that purpose. We are planning on taking a couple of days of R&R when my folks come visiting next month. We are planning on spending some time at the Nairobi wildlife park, giraffe farm, and elephant orphanage with them as these are things we have wanted to see but just haven't done yet.

Well the new day is fast approaching and I must run as we need to try and retrieve our vehicle from the shop today after our work at the pharmacy at St. Mary's. The replacement vehicle we are using is not 4 wheel drive and the rainy season has impacted the roads to Ilima and Kyambeke to the point that I am not sure we would make it in the loaner. Also Sister Bishop has a little house cleaning on today's schedule as the Stutz are staying with us while they are in town for the conference.

Pictures 4-30-08

2008-04-30T16:47:00.001-07:00

This is John, the deaf mute from Kilili. To his right is President Makiti and to his left is John the 1st councilor. You can see a portion of the newly thatched hut in the background. Note how he is piling up used bricks he has found around to fill in the holes at the base of his abode. He will just coat that with mud to seal up the cracks.

This is President Makiti's mother, niece, and a hired hand. They are shelling the maize grown during the last rainy season. They then bag it up and store it in another hut or, in this case, house as President Makiti is one of the more well to do local residents. He even has a solar panel for generating electricity which is only used mostly for a TV, DVD player, and charging cell phones.

This rose bush is directly behind our assigned parking space at our living quarters. The weather is such that it blooms year round. However because the parking lot is used by all the kids in the complex here for football (soccer), skateboarding, and just messing around the blooms generally don't have the opportunity to last more than 24 hours. They do look great when we leave early each morning.

Weekly Update 4-28-08

2008-04-28T11:15:00.000-07:00

Well here it is another Monday morning. They come and go rather rapidly which is a good thing when there are so many family and friends the other side of the world that we dearly wish to be able to spend time with once again. I failed to mention last week the YSA activity up in Eldoret that we had helped 25 of our people get to. It was a National event that the people there sponsored and our part was just helping our folks during their time in Nairobi. I had eleven of them in our little truck at one time moving them to a safe hotel near the bus station so they could catch an early connection the next morning. They traveled up on a Thursday and returned last Monday. They were really pumped as we visited with some in our activities this week. It is very uplifting to them when they see other church members in their age group (we have heard numbers of attendees ranging from 200 to 300) and recognize that they are not alone in their efforts.

For the most part this week was not much different from our last few. Our Temple Prep Folks are starting to show up with some of their preliminary documents and we received Joshua's passport (he is our fourth missionary candidate). We finished teaching Benson the discussions in Ilima and are taking the assistants with us this Friday for his Baptismal Interview. There was a lot of moisture from heaven this week and some rather drastic changes to road conditions in the hills but we just spend a little more time with the rig in 4 wheel drive. A couple of the members called us some name that I am going to have to research a little more before I even have an idea of how it is spelled. It is essentially one who shows up despite the conditions which I guess means that we continue to come in the rainy season when others in the past have just turned around and went home. I have honestly not felt too uncomfortable in any of the conditions yet but can see how they could be some what intimidating and my companion does make a small squeaking noise when the vehicle slides a little in the wet spots.

Our feel good experience this week has to do with a deaf mute who is in attendance each Sunday in Kilili. He is illiterate so the members don't even know his name and just call him John. He has not been baptized and probably wont be in this life but I am sure he is piling up points in that good book on the other side of the veil. He is currently living in a hut which is mud stuck to sticks near President Makiti's mother's home. Because the thatch roof was in major need of repair it was leaking on the walls and washing some of the mud away. The members got together and re-thatched the roof and now he is repairing the wall damage. They told us his bed consisted of woven ropes and sacks and wondered if LDS Charities could improve on that. We got a mattress and quilt and delivered it last Tuesday. It was very apparent that he was more than just a little appreciative of everyone's efforts as he kept making noises and gesturing towards the heavens. I think we got a picture and will down load those today and try to send one out before too long.

Sister Bishop struggled through a head cold this week which really helped the profit margin of the local tissue manufacturer. We finally went to a local chemist and got some medicine and she is doing much better once again. The politicians continue to struggle with implementing the peace accord with the major sticking point being this week of who is number two behind the President. Is it the Prime Minister or the Vice President? Also the prison warders are becoming very disgruntled with their lot in life and are threatening to start releasing convicts tomorrow if their demands are not given the consideration they think they deserve. The pictures in the paper do depict some rather deplorable conditions that they have to live in while the politicians enjoy a life style not at all dissimilar to that of their American counterparts.

Well that is a few of the ramblings of this week now I must be on the move again as our bull bar broke free on the right side of the truck again. They did tell me last weeks fix was only temporary and they had ordered some new improved brackets last week that they were going to install this week. So I must get our trusty transport vehicle in their hands once again. One of the other couples asked us not to implement the new fix as that was part of his entertainment each week to see when the nylon rope once more showed up holding our truck together. Easy for him to say as he is not the one standing in the mud at the side of the road implementing the temporary fix but it does keep me current on my knot tying skills.

God bless you one and all! We appreciate your prayers and concern but most of all your short notes.

Elder and Sister Bishop

Weekly Update 4-21-08

2008-04-21T08:52:00.001-07:00

Goodmorning (it is not yet 6am here). I need to be out early today and am not sure when I will get back to the computer. The new bull bar broke loose for the 4th time on our way to church yesterday and as I was working in the mud to tie it back on I determined that I was going to have to insist for a better solution. I am convinced if they would take it to a good machine shop and have them grind all the slag and crud off then do it right it would be okay but then maybe there is no such thing as a good machine shop here. The other solution is to just do away with it but it has reduced the number of idiots trying to bust in front of us because it is a little more intimidating than the average rig now. I will have to see what I can work out with James at the service center but this noise of spending a big portion of our time in Nairobi just shuffling rigs is more than just a little annoying. We did get rid of some of the deviations this week and are driving on a little more new road but then they extended the deviation in another area so not really making much progress in the over all scheme of travel. The dirt deviations really are an improvement over the deteriating roads initially but in just a matter of a few days they become rather terrible thanks to the wet weather and the unregulated truck traffic.

The President asked me to look at trying to find an abode a little more convenient to our area so I spent last Saturday with Victor (a self employed procurement specialist that the office frequently uses to avoid Mazungu prices) looking in Machakos. It is the biggest town between Nairobi and the Hills but I didn't see anything I would dare recommend to my companion so will keep looking. It didn't help any that there was an article in Fridays paper about the number of gangster related deaths in Machakos as of late but the locals there discount that as people who are just trying to get someones attention. We have possible leads on homes in different areas (Emali & Wote) but I question the chances of finding anything. It sure would be nice to be able to spend a little more time in each of our areas and help out with some reactivation. If we could get the available priesthood out in Kyambeke I am sure we could convince the church to stand up a branch in Mitini which would be a really cut down on the walking time for the members. With the way investigators keep popping up the church would probably just keep growing if the walking time was able to be reduced and we wouldn't feel so bad on Sundays when we pass mothers with their young ones spending over an hour to get to church for their meetings.

We had just a couple more potential temple candidates show to classes this week but then we probably have more than we will be able to take this first time already if they all follow through at getting their documents. Of course we can schedule anther window of opportunity for them and hope that it will become neccessary to do just that. It is gratifying to see some begin the long process of procuring their birth certificates, IDs, marriage certificates etc. These are major milestones as so many of these events just happen at home so the government is not aware of them.

Need to share a couple of seemingly insignificant things with you that have increased our feelings for these people as of late. Angeline and Ester, who are two of our English students, have both shown up lately with prayers they have written down in English. Very simple but heartfelt phrases that are indicative of how badly they want to be baptized. Sure hope we get to see those blessings in their lives in the next 15 months and I know with the Lord's help it will happen.

Well another Elder is stopping by in a few minutes so we can help each other shuffle vihicles this morning so I need to scrape the stubble off the ole face and try to get presentable for another day. It is a blessing that my eyes aren't as good as they used to be and my standards are lower are it would take more than just a few minutes to achieve acceptable grooming results. We love you guys and appreciate any notes are pictures no matter how short they are. Please keep them coming as they really add to our days.

Elder & Sister Bishop

Pictures 4-17-08

2008-04-14T12:48:00.000-07:00

The baptismal group at Kilili on 30 April 2008.

Sister Bishop with 6 day old Barbara Kamende Wambua.

Some livestock along side the Mombasa Highway.

This is what our rig looks like with the recent addition of a shell and heavy duty "Bull Bar". It is at 27,000 kilometers now and they generaly recycle them between 80,000 & 90,000 so we will probably see a new truck and have it broke in well before we leave in June of 2009.

Weekly Update 4-14-08

2008-04-14T12:43:00.000-07:00

It rained on us while we were taking our morning walk so I have a little more time to get this update off as Sister Bishop is going to have to do something with her hair now (her words not mine). Our big adventure for last week was when we had arranged to pick up Kennedy (one of the young men getting ready for his mission) to get his wisdom teeth extracted. He was going to take transport of some kind and meet us at Salama as we came out of the upper hills. He wasn't there but fortunately we were able to reach his cell phone and he said he would meet us in Sultan Hamad but we ended up driving all the way to Emali and still had to wait 20+ minutes for his bus to arrive. It had broken down and they wouldn't refund their money so he had to wait for the replacement to show up. We did get back to Nairobi before dark but just barely.

Sister Bishop has a namesake in the Kilungu Hills now as Francis & Sarah called us last Friday to announce the birth of their daughter and wanted to know if we would come to their home to give her a name and a blessing. After getting permission from President Mbondo we stopped on our way home Thursday and found that when he said give it a name he meant for us to use our inspiration to determine what that name should be. I picked the female name that means the most to me and they seemed pleased so now there is a Barbara Kamende Wambua living in our beloved hills. I get the feeling that there are not many young ladies with the christian name of Barbara in all of Kenya as I see the reaction when people hear the baby's name. She sure is a cutie and as a note of interest Sarah was home with only her two young daughters ages 2 and 5 when the baby was born. She just did it on her own and didn't quite understand what the big deal was when Sister Bishop expressed her amazement. They are going to make the walk to the clinic at Kikoko in 30 days so mother and child can have a check up.

The Temple classes continue to progress with the few folks who do show seeming to be very committed but the numbers are still a little small. I did present the Sunday School Lesson at Kyambeke yesterday on the Covenant People and had several folks commit afterwards to be in attendance at our next class. We have Branch President training with the Mission President here in Nairobi this Wednesday then are sending 25 of the Young Single Adults to a regional conference in Eldoret Thursday through Monday. So the work continues to progress and we are staying busy.

The best news however is that the peace accord finally resulted in the announcement of a truly coalition government yesterday. Earlier in the week talks had broken down and the riots started again here in the Kibera Slums but the President and Prime Minister Designate got together away from the pressures of their respective parties and hammered out the final compromise which led to yesterday's announcement. That should ensure peace in Kenya at least until the next election in five years time.

I have been trying to load a few pictures the last few days but just don't seem to be able to get a good enough connection to accommodate that task. Not sure if that has to do with the school kids being on vacation for the month of April or what but I will keep trying whenever I get access to the computer and internet.

Weekly Update 4-7-08

2008-04-07T14:29:00.000-07:00

Well another week has come and gone and rather rapidly I might add. Not much in the way of moisture this week which does not bode well for the maize and beans that really shot up after those early rains. The politicians are still struggling to get all the compromises in place to placate the powers that be but unfortunately it appears that the end result is a rather bloated cabinet which is not what a country based on subsistent farming and rampant unemployment really needs. This is especially true when the wages of the politicians are so radically more than the average income level for the nation. Maybe that will work itself out as the political system matures and moves away from the tribal thing if that is possible.

We got temple preparation classes started in all 3 branches this week but are not overly impressed with the turn out but they have been through them several times before. Realizing that we secured a date for patron housing in Johannesburg and started them working on securing documents for their passport applications right up front. We also got them started on some family history gathering so they will be prepared to to do work on their personal lines once they have completed their own work. The dates we got from the Temple are 1-6 Dec. which means they should have their passport applications in by Aug. if they are serious about going. They sure could use the spark that those blessings would bring to ignite church sustainability in the area. We completed our challenge by saying that Sis. Bishop and I are going then and we sure would like some of them to come and go with us. They could use your prayers on their behalf as this progresses so that they might understand how important this is to them and how serious we are to go all the way this time.

We are still struggling at generating support for the hospital in Kikoko as there are some challenges in getting the approval for the right kind of problems and their appropriate solutions. We even tried to get a short term specialist in to add some credibility as hospital care doesn't show up in our resumes anywhere but haven't gotten approval yet. Elder Pocock, the local charities dude, seems to think we need to expand the requests dollar amount so that it goes directly to Salt Lake avoiding the area offices in South Africa. Just a little frustrating at times when it seems we are back in the world of bureaucracy that I never much enjoyed in my previous career.

The kids here are coming up on their April school break which could mean a few extra trips up country to support their programs but it is a bit of a challenge to get their leaders leaning that far forward in the saddle but I appreciate the uncertainty that these folks hand to mouth existence fosters. We also have training scheduled for the branch presidents with Pres. Taylor here in Nairobi on the 16th with the hope that by expanding the window of exposure time between them that we can generate a little more enthusiasm and self evaluation of how each branch is doing.

With the Luke's presence here, who have the Public Affairs assignment, we have a little better connectivity for viewing conference so have been able to see both morning sessions so far. They think they were able to record the afternoon sessions and we are seeing one of them for FHE tonight which reduces my requirement for preparing a lesson for our turn in the barrel tonight. The challenge on the afternoon sessions are that they show up here from 11:00 pm to 1:00 am which is a little tough to stay awake for and still support the local members as most all have no way of viewing the proceedings so their church schedules are business as usual which demands a little more alertness than the late night hours allows. Of course the Priesthood Session doesn't even appear on our agenda because of the early morning hours here when it hits the air waves.

Well that's my thoughts for another week and I need to shift to preparing for todays' schedule which is going to have to include an across town trip to the embassy for a mail drop. Sis. Bishop and the IRS can rest easy now as I finished up the electronic submission of our taxes Saturday and just need to send some follow on paperwork now. We also act as couriers for some of the other couples as the changes in the support the Salt Lake Pouch provides has essentially reduced the viability of that option and the local postal service does not foster a lot of trust.

We miss friends and family but keep busy enough that the moments of self pity are few and fleeting. Thanks for all the brief notes and prayers on our behalf. We wish we could spend more time sending special individual thoughts to each of you on the other side of the world but our schedule only allows these brief communications each week. Please know that we do have special thoughts of each of you but they are of neccessity limited to "I wonder how or what questions" that we pose to each other during our 6+ hours of travel time on each trip up country. May God Bless all of you.

Love Elder and Sister Bishop

Weekly Update 4-2-08

2008-04-02T08:45:00.000-07:00

Monday came and went without the opportunity for an update so I am up early today to try and catch up before this day begins (it's 4 in the morning right now). Lots of rain everywhere this week which has the effect of extending our days and adding interest to our travels. South Africa (the Area Offices are there) wanted some additional information on the 3 missionary packets we helped with so Julius came back from Kilili with us and we spent Monday in the doc and dentist office. I also spent some additional time stuck in traffic while trying to get some services accomplished on our trusty vehicle. We got a new "bull bar" on the pickup last Saturday which is a lot bigger and heavier than the one that vibrated off so many times it had become ineffective. The other senior Elders were rather taken with it but I simply told them that I am building my own tank one part at a time (remember Johnny Cash's song on building a cadillac) so that the driving skills of the native Kenyans will be no problem in our daily travels.

We enjoyed our 3rd and final RS Birthday dinner for this year with the Ilima Branch last Friday. It was complete with rice, stew, goat, chipattas, and they even killed 1 chicken and presented us with the thighs. We got out of there a little late and then hit some special traffic jams back in town which ended up being a 12 hour day. Then again yesterday was 11 so the weather and driving conditions could just be a special challenge for the next little while. The Assistants went to Kilili with us Sunday to interview baptism candidates and we ended up with 11 successful new members. We held the baptism after Sunday Services there in their portable font located in the rented halls courtyard. It had really been pouring rain just prior but the sun came out and it was a good setting for such a great event. It is no fun having to tell people who desire baptism so badly that they need to work on their English a little more before that can happen. We still have 5 people there in that category but two of the older ladies were to our class yesterday determined to do what they need to do to join their friends in the church. I have great hopes that we can get them there soon.

We taught our 1st Temple Prep Class yesterday and half of them indicated they had sat through the lessons at least twice before. We are hoping that this time will be a little different as I told them we already have a reservation for 20 people in the temple patron housing in Johannesburg for the 1st thru the 6th of December of this year. We then we gave them the applications for obtaining a birth certificate to begin their long road of the passport application process. We then spent a little time introducing pedigree charts so they can identify ancestors who are waiting for them to get to the temple. Finally we closed by telling them that we had been away from the temple too long ourselves so we are going whether they were ready or not but sure hoped they would join us. I'm hoping that we will have to schedule one or two more dates to accommodate them all. My secret fear is that we might be that last full time couple assigned to these branches so we need to have them fired up and ready to carry on by themselves with a little guidance from the Mission President. The President hasn't confirmed that but I know he is trying to open a couple of other areas and the resources he has assigned are limited.

Well today promises to be a long one as we have our work at the hospital pharmacy this morning followed by a appreciation luncheon at an Indian Restraunt across town put on by a local contractor who does a lot of work on the LDS Charities projects throughout the providence. We have some more materials that we need to get copied at the Mission Home in preparation for the other two branches yet this week and also need to pick up the semi annual batch of cleaning supplies for the custodians at our branches. I also need to get a jump on our weekend errands so that Saturday can be devoted to getting our taxes done. Not sure who I fear the most, Sister Bishop or the IRS, but it doesn't matter as they both think it is time to quit putting that dreaded event off.

Thanks for the notes and prayers we receive. We really thrive on those and they really do help. We got a special bonus this week of short notes from many of the Ten Mile Ward Primary Youth back home and they were much appreciated. Elder & Sister Bishop

Pictures 3-30-08

2008-03-30T22:24:00.000-07:00

Pictures 1 & 2 are the converts on the 16th and the baptismal group on the 23rd.

Picture 3 is the Kamba Mamas shaking their bootie. Do you recognize the mazunga?

Weekly Update 3-24-08

2008-03-24T13:42:00.000-07:00

Well this week was a little intense. Trying to get the audits done before the end of the month required that we be in Kilili on Saturday besides our usual number of forays up country for the week. We were back at Kyambeke on Sunday for church and a baptismal service. We had 4 converts and 2 children of record that took the plunge. We sure have some great people that have joined lately. Several have been struggling with the language thing for several years and we were just fortunate to be here when they finally overcame that obstacle. I am sure a big part of it was that the Lord finally answered a bunch of prayers.

The long rainy season seems to be here as the truck was pretty much a moving mound of mud when we got David to wash it today. Of course it didn't help when I went "mud bogging" to get home last evening. We ran into a major snarl of vehicles at about the Athi River junction coming home and although there were buses and Matautus stuck in the bush everywhere I told Sister Bishop I was sure our 4 wheel drive would get us through my proposed shortcut. She was very doubtful and was rather vocally questioning my sanity as we slogged through the bush but if nothing else she has a lot more respect for the truck today as we did just fine. The bumpy roads are taking their toll on our little Isuzu though as I had to take the front bumper guard off today as the repair we had done on it 5000 kms ago gave out again and it was fixing to start dragging. I will see if the fleet manager wont get me a new one Wednesday. If not we will just fix it and have them attach our front plate directly to the bumper. I am going to invest in a D-handle shovel and tow strap as they are looking like they would be great accessories to keep in our vehicle. We came across a stuck Matautu full of members on our way into Kilili Saturday and I stopped to help. All I had was a long nylon rope and although we did get them on the road again I now have 2 short nylon ropes.

We spent some time reviewing the baptismal questions with some of our investigators in Kilili while there and it looks like we could have 8 more converts this Sunday. The Assistants are going with us to do interviews and we will have the service for the successful applicants right after church.

Attended RS Birthday Celebrations at Kilili and Kyambeke this last week and Ilima is having theirs this Friday. I have several shots of Sister Bishop shaking her "bootie" in traditional Kamba style that will get sent soon. One branch had also made up a song about our missionary efforts. Three of the missionary packets left here for South Africa last Thursday so I am assuming they will have their calls soon. Joshua's 23 year old brother has caught his little brother's missionary spirit so we might have another applicant from Ilima very soon. He is living in Nairobi but I got the feeling his current Bishop would rather we helped him through all the hurdles required to get his packet together.

Well I hope everyone had a great Easter weekend. They celebrated with a 4 day weekend here with Friday being Good Friday and today was just called Easter Monday. There were a lot of people left to go up country to their ancestral homes as the post election violence did not allow some to make their usual trips at Christmas time. The Peace efforts had very solid results this week when the peace initiative required constitutional amendments sailed through parliament. The President and Prime Minister designate are beginning the implementation process now.

Weekly Update 4-16-08

2008-03-17T00:09:00.000-07:00

I know it has just been a few days since my last update but yesterday was a pretty good day. The Assistants traveled with us to Ilima and we were able to baptize 3 more of our investigators along with 5 eight year old children of record. We stopped and visited at Kyambeke also and 4 of our investigators there were cleared to be baptized on Easter Sunday next week. Two of them were young mothers who have been really working on their English skills and we were very concerned that it wasn't sufficient to pass the test but they did great and they are very excited about their pending baptism as are we. That will leave us with only a couple of investigators at those 2 branches but we scheduled the Assistants to go to Kilili with us on the 30th and have a baptism scheduled for that day for those there who they approve.

It does feel great to have a large degree of peace return to this land although there is still some ethnic violence continuing in the Mt. Elgon area to the north of us. The military is deploying troops there in an effort to diminish the raids and retaliation between the tribes there. There is still some major posturing among the local politicians and parliament on the power sharing deal between the President and the new Prime Minister but on the whole things are definitely much calmer. The sad part is that the economy is really going to struggle to get back to where it was last December and it is the average citizen who is going to feel the effects of that struggle. The tourist industry is probably suffering the most as all the major safari camps have dwindled to almost nothing.

Life is pretty stable for us as we find that our consistent visits with the branches of the Kalunga Hills seems to yield the best results. Sis. Bishop has finished up the 'New Beginnings' with the Young Women and has the primaries working on this years Sacrament program. The branches have scheduled their Relief Society Birthday Parties over the next couple of weeks and want us to bring guests with us to witness what they have done. We are hoping to be able to encourage some of the couples based in Nairobi to travel with us to those events as they have practiced some dances and songs that they would like to showcase. I should get the year end audits finished this week then we are planning on kicking off Temple Prep in April. Previous couples have worked on these classes with no results but we are hoping by focusing on document preparation (passports, visas, etc.) and family history up front that we can get a little better results with a trip to the Johannesburg Temple during the school break in December. One of the branches is developing a little insurrection of sorts as some of the members feel like their president is not allowing them to get what they think is their slice of the welfare pie. He has asked me to teach an appropriate Sunday School Lesson of my choosing to counter that. We did have a career work shop there last week and I am hoping that we can get the drive for self sufficiency to counter the feelings being exhibited.

The weather is a little warmer with the highs in the upper 80s and lows in the lower 60s but they tell us that it is a harbinger of the onset of the long rainy season. We are hoping that the wet seasons impact on our travels will be minimal as long as we can keep our 4 wheel drive on the road. Elder Embakazie, one of the Assistants who is a native from South Africa, commented, as we were negotiating the final climb to Ilima yesterday, what a super lady my companion was to endure those roads on a regular basis and I definitely agree with him. Her children would definitely be impressed to see the adjustments she has has made to compensate for the rigors of our assignment. Well I hope that Easter is memorable for all our friends and loved ones on the other side of the world. He does live and is concerned for all of us.

Elder & Sister Bishop

Pictures 3-14-08

2008-03-14T16:03:00.001-07:00

The giraffes Sister Bishop spotted along side the road last Friday.

The trees here are amazing for some of their blooms. About the time one species looses it blossoms for the year a different one catches our fancy. This one with the clumps of yellow flowers is currently in bloom and one of the natives tells us it is called a bavaria or something like that.

We have always been intrigued by the bright blue body and yellow head but they are so fast and bashful that we haven't been able to get close for a good picture. Can you see it on the pile of bricks?

We really enjoy seeing how the little ones here enjoy life. These guys are part of a group that shows up each Friday at Ilima to see if we have any sweets. How do you tell them no?

Weekly Update 3-14-08

2008-03-14T15:39:00.000-07:00

I am afraid we lost a week. The Stutz showed up last Saturday and stayed through Thursday so we were a little occupied and it just wasn't convenient to get at the internet. We had a Mission Conference with all but the Tanzania folks attending on Tuesday. Rather than cancel out on the Kalili folks we made the trip there on Monday. Elder Parmley of the Area Presidency visited for our conference and the Parmleys and Taylors gave some inspiring council. That evening Elder Parmley and his wife hosted all the couples for a dinner at the Serena Hotel. He expressed gratitude for everyones willingness to serve. He gave us an assignment to talk up missions to other couples when we returned home. He also dispelled a rumor that some 60% of the couples called to Africa turned down their calls. He stated that with the exception of a few who had to decline for health reasons that all accepted this opportunity. We had heard this rumor several times both here and in the MTC and were quite frankly relieved to hear the truth. He did say that the church is only able to fill about half of the requirements they have for senior couples world wide hence the assignment to convince others to submit their mission applications.

Thursday when we were preparing for our trip to Kyambeke the truck refused to start. However the Lukes who are doing Public Affairs were out of town and I was able to borrow their truck for Thursday and Friday. James, the fleet manager, from the Church Service Office brought someone to look at it today and it turns out that the security system had blown a fuse so would not unlock to allow the vehicle to start. It is back in our hands this evening and ready to transport us once more. We will be taking the Assistants with us to Kyambeke and Ilima for baptismal interviews again this Sunday. We are having a bit of a challange in the Kyambeke Branch right now as several members are upset with the Branch President thinking he doesn't do all he can to ensure that they get a steady stream of welfare support. Whenever they approach me for relief I refer tham back to the President but he has requested that I spend some time in Sunday School explaining just how Welfare Funds are used and explaining that there is not a cash reward that is the right of all members. We worked with Elder and Sister Dickman, the Employment Specialists Couple, to present a career workshop there Thursday and Friday and are hoping to see some more efforts at self-reliance there.

Just had a loud clap of thunder and it is starting to rain again. We are seeing more of that each day as we are starting into the long rainy season which is to last through May if the weather is consistent with past performances. Hope we are able to continue our trips up country on a regular basis. Well it is getting late and I need to get some sack time to sustain me in the stress of spending so much time in these traffic conditions. I had to bore a new hole in my belt this week to tighten my pants up but I think it is more a case of my belt stretching rather than a loss of weight. We love the support we receive from all who read these ramblings and remember us in their communcications with the man upstairs. We do encourage any who are able to give positive consideration to submitting their mission papers. There are a multitude of opportunities to serve throughout the world.

Sister and Elder Bishop