This has been way too long since we updated this blog. Sorry to all of you. We are still alive and doing well. We stay busy with the PEF students. We are loving the association we have with them. This past week we had two of our students (funny how they become ours) come and told us that they served their mission in Dar es Salaam with Steve and Margaret Terry. "Hello" Terrys.
We spent Tuesday of this past week with some very dear friends we have made since we arrived here. Elder and Sister Luke from Greenriver, Utah. They have been so kind to us, taking us around, feeding us when we first came, telling us fun places to go and do and see. We went with them to the Nairobi Game park. They wanted to take us there since we first arrived but we have been waiting for our work permit because it is cheaper to get in. Elder Luke worked for the Forest Service before their mission. Well the permits haven't come and the Lukes' were being released on Thursday so we bit the bullet and went anyway. We had a wonderful time. We saw more black rhinos than any other couple had seen since the Lukes' came 18 months ago. We have some awesome pictures. The thing that is so astounding about this park is that it is right in the city limits. We took pictures of rhinos with the tall building that is right next to the church complex where our office is in the background. Amazing. As I have said before, this place is beautiful. We love it.
Let me tell you about some of the people we have met. Betterman is a young man who has helped train us in the office. His wife lives in Uganda because that is where she is from. She went through the PEF program as he is now doing. But she can't get a job here because she is Ugandan.. One day while he was in the office his mother called. She lives "Up Country". That is where the native village of their tribe is. She told Betterman that her cow had died and she didn't know what she was going to do. By selling the milk from one cow she was able to sustain herself. Now she is left with just three calfs. She could sell two of the calfs and buy another milk cow. Not sure what she has done.
The Branch President, James Chylu, joined the church with his wife several years ago. They went to the temple. I don't know anything about his family but he has served as branch president for nine years. His wife is inactive and quite antagonist towards the church. The saints here are super. When they serve, they serve well.
The people here are so different. For the most part their testimonies are so strong. They really do rely on our Heavenly Father. If they have something come up in their lives, they know that they can go to the Lord and He will help them.
The PEF program is for young men and women between the age of 17 and 30. When they have their 31st birthday they have to get an age exception to be considered for the loan. We had a young lady come into the office seeking a loan. We looked at her age and determined that she would need to go through the Age Exception process. As she left the office, Betterman told her to say a prayer. We began looking at her birthdate and determined that she wouldn't be 31 until June. He ran and caught up with her and told her to come back. She was speechless. She said that she had never had a prayer answered so quickly. We started the loan processs for her that day. The next roadblock was that the school started before the loan process would be completed. Elder Flinders typed a letter stating that Judy was in the process of the loan and would they allow her to begin classes before the funds would be disbursed. They said "OK". Then by the time that the loan would be processed she would have her 31st birthday. Another delima. Her church records state her birthday June 21st. We needed until July 4th. She said the the church records were wrong. She had chided her mother all her life for putting the wrong birthdate on her blessing certificate. All of her other records had July 6th as her birthday. She had her birth certificate and her National I.D. card as proof. As our luck would have it, the brother who is over the records for the whole mission has an office down the hall from our office. We spoke to him and told him she had proof that her church records were wrong. Judy gave him the documents and by the following morning the church records were corrected. Everything she needed was in order now and her loan papers were submitted. She is done and the check to pay for her tuition is in our office waiting for her to pick it up. The Lord is certaintly aware of his children and the struggles. The PEF progran is for worthy, ambitious, and needy students. She is probably the most ambitious that we have seen.
We begin teaching the Temple Prep Class next week. We are excited about that. There are three or four families that will attend. It will be a wonderful experience to be able to go to the temple with them. When people go to the temple, they receive their endowments one day and then get to attend several more sessions for a couple of days. Usually the missionary couple ends up being the sitters after the initial temple session. Sounds fun?
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Saturday, May 16, 2009
May 17, 2009
This has been a busy week, Sister Flinders has been working with one of our PEF participants to update our files. For those of you who know Brenda, Sister Flinders or Mom will recognize her as the perpetual organizer. She just said, we should take a picture of what those files looked like before and after. Those who follow us will certainly appreciate this great work.
We have met so many wonderful students. By our standards in the US they are not even on the radar screen as we define poverty. Their living conditions are more primitive than people in the US over 100 years ago. There is an area called Kibera, one slum area in Nairobi, over 1 million people walk the main road in this neighborhood every day. Someone told us about walking down this road and having to dodge flying toilets. Flying toilet defined: A plastic bag used for a toilet, tied up and thrown into the street where raw sewage is running. Many of the people living in this area are members of the Upper Hill Ward in the Nairobi Stake, their chapel is connected to the mission offices and service center where our office is located. We are so blessed to be assigned to this area and to have a beautiful modern air conditioned office in which to serve.
Here it is Thursday of this week. We have to get better at posting on our blog. We don't know what to post that anyone would be interested in so we are going to just post things that we are learning or want to remember.
On Wednesdays We teach an institute class from 1:00 to 2:00 P.M. It is Presidents of the Church. The Couple before us taught an Eternal Marriage class for the whole time they were here. I guess you could say that not many graduated from the class because there are soooo many young single members here. They also served the students lunch every week. That's my part. Peanut butter and jam sandwiches, some kind of sweet or fruit and punch. We can get little bananas, at home they are called fingerlings, I think. They are very inexpensive here. Everyone seems to like bananas. There are many different sizes here. Anyway, sometimes we serve one of them with the sandwich and sometimes just a biscuit (cookie from the store) or a homemade cookie. They really like the homemade part as most of the people in Africa don't have ovens. Many of them cook on electric hot plates but most use charcoal to do all of their cooking. Anyway, back to the class. Brother Gideon Matwale asked us to teach this class.
There are mostly young men that come to the class. A couple of young ladies have attended, but are sporadic. They get fed spiritually as well as physically. For many, that is probably the only meal they get. We love the class. Some of the members of the class are the custodial workers at the church complex so we see them every day.
We see a lot of young people in our office. Many of them want to use the phone. And let me just say - everyone here has a cell phone. They buy what is called a sim card to be able to call out on their phone. They can receive a call for free but they have to pay to call out. Their phone will ring and then the caller hangs up. They call that being "flashed". Then they come in to the office to call back. Funny how that works. For the people that live "Up Country" they have rigged up a car battery with which to charge their phones. We don't know how long that lasts or how that works but the people "Up Country" don't have cars!!
The stake had a Young Single Adult activity on Saturday. They invited us to the planning meeting. They told us that there would be between 150 and 400 people there. WOW! When it came to Saturday - probably there were about 100 there. They always serve refreshments which consists of sloppy joes, banana and punch. Let me explain about the sloppy joes. It is nothing like you have ever seen before. Onions, green pepper and spices cooked up in a lot of oil and then they add what they call mince - we would call it hamburger in America - about 50/50. Fifty percent meat and fifty percent fat. Then they put about a tablespoon of it on a bun and call it good. They like it. IT IS NOT FOR ME!!!
We have been asked to attend the Athi River Branch for church. This is about a 45 minute drive on horrrible roads. If the roads were like even the worst road you have ever seen - it would take about 20 minutes. The branch president has asked up to teach three families the Temple Preparation Class. We are excited for this opportunity. There are several other couple missionaries who have taught that class and then they get to plan and prepare the trip to the temple. This is a wonderful experience for these humble souls. It is really a sacrifice for them to be able to go. They will probably only get there once in their lives. Other couples have said that the experience of going with these people to the temple is the best highlight of their entire mission.
We love what we are doing and hope all is well with our family and friends.
We have met so many wonderful students. By our standards in the US they are not even on the radar screen as we define poverty. Their living conditions are more primitive than people in the US over 100 years ago. There is an area called Kibera, one slum area in Nairobi, over 1 million people walk the main road in this neighborhood every day. Someone told us about walking down this road and having to dodge flying toilets. Flying toilet defined: A plastic bag used for a toilet, tied up and thrown into the street where raw sewage is running. Many of the people living in this area are members of the Upper Hill Ward in the Nairobi Stake, their chapel is connected to the mission offices and service center where our office is located. We are so blessed to be assigned to this area and to have a beautiful modern air conditioned office in which to serve.
Here it is Thursday of this week. We have to get better at posting on our blog. We don't know what to post that anyone would be interested in so we are going to just post things that we are learning or want to remember.
On Wednesdays We teach an institute class from 1:00 to 2:00 P.M. It is Presidents of the Church. The Couple before us taught an Eternal Marriage class for the whole time they were here. I guess you could say that not many graduated from the class because there are soooo many young single members here. They also served the students lunch every week. That's my part. Peanut butter and jam sandwiches, some kind of sweet or fruit and punch. We can get little bananas, at home they are called fingerlings, I think. They are very inexpensive here. Everyone seems to like bananas. There are many different sizes here. Anyway, sometimes we serve one of them with the sandwich and sometimes just a biscuit (cookie from the store) or a homemade cookie. They really like the homemade part as most of the people in Africa don't have ovens. Many of them cook on electric hot plates but most use charcoal to do all of their cooking. Anyway, back to the class. Brother Gideon Matwale asked us to teach this class.
There are mostly young men that come to the class. A couple of young ladies have attended, but are sporadic. They get fed spiritually as well as physically. For many, that is probably the only meal they get. We love the class. Some of the members of the class are the custodial workers at the church complex so we see them every day.
We see a lot of young people in our office. Many of them want to use the phone. And let me just say - everyone here has a cell phone. They buy what is called a sim card to be able to call out on their phone. They can receive a call for free but they have to pay to call out. Their phone will ring and then the caller hangs up. They call that being "flashed". Then they come in to the office to call back. Funny how that works. For the people that live "Up Country" they have rigged up a car battery with which to charge their phones. We don't know how long that lasts or how that works but the people "Up Country" don't have cars!!
The stake had a Young Single Adult activity on Saturday. They invited us to the planning meeting. They told us that there would be between 150 and 400 people there. WOW! When it came to Saturday - probably there were about 100 there. They always serve refreshments which consists of sloppy joes, banana and punch. Let me explain about the sloppy joes. It is nothing like you have ever seen before. Onions, green pepper and spices cooked up in a lot of oil and then they add what they call mince - we would call it hamburger in America - about 50/50. Fifty percent meat and fifty percent fat. Then they put about a tablespoon of it on a bun and call it good. They like it. IT IS NOT FOR ME!!!
We have been asked to attend the Athi River Branch for church. This is about a 45 minute drive on horrrible roads. If the roads were like even the worst road you have ever seen - it would take about 20 minutes. The branch president has asked up to teach three families the Temple Preparation Class. We are excited for this opportunity. There are several other couple missionaries who have taught that class and then they get to plan and prepare the trip to the temple. This is a wonderful experience for these humble souls. It is really a sacrifice for them to be able to go. They will probably only get there once in their lives. Other couples have said that the experience of going with these people to the temple is the best highlight of their entire mission.
We love what we are doing and hope all is well with our family and friends.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
We have had great week. We continue to meet more of the students in the PEF Program. This is such an inspired program. Here in Kenya, just a little bit of education can bring these humble saints out of the depths of poverty. There is no middle class here, either the people are quite affluent or they are very poor. We see both at church. There is an area of about one square mile where over a million people live in tin huts in deplorable conditions. They have no electricity, no plumbing, no running water and yet they are so humble. It is amazing to aee the smiles on their faces. Many of them come into our office to apply for loans or get another draw from their loan to help pay for their tuition or books.
We met a family that has six children in the PEF program. All six are returned missionaries. They have two sons currently serving missions. The mom and dad are just waiting for their chance to serve. They are planning to go to the temple in South Africa this fall. We attended their branch with another missionary couple last Sunday. Elder and Sister Anderson have taught other saints in our mission "square foot gardening". They saw the plot of ground outside the chapel. He suggested that they catch the rain water and they would have enough to water the whole plot. This brother with all the missionaries said, "If I could feed my family off the land, the church wouldn't have to pay for my children's education". Such humble people.
We met a family that has six children in the PEF program. All six are returned missionaries. They have two sons currently serving missions. The mom and dad are just waiting for their chance to serve. They are planning to go to the temple in South Africa this fall. We attended their branch with another missionary couple last Sunday. Elder and Sister Anderson have taught other saints in our mission "square foot gardening". They saw the plot of ground outside the chapel. He suggested that they catch the rain water and they would have enough to water the whole plot. This brother with all the missionaries said, "If I could feed my family off the land, the church wouldn't have to pay for my children's education". Such humble people.
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Maasai Mara Safari Experience
We had a wonderful experience this past week. We had a couples conference. There was one couple from Tanzania, one from Ethiopia, and the mission president and another couple from Uganda and our mission president and eight couples from Kenya who attended. One of our couples had a daughter and her husband visiting and they also participated. We had dinner at President Taylor's home on Tuesday evening. Wednesday morning we boarded a plane and headed to the Intrepid camp in the Maasai Mara for a three day safari. This was a wonderful experience. To see the Lord's handiwork in nature was totally awesome. The animals we saw were incredible. Here in Africa they have what they call the Big Five. They include the elephant, lion, leopard, water buffalo and the rhino. We were able to see all but the rhino. Maybe some other time. We would post some pictures but are having a difficult time doing anything with pictures. We will learn and then post some.
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